This Hidden Veg Pasta Sauce is an easy and delicious way to boost your family’s vegetable intake. Packed with a medley of nourishing veggies, this vegetable pasta sauce is perfect for wholefood families and picky eaters! It’s a flavourful, thick sauce that pairs with any pasta. It’s additive free, gluten free and can be salt and sugar free too. Plus, it can be meal prepped and frozen, ready for a quick kid-approved dinner.
Perfect for making ahead
Whether you have picky eaters or not, this hidden vegetable pasta sauce is so great to have stored in the freezer. We all reach for a jar of pre-made sauce from time to time for its simple convenience, but have this prepped and ready to go instead! It’s way more flavourful!
You can portion it out and freeze for pasta meals, to use as pizza sauce, topping for chicken parmigiana, or any other meal needing a simple tomato-based sauce.
Ingredients in Hidden Veg Pasta Sauce
Just fresh vegetables and a couple of pantry items are needed for this vegetarian pasta sauce:
Onion – Use brown/yellow onion.
Garlic – Substitute the garlic cloves for 2 tsp minced garlic if needed.
Carrot, celery, sweet potato and zucchini – For the flavour base and to get more veggies in!
Capsicum/bell pepper – Use red bell pepper/capsicum for the sweetness and colour.
Mushrooms – Button mushrooms add a nice savoury flavour to the sauce.
Oregano – Use fresh oregano if you can. Fresh thyme or basil are good substitutes.
Tinned tomatoes – I normally use the Ardmona brand of diced tomatoes, which have no added salt or sugar. Check the ingredients listed on the tin, and adjust seasoning as necessary.
Olive oil – For sautéing the vegetables.
Brown sugar – This is optional, but just a small amount brings out the flavour of the tomatoes and other vegetables.
Salt and pepper – Leave out the salt if serving to family under 12 months of age.
How to make Hidden Veg Pasta Sauce
Firstly, finely chop the garlic, onion, celery and carrot. Sauté them in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the remaining ingredients (except the oregano). Simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft – you may need to adjust the cooking time, depending on how large your vegetable pieces are. Add the oregano, and transfer to a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth.
Thermomixer? This is an easy veggie pasta sauce to make in your machine. Start by chopping the garlic, onion, carrot and celery. Sauté these, and then add the other vegetables. Chop again, and add the remaining ingredients (except the oregano). Cook for 15 minutes, add the herbs and then blend.
You’ll find the recipe card below, with ingredient amounts and detailed steps for both regular and thermo cooker methods.
Hidden Veg Pasta Sauce for babies and toddlers
This Hidden Veg Pasta Sauce recipe is perfect for babies, toddlers and their adults. For children under 12 months, this recipe is easily adapted to have no sugar or salt but is still flavourful enough to satisfy everyone’s tastes.
This veggie-loaded sauce boosts the nutritional value of a pasta meal, and is an easy way to sneak more vegetables into baby or toddler diets. Or older children and adults too for that matter!
Serving and storing this veggie pasta sauce
Serve this Hidden Veggie Pasta Sauce over your favourite pasta for an easy dinner. Or use it as pizza sauce, topping for chicken parmigiana, or any other meal needing a simple tomato-based sauce. It’s really versatile!
This pasta sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
I like to portion it out when freezing, for future pasta meals as well as pizza sauce. You can use ice cube trays for freezing little portions, so it’s easy to defrost what you need.
Looking for more vegetable-based pasta sauces? Try this butternut squash pasta sauce. It’s a creamy, comforting pasta (without the cream!) and another kid friendly dinner. Or, for a green option, this fresh spinach pasta is a great choice!
And of course, can you ever go wrong with a great Spaghetti Bolognese recipe? This one sneaks in more vegetables too 😊.
If you make this Hidden Veg Pasta Sauce please leave a 🌟 star rating and a 📝 comment below. I love hearing how my recipes work for you and your family! Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest too for more family-friendly dinner recipes.
Happy cooking,
Chloe x
Hidden Veg Pasta Sauce
Category: Family MainsIngredients
- 1 brown/yellow onion peeled and quartered
- 2 garlic cloves peeled
- 1 carrot peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 celery stalk roughly chopped
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 zucchini roughly chopped (180g/6oz)
- 3 button mushrooms halved (75g/2-3oz)
- 1 red capsicum/bell pepper de-seeded and roughly chopped (150g/5oz)
- 100 g sweet potato peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 400g/ 14oz can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp brown sugar optional
- 1 tbs tomato paste
- 1/4 tsp salt for family over 12 months
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 3 sprigs fresh oregano leaves only
Instructions
- Finely chop 1 brown/yellow onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 carrot and 1 celery stalk.
- Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, carrot and celery. Sauté for 5 minutes or until translucent.
- Add 1 zucchini, 3 button mushrooms, 1 red capsicum/bell pepper, 100 g sweet potato, 1 400g/ 14oz can diced tomatoes, 1/2 tsp brown sugar, 1 tbs tomato paste, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp ground black pepper. Bring to the boil, and then let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until vegetables are soft.
- Add 3 sprigs fresh oregano.
- Transfer sauce mixture to a food processor or blender, or use an immersion blender. Carefully blend until smooth.
Thermomix Instructions
- Put 1 brown/yellow onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 carrot and 1 celery stalk into the mixing bowl. Chop for 3 seconds, speed 7, MC on. Scrape down the mixing bowl.
- Add 1 tbs olive oil. Cook for 5 minutes, 100°C, speed 1, MC off.
- Add 1 zucchini, 3 button mushrooms, 1 red capsicum/bell pepper and 100 g sweet potato. Chop for 5 seconds, speed 7, MC on. Scrape down the mixing bowl. If any large vegetable pieces remain, repeat this step.
- Add 1 400g/ 14oz can diced tomatoes, 1/2 tsp brown sugar, 1 tbs tomato paste, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp ground black pepper. Cook 15 minutes, 100°C, speed 1, MC off. Put the simmering basket on the lid to prevent splatter.
- Add 3 sprigs fresh oregano. Blend for 1 minute, speed 7, MC on, increasing the speed gradually.
