This hearty, 1-pan tempeh bolognese is a plant-based take on a classic that pairs perfectly with pastas, eggplant parmesan, lasagna, and more! Plus, it comes together in just 30 minutes. Let me show you how it’s done.
This bolognese starts with sautéed onion, mushrooms, and garlic for a flavorful base. Then comes finely grated tempeh, which cooks in the pan until seared. It’s important to use a pan large enough that the tempeh has room to sauté. Add a bit more oil as needed to deglaze the pan and ensure the tempeh is browning up nicely!
Next comes fennel, red pepper flake, coconut aminos, and dry red wine to infuse plenty of flavor into the tempeh. After a little more sautéing, you’ll add your crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, vegan parmesan cheese, a dash of sweetener, and a little water to ensure the right consistency.
That’s it! It just needs to simmer to deepen in flavor, but it’s essentially ready to go!
We hope you LOVE this bolognese! It’s:
Hearty
Flavorful
Versatile
Quick & easy to make
Protein-rich (16 g / serving!)
& So delicious
This would make the perfect sauce for simple cooked pasta dishes, or to pair with Crispy Gluten-Free Eggplant Parmesan or layer in one of our Vegan Lasagnas!
For more Italian-inspired dishes, also check out our Socca Pizza with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Easy Vegan Pesto, Cheesy Spaghetti Squash Pasta, Easy 1-Pot Marinara Sauce, and 30-Minute Cashew Alfredo.
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
1-Pan Tempeh Bolognese
Hearty, saucy 1-pan tempeh bolognese! Easy to make, ready in just 30 minutes, and perfect for pasta, eggplant parmesan, lasagna, and more!
Ingredients
BOLOGNESE
- 1 Tbsp olive oil (or sub twice as much water)
- 3/4 cup finely diced onion or shallot
- 1 cup shiitake (or cremini) mushrooms, minced
- 8 ounces tempeh (finely chopped or grated on a box grater)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp coconut aminos (or 1 Tbsp tamari or balsamic vinegar)
- 1/2 tsp fennel seed
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flake (adjust to preferred spice level)
- 1/4 cup dry red wine (optional // we used Elephants Red Cuvée Rouge, but any dry red will do — preferably something you’ll enjoy with the meal!)
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 3 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp fresh oregano
- 1-2 Tbsp vegan parmesan cheese (plus more to taste)
- 1-2 Tbsp sweetener of choice (such as maple syrup or coconut sugar)
- Water as needed to thin
FOR SERVING optional
- Spaghetti squash
- Cooked pasta
- Fresh basil
Instructions
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Heat a large-rimmed skillet, pot, or dutch oven (as large as possible to give room for browning) over medium heat. Once hot, add oil (or water) and onion and sauté for 4-5 minutes until translucent and soft, stirring frequently. If using water, add more water as needed as it evaporates quickly.
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Add mushrooms and stir. Sauté for 2 minutes more. Then add shredded tempeh and garlic and stir (if your pan is small, do this in 2 batches so the tempeh has room to brown*). Then add coconut aminos, fennel seeds, and red pepper flake. Sauté for 4-5 minutes (or up to 10 minutes), stirring frequently, until everything is golden brown. Turn down heat if browning too quickly.
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Add wine (optional), stir, and cook for 1 minute. Then add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, vegan parmesan, and sweetener. Thin with water if needed (we added about 1/4 cup / 60 ml). Stir to combine and simmer for 10 minutes.
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Taste and adjust flavors as needed, adding more coconut aminos or salt for saltiness, red pepper flake for spice, oregano for herbal flavor, tomato paste for depth of flavor, or vegan parmesan for cheesy flavor.
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Serve with your favorite pasta or pasta alternative, like spaghetti squash, penne, or zucchini or carrot noodles and garnish with fresh basil (optional)!
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Cooled leftovers will keep covered in the refrigerator up to 5 days, or in the freezer up to 1 month. Reheat in a saucepan or microwave until hot, adding a little water as needed to rehydrate.
Notes
*It’s important to use a pan large enough that the tempeh has room to sauté. Add a bit more oil as needed to deglaze the pan and ensure the tempeh is browning up nicely!
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with lesser amount of vegan parmesan cheese and maple syrup and without the optional ingredients.
Nutrition Per Serving (1 of 4)
- Calories: 309
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated fat: 2g
- Sodium: 576mg
- Potassium: 1229mg
- Carbohydrates: 37g
- Fiber: 7g
- Sugar: 16g
- Protein: 16g
- Vitamin A: 720IU
- Vitamin C: 24.4mg
- Calcium: 177mg
- Iron: 5.6mg
LOVE this recipe exactly as it’s written, but I’ll also use this recipe as a guideline when I make a simpler “cheat version” with bottled marinara.
In my cheat version I don’t add the:
-crushed tomatoes (although they could add more texture/heartiness)
-tomato paste
-oregano
-red pepper flakes (i do add spice which I’ll explain later)
Instead, I’ll add:
-jarred marinara
– 1-2 tablespoons of Trader Joe’s Tunisian Harissa chili pepper paste
– I also buy already chopped up onions and mushrooms if I’m short on time.
I make the rest of the recipe pretty much the same. Super tasty!
Great tricks! Thanks for sharing, Elena!
AWESOME!!! I made this last night because I was craving spaghetti. My husband and I absolutely loved this.. the depth of flavor was fantastic and took me by surprise. I am looking forward to having it again tonight! This is going to be a staple in our home, and a go-to when I’m craving pasta. Best way to use tempeh, ever!
Thanks, Geeves! ;D
This is so good! I followed the recipe exactly but added fresh basil and also needed to add about a cup of water to get it to the right consistency. I used the pasta water. Delicious!
Wonderful – thanks for sharing, KT!
Delicious! I can’t eat tempeh so switched it for Gardein ground “meat,” and I also added fresh basil at the end. So great and easy, and it seems like a versatile recipe. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it, Lydia! Thanks