Penne rose pasta, called pink sauce pasta, is a veganized version of a traditional creamy tomato pasta recipe. Made with a few simple ingredients, this easy pasta recipe is perfect for a quick and easy weeknight meal.
I love pasta, especially effortless recipes like this penne rose pasta recipe. Also called pink sauce pasta, this vegan penne rose recipe not only tastes fabulous but is also one of those quick and easy dinner recipes for busy weeknights.
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As a kid, my mom cooked pasta once a week, and I remember thinking penne rose tasted like adult SpaghettiOs. Of course, we ate whatever my mom cooked back then, even SpaghettiOs. YUCK!
SpaghettiOs taste horrid, but my mom's penne rose tasted creamy and divine. Traditionally, pink pasta, penne rose, contains oil, butter, heavy cream, and cheese. Yet, veganized, it tastes just like mom's recipe without any of those ingredients.
Penne Rose Pasta Recipe Ingredients
Sometimes, the best recipes come from the simplest of ingredients.
- Penne Pasta: Penne is similar in size to ziti but is cut diagonally, giving it a pointed edge. Unlike ziti, penne has outside ridges, which help hold onto the sauce. I used whole-grain penne.
- Red Onion: Red onions have a much higher sugar content and are, therefore sweeter than brown onions.
- Garlic: I prefer using fresh garlic cloves.
- Tomato Passate: Tomato Passata (or substitute tomato sauce or tomato puree)
- Fresh Basil: Fresh basil gives this pink pasta recipe a delicious fresh flavor.
- Poultry Seasoning: Poultry seasoning is vegan and made from sage, thyme, rosemary, and marjoram.
- Red Pepper Chili Flakes (optional): Although typically construed as a spicy ingredient, red pepper flakes, when used in small amounts, enhance the flavors of food. I highly recommend using this ingredient.
- Unsweetened, Unflavored Plant Milk: I like oat milk because its naturally creamy.
- Nutritional Yeast: nutritional yeast has a unique savory flavor that resembles cheese, making it an excellent alternative for adding flavor without salt, sugar, or fat. Some people say it adds a nutty flavor to foods.
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese: Vegan Parmesan Cheese
What is Tomato Passata, and How is it Different Than Tomato Sauce?
Passata is an uncooked tomato purée that has been strained of seeds and skins. It originated in Italy but is used throughout Europe. Some passatas are chunkier and some are smoother, depending on the brand. Some people claim that passata can also be cooked, but most agree that it is uncooked. You will also see it spelled passato and passata di pomodoro, and it can also simply be called “strained tomatoes.”
Tomato sauce and tomato paste are cooked products, which instantly makes them different from passata. In addition, tomato sauce often has other ingredients such as carrots, onions, and garlic, while tomato paste is cooked down to be extra concentrated and thick. If you cannot find it in your store, the best substitution is tomato purée or take plain tomato sauce, so don't sweat it!
How to Make Pink Pasta Sauce
- First, pink pasta sauce is a creamy version of a typical tomato sauce. Yet, the combination of the ingredients and how they are prepared is the difference between a tasty pink sauce and a bland one.
- Add red onions and garlic sautéed in an oil-free skillet to make this creamy sauce.
- Next, add the fresh basil, poultry seasoning, and red pepper flakes.
- As soon as the onions begin to brown and stick to the pan, add the tomato passata or tomato sauce, stirring the bits of browned onion and garlic into the sauce.
- Now, add the blended oat milk and nutritional yeast, slowly, stirring as the milk mixture is added to the simmering skillet.
- Once the sauce thickens, add the cooked penne and 1 cup of pasta water to the skillet and stir.
- As a result, a thick and creamy penne rose is ready for a quick and easy dinner.
- I served my pink sauce pasta topped with Vegan Parmesan Cheese, extra basil, crusty bread, and a salad, and don't plan on leftovers. My crew ate all of it!
Recipe FAQs
This sauce recipe turns out creamy, peppery, and tangy.
Penne is the perfect size and shape to hold onto sauces.
Make your pink sauce pasta more exciting by adding broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, corn, peppers, arugula, spinach, kale, peas, onions, garlic, beets and carrots.
Tips
- Forgetting to salt your water will make for flavorless pasta, and you’ll have to overcompensate by over salting your sauce—not a good move.
- I have found that most mass-marketed pasta tells you to cook your pasta for a short time. So test eat your pasta before cooking the whole time.
- Please feel free to reserve a little pasta water. Pasta water is the glue that will hold your final dish together; learn to use it.
- Since you are eating this pasta dish hot, don't rinse the pasta. Rinsing your pasta with water in a colander strips it of its starch.
- Instead of pouring the sauce on top of the noodles, finish your dish by cooking your pasta and sauce together with a bit of that pasta water you reserved.
Try this delicious pink sauce pasta recipe for a quick and easy weeknight meal! It's yummy!
More Vegan Pasta Recipe to Love!
If you love this penne rose pasta recipe, give us a 5-star review and comment below. We would love to hear from you!
📖 Recipe
Penne Rose Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Penne Pasta whole grain (or gluten-free)
- 1 small red onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 ½ cups tomato passata or substitute tomato sauce or tomato puree
- 1 Tablespoon fresh basil
- 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning I used Trader Joe's Chickless Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional, but I highly recommend
- 1 cup oat milk unsweetened and unflavored or any plant milk of choice
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
Garnish Optional
- ¼ cup vegan Parmesan cheese
- Extra Basil leaves
Instructions
Prepare the Pasta
- According to the package instructions for al dente pasta (1 minute shy of recommended cooking), cook the pasta and reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining cooked pasta in a colander.
- Cook the pasta while preparing the sauce.
Preparing the Penne Pasta Sauce
- In a large skillet, saute the diced red onion and minced garlic until the red onion and garlic brown and begin to stick to the pan.
- Then add the fresh basil and poultry seasoning; stir in wilting the basil.
- Reduce the heat to simmer, and add the tomato passata or tomato sauce, stirring with a spoon or whisk, combining the onions and garlic, and removing from the bottom of the pan.
- Combine the oat milk and nutritional yeast by blending in a small cup bender; this is so the nutritional yeast does not clump in the sauce.
- Add the milk mixture slowly to the sauce, stirring with a spoon or whisk as adding.
- Keep the temperature on simmer, and continue to stir. The sauce thickens as it cooks.
- Now, add the cooked, drained pasta and reserved 1 cup of pasta water.
- Stir until the noodles are coated, and the sauce continues to thicken
- Remove from heat.
- Serve with vegan parmesan cheese, and basil leaves for garnish.
Notes
- Forgetting to salt your water will make for flavorless pasta, and you’ll have to overcompensate by over salting your sauce—not a good move.
- I have found that most mass-marketed pasta tells you to cook your pasta for a short time. So test eat your pasta before cooking the whole time.
- Please feel free to reserve a little pasta water. Pasta water is the glue that will hold your final dish together; learn to use it.
- Since you are eating this pasta dish hot, don't rinse the pasta. Rinsing your pasta with water in a colander strips it of its starch.
- Instead of pouring the sauce on top of the noodles, finish your dish by cooking your pasta and sauce together with a bit of that pasta water you reserved.
Nutrition
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
Kathryn
Kathy
Thank you!
I used whole-grain penne.<<<<< Me too!
I finally realized white pasta is like eating white wonder bread
yuck !
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Kathyrn! Did you like the penne rose? I know...skips the whites! 🙂