This Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta is the creamy, delicious, homemade pasta sauce you’ve been waiting for! Made with freshly roasted garlic and seasoned with simple, everyday ingredients, this recipe is sure to be a hit with your family (it certainly was with mine)!
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta:
- Rigatoni pasta – I used the rigatoni pasta variation for this Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta recipe, but feel free to use whatever kind of pasta you enjoy or have on hand!
- Fresh garlic – fresh garlic is essential for this recipe! You’ll roast it along with your red bell peppers. It elevates this dish and adds the best flavor!
- Fresh red bell peppers – the main ingredient! I always prefer to roast my own, but if you’re pinched for time you can also use one 12 ounce container of jarred peppers as well.
- Yellow onion – onion always adds a welcomed flavor to most any dish. You’ll dice these and sautĆ© them before adding them to the blender to create the sauce.
- Fresh parsley – I love adding a fresh element to a pasta dish. Fresh parsley will be included in the sauce and also used as a garnish. If you don’t have any, you could also substitute with fresh basil instead, or even dried parsley.
- Olive oil – olive oil will add to the flavor of the sauce. Whenever possible, choose a high quality extra virgin olive oil.
- Lemon juice – if you have fresh lemons on hand, definitely use them! Of not, bottled lemon juice will work too.
- Dried rosemary – an essential seasoning to this pasta! Don’t skip it!
- Nutritional yeast – adds a slightly cheesy taste, plus nutrients to the dish!
- Vegan chicken broth – you can also substitute with vegetable broth.
How to Make Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta
Making this Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta is a lot easier than you might think. Once you’ve roasted your vegetables and sautĆ©ed your diced onions, all you’re really left to do is blend everything up! Of course, there’s a bit you have to do in between… let me explain!
The first thing you’ll want to do is preheat your oven to 400Ā° so that it’s ready to go when you’re ready. Next gather up all of your ingredients to ensure you have everything you need. There’s nothing worse than starting a recipe only to realize halfway through that you’re missing something!
Once all of your ingredients have been gathered, prep your red bell peppers by cutting them in half and removing the seeds. Grab your garlic clove and cut off the top portion, exposing the garlic cloves. Place the halved bell peppers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then place the garlic clove on a small piece of foil (enough to wrap it in). Drizzle the bell peppers and garlic with olive oil, then lightly season with salt and pepper.
Wrap the garlic tightly in the foil and place it on the baking sheet with the red bell peppers. Transfer them to the oven and roast for 35 minutes. While the vegetables are roasting, cook the pasta of your choice according to package ingredients. Once it’s done, drain and set aside until needed.
In a large sautƩ pan over medium heat, cook the diced onions with a drizzle of olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Once the onions have been cooked through and are semi-translucent, remove them from the heat and set aside.
How to Make Roasted Red Bell Pepper Sauce
When your roasted vegetables have finished, remove them from the oven and set them aside. Transfer the roasted red bell peppers to an air tight container and allow them to steam for about 10 minutes. Doing this will help to make removing the skin from the bell peppers easier to do.
While the red bell peppers are steaming, you can begin adding all of the other ingredients to the blender container – roasted garlic, sautĆ©ed onions, fresh parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, dried rosemary, black pepper, nutritional yeast and vegan chicken broth (or vegetable broth).
Once the red bell peppers have finished steaming, remove them from the container and peel the skin off of each pepper, then add it to the blender along with the other ingredients. Blend on high until you’ve created a smooth, creamy sauce texture. Combine with the cooked pasta in the sautĆ© pan used earlier to cook the onions and garnish with additional fresh parsley. Enjoy!
How to Store and Reheat Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta
If you’re making this dish ahead of time, and know that you’ll want to use it for meal-prep or enjoy it throughout the week it’s a good idea to store the pasta and sauce separately. This will help preserve the flavor and keep the dish enjoyable.
A lot of time when we store pasta dishes already mixed together with the sauce, the sauce can be soaked up by the noodles, making the dish dry after reheating. Ain’t nobody got time for that! So do yourself a favor and store them in separate containers!
If you do end up storing the pasta and sauce together, already mixed, you might find it helpful to reheat it with a few splashes of water.
Tips for Making the Best Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta
- Don’t overcook your pasta – no one likes mushy noodles, so be sure to cook your pasta so that it’s al dente. Be sure to follow the package instructions.
