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)
- 1/2 teaspoon each of dried oregano and dried basil
- 3 cloves minced garlic (8g)
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional: can leave out for kids)
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt or MORE to taste
- 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. 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. 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!
It sounds delicious! I love sun dried tomatoes, they have so much flavor!
They are so good!
I’d like to make this tonight, but the sun dried tomatoes haven’t been soaked. Can I do a rush soak in the microwave or just soaking in hot water?
Hi! The soaking is really important, not just to super soften them, but also the long soaking makes the soaking water really flavorful and aids in the overall flavor of the sauce. I’m not sure if where you are located it is already evening there (it’s noon here) but if you could add boiling water and soak at least 4 hours or more. A quick soak isn’t going to flavor the water enough I’m afraid, which is why I specify its importance.
I could probably do 4+ hours. I’m soaking the soft julienned sun-dried now, but I’ll make this tomorrow. Should they be refrigerated for the overnight soak?
Room temperature. I’ll add that!
Hi! About to try this recipe. Do you know the breakdown for calories, etc? I didn’t see that anywhere and I think your book lists that for each recipe. Thanks!
This sounds amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
Sun dried tomatoes soaked all night. Looking at the soaking liquid now I understand the need for the long soak.
I only have raw, not roasted, almond butter. Do you think that will matter?
Raw is fine!
Great recipe. A definite keeper. Thanks.
Great recipe. A definite keeper. Thanks.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Made this tonight with penne pasta. What stands out to me is that the sauce is nice and thick and it really sticks to the pasta. Unlike other sauces that get runny and watery. I topped mine with fresh strips of basil I grow indoors for the winter which will soon be upon us. The taste is quite good and distinctive, but not terribly strong. I also like the ease of making the sauce, all in one in my food processor. I forgot to soak my sun dried tomatoes last night so this morning I put them in a pan covered with water and brought them to a boil, covered the pan and let it sit all day. Yum. Thank you!
Thank you so much Angela for an amazing review! So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
If I haven’t got red wine vinegar would it be better to use apple cider vinegar, white, or Balsamic?
Hi Heather, I think balsamic would work best here!
Made this tonight along with the bean balls from your cookbook to go with it. It was excellent. The whole family loved it!
Oh that sounds like a fabulous combo Heather, great idea! I’m so glad you enjoyed both recipes!
Made this last night. It was fantastic!
So awesome to hear that Rosanne!
This looks great. How much pasta does this recipe cover?
It makes a lot of sauce (2 1/2 cups) so I’d say 12-16 oz pasta.
Easy to make if you remember to soak the tomatoes. My grandson loved this and it’s so much better that a look alike bowl of Mac n cheese. I found that it’s too mild. What could I add to make it more flavorful? I tried some spicy salt and maybe more herbs?
Regardless, I’ll make it again! Thx!!
Hi Mawi! So glad he enjoyed it. Too mild? I find this sauce to be extremely rich in flavor because of all the sun-dried tomatoes and the soaking liquid from soaking overnight. It has quite an intense flavor, did you soak the tomatoes as noted overnight? Add the soaking liquid, vinegar, garlic, etc. Each ingredient is very strong in flavor so I”m not sure how yours would turn out mild unless perhaps not enough tomatoes were added or too much liquid added. Make sure you packed them in or weigh them so you are getting the right amount. But I would simply just add more of the red wine vinegar or tomatoes, both of those are very strong in flavor.
We have a lot if dietary restrictions in my household. My youngest can’t have dairy or egg, I’m on an elimination diet myself (trying to figure out what makes me sick), and my husband gets gout! While, we are not quite vegan since we do eat meat, I have greatly reduced the amount of meat my family eats (I’m actually starting to not like it), so I’m constantly looking for good, flavorful vegan recipes that don’t have a lot of complicated ingredients or take a lot of time. This dish was so flavorful and easy to make, a hit for the whole family. It’s tough to please everyone with 1 meal and this did! 🙂 oh…I added some chopped spinach to the noodles right before I was ready to drain them, and then just mixed it all together!
