Crumbled vegan sausage and fennel are sauteed, then smothered with a rich tomato sauce. All the ingredients simmer together for just 15 minutes, but the sauce tastes like a traditional Italian tomato sauce that’s been simmering all afternoon. Everything is tossed with perfectly al dente bucatini for an unbelievably delicious yet weeknight-friendly pasta dinner.
Why this recipe works
Comfort food at its best
The best vegan comfort food is warm, indulgent, and hearty. And this vegan fennel and sausage pasta has everything you want in a big bowl of comfort food:
A rich and meaty tomato sauce; Slurpable noodles; PLUS A quick cook time and minimal ingredients.
It’s a pasta dinner that will satisfy all of you and your family’s hearty pasta cravings, even the picky eaters!
Simple ingredients; big flavor
Vegan pasta doesn’t have to be complicated! You can use a handful of high-quality ingredients to produce a beautiful, restaurant-quality meal (have you tried my 10-ingredient Lentil Bolognese with 800+ 5-star reviews??). Here, you only need 10-ish easy-to-find ingredients to make this flavor-packed and hearty pasta dinner that everyone will adore.
A gourmet weeknight dinner
This recipe needs just 10 minutes of prep time and is easy to put together, even if you’re a beginner cook. Everything except the pasta is simmered in one pan on the stove – no complicated steps or techniques needed! Toss to coat, then dig in! Want to shave a few minutes off of the prep time? Head to the Tips section, where we’ve included plenty of multi-tasking tips to help you get this hearty dinner on the table even faster.
Ingredient notes
Vegan sausage
Meaty and hearty vegan sausage is the star of this comforting meal. While I typically prefer to cook with whole foods, I make an exception from time to time for vegan sausage when it’s really worth it. Here, vegan sausage adds a ton of flavor to the dish with minimal work, allowing you to use fewer ingredients and to get a gourmet-tasting dinner on the table relatively quickly. Plus, because the sausage is vegan, the tomato sauce takes on all of the sausage’s flavor but none of the heaviness or grease you would get from traditional animal sausage! Substitute: If you can’t find vegan sausage, use a vegan ground “meat” instead. Just be sure that you like the flavor of whatever you use before adding it to this dish.
Bucatini
Just like the classic Roman recipe, Bucatini all’Amatriciana, we love this dish with bucatini pasta. It’s a long, round pasta noodle, similar to spaghetti, but has a hole in the middle. The sauce gets sucked up inside, making every slurpable bite extra delicious. Tips for buying: You can find bucatini in most well-stocked grocery stores or at Italian markets. There are several brands to choose from, including the Whole Foods 365 brand (which is very high quality for the price). Substitute: You can easily substitute spaghetti noodles for bucatini, or even a medium-sized ridged pasta, like rigatoni.
Canned tomatoes
Whole peeled tomatoes are another star in this Roman-inspired tomato sauce. Their flavors are on display in every bite, so please use the best-quality canned tomatoes you can find and afford. If you opt for the cheaper, low-quality alternative, the sauce will be too acidic. Another reason why I love whole peeled tomatoes here? The only ingredients are tomatoes! Unlike pre-crushed or pre-diced tomatoes, whole peeled tomatoes don’t have any additives or extra ingredients, meaning your sauce will have better flavor and texture (pre-diced tomatoes, for instance, typically contain calcium chloride and citric acid, which makes it hard for them to soften). Another secret to this sauce is to crush the whole peeled tomatoes with your (clean) hands. This method is important for two reasons: (1) it gives the sauce a more interesting texture that’s not as uniform throughout, and (2) better flavor. Tips for buying: Our absolute favorite brand of canned whole peeled tomatoes is Bianco DiNapoli. Other brands that sell good-quality tomatoes that we like are Cento, Mutti, San Merican, and Organic Bello.
Fennel
Sauteed fennel slices give this dish subtly sweet notes that complement the tomatoes perfectly.
Nutritional yeast
Nutritional yeast is one of my favorite ingredients to add to Vegan Pasta Recipes. It adds a cheesy and savory depth of flavor that you would normally get from pecorino romano, parmesan, or parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Here, it’s the key to bringing out the umami flavor in the sausage, making this pasta dish taste undetectably vegan.
Tips for making this recipe
Multitask
You can shave a few minutes off of the prep time for this pasta dinner by following these multitasking tips:
Don’t forget to save some pasta water
Starchy and salty pasta water is like liquid gold. When you add some to the crushed tomato sauce, it helps thicken the consistency and ensures that it thoroughly coats the pasta. It can be easy to forget to save the pasta water, so keep a ladle or measuring cup next to the pot of water to help you remember!
The right tools will speed up prep time
Use a mandoline when slicing the fennel and grate the garlic with a grater to shave a few minutes off of the prep time (affiliate links).
Variations
Just because there are only 10 ingredients in this recipe doesn’t mean that you can’t customize it! You can play with the flavors or swap several ingredients without losing the gourmet quality. Here’s what we recommend:
Don’t have fennel? Use a medium or large yellow onion, or 3 to 4 shallots instead (thinly slice them). Can’t find bucatini? Use spaghetti, rigatoni, or even penne rigate. Feeding kids? Omit the red pepper flakes for less heat. Don’t have vegan sausage? Use any vegan ground “meat” that you like. Don’t love baby spinach? Skip it! Or swap with bay kale. Love veggies? Add a thinly sliced or diced red bell pepper when you add the fennel to the pan. Want to make it heartier? Cook three or four vegan sausage links instead of just two.
And if you aren’t in a rush to get this recipe on the table, you can zhuzh up the flavor even more by:
Deglazing the pan with ⅓ to ½ cup of dry white or red wine after sauteing the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook until the smell of alcohol wears off. Stirring in 2 tablespoons of tomato paste when you add the red pepper flakes. Cook it for a few minutes until it takes on a dark red color. Folding in a couple of tablespoons of capers when you add the pasta water for a salty, tangy pop.
If you love this Vegan Sausage and Fennel Pasta, please be sure to leave a rating and review below! It’s always much appreciated :) And tag me on Instagram – I love seeing your remakes!
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