This One Pot Penne Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce is a delicious mouth full…gets you out of the kitchen in a flash with fewer dishes and is full of plant-based goodness.
It’s lovely to be able to create dinner in one pot. This makes a lot of pasta which is great to have as leftovers. I used whole grain wheat pasta, but you could substitute gluten-free if you’d like.
The first thing you do for this one post penne pasta is to brown up the tempeh a little in the pot using a bit of veggie broth. Try making your own Vegetable Broth so you can have it on hand when you are cooking your recipes. It’s a great staple for plant-based kitchen. Also, read more about How to Stock Your Plant-Based Pantry for more tips!
Once your tempeh is nicely browned, remove from the pot and add in your mushrooms, onions and peppers with about 1/4 cup more water or broth. Saute these ingredients until the onions are slightly translucent and sweated. It’s the perfect cook time for a sweeter onion. If needed, add more water or broth in this step.
Toss in the garlic, followed by the cooked tempeh, broth and canned tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and it’s now time to add the soy milk and pasta. Cook for about 8-10 minutes. The starch from the pasta should help thicken the sauce after it reduces.
The last step is to add in the nutritional yeast and spinach. Your One Pot Penne Pasta is ready to enjoy!
The first time I made a one-pot pasta, I wasn’t sure if the amount of liquid would work out to be soupy or just right. What happens with pasta is that even when you finish cooking, the pasta continues to soak up water.
Have a look at more quick and easy meals:
- One Pot Thai Coconut Curry Tofu
- Instant Pot Butternut Squash Risotto with Basil Pesto
- Sheet Pan Fish & Chips
- Sheet Pan Tempeh Puttanesca
- Sheet Pan Ratatouille with Creamy Polenta
This turned out just right with the sauce being the right amount of creaminess.
One thing about whole wheat pasta is that it can be tougher so it helps to cook it enough, but you have to be careful that it doesn’t fall apart.
Whole grain pasta is getting better and I’ve heard that quinoa pasta works well, also.
I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below for this One Pot Penne Pasta Recipe! If you have a photo, post it on my Facebook page, tag me using the hashtag, #plantbasedcooking, in your caption, and I won’t miss it!
This recipe is Certified Plantricious because it meets the following guidelines.
The Trusted Seal for
Plant-Based Nutrition
- Must be whole food plant-based, contains no animal products
- May be minimally processed
- No added oil
- No added sugars
- No artificial additives or preservatives
- Sodium (mg) to Calories ratio, 1 ≤ 1
- Total Fiber to Calories, 2g ≥ 100 calories
One Pot Penne Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb whole grain penne pasta
- 2 8-oz packages tempeh original, cut into ½” cubes
- 1 large onion sliced
- 1 large red bell pepper sliced
- 1 large green bell pepper sliced
- 8 oz mushrooms sliced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 28-oz canned tomatoes sauce included
- 2 cups homemade vegetable broth (or 2 cups homemade)
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk or other plant milk
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- ½ lb fresh spinach
- 1 cup fresh basil sliced
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt (optional)
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, add the tempeh and saute for a few minutes in water or broth. Let the liquid evaporate and the tempeh browns a little. Remove from the pot to a plate.
- To the same pot add mushrooms, onions, peppers, and ¼ cup more water or broth and saute until onion is transparent, adding more water as necessary to keep from sticking.
- Add the garlic and saute a few more minutes before adding back the tempeh. Then add the vegetable broth and canned tomatoes, breaking up the tomatoes as they heat.
- Add the soy milk, the penne pasta, and salt (optional), stirring to prevent the pasta from sticking. Cook for 8-10 minutes more until the pasta is cooked and the liquid reduces to a thick sauce.
- Add ½ cup nutritional yeast and the spinach. Stir to combine and cook until wilted.
- Top with the sliced basil and serve.
Where do i put the oregano?
Thanks for noticing it was left off the instructions. It’s all fixed now. Add it along with veggie stock and canned tomatoes. You can, of course, use less depending on your taste.
Sodium is too high. How can you make this more Protein ..
Hi, Actually this has quite a bit of protein with the tempeh, 30g per serving. If you want more, you could add beans or tofu. Of course, the salt is optional.
Do you think almond milk would work in place of the soy milk?
I do and I recently experimented with coconut milk in a tomato pasta sauce with vegetables (about 2/3 cup). It was really good, but it does have a lot more fat so use sparingly. Good luck 🙂
What size is a serving? 409 seems high? How much in a serving? Thanks, Brenda
Hey Brenda, I recalculated the nutritional information and made sure everything was precise and using the accurate ingredients. Nutrition apps can be tricky, but I think this new calculation is good. The calories went down a little. The serving size is 2 cups. Hope this helps.
Hi! What type of canned tomatoes do you use for this recipe? Are they whole, diced, halved, etc?
Hey Alice, you can use any type of canned tomatoes, but diced would be the easiest because they’re already in smaller pieces and you’d have to crush whole or halved. I can’t find it now but I read an article that said canned whole tomatoes taste better, however. Less surface area exposed to the citric acid which is added to canned tomatoes, perhaps…I can’t remember exactly. But for convenience, diced works.
What is tempeh?
Hey Terry, good question. Tempeh is a soybean product that’s made by fermenting soybeans. You can find it in the refrigerator section of most markets. Fermenting makes soybeans more digestible and they’re a great substitute for meat. There are different types of tempeh depending on what grains are used in combination with the soybeans. There’s original soy (no additions), or three grain, flax seed, barley, and oat. You can read my article, “Cooking with Tempeh,” to find out more about it.
This dish is delicious . Even my meat eating husband enjoyed it. I did add only 8oz tempeh and added a can of Cannellini beans. So yummy.
Hey Doina, so glad you enjoyed it and especially great to hear your husband did, too! ❤️