This delicious Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta is so easy to make, full of flavor, thick and creamy and you’d never know it’s vegan and oil-free and healthy. It is also low-fat but tastes incredibly rich!
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SUN-DRIED TOMATO PASTA
I love pasta so much. We eat it weekly around here and perhaps even more than pasta, I love creating sauces for the pasta. I love them so much that there is a whole dedicated chapter of sauces in my cookbook. This #1 vegan sauce is still the most popular after 6 years with vegans and non-vegans. I also happen to love sun-dried tomatoes because of how rich and bold their flavor is.
I wanted this sauce to be creamy and full of flavor, but also low in fat. So, it is not only oil-free and low-fat, it also has no coconut milk! I used a small amount of almond butter and almond milk for a rich taste and it is plenty creamy as you can see. I can see using this sauce for so many things.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE SUN-DRIED TOMATO SAUCE
You only need 8 ingredients to make this sun-dried tomato pasta!
- sun-dried tomatoes from a bag, not from a jar soaked in oil
- roasted almond butter (or sunbutter if nut-free is needed)
- almond milk or preferred dairy-free milk (I think probably any milk would work here)
- red wine vinegar (really amps up the flavor)
- dried oregano and dried basil
- garlic cloves
- red pepper flakes
- pasta of choice
HOW TO MAKE SUN-DRIED TOMATO PASTA
STEP 1
First, you will need to add the tomatoes to a bowl and cover with water by an inch and soak overnight. This is absolutely necessary to really soften the tomatoes so the sauce turns out 100% smooth and creamy. As well as the long soaking creates a very flavorful water, that aids in the finished sauce being full of flavor.
STEP 2
After soaking, drain the water into another bowl, not the sink! You will be using 3/4 cup of the soaking liquid for the sauce, which gives a ton of flavor!
STEP 3
Add the drained tomatoes, plus 3/4 cup of the soaking liquid and the remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth, thick and creamy. The longer you blend, the smoother it will get. There should be no bits of tomato remaining.
Tip: I used a powerful blender, but if you do not have a strong blender, then I would recommend blending this in a food processor instead, as a food processor tends to work much better than a weak blender.
STEP 4
After blending, taste and add more salt or red pepper is desired. Serve over cooked pasta of choice. We ate this over penne pasta with parsley and additional red pepper flakes and it was so delicious. If you’d like additional protein, these Smoky Chipotle Chickpeas would be delicious on top as well!
MORE VEGAN SAUCES AND PASTA TO TRY:
- Pimento Cream Sauce
- 20 Minute Vegan Alfredo
- Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
- Creamy Chili Sauce with Zucchini and Spinach
- Nut-free Vegan Cheese Sauce and Mac ‘N’ Cheese
- Florentine Lemon Sauce and Pasta
- Vegan Stuffed Ricotta Shells with Spinach
- Easy Tomato & Garlic Pasta with Vegan Parmesan
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta (Vegan, Oil-free)
Ingredients
- 1 firmly packed cup sun-dried tomatoes (88g) from a bag, not a jar of oil
- 1/2 cup (120g) unsweetened plain almond milk or milk of choice if nut-free is needed
- 3/4 teaspoon red wine vinegar (really amps up the flavor)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (24g) roasted almond butter (or sunbutter for nut-free)
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup or agave
- 1/2 teaspoon each of dried oregano and dried basil
- 3 cloves minced garlic (8g)
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (can leave out for kids)
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon fine salt or MORE to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp)
- 12-16 oz of pasta of choice (I used penne)
NOTE
- Make sure you are weighing the sundried tomatoes to make sure you are getting the accurate amount so your sauce has the rich flavor.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- If at all possible, to ensure you are ending up with the full flavor profile of the recipe, please weigh the sundried tomatoes. I believe the mismeasurement and skipping the soaking is causing some to end up with a bland sauce and this is a VERY flavorful sauce when made correctly.NOTE: There are a few people SKIPPING THE SOAKING OF THE SUNDRIED TOMATOES OVERNIGHT. This is CRUCIAL to the end flavor. You can't skip this and add plain water or your end result will be BLAND. This sauce has a rich, wholesome flavor that comes FROM the correct amount of sundried tomatoes and THE SOAKING LIQUID. This is absolutely necessary to really soften the tomatoes so the sauce turns out 100% smooth and creamy as well.