That is so amazing to hear Nickie, thank you!
Hello, is it possible to use sun dried tomatoes in oil in the jar? It’s all I have and this recipe looks amazing!
Thank you!
Hi Devan, I’ve not tried it personally, so I’m not sure how the flavor will vary, but sure, give it a try! Still soak them since the soaking liquid is a big part of the flavor.
Exquisit, mhmhmh…, so good!
Hi lovely!
I’ve been soaking my sun dried tomatoes for 3 days at room temperature (2 nights) I would like to make this recipe today. Do you think they’ll be fine? Or did I leave them soaking for too long?
I’d really appreciate your help
Thank you,
Kind regards,
Stef
Yes, you should be fine as long as the water isn’t smelling or has mildew, haha! Just give them a good rinse as long as they still smell fresh.
Brandi,
I bought a bag of Sun dried tomatoes by Melissa and soaked for 24 hours. The water was dark brown. The sauce ended up looking like chocolate or…… fill in the blank! ! Not pleasing at all so we threw it away. What went wrong?
Hi Moe, it’s hard for me to say without being there, but if your sauce was dark brown, it sounds like the milk wasn’t added or the 3/4 cup of soaking liquid wasn’t added. Or perhaps that brand of tomatoes is really dark. Mine are a deep red. I really don’t know what else to tell you, as mine always has the orange color in the photos and I have not heard that happening with other readers. Perhaps it could be because you soaked it so long too?? You soaked it twice as long as I have listed. I always do 8-12 hours (overnight).
I am wondering if it was the brand of sun dried tomatoes. They were very very dark red to begin with. I did add the milk and the 3/4 cup soaking liquid. I am willing to try it again. If I soak overnight, I would have to make the sauce in the morning so I guess I have to time it for 12 hours to the dinner hour.
I love your recipes. We make the mozzarella pizza cheese often, have your cookbook and just made your chai protein balls. Super yummy! I give your cookbook to my “trying to lean vegan” family and friends.
thanks for the feedback and recipes!!
I think it’s a combo of the brand of tomatoes and soaking them for so long. I would just soak 8 hours/overnight and then drain them. You can then wait to blend it all later on if you want. Oh, that is so wonderful to hear, thanks so much Moe!
I didn’t have time to soak the sun-dried tomatoes, so I used the Instant Pot. Put the tomatoes and water in a oven safe dish, placed the dish in the Instant Pot on the steaming rack. Added an inch of water to the bottom of the Pot. Then cooked it for 7 minutes on steam setting. Let the Pot naturally cool. I got nice plump tomatoes and a great tasting soaking liquid.
Great idea, thank you for sharing!
I just made this recipe, and didn’t want to wait to soak the tomatoes, so I poured boiling water over them, and used the water. I know it would have been better like you said, to soak them, but I was in a hurry ?. I added coconut yogurt, and a little maple syrup, black olives, and some spinach …it made a difference with the flavour, and I loved it!
I reduced hot peppers for some family members and it was bland., will try with next time.
This recipe isn’t bland at all. The Sundried tomatoes and vinegar and the soaking water give immense flavor, and you mention hot peppers, so I think something isn’t right here with a mixup of a different recipe. If you soak the recipe for the time as instructed, the flavor is very strong.
Hi, I just used the last of my almond butter…do you think tahini would work in place of this? Thanks!
It’ll make it slightly more bitter but should work!
This pasta is delicious! It’s so flavorful and a really fun way to use sun-dried tomatoes.
Just put my tomatoes and water in a bowl, do they need to be refrigerated overnight or is on the counter ok?
Counter is fine!
This sauce is perfect! It’s proof that you don’t HAVE to use oil or butter to make a great pasta sauce. Follow the directions and you won’t be disappointed.
Yes, I do agree Molly! Thank you for the review!!