This version of a traditional bolognese sauce is made with red lentils in place of meat. Milk is a crucial ingredient when making a traditional bolognese as it adds a special depth of flavor. Otherwise, it's just a standard pasta sauce.
This article includes many uses for this hearty sauce and suggestions for making this sauce vegan.
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Jump to:
- 🥫 What is a bolognese sauce?
- ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- 🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
- 🔪 Recommended Equipment
- 📝 Instructions Overview
- 🎯 Why This Recipe Works
- ⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- 🧊 Can I make this dish ahead?
- 🥬 Make it Vegan
- 💡 Ways to Use Red Lentil Bolognese Sauce
- Easy 30-Minute Red Lentil Bolognese Sauce
There's a big range of pasta sauces, and I love them all. You can go all meaty with plant-based meat substitutes like seitan, Beyond Beef, and Impossible Meats in a tomato sauce. For example, this one adds roasted red peppers and pesto. Or choose a simple roasted tomato sauce.
Bolognese sauces are well-known but are often confused with the standard everyday hearty meaty sauce. But something makes this sauce different.
🥫 What is a bolognese sauce?
Traditional bolognese is a thick tomato-based ragu credited to Bologna in the Emilia-Romana region. However, some sources claim it may have originated in a small town to the west of Bologna. No one knows for certain, if only because this sauce has been made in this region for centuries.
This sauce is meaty, loaded with chopped tomatoes, typically includes onion, celery, carrot, and broth, and is finished with milk. Some say it's not bolognese without veal. Others use a combination of beef and pork and add red wine to the sauce.
The variations are endless. But I say, it's not a bolognese without milk. It contributes a depth of flavor that separates this sauce from the rest.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Easy. The food prep goes very quickly.
- Fast. Make it in 30 minutes or less.
- Flexible. Like many sauces, you can adjust this sauce to your own preferences.
- Many uses. Make a big batch because there are lots of ways to use it. (See the below Ways to Use section.)
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minute meal or less.
For all of the ingredients, measurements, and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Red lentils
- Vegetable broth - or water
- Yellow onion
- Celery
- Carrot
- Garlic
- Tomato paste
- Tomatoes - I use canned tomatoes since the tomato season can be short where I live, and use both crushed tomatoes and whole tomatoes for a variety of textures.
- Dried oregano
- Milk - Use whole milk.
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🔪 Recommended Equipment
Having the right equipment for recipes makes prepping much easier. For more fuss-free prepping and cooking, check out my updated list of favorite kitchen tools and equipment.
- Medium pot or Instant Pot - for cooking the red lentils.
- Chef's knife
- Large skillet
📝 Instructions Overview
Detailed instructions for making this one-pan red lentil bolognese are in the recipe card below, but here's an overview!
Step 1
Cook the red lentils. Cook the lentils using this guide: How to Cook Red Lentils -Stovetop and Instant Pot Methods.
Step 2
Chop and sauté the veggies. Dice the onion, celery, and carrots, and mince the garlic. Heat olive oil and add the diced onion, celery, and carrots, and sauté until softened. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
Step 3
Add tomato paste. Form a well in the middle of the skillet and add the tomato paste into the well. Stir the tomato paste in the center for 2 minutes until it's pan-roasted.
Step 4
Add remaining ingredients. Stir in the tomatoes and spices. When the lentils are tender, stir them into the sauce. Simmer for 15 minutes to allow the cooked lentils to absorb the flavors of the sauce.
Step 5
Stir in the milk. Remove the sauce from the heat and completely stir in the milk and correct for any seasoning.
🎯 Why This Recipe Works
- Red lentils soften and break down as they continue to cook, giving the sauce a similar texture.
- Cooking red lentils separately from the sauce speeds up the recipe since beans don't soften well when cooked in an acidic environment, like tomatoes.
- Tomatoes provide umami, and pan-roasting the tomato paste gives it an extra boost.
- Milk deepens the flavors of this sauce.
⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- The prep goes fast, but you can purchase pre-diced onions, celery, and carrots in many grocery store produce departments.
- Make the entire sauce ahead of time. The flavors only get better overnight.
🧊 Can I make this dish ahead?
The sauce is even better when made ahead, plus it's a great sauce to have on hand for those nights when you don't feel like cooking.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 - 5 days.
- Freeze in a freezer safe container for 2 - 3 months.
🥬 Make it Vegan
Use coconut milk or oat milk in place of dairy-based whole milk.
I love this sauce with coconut milk. It will add a small coconut flavor, but not very much. When I take this path, I also add ½ - 1 teaspoon of garam masala spice mixture.
If you use oat milk, I recommend Oatly - Full Fat.
💡 Ways to Use Red Lentil Bolognese Sauce
- Put it over noodles, obvi.
- Ladle the bolognese over air fryer spaghetti squash noodles (or cooked any other way).
- Spoon some into a pita pocket.
- Make a sloppy joe-style open-faced sandwich by ladling the sauce over toasted bread smeared with olive oil and garlic.
- Sauté baby spinach (I used a 5-ounce plastic container of pre-washed baby spinach per serving) with a little lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Spread the spinach on a plate, and ladle the lentil bolognese over it (pictured below).
Don't have time to run to the grocery store? Order the ingredients for this recipe using Instacart (affiliate link). Just click on the Instacart button in the recipe card below, and the ingredients will all be organized for you on their site. Plug in your zip code, choose the store you prefer, and select the ingredients you want delivered to your home.
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Easy 30-Minute Red Lentil Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried red lentils, rinsed
- 2 cups vegetable broth or water
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 celery ribs, diced
- 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 ounces tomato paste,
- 2 15-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 28-ounce can whole, peeled tomatoes, drained and diced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅓ cup whole milk
Instructions
- Cook the lentils according to this guide for cooking red lentils on the stovetop or Instant Pot.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and add the diced onion, celery, and carrot. Sauté until the vegetables are tender, about 7 - 8 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
- Form a well in the middle of the skillet exposing the pan. Spoon the tomato paste into that well, and spread it out a little to cover the exposed skillet. Allow the tomato paste to pan-roast for 1 -2 minutes, occasionally stirring. Add the tomatoes, spices, and the cooked lentils once they are tender. Red lentils cook more quickly than most legumes, particularly in the Instant Pot, which requires only about 10 minutes, including a Natural Release. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes to allow the cooked lentils to absorb the flavors of the sauce.
- Stir in the milk.
- I serve this with a drizzle of olive oil on top, and when I use coconut milk, I add a drizzle of that as well.
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