This savory vegan beetroot sauce is made with a roasted red beet, creamy cashews, lemon juice, garlic, and sauteed onions. Serve it with pasta for a vibrant and flavorful oil-free dinner!
I first fell in love with beets after I tasted beet hummus for the first time. I loved the vibrant color and sweet, earthy flavor. After that, I started putting beets in everything, they’re so versatile! I made beetroot salad with vegan feta, pickled beets to put in my salad, and I even popped a small one in my breakfast smoothie which was surprisingly pretty and delicious!
Roasted beets also make an incredibly tasty pasta sauce! Blended with creamy cashews, lemon juice, sauteed onions, and garlic, this vegan beetroot sauce is savory, flavorful, and delicious served with pasta! It’s also naturally gluten-free and oil-free. This dish makes a great dinner any night of the week, but I especially love to make it for dinner on Valentine’s day because the sauce is naturally hot pink!
Ingredients & Substitutions
You only need 10 simple ingredients to make this delicious meal! I listed a few important notes and possible substitutions about the ingredients below.
- Red Beetroot: To make the sauce hot pink, you have to use red beetroot. However, if you don’t have red beets or you don’t care about the bright color, you can still make the sauce by substituting golden beets or 2-3 cups of cauliflower.
- Plant Milk Options: I used unsweetened almond milk, but you can use any unsweetened and unflavored (no vanilla) plant milk. Unsweetened coconut milk would be my second choice because it’s very creamy.
- Fresh Spinach: You can use fresh or frozen spinach, either is fine. If you don’t want to use spinach, you could substitute thinly sliced kale, the fresh beetroot greens, or swiss chard.
- Raw Cashews: It’s important to use plain raw cashews and to soak or boil them before blending. Instead of raw cashews, you can substitute raw sunflower seeds if you need to. They will make the beetroot sauce very creamy just like the cashews do.
How to Make Beetroot Sauce
First, wrap one large beet in a piece of parchment paper and then roast it until tender (Photos 1 & 2). While the beet is roasting, boil the cashews for 10 minutes. In a large pan, saute the onion and garlic until soft (Photo 3). When the beets are done, take the tray out of the oven and let it cool for a few minutes until you can handle it without burning yourself. You can use a paper towel to rub the skin off or just use a knife to cut it off.
Combine the roasted beet, cooked onions and garlic, lemon juice, almond milk, cashews, salt, and pepper in a large blender cup (Photo 4). Blend until the sauce is smooth and creamy (Photo 5). Pour the beetroot sauce into the pan that you sauteed the onions in warm it over medium heat. Add the lemon zest, fresh spinach, and cooked pasta (Photo 6). Stir to coat the noodles with the beetroot sauce. The heat from the noodles will wilt the spinach.
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve this beetroot sauce over noodles, but it would also be delicious mixed with gnocchi or ravioli. It’s delicious any night of the week, but it’s the perfect pink meal to serve on Valentine’s day (this is the heart-shaped recipe that I make for breakfast!) or for Halloween with an olive spider (see how to make the edible spiders, here) topping.
Any of the following recipes would make a great side dish to serve with this pasta!
How To Store It
Store leftover beetroot pasta in an airtight container in the fridge and it should stay fresh for 4-5 days.
Can I Freeze It?
You can freeze just the beetroot pasta sauce by itself or you can freeze the sauce mixed with cooked noodles. Put it in an airtight freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 2-3 months.
How to Reheat It
Take the container of beetroot sauce out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to defrost for 24 hours. Then you can reheat it in the microwave for 2-3 minutes or in a saucepan on the stovetop until it’s warmed through. If the sauce is too thick, add 1-2 tbsp of water or almond milk to thin the sauce a little bit.
Recipe Variations
This beetroot sauce is incredibly tasty served with pasta, but you can jazz it up by adding any of the following ingredients.
- Add Plant-Based Protein: Stir in (1) 14 oz can of creamy white beans (like great northern or cannellini) to add extra plant-based protein to the dish.
- Add Vegan Cheese: To make this recipe taste extra decadent, I like to swirl dollops of soft vegan cheese throughout the pasta. To do this, I like to use Miyoko’s sundried tomato garlic cheese or Treeline soft French-style herb-garlic cheese.
- Add Fresh Herbs: Thinly sliced basil is excellent stirred into this vegan beet pasta. It’s so flavorful!
Notes & FAQ
- What herbs go well with beetroot? If you want to add some fresh herbs to the pasta, fresh basil and chives are delicious.