- Mix the sauce well – for the smoothest, creamiest texture be sure to give your sauce enough time to combine well in the blender. Using a high quality blender will help with this to make sure that there are no bits and pieces left in the sauce.
- Use high quality ingredients – whenever possible, using high quality ingredients will help ensure you have the best finished product.
What do Roasted Red Bell Peppers Taste Like?
Red bell peppers have a wonderfully mild, sweet taste that is only heightened when roasted. Combined with the addition of the roasted garlic, it’s seriously a match made in heaven which makes this the perfect Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta dish!
How Long Will This Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta
Dish Last?
If storing the Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta sauce by itself, it will last up to 5 days. If stored with the cooked pasta, it will last for 3-4 days.
Substitutions and Additions for Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta
- Jarred Roasted Red Bell Peppers – If you’re pinched for time, you can absolutely used store bought jarred roasted red bell peppers. I’d recommend using a high-quality brand to yield the best results. One 12 ounce container should do it. Just be sure to drain them otherwise your sauce may be too watery.
- Roasted Vegetables – adding roasted vegetables to this Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta dish is always a great idea! Consider adding diced roasted eggplant, roasted cauliflower, or roasted broccoli to make this dish more hearty.
- Vegan Cheese – for a more cheesy taste, consider adding vegan parmesan cheese to the sauce mixture or sprinkle overtop of the dish after plating.
- Protein – some vegan chicken pieces or tofu would be great here!
- Seasonings – want some heat? Try adding some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper to spice things up a little bit.
- Gluten Free Option – you could make this roasted red bell pepper pasta gluten free or low carb by substituting the traditional pasta with your favorite gluten free pasta.
- Bell Peppers – if you’d like, you can substitute the red bell peppers with orange or yellow or do a combination of both. I most prefer the taste of red bell peppers in this dish, but it’s certainly an option if you’d like to try something different.
- Pasta – you can feel free to use any paste you’d prefer for this dish. Whatever variation you have on hand will work!
I know you’ll love this vegan Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta. It’s easy to make, flavorful and delicious! Give this recipe a try and let me know how it goes in the comments below!
More Pasta Recipes You’ll Love!
- Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Pasta
- Vegan Sun Dried Tomato Pasta
- Roasted Vegetable Baked Penne Pasta
- Easy Vegan Cashew Alfredo
- Vegan Rasta Pasta
- Easy Thai Red Curry Pasta
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Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 oz. rigatoni pasta
- 1 clove fresh garlic outer layers peeled, but not pulled apart
- 2 fresh red bell peppers halved, seeds + stems removed
- Ā½ yellow onion diced
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped. plus more for garnish.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- black pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Ā½ cup vegan chicken broth
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400Ā°
- Peel the outer layer of fresh garlic and cut off the top portion, exposing the garlic bulbs.1 clove fresh garlic
- Place the halved red bell peppers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (outside of bell pepper facing up), then place the garlic bulb in the center of a small piece of foil, on the same baking sheet.2 fresh red bell peppers
- Drizzle the bell peppers and garlic with olive oil, then lightly season with salt and pepper to taste. Wrap the garlic tightly in the foil and transfer the baking pan to the oven to roast for 35 minutes.
- While the vegetables are roasting, cook pasta according to package ingredients, then set aside once done.16 oz. rigatoni pasta
- In a large sautĆ© pan, sautĆ© the diced onions over medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil until translucent. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then set aside.Ā½ yellow onion
- Once the bell peppers and garlic are finished roasting, remove them from the oven, then transfer the peppers to an airtight container. Allow them to steam for 10 minutes, then remove the outer skin of each pepper.
- Add the roasted bell peppers, roasted garlic, sautĆ©ed onion, olive oil, parsley, lemon juice, salt, dried rosemary, black pepper, nutritional yeast and vegan chicken broth to a high speed blender. Blend on high until the mixture is smooth.1 clove fresh garlic, 2 fresh red bell peppers, 1 tbsp fresh parsley, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp dried rosemary, black pepper, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, Ā½ cup vegan chicken broth, Ā½ yellow onion
- Add the cooked pasta to the sautƩ pan used previously, then pour the sauce mixture overtop and stir. Warm over medium low heat if desired.
- Garnish with additional fresh parsley. Enjoy!
After DesirĆ©e posted this dish on IG, I knew I would be making it IMMEDIATELY! This recipe was every bit as delicious as she said it was and I didn’t think it was hard to put together at all. Will definitely be making this recipe again and again! The roasted garlic set it OFF!