25 Best Vegetarian Pasta Recipes

Vegetarianism is a very healthy, eco-friendly lifestyle, and there are plenty of dishes to go along with it. Vegetarian pasta recipes are easier to come by than you’d think. They’re tasty, contain all the good flavors, and remain low-calorie.

Meatless pasta recipes are a necessity in a vegetarian’s life. Pasta is a classic dish and is comfort food for many people. The dishes listed here include Rasta pasta, mushroom pasta, and classic vegetable macaroni and cheese.

There are so many options when it comes to vegetarian pasta dishes. So, let’s get cooking and go over our 25 best vegetarian pasta recipes.

1. Pesto Veggie Pasta

Pesto veggie pasta is a must-have. Not only is it vegetarian, but it’s also gluten-free. It’s recommended to use a food processor for this recipe as it takes less time than cutting up all the ingredients.

For this dish, the nuts can be up to you, but we recommend using walnuts.

They’re cheaper than pine nuts and can be found in almost any grocery store.

It’s also recommended to keep your oil under-processed. Too much can make the sauce too runny and will taste bitter.

2. Rasta Pasta

Rasta Pasta is a fan favorite and with the spices and the jerk seasoning, this dish can have quite the kick. This dish will only take a half-hour to make and can serve eight people.

While you can use any pasta, we recommend using penne pasta. It’s easier to cook with and to eat.

Some substitutions for carnation milk include whole milk, almond milk, and coconut milk.

Our best piece of advice is instead of adding the vegetables to the sauce directly, sauté them first. This will make it easier to cook and bring out more of the flavors.

3. Roasted Vegetable Pasta

Roasted vegetable pasta is surely at the top of the list of pasta recipes vegetarians will love. It’s healthy, full of yummy vegetables, and very flexible.

When it comes to your vegetables, seasonings, and pasta, it can all be to your tastes. Although, for first-timers, we suggest sticking to the recipe.

The Vidalia onions can be replaced with yellow onions, meanwhile, the garlic and the lemon juice can be increased to your liking. If you find the dish is too bland for you, add more cheese, herbs, red pepper, or salt.

4. Vegetable Lasagna

No meat pasta recipes may seem difficult to come by, but this vegetable lasagna is warm, serves eight people, and is flexible to your tastes.

The vegetables can be easily changed. While the recipe recommends using bell peppers, yellow onions, and zucchini, a substitute of butternut squash or mushrooms comes highly recommended.

This recipe can also be made vegan by replacing the noodles and sour cream with vegan options of noodles and sour cream. The mozzarella can be taken out and replaced with extra tomato sauce.

5. Mushroom Pasta with Spinach

Mushroom pasta with spinach may seem like there’s not a lot of room for adjustments, but with this recipe, you can choose your pasta and your toppings and can even substitute the mushrooms and spinach.

When it comes to toppings, we recommend using pine nuts, which can easily be replaced with cashews, sesame seeds, or pumpkin seeds. And a little vegan parmesan never hurts either.

If you’re not a fan of mushrooms or spinach, they can be replaced in this recipe with zucchini, peppers, and even pumpkin. Mix and match your vegetables however you’d like.

6. Baked Rigatoni

This baked rigatoni recipe is excellent for large groups or even parties. This recipe will be made in a 13 by 9 casserole dish and it makes at least eight servings. There are definitely going to be leftovers when you make this dish.

Not only is this dish packed with vegetables, but it uses two different kinds of cheese, parmesan, and mozzarella, although you can change those out if you’d really like to.

Rigatoni is the recommended pasta as it is easy to bake and doesn’t get so mushy or soggy. However, other pasta will work too.

7. Marinated Pasta Salad

Pasta salad is so good by itself, but this marinated pasta salad uses hot vegetables tossed in the dressing, which brings out so much flavor and makes the salad extra juicy.

Pasta salad can get juicy, but that usually takes up quite a bit of oil. But we’ve got a tip for that. Shake your dressing into the cooking water for the pasta and let it cook with the dressing.

This will keep out a lot of the oils and bring out more juice. This will also help it keep for a few days after cooking.

