Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Sauce made with nuts, garlic and spices. Easy and fast to make, oil-free and only 8 ingredients!
VEGAN ROASTED RED PEPPER SAUCE
This roasted red pepper sauce pasta is so full of flavor, totally oil-free and is made with gluten-free pasta. Roasting the bell peppers give them the most amazing flavor, not to mention, gorgeous color to this delicious plant-based dinner.
The lemon juice rounds out the depth of flavor and fresh basil brings it all together. It can be made with either pine nuts or cashews. If allergic to nuts, raw sunflower seeds should work great too.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
(Only 8 main ingredients needed. Full details and measurements on the recipe card below.)
- Red bell peppers
- Lemon juice
- Fresh garlic
- Chili powder
- Pine nuts or cashews, or sunflower seeds for nut-free
- Nutritional yeast
- Fresh basil
- Pasta of choice
The pine nuts give this vegan roasted red pepper pasta sauce a slightly sweet flavor and are buttery. I absolutely love them and have more recipes coming up with them!
I absolutely love that you can make dairy-free sauces that taste just as delicious and the butter and cream-filled ones. This vegan creamy red pepper sauce with fresh basil is no exception. It is also oil-free and just 8 ingredients, what a huge bonus!
MORE VEGAN PASTA DISHES
- Best Vegan Garlic Alfredo
- 1 Pot Vegan Cajun Pasta
- Vegan Walnut Basil Pasta
- 20 Minute Vegan Alfredo
- Vegan Pimento Cream Sauce
- Creamy Chili Sauce with Pasta
- Easy Vegan Meatballs and Spaghetti
- Vegan Lemon Florentine Pasta
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 red bell peppers
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp water
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 cup pine nuts OR cashews
- 1 tbsp minced fresh garlic
- 2 tsp chili powder
- Fresh basil 1/4 cup, chopped
- 12 oz gluten-free brown rice spiral pasta, or pasta of choice
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 450 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Place the whole bell peppers on the pan and roast for 20-25 minutes until well browned.
- Carefully slice the bell peppers and remove the stem and seeds and add to a blender.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients (except the basil) and blend until smooth. Taste and add any additional salt or spices, if desired.
- Garnish with fresh chopped basil and pine nuts. Serve over spiral pasta. I much prefer the spiral pasta over spaghetti noodles for this sauce because it gets in between the grooves and has a better texture.
Is it just me or this this blown anyone else’s head off with 2 teaspoons of chilli powder!?!?!?!?! I actually can’t eat it. 🙁
Hi Mel! Oh no, sounds like you used a super hot chili powder, not a typical regular American chili powder. A standard chili powder is not spicy, it is mild and just adds warmth to the sauce, doesn’t make it spicy at all. As you can see from all the reviews above, it is a hit. Nobody has ever complained of the spice. I even make it for my 5 year old all the time and she hates spicy and eats this with no problem. I use just a standard McCormick type chili powder. You need a chili powder that is a combo of spices and not just like a solid pepper powder. Those will be insanely spicy like cayenne and are labeled differently usually.
Hi, thanks for the reply. I’m in the UK and just have standard chilli powder (which is just chilli powder). I did think it seemed a lot but thought maybe the other ingredients would cancel it out a little. We had to chuck it unfortunately! 🙁
Ahhh yes, I’ve heard UK chili powders and Australian chili powders are different than American versions. Sorry about that!
No worries. Maybe I’ll try again another time with just a pinch of chilli powder! 🙂
Hello Brandi, this looks delicious. I am traveling to Italy on a culinary tour. If i cannot find yeast what do you recommend for substitution or can i just omit. Grazi Ciao !
Hi Sharon! You can leave it out, but replace it with maybe a bit more salt (since yeast is kinda salty) and some extra flavor if needed like garlic powder, onion powder and that should work. I actually don’t use the yeast anymore myself since my hubby can’t tolerate it and I just leave it out now for this and add other spices for flavor.
Hi Brandi, never have done this before so I hope you get it. I will definitely be trying this red pepper sauce!! Many years ago I came across a sweet potato with vitamin c powder for the kick that tomatoes give. Do you know of a recipe like this? It was a very simple recipe. Since I came down with IBS I am keeping my food simple!.I can’t tolerate nuts right now, maybe that will change! Thank you
Hi Maggie! No, I have never ever heard about that. The nuts in this definitely give body and richness to the sauce, so you are welcome to try other things to sub, but I just don’t know how well it would turn out. I think if you are avoiding nuts, then this other red pepper sauce on my blog would be just perfect for you! It is delicious and I have provided both a nut and nut-free option (made with potatoes)! https://thevegan8.com/roasted-broccoli-rice-bowl-chipotle-red-pepper-sauce/
Hello! Just wanted to drop a note that I have been making this recipe frequently for MONTHS. My (non-vegan) husband and I really enjoy it (-: Thanks for your creation!
Yay! That makes me so happy to hear Paige, thank you so much for that wonderful feedback and letting me know!
I stopped buying pasta sauce because every one I’ve seen has oil in it. I tried this recipe on my favorite pasta (Tolerant red lentil rotini), and YUM! This is such a great pleasant change to the traditional tomato pasta sauce! Love the flavor!
Thank you Jessica, so glad you loved it! It’s one of my favorites in our home!
Do I have to use pine nuts in the sauce? What else can I use instead of pine nuts?
Hi Alex, I have listed on the recipe right next to pine nuts that you can also use cashews. They work amazing as well!