- Can I use frozen spinach? Sure. You could add the frozen spinach to the boiling water with the noodles 1 minute before it is done to cook it quickly. Or you can add the frozen spinach to the beet sauce in a pan and warm it on the stovetop.
- Can I add vegetables? Definitely, roasted vegetables would be delicious mixed in with the noodles! Roasted mushrooms, broccoli florets, or zucchini would be great additions.
- What can I do with the beet greens? Don’t throw them out! Beet greens are delicious and nutritious. Add them to a salad or you can use the stems and greens in this roasted beetroot feta salad.
- Gluten-Free: To make this recipe gluten-free, you need to use gluten-free pasta. Have you tried chickpea noodles? I think it tastes the closest to white flour pasta. The beetroot sauce is naturally gluten-free.
Success Tips
- It’s important to soak or boil the cashews to soften the nuts and make them easier to digest.
- Wrap the beetroot in parchment or foil to protect it while roasting. I didn’t use any oil on the beets and they came out perfectly tender and not dry.
- Have you seen those packages of cooked beets (I think the brand is called Love Beets) at the grocery store? If you use pre-cooked beets instead of roasting them from scratch, you could get this dinner ready in about 20 minutes. Roasting the beets is the most time-intensive part of the recipe.
- To have one less pan to wash, you could combine two steps by doing the following. In a large pan, add the sliced onions, sliced garlic, and 1 cup of cashews. Cover with water, bring it to a boil and let it cook for 10 minutes. Drain any excess water and then transfer the mixture to the blender with the rest of the beet sauce ingredients.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days or you can freeze it for a future meal.
Want More Vibrant Vegan Recipes?
Pesto Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Lentil Stuffed Red Cabbage Rolls
Vegan Beetroot Pasta Sauce
Equipment
- Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper
- Medium Saucepan
- Large Pan
- Large Pot
- Blender
Ingredients
- 16 oz farfalle pasta (use gluten-free pasta if necessary)
- 1 large red beet peeled
- 1/2 cup raw cashews (or raw sunflower seeds)
- 3-4 tbsp vegetable broth (to saute)
- 1 medium yellow onion sliced
- 3 medium garlic cloves
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 3-4 cups fresh spinach
- 1 tbsp chives chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Trim the stems and greens off the beet. Wrap the beet with parchment paper or foil on a sheet pan and roast for 50-60 minutes or until the beets are tender. You can test it by sticking the beet with a fork or knife, it should slide in easily. It may take less time if you use small beets.
- Put the raw cashews in a medium saucepan and cover with 1-inch of water. Bring it to a boil and let it cook for 10 minutes. Drain any excess water. Set aside.
- While the beets are roasting, saute the onions in 3-4 tbsp of vegetable broth in a large pan over medium heat until they're soft and translucent. Add the sliced garlic and let it cook for 3 minutes.
- Remove the cooked beets from the oven and let them cool until you can handle them without burning yourself. You can cut the skin off or use a paper towel to rub the skin off.
- In a large pot, boil water and cook the pasta until tender. Drain the pasta and set it aside. While the pasta is cooking, make the beet sauce.
- Add the cooked and peeled beet, boiled cashews, sauteed onions and garlic, 3 tbsp lemon juice, 1 cup almond milk, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp black pepper to a high-powered blender. Blend on high until the sauce is smooth and creamy. Pour the sauce into the pan that you cooked the onions in and warm it over medium-low heat.
- Add the zest of 1 lemon, 3-4 handfuls of fresh spinach, and the cooked noodles to the pan with the beet sauce. Stir to coat the noodles in the sauce. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Garnish with chopped chives before serving.
Notes
- It's important to soak or boil the cashews to soften the nuts and make them easier to digest.
- Wrap the beetroot in parchment or foil to protect it while roasting. I didn't use any oil on the beets and they came out perfectly tender and not dry.
- Have you seen those packages of cooked beets (I think the brand is called Love Beets) at the grocery store? If you use pre-cooked beets instead of roasting them from scratch, you could get this dinner ready in about 20 minutes. Roasting the beets is the most time-intensive part of the recipe.
- To have one less pan to wash, you could combine two steps by doing the following. In a large pan, add the sliced onions, sliced garlic, and 1 cup of cashews. Cover with water, bring it to a boil and let it cook for 10 minutes. Drain any excess water and then transfer the mixture to the blender with the rest of the beet sauce ingredients.
- Make sure to zest the lemon before juicing it.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days or you can freeze it for a future meal.
Nutrition
*This beetroot sauce recipe was originally shared on 3/6/17, but I updated it on 9/21/20.
