Fall is upon us my friends, so I’m servin’ up all the season fall meals to get you through! This savory Vegan Pumpkin Meatball Pastas is hearty, filling, seasoned to perfection and tossed in the perfect fall-inspired pasta sauce that I know you’ll love (even if you’re not a huge pumpkin fan!).
Ingredients You’ll Need for Vegan Pumpkin Meatball Pasta:
- pasta of choice – for this recipe, feel free to use whatever pasta noodles you enjoy most! Penne, fettuccine, spaghetti, or even farfalle would be great.
- vegan butter (or neutral oil of choice) – the oil in this recipe is used toast the seasonings. If you don’t have any vegan butter, feel free to substitute with any neutral oil of choice like olive or grape seed oil.
- Seasonings: garlic powder, dried sage, onion powder, chili powder, dried rosemary, dried thyme – these seasonings are what’s going to make your Vegan Pumpkin Meatball Pasta come alive! Feel free to customize to your liking.
- pumpkin puree – you can’t have a pumpkin dish without pumpkin, so you’ll definitely wanna make sure you have this handy! For convenience, I always use canned pumpkin puree that can be found at your local grocery store.
- nutritional yeast – nutritional yeast is one of those “nice to have” ingredients for this recipe. You won’t miss it if you don’t use it, but it’s always nice to be able to add in some extra protein and B Vitamins.
- unsweetened almond milk – all out of almond milk? Feel free to substitute with another unsweetened dairy-free milk of choice like soy.
- vegetable broth – the broth is used in conjunction with the almond milk to create your creamy pumpkin sauce. I like to use both, but you could get away with only using one or the other or almond milk plus water instead of broth.
- ground flaxseed – this item will act as your binder for your meatballs instead of eggs. Alternatively you could use chia seeds or a store-bought egg replacer instead.
- vegan ground meat – for the most authentic taste, I chose to use a store-bought vegan ground. You can use whatever brand you enjoy most.
- breadcrumbs – for this recipe you can use whatever kind of breadcrumbs you have on hand. Wholewheat, gluten-free, or even panko. I used a regular version.
- yellow onion – the yellow onion will help add flavor to your vegan meatballs. I wouldn’t skip it!
- fresh thyme, rosemary, or sage for garnish – a meal like this deserves a good garnish, so
How to Make Vegan Pumpkin Meatball Pasta
To make this dish you’ll want to start by gathering all of your ingredients. There’s nothing worse than starting a recipe, only to discover halfway through that you’re missing a thing or two.
Once all of your ingredients are together, you can begin prepping all of your ingredients. Chopping your onion, create the flax egg, measure out your seasonings, measure out your liquids, and measure the dry ingredients, etc.
Cook your pasta of choice according to package instructions. While the pasta is cooking, begin preparing your vegan meatballs by adding all of the meatball ingredients to a large bowl and stir everything together runtil well-combined.
Preheat a large pan over medium heat along with some oil. Grab a cookie scoop and portion out each meatball, then transfer to the pan once warm. Brown the meatballs on all sides, rotating consistenly until cooked through.
Preparing the Vegan Pumpkin Pasta Sauce
When all of the meatballs have been cooked, set aside and begin preparing the pasta sauce. In a large sauté pan, add some vegan butter or oil over medium heat, then add in all pasta sauce seasonings.
Stir in the pan and until seasonings are fragrant, then add the pumpkin puree, nutritional yeast, unsweetened almond milk and vegetable broth. Stir everything together until everything is well combined and the sauce is smooth.
Add the cooked vegan meatballs to the pan along with the sauce and stir them in. Stir the pasta sauce over the cooked noodles and garnish with grated vegan cheese and fresh thyme, rosemary, or sage and prepare to enjoy!
I know you’ll love this Vegan Pumpkin Meatball Pasta! It’s filled with fall flavor, warm, comforting, and delicious! Give this recipe a try and let me know how it goes in the comments below!
More Pumpkin Recipes You’ll Love:
- Vegan Pumpkin Spinach Mac and Cheese
- Vegan Pumpkin Banana Bread
- Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Pasta
- Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
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Vegan Pumpkin Meatball Pasta [+VIDEO]
Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta of choice
Vegan Meatballs
- 1 flax egg (2 tbsp ground flaxseed meal + 5 tbsp water)
- 12 oz vegan ground meat
- ½ tbsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tbsp dried sage
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ⅓ cup breadcrumbs
- ½ medium yellow onion diced
- ¼ cup pumpkin puree
Pasta Sauce
- 2 tbsp vegan butter (or neutral oil of choice)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 can pumpkin puree
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ¾ cups unsweetened almond milk
- 1¼ cups vegetable broth
- fresh thyme, rosemary, or sage for garnish
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package ingredients, then set aside.1 lb pasta
- Combine the water and flax seed meal in a small bowl to make the flax egg. Set aside until thickened.1 flax egg
- In a large bowl add the ingredients (including the flax eggs) for the meatballs and stir until all ingredients are well combined.12 oz vegan ground meat, ½ tbsp dried rosemary, 1 tsp onion powder, ½ tbsp dried sage, 1 tsp dried thyme, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, ⅓ cup breadcrumbs, ½ medium yellow onion, ¼ cup pumpkin puree
- Use a cookie scoop to form each meatball, then transfer to a large well-oiled pan over medium heat with fresh rosemary (optional).
- Cook the meatballs on each side until browned and cooked through.
- Transfer the meatballs to the pan with the sauce and combine.
Pumpkin Pasta Sauce
- In a large sauté pan add vegan butter (or oil) and warm over medium heat.2 tbsp vegan butter
- Add seasonings to the pan and toast for about 1 minute.1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp dried sage, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp chili powder, ½ tsp salt
- Add pumpkin puree, nutritional yeast, unsweetened almond milk, and vegetable broth to the pan and bring to a low boil stirring frequently.1 can pumpkin puree, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, ¾ cups unsweetened almond milk, 1¼ cups vegetable broth
- Stir until all ingredients are well combined, then set aside.
Vegan Meatballs
- Plate each serving of pasta, then cover with a generous serving of the meatballs and pasta sauce. Garnish with fresh thyme, rosemary, or sage (optional). Enjoy!fresh thyme, rosemary, or sage
