Plantbased Bolognese
with tips how to recreate traditional flavour
Trying to recreate those deep, comforting flavours of traditional meals but in a vegetarian (often vegan) way, started as a bit of an experiment for my partner. Mostly, I just wanted to give him a break from his usual favourites, like a classic meat-based Bolognese, which, let’s be honest, is often made with highly processed mince and not always the cleanest option nutritionally.
Over time, I began reworking our go-to recipes into more plant-based versions, still hearty, still satisfying, but built from whole ingredients. What I didn’t expect was that we’d ( he would) actually start preferring them. There’s something about layering vegetables, herbs, and slow-cooked flavours that creates a depth you don’t miss the meat in.
This version of a vegan Bolognese is a perfect example. It leans heavily on garlic, mushrooms, and lentils, simmered slowly with a generous hand of herbs- more than you’d typically throw into a traditional Bolognese, but it works. The result is rich, thick, and deeply comforting. It clings to the pasta just right and feels like exactly what you want on a colder evening.
One of the usual advantages of cooking with meat is the natural fats, which give sauces that silky, almost gelatinous texture. That’s often the tricky part when going meat-free, especially with something like a pasta sauce. I’ll often use vegetables like pumpkin or sweet potato to build that body and thickness into a dish but this time, I took a different approach. And I will share this here later.
I made this dish on Monday after work. My son and I had it for our lunchboxes on Tuesday, and my partner took it to work for lunch on Wednesday. The flavours of the herbs just got deeper, and the sauce became more earthy.