I made this tonight and it was delicious! So so good. My dad even wants some sauce by itself to use as a dip for nachos. Thank you!!
I’m so happy to hear it was a hit Jennifer, thank you for the feedback!
Bomb!!!!
Thank you so much!
My hubby and I love this sauce. Just wondering what sized red bell peppers you used? The sizes do vary greatly!
Hi Jeanette! I have used just 2 (no matter the size) every time I make this and it always turns out amazing…hard to mess it up really, haha. So glad you both love it! I would say though, the bigger the better!
What is the best way to use this as left overs? Would it work to just pour it in (I use whole wheat pasta, not gluten free) and heat it up the next day? I’m thinking about taking it for work where I don’t have a stove. Would it be better to reheat the sauce separately? Thanks in advance.
I love the sauce! The taste, texture, amazing color, all of it. I actually realized after I had popped the peppers in the oven that I didn’t have chili powder (I was at work for almost 14 hours, no way was I going out at 1 am for that)! So I used a little onion powder, oregano, smoked paprika, and garlic powder. It turned out great thankfully. I’m no chef, so I was nervous tweaking it at all. I sat down to eat and thought, wow, it’s amazing to have such great food ready so fast. I needed something filling after the long day I had, with another one to come tomorrow. Thanks again!
PS: Confession: I had never roasted red peppers ?. I was intimated by it. That will no longer be the case. I definitely will have to pay a bit better attention if I’m making something I don’t want to blend in the future, but just finally having a concrete reason to do it was so motivation.
I love red pepper sauce! This looks wonderful and delicious! I have something similar on my blog a chia muhammara dip made from roasted red peppers, incredibly delicious! Love that this red pepper sauce is so versatile over pasta, with veggie sticks or just tortilla chips. I can only image imagine the delicious taste and smell.
Thank you so much Florian for your kind words! This is probably my favorite sauce on the blog and as you can see, one of my oldest recipes, haha! It is truly delicious on everything, pasta, potatoes, broccoli, etc.!
This is out of this world!!!!!! Absolutely incredible over the spiral brown rice pasta. I can’t stop eating it!!! You’re very talented!!!!
So awesome to hear that Megan, thank you so much for the feedback!
Simply Awesome,
My Wife was licking the sauce and loving me more 🙂
I did use cashew instead of pine nuts and the result was fantastic. Just soaked them in hot water and blended them separately that is the trick
That is so awesome to hear!! So happy your wife loved it so much! Thank you so much for the feedback!
OMG! I’m eating this right now and I’m in love! The only thing I added (because I don’t like tart sauce) was one table spoon of Coconut Sugar. Thanks for this recipe! It is close to queso and can be eaten with multi grain gluten free tortilla chips! HAPPY GIRL!
This was very good.
Thank you Hannah! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thank you for the feedback!
Made this tonight for my parents. Super easy and delicious! Will definitely be making this again.
Awesome Colleen! Thank you so much for the feedback, I’m so glad to hear it was a hit!
I’m trying to stay away from nuts, so could I substitute maybe cannellini beans instead of the pine nuts? If not, I’m still making this! LOVE roasted red peppers.
OH, and the ones using zucchini noodles, do you cook them or eat them raw? Thanks!
Hi Julie! I haven’t tried it, but you can certainly try it. I DO know that another reader subbed 1/4 cup cashews and 1 1/2 small yukon gold potatoes for pinenuts and it worked perfectly, so you can try that and it will be much less fat that way. Or you could always try all potatoes, but I’m just not sure since I haven’t tried it myself. I did make my fat-free cheese sauce from all potatoes and zucchini and it’s excellent. Here is the link for that one also. Let me know after you try it! 🙂
https://thevegan8.com/2015/04/08/fat-free-vegan-cheese-sauce/
I totally did the, “I want to make this RIGHT NOW, even though I don’t have the exact right ingredients” thing. I used canned roasted red peppers, and a combination of 1 and 1/2 microwaved Yukon gold potato and 1/4 cup cashews instead of the pine nuts. It tasted delicious right out of the blender and had a nice creamy texture. I’m planning to serve it as a pasta salad at a potluck tomorrow. Thanks!!
XOXO, Pebbles
Oh I love the adaptations and that they worked so well! Thank you so much for sharing! So glad you loved this recipe!
so delicious with spiralized zucchini noodles – thanks for the recipe!
made this over the weekend with cashews subbed for the pine nuts and used it on spiralized zucchini noodles – it was fantastic! thanks for the recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that Gigi, thank you so much!! Thank you for the feedback and that sounds wonderful over zucchini noodles!
I love this recipe and make it often :). It always hits the spot, actually I crave it, and it’s a go-to recipe because of how easy it is to make! I am also going to make it for my mother on mothers day. Thanks Brandi!
I am so happy to hear this Brenda! Your feedback was so kind and made my day. So glad you are loving and craving this sauce! It is a favorite around here too!
I’m going to try this tonight with GF noodles for a GF dinner guest. I’m planning on subbing raw cashews which I’ve used many times before. Always risky to try a new recipe with dinner guests but I trust you!
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp water, Now thats precise!
Loved your dish!!
Thank you so much Nish! I’m so glad you loved this recipe! Oh and yes, I’m very precise, lol! I can’t stand vague recipes without exact measurements..it isn’t very helpful to readers in achieving the right result. Thanks again for the feedback!