Carrot pasta sauce is earthy, warm and creamy. This healthy, low fat sauce is also very easy to make. In fact, you only need eight simple ingredients that you probably already have your pantry.
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Carrot pasta sauce is the creamy alternative to the traditional tomato based pasta sauce. Loaded with vitamins and minerals, and super simple to make, once you try it, this pasta recipe will quickly earn a spot in your regular dinner rotation. It's that good!
We all love Bolognese and pesto based pastas, but this healthy pasta recipe will turn everyone's head with it's stunning, vibrant color, and it's warm, comforting flavor; every time I make carrot pasta, someone asks me for the recipe.
Let's get started!
💚Reasons You'll Love This Recipe
✅Carrot pasta is a healthy, budget friendly meal.
✅Use this recipe to sneak some veggies into your children's diets. They won't even notice!
✅You only need a few minutes hands-on time to make this recipe. The oven does the rest.
✅Compared to many traditional creamy pasta sauces, carrot pasta sauce is low in fat. You only need two tablespoons of olive oil.
✅So many carrot pasta sauces get their creaminess from cashews. No cashews or hard to find ingredients here! And, you'll love how creamy this sauce is.
🥕What Does Adding A Carrot To Sauce Do?
Adding carrots to a sauce adds flavor, sweetness, and nutritional value. If you're simply adding carrots to a tomato based sauce, their natural sugars will help balance the acidity of the tomatoes and give the sauce a natural sweetness. No refined sugar needed! Additionally, carrots are a great source of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, potassium, and fiber, which can enhance the nutritional value of the sauce.
If you're using carrots as the primary ingredient in your pasta sauce, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the depth of their flavor. When roasted, carrots get a delightfully sweet, caramelized flavor that makes a perfect sauce based.
I like to roast a bunch of carrots and store them in the freezer. That way, when I want a totally carrot based sauce (like this recipe), or to add a boost of natural sweetness to another sauce, I always have some on hand. Roasted carrots will stay fresh in the freezer for up to three months.
🛒Ingredients, Tips And Substitutions
- Carrots: We'll be roasting the carrots in this recipe. Roasting carrots caramelizes them and brings out their natural sweetness. There's no need to peel the carrots here. Simply trim them and slice them into rounds.
- Olive Oil: I've written this recipe using 2 tablespoons of olive oil. However, if you want to lower the fat content, you can reduce the oil to 1 tablespoon. For more info on the suitability of olive oil for a vegan diet, check out this post: Is Olive Oil Vegan? The Answer Might Surprise You.
- Pasta: I used linguine, because flat noodles cling nicely to a creamy sauce, but you can use any pasta that you have on hand.
- Red Onion: I like to use red onions because they have a slightly sweeter, less assertive onion flavor than yellow onions. However, if a yellow onion is what you have on hand, go ahead and use it.
- Vegetable Broth: You can go the easy route like I did, and use vegetable broth from a bouillon cube. Or, you can use a fresh vegetable stock.
- White Pepper: White pepper is such an underused ingredient, in my opinion. It adds a lovely background heat without being spicy. In this recipe it perfectly balances the sweet, earthy flavor of the roasted carrots.
- Salt: Salt makes all the other flavors pop. Be sure to add a bit of salt to pasta water too.
- Cayenne Pepper: We'll only being a using a pinch of cayenne pepper here. It's not enough to make the carrot sauce spicy; it's just enough to bring it to life.
🍝What Pasta Is Best For Carrot Sauce?
For a creamy roasted carrot pasta sauce, you'll want to choose a pasta shape that complements the creamy texture of the sauce and allows it to cling to the pasta. Here are some pasta shapes that would work well:
- Fettuccine: The wide, flat noodles of fettuccine are a classic choice for creamy pasta sauces. The broad surface area of the noodles allows the sauce to coat them evenly.
- Linguine: This long, thin noodle is similar to spaghetti, but with a flattened shape. Like fettuccine, linguine's flat surface area can hold onto the creamy sauce.
