It feels like meat is getting more and more expensive every day, y’all. But you know what is still cheap? LENTILS. 🙌 I know we’ve sung their praises a thousand times, but lentils are cheap, versatile, and will keep you full all. day. long. So they’re a great substitute for meat in bolognese, whether you’re vegan or not. This lentil bolognese is rich, hearty, full of big savory flavor, and budget-friendly!
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What is Bolognese
Bolognese is a super rich Italian meat sauce reigning from the city of Bologna, Italy. Typically, this sauce starts with finely diced vegetables (onion, celery, carrot) that are cooked down with fatty beef and pork. Tomatoes or tomato sauce are added to give the ragú a tomato base, and white wine and milk are added to give the sauce extra richness. This extra lush sauce is typically served over pasta.
Because meat is getting so darn expensive these days, we decided to make a bolognese-like sauce using lentils instead of meat. The lentils make the bolognese sauce extra hearty for pennies on the dollar, and also add a great dose of fiber. We made sure to add tons of delicious herbs and spices, as well as some rich coconut milk, to make this lentil bolognese just as rich and flavorful as its meaty counterpart.
What kind of lentils to use
You’ll want to use red lentils for this recipe because they break down quickly, helping the sauce thicken up and get extra rich. They’ll retain just enough texture to feel “meaty,” without looking like lentils. The red/orange color of the cooked lentils also helps the bolognese sauce retain a nice deep red/brown color.
How to Serve Lentil Bolognese
Serve this hearty sauce over a pile of your favorite pasta, with some garlic bread and a light salad on the side. Because this sauce is so rich and thick, it pairs really well with larger pasta shapes, like rigatoni or tagliatelle because it clings well to pasta even without lots of ridges or crevices.
Lentil Bolognese
Servings 4 1 cup sauceIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.37)
- 1 carrot ($0.15)
- 1 stalk celery ($0.10)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.08)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper ($0.02)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts ($1.07)
- 1 cup uncooked red lentils ($0.67)
- 1 15oz. can crushed tomatoes ($1.00)
- 3 Tbsp tomato paste ($0.27)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 1 tsp dried basil ($0.10)
- 1 tsp garlic powder ($0.10)
- 1 Tbsp sugar ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper ($0.02)
- 3 cups vegetable broth ($0.36)
- 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk ($0.81)
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion, carrot, and celery. Mince the garlic.
- Add the olive oil, onion, celery and carrot to a large pot. Sauté the vegetables for about 5 minutes over a medium until the onions are translucent and the vegetables have softened.
- Once vegetables have softened, add the minced garlic, crushed red pepper and walnuts to the pot. Saute for 2 minutes over medium-low heat, or until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the lentils, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, dried oregano, dried basil, garlic powder, salt, sugar, pepper, and vegetable broth to the pot. Mix everything together and bring the sauce to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer, semi covered with a lid, stirring occasionally for 20-25 minutes. After about 25 minutes the lentils should be soft and the sauce thickened. If the sauce is still too thin for your liking, continue simmering until it has reached your desired consistency.
- Once the bolognese has reached your desired consistency and texture, stir in the coconut milk and simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste the bolognese and add salt to taste. Turn off the heat. The bolognese will continue to thicken as it cools.
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Equipment
- Dutch Oven
Nutrition
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How to Make Lentil Bolognese – Step by Step Photos
Finely dice one yellow onion, one carrot, and one stalk celery, and mince four cloves of garlic.
Add 2 Tbsp cooking oil to a large pot and heat over medium. Add the onion, celery, and carrot and sauté until the vegetables are soft and the onions are translucent.
Add the minced garlic, ¼ tsp crushed red pepper, and ½ cup finely chopped walnuts. Sauté over medium-low heat for about two minutes more.
Add 1 cup uncooked red lentils, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp dried basil, ½ tsp salt, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp black pepper, one 14.5 oz. can crushed tomatoes, and 3 Tbsp tomato paste to the pot. Add 3 cups vegetable broth and stir to combine.
Allow the sauce to come up to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
After about 25 minutes, the lentils should be soft and the sauce should be thick. If the sauce is still too thin for your liking, allow the sauce to simmer a bit longer. If the lentils are not yet soft, continue to simmer, adding a small amount of water as needed to prevent it from drying out.