8. Macaroni and Cheese

There are plenty of easy vegetarian pasta recipes, but nothing quite like this macaroni and cheese. This dish only takes 15 minutes to make. And while it’s recommended to use fresh vegetables, this recipe also works with frozen vegetables.

When chopping the vegetables, it’s a good idea to do it when you have some time. It can be difficult to find time so we recommend using a food processor.

Chopping up extras is smart too. They can be used in the coming days to add to another batch of macaroni and cheese or for another dish.

9. Baked Ziti

This baked ziti is perhaps the best pasta casserole we have on this list. This recipe is easy and makes twelve servings, which is great for large groups or leftovers. This will take an hour to make, but most of that is baking time.

When you’re making the ricotta filling, we recommend adding a little more extra virgin olive oil.

This adds more flavor by itself and brings out more of the flavors from the ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan.

And while we recommend using homemade marinara sauce, canned and store-bought is fine.

10. Veggie Spaghetti

When you think of spaghetti you probably think of meatballs, but there are plenty of pasta recipes without meat and this might be our favorite. This recipe is very impressive because it uses over one and one-half pounds of vegetables!

We recommend using your regular spaghetti noodles, but other shapes, whole wheat, or gluten-free pasta will do just fine.

Vegetables can be anything you find in your fridge, but we suggest using red peppers, peas, cabbage, yellow squash, and any leafy greens you may have on hand.

11. Eggplant Pasta

Eggplant pasta, also known as pasta alla norma, hails from Italy and is a traditional dish from there. Eggplant is a good pairing for pasta because it has the thickness of the meat but is very silky and is good almost all year.

The secret ingredient in this recipe is actually an optional one, the white wine. White wine will help make any sauce quickly, and it adds an extra flavor that you can’t come by without it. It’s recommended to use sauvignon blanc, but anything that’s not too woody or sweet will work.

12. Pasta and Beans

Pasta and beans, also known as pasta a Fagioli, is another traditional dish hailing from Italy. It tastes more like a stew than a pasta dish. This recipe doesn’t follow the traditional recipe, but it gets pretty close.

This recipe does have a substitution which is for the beans. If you’re not a beans person, they can be replaced with chickpeas. And like most pasta dishes will make about eight servings.

If you’ve got leftovers, let them cool down to room temperature and then put them in the fridge. They can last for five days or even longer in the freezer.

13. Carbonara

This vegetarian carbonara recipe is so easy to make, just five steps! And there are only nine ingredients that are all easy to come by at your local grocery store.

When it comes to the pasta, we recommend using fettuccine, but really, any long pasta will do.

The pepper and salt can also be adjusted to your tastes. If you’d like a saltier taste, add more salt and garlic.

And if you’d like a little more spice and flavor, add some extra paprika.

14. One-Pot Veggie Pasta

One-pot veggie pasta is easy to make and can easily feed a small family. The total time comes to about 25 minutes, and with this recipe, the pasta is mixed with the cheesy sauce for cooking.

For this recipe, it’s easy to use both fresh and frozen vegetables. With it being quick and easy, this one-pot recipe is great for anything you may have lying in the back of the freezer.

We recommend using sweetcorn or peas in your pasta. In the end, the vegetables are really up to you.

15. Lemon Pasta

Lemons and pasta don’t always agree, but this lemon pasta is easy peasy lemon squeezy. This is such an easy dish to cook up and has just six ingredients, and of course, any salt and pepper you’d like. And the best part, it only takes 15 minutes to make.

If you’d like extra creamy pasta, use vegan heavy cream and stir it into the mix diligently.

There are also gluten-free options when it comes to pasta. Be on the lookout at your local grocery store.

And if you’d like to substitute the butter, olive oil does wonder.

16. Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

A lot of vegetarian pasta dishes include lots of vegetables, but not too many use mushrooms. This dish is sure to change that.

The secret ingredient for this recipe is certainly the basil that goes in the layers of the lasagna. We recommend using fresh basil, but if that’s just not possible, some dried basil can be used instead.

When thawing the spinach, be sure to squeeze the spinach into a towel to remove any excess moisture. And we recommend using a high-brand of tomato sauce.

It will taste better and cook better.