- Add the sundried tomatoes to a bowl with 2 cups of filtered water and soak overnight. This is absolutely necessary. The liquid that is produced from soaking is the 3/4 cup of liquid you add to the soaked tomatoes. IF YOU SKIP this, don't be surprised if your sauce has hardly any flavor in the end.
- After soaking, drain the water into another bowl, not the sink. You will be using ONLY 3/4 cup of the soaking liquid for the sauce, which gives a ton of flavor.
- Add the drained tomatoes, plus 3/4 cup (180g) of the soaking liquid and the remaining ingredients (minus the pasta of course). Blend until smooth, thick and creamy. You will need to stop and scrape the sides a few times, as it's very thick as first. The longer you blend, the smoother it will get. There should be no bits of tomato remaining.Tip: I used a powerful blender, but if you do not have a strong blender, then I would recommend blending this in a food processor instead, as a food processor tends to work much better than a weak blender.
- After blending, taste and add more salt or red pepper is desired. I ended up using a total of 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes. This will yield 2 1/2 cups sauce. Serve over cooked pasta of choice. We ate this over penne pasta with parsley and additional red pepper flakes and it was so delicious. If you'd like additional protein, these Smoky Chipotle Chickpeas would be delicious on top as well!
I just made this and it is the perfect pasta sauce! Love it, and it will be a regular in my meal prep! Thank you!
So happy to hear this Valerie!
So instead of soaking the sun-dried tomatoes overnight, I placed it in 2 1/2 cups water and boiled it for 10 minutes. I also use balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar because I didn’t have any. And I use almond butter and almond milk. The sauce came out full of flavor and delicious.
I made this thinking I would use the almond butter I just bought, then I read its ingredients. SUGAR!!!! So I used tahini instead with about a tablespoon of nutritional yeast. SO SO SO Yummy! Even my granddaughter who lives on chick filet loved it. Thank you!
Awesome!!
Okay, so I totally forgot and mindlessly tossed out the water for the sun dried tomatoes, but one thing I did add to the recipe was I sautéed 1/4 of a red onion and add the garlic clove, and blended it with the sauce. Now I had all the ingredients already blended and Idid not taste it, only smelled it, but when I added the onion, OMG, that smell was intensified. It was amazing!! And this was without the sun-dried tomatoes water. Thank you so much for this!!
Working with sun-dried tomatoes in the past did not work for me because I did not know you had to rehydrate them! I love you for this tip!! THANKS!!
This is so delicious and simple to make! The flavor is so rich. I loved putting it over lentil pasta- I wanted the protein, but also find it more filling. I’ll be coming back to this sauce again!
So happy to hear you loved it Coby!
What is wrong with using sundried tomatoes in oil?
(thanks!)
My recipes are oil-free so I try to avoid using oil as much as possible. I prefer to focus on whole food fats in my recipes.
Vegan or not, this stuff is wonderful. I like to make it with smoked sun-dried tomato, and add some capers to the dish. It’s wonderful!
So happy you love it, that sounds amazing!
It was so yummy!
So glad!
Amazing! Followed all of your advice to a T and it turned out so good! I added some homemade cashew cream to give it a little “ricotta” feel and I’m just in love with this dish! Thank you for sharing.
I made this and I had a few roasted garlic cloves and a few roasted fresh Roma tomato slices and added to blender too! It was delicious! Thank you!
This is a GREAT recipe! Totally agree with soaking the sun-dried tomatoes overnight to extract the flavor!
One question — I’ve been using Banza chickpea pasta, which I’ve noticed sauces tend to have a slightly harder time coating (including this dish). Would you suggest maybe upping the soaking liquid from 3/4 to 1 cup, or another slight tweak to help the sauce cling better?
Thanks for publishing this! It’s definitely going into our regular rotation.