Once the sauce is thickened, stir in ½ cup full fat coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes longer.
Taste the sauce and add salt if needed.
This is really good. I made a few mistakes when cooking it(minor) that altered it a little bit. However I can see where the flavors/textures were heading and I thought it was still good(even with my errors).
Am going to try making it again and hopefully not make the minor mistakes I made
Sauce was much better before the (in retrospect baffling) addition of coconut milk. In future, to add creaminess, I’ll add heavy cream. Otherwise this was delicious!
Coming from a beef eater, this was realllly good! I realized I bought split red lentils and was apprehensive if they would work (I never buy beans). They were fine. Family loved it even if they did give me looks after I told them it was lentils, they continued eating it. The one and only thing I would suggest for those who are trying the recipe for the first time…be sure that you really chop your walnuts finely. I thought I did, but there were larger chunks of walnuts that were not pleasing. Cooker error, not recipe.
Thanks for another great meal.
This was delicious, relatively fast for bolognese, and easy to pull together. I subbed half and half for the coconut milk. My only note for next time would be to use a bit less sugar.
We liked this one! It seems like nicely filling comfort food. Full disclosure, none of us has tried any other kind of bolognese before so we have nothing to compare it too! I used slightly fewer walnuts and a splash of cream instead of coconut milk just because that’s what I had on hand. I made a double batch and stashed a bunch of dinner-sized portions of sauce in the freezer for low-effort nights. We decided about 1 cup of sauce over 2.5 oz of dry pasta (then cooked, of course) made an everyday serving size for an athletic adult woman, served next to a salad, if that helps anybody.
Ooops, forgot click the star rating with the review so now I’m replying to myself. Probably 4 stars for good, basic flavors, but then add easy-to-find, vegan ingredients, straight-forward assembly, and produce something healthy and freezable? That’s 5 stars.
Thanks for doubling back to leave a rating. We really appreciate it! ~ Marion :)
Delicious! I swapped out the tomato paste for tomato sauce.
Pretty good. As other commenters suggested, I upped the spices and used Better than Bouillon beef broth. As with all sauces, it’s much better a day or two after making. I use it as a kind of dip with pita bread instead of pasta. Will definitely make again.
Delicious and easy. I subbed half and half for the coconut milk. Served with some red pepper flakes, parmesan cheese, and broccoli. We would make again!
This was really very good and we will make again, and it made great leftovers. I have to say, I feel a little virtuous when I include some meatless meals to the rotation and this is a keeper. (That said, there is something glorious about beefy bolognese sauce that is something else.) But this one is also VERY GOOD! Thank you Beth!
This bolognese is packed with a variety of vegetables, legumes, and herbs, it is super healthy, delicious, and thrifty. That’s the direction I want to go. :)
This one is legitimate. The mouthfeel was very Bolognese and the flavor of the sauce was delicious. My partner was SUPER skeptical when I told him what we were having for dinner and by the first bite he was sold. It also made for some nice left overs at work.
I did negate the vegan (and arguably the vegetarian) part of the recipe by putting parmesan on top. It did add something to make it feel more like a traditional pasta dish but it wasn’t necessary.
This recipe is SO GOOD! I changed nothing and it turned out amazing. My freezer is stocked with this and your sausage and lentil stew – huge hits in my house!
This kind of recipe is the reason I’ve come to hold Budget Bytes in such high esteem over the years. It’s creative, uses basic ingredients, and gets me excited about assembling more delicious meatless meals for my family. Thank you for this winner!
This was so good! I used almonds instead of walnuts (just because that’s what I had in the pantry) and it was still amazing, but next time I’ll definitely try it with walnuts.
Delicious!! The only negative is the sodium content. I Used no salt crushed tomatoes and low sodium vegetable broth. Hopefully that lowered the sodium count
Fantastic recipe, easily one of the best red sauces I’ve ever made. The flavors were rich and flavorful, and I really loved the texture combination of walnuts and lentils. I didn’t have quite enough red lentils, so I did about half red and half brown, which I thought worked out really well. I did let it simmer longer (maybe 45-60 minutes), and I think helped the brown lentils break down a little more. I also used half and half instead of coconut milk and added a glug of wine because why not? Highly recommended, and I’ll definitely have this recipe on repeat.