17. Butternut Squash Linguine with Fried Sage

This recipe can sound long and complicated, but it’s actually easier to make than the meat-based version and takes less time too. The squash in this dish is thick like a cream but replaces the cream altogether.

This recipe is easily adaptable to vegan or gluten-free options.

For vegan, take out the cheese garnish, and for the gluten-free option, we recommend using corn and quinoa blended pasta.

The butternut squash can also be substituted with kabocha squash. Both are really good, but one may be more readily available than the other. And for a spicier dish, add more red pepper.

18. Spring Vegetable Fettuccine Alfredo

Spring vegetables can take a good dish up to a great dish, and this spring vegetable fettuccine alfredo is creamy, warm, and full of fresh vegetable goodness.

When it comes to the cream of the pasta, it’s important to note that heavy whipping cream will stay at the density you’d like depending on how you stir it. This is due to the stabilizers in the cream.

This will be different from normal heavy cream as it will be thicker.

If you find it to be too thick, add some of the cooking water from the pasta.

19. Pasta Primavera

Pasta primavera is, in fact, not Italian, but American from New York City, and it didn’t even catch on at first. It wasn’t until a few years later, when it was published in a magazine that it became a household favorite.

For this dish, you’ll need seven ingredients, plus whatever vegetables you’d like. We recommend using the freshest vegetables you can find.

We like to use zucchini, peppers, squash, red onion, tomatoes, and garlic.

We also recommend using a food processor to take care of the chopping quickly.

20. Broccoli Pasta

Good veggie pasta recipes would be incomplete without broccoli, and this broccoli pasta is quick and easy to make. It only takes 10 minutes to prep and 20 to cook. Not only is this dish vegetarian, but it’s also easy to make it gluten-free.

It works great as a main dish but can also be used as a side or appetizer.

This dish is a one-pot dish, with the veggies cooked right in with the pasta. If you’re looking for a gluten-free option, switch out your pasta to a gluten-free option.

21. Green Pasta

This green pasta is packed with, well, green veggies and a lot of them. The highlights of this recipe are the zucchini, basil, and any leafy greens you want to add to the mix. And, depending on the pasta you choose, your cook time could be down to ten minutes.

For this recipe, we recommend using spelled pasta. Spelled pasta is slightly sweet and nutty and really adds to this recipe. Of course, you can use whatever pasta you’d like.

The basil can easily be replaced with more leafy greens.

22. Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Stuffed pasta shells are so good, but they’re even better with spinach and ricotta. This recipe will take about an hour to make and has quite the list of ingredients, but every bite later will be worth it.

The secret ingredients to this recipe are the use of skim-milk mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese, making this a three-cheese dish.

The three-cheese blend mixes well with the spinach and the pasta, and the egg makes it extra creamy.

We recommend keeping a few extra shells on hand if some of them break during cooking.

23. Vegetarian Bolognese

Some vegetarian pasta recipes take quite some time to make, and this is one of those. It takes over an hour to make this dish, but the outcome is delicious, healthy, and worth every bite. This recipe does come with an extensive list of ingredients, but it only takes two steps to make.

When making this dish, it’s important to keep an eye on your sauce.

If you find that it’s thinning, keep it bubbling on the stove until it becomes thicker.

Storage is easy with this dish. It can be frozen and kept in the freezer for quite some time.

24. Pasta Salad

Classic vegetable pasta recipes are easy to come by and pasta salad is as good as any of them. This recipe is incredibly simple and easy. Boil your pasta, chop up the vegetables, and mix it all together with some parmesan and dressing to top.

For this recipe, we recommend using olives, red onions, carrots, broccoli, cucumber, peppers, and tomatoes. In truth, you can use some of these and substitute for others as you please.

This recipe will taste good with almost anything you want to add to it.

25. Orzo Salad

Orzo salad is different from other pasta salads simply because it uses orzo pasta. This pasta is tiny and tastes so good as a base for pasta salad. Because it’s so small, there’s more of it in every bite than bigger pasta.

When it comes to the red onions, it’s important to slice them really thin. And for the feta cheese, don’t look for pre-crumbled feta. `A block of feta is far better in both flavor and texture. And finally, the salt and pepper on top can be used to your taste. Don’t overdo the salt. It could taste bitter.