- Penne: The ridged surface and hollow center of penne pasta make it a great option for thick, creamy sauces. The ridges can help the sauce cling to the pasta, while the hollow center allows it to fill up with the sauce.
- Farfalle: This pasta shape, also known as bowtie pasta, adds a fun and playful element to your dish. The textured surface of the pasta can also help the sauce cling to it. Since, pasta carrot sauce is popular with kids, this could be an excellent choice for a family meal.
🔪How To Make Carrot Pasta
- Preheat your oven to 400° F (200° C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Spread your carrots, onion and garlic out evenly on the baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 25-30 minutes, turning once at the half way point.
- Once the carrots have been cooking for 15 minutes, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
- Remove the garlic from their skins. Add the carrots, onion and garlic to a blender along with the veggie broth and reserved pasta water. I have a bullet blender that I absolutely love for making creamy sauces like this one. Blend until the sauce is smooth and creamy. Season with salt, white pepper and cayenne.
- Transfer your sauce to a saucepan and heat for 3 minutes over low heat. Add the pasta to the sauce. Garnish with fresh herbs that you love!
- Enjoy!
How To Make Carrot Pasta Sauce In A Slow Cooker
You can make carrot pasta sauce in your slow cooker or your pressure cooker. You'll need to caramelize the carrots and onions first by roasting them in the oven. Add them to the slow cooker along with 2 cups of veggie broth and cook on medium heat for 4-6 hours. Once the sauce is done, use an immersion blender or transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until smooth.
If you're using a pressure cooker, the sauce should only take about five minutes to make.
Serving Suggestions
- I recommend serving carrot pasta with a simple, fresh green salad. Jerusalem salad would be a good choice.
- This is a saucy sauce, so you might enjoy having a side of bread to soak up the extra sauce. Try my homemade semolina bread, or even my easy Turkish flatbread.
- Like it a little bit spicy? Turn up the heat by sprinkling on some chili pepper flakes.
- Serve with a side of roasted artichokes with a garlic aioli dipping sauce.
🙋♀️Frequently Asked Questions
This is a great sauce to make ahead, because you can store it in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container. I recommend storing the sauce separate to the pasta. However, if you have leftover pasta with carrot sauce, it's fine to put it in an airtight container in the fridge. It should stay fresh for up to 5 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop or in your microwave.
Absolutely. I recommend freezing carrot pasta sauce in an ice cube tray. Once the sauces is frozen, pop out the ice cubes and transfer them to a freezer bag. Whenever you'd like a healthy pasta sauce, you can grab a handful of cubes and reheat them.
Carrots contain natural sugars which can help balance the acidity of a tomato-based sauce, but they do not absorb acid from the sauce. While the sweetness of the carrots may counteract some of the acidity, the acidity level of the sauce will remain largely unchanged.
Craving More Easy Vegan Pasta Recipes?
Cajun Coconut Milk Pasta Sauce
Pasta Fredda - Cold Pasta Salad
Air Fryer Pasta Chips - 5 Flavors
Pasta With A Creamy Tahini Sauce
📖 Recipe
Carrot Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- 12 ounces pasta of choice
- 4 carrots trimmed and cut into ¼ rounds
- 1 onion cut into quarters
- 4 garlic cloves whole, skin on
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 cup reserved cooking water from pasta
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F (200° C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Spread the carrots, onion and garlic out evenly on the baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 25-30 minutes, turning once at the half way point.
- Once the carrots have been cooking for 15 minutes, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
- Remove the garlic from their skins. Add the carrots, onion and garlic to a blender along with the veggie broth and reserved pasta water. Blend until the sauce is smooth and creamy. Season with salt, white pepper and cayenne.
- Transfer the sauce to a saucepan and heat for 3 minutes over low heat. Add the pasta to the sauce.
Notes
- This is a great sauce to make ahead, because you can store it in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container. I recommend storing the sauce separate to the pasta. However, if you have leftover pasta with carrot sauce, it's fine to put it in an airtight container in the fridge. It should stay fresh for up to 5 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop or in your microwave.
- To make this recipe gluten free, simply substitute the pasta for your favorite gluten free pasta. There's no gluten in the sauce.
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