That is so awesome to hear Nate! Yes, you could add some more of the soaking liquid, just increase spices if needed to compensate for flavor. Also, don’t rinse the pasta after cooking it, that should help, too.
Awesome, thank you again! Also, when reheating on the stove I added a couple splashes of additional almond milk, which smoothed the reheating and the final product looked exactly as creamy as your photo.
This is a GREAT recipe! Totally agree with soaking the sun-dried tomatoes overnight to extract the flavor!
One question — I’ve been using Banza chickpea pasta, which I’ve noticed sauces tend to have a slightly harder time coating (including this dish). Would you suggest maybe upping the soaking liquid from 3/4 to 1 cup, or another slight (vegan) tweak to help the sauce cling better?
Thanks for publishing this! It’s definitely going into our regular rotation.
Love how simple this sauce is. Just need to plan ahead for the soaking then enjoy the flavors 😋
Yes, definitely!
This was so delicious, with a unique warm, earthy flavor, and a richness that was surprising for a low fat recipe. It’s very satisfying without being heavy. And it’s simple to make, too. A total winner, and one we’ll keep in rotation around here! Thank you, thank you.
Definitely 5 stars!
This recipe is absolutely DELICIOUS! I put this over 9 ounces of red lentil pasta, then mixed in a bunch of roasted veggies. Definitely will make again!
My go-to pasta sauce recipe. I have an Excalibur dehydrator and a garden full of tomatoes, so I really love this easy recipe. Yummers!
This is a favorite in our house! Leftover sauce typically is used for pizza. Yum. Can the sauce be frozen for later use?
Hi Cindy! Yes, it can be frozen! It will get blob like after freezing, haha, so let it thaw and then reblend to smooth back out.
OMG! This was even better than I expected. When I initially started blending all the ingredients in my Vitamix, I was a bit concerned that the sauce would be too runny. But I followed Brandi’s instructions and sure enough, it turned into a lovely, creamy consistency. My husband raved about how delicious it was and I was thrilled at how easily it all came together. Honestly, the hardest part for me will be remembering to soak the tomatoes the night before. Thanks for another winner Brandi!
So wonderful to hear Colleen!!
Brandi, Hi! I just made this for tonight’s dinner and it’s fabulous. So terribly simple to make! All you have to do is follow your very descriptive instructions. You’re right, the sun-dried tomato sauce is deep and rich, and the red wine vinegar gives it just the right punch to intensify the flavors. Also, the choice of penne pasta is perfect as it holds the sauce beautifully. Thanks for this recipe. It will definitely be a regular meal in our house.
This dish is AMAZING!! It is so simple, yet so incredibly delicious! I use a lot of jarred pasta sauce, but this is going to be my new go-to.
Wow this was way better than I expected. It was delisssshhhhh. And I didn’t even soak the sun dried tomatoes overnight. Whoops. I just put them in a cup with water and put them in the microwave for two minutes and then blended the heck out of them in my Vitamix lol. Awesome. Thanks!!
I really love hearing this, thank you Stephanie!!
This sauce is like taking tomato sauce to the next level! The deeper notes of the sun-dried tomatoes, plus the extra tang of the red-wine vinegar result in a rich, decadent sauce. The amount of liquid vs. tomatoes makes it very creamy as well. You have to try it! 🙂
I am going to make this in a couple of days. It sounds really good! I have a question thou. Can I use peanut butter? It is all I have. I don’t ever buy almond or sun butter as it would go to waste.
Yes it’s a small amount so I think it should be ok! Just may be a more distinct taste.
I’m reviewing this as I am eating it! It is absolutely delicious!!! I am going back for seconds lol! Awesome recipe!
This was delicious! I didn’t have the time for a long soak but I actively boiled the sundried tomatoes instead / simmered for 30 minutes and the sauce was amazing. Used half on cauliflower gnocchi and the other half on vegan spelt pizza the next night. Thanks for the incredible recipe!
So happy you loved it Cait!
I substituted more of my oat milk for the almond butter but I ate it over chickpea pasta with actual chickpeas and blanched baby spinach and it was delicious! Will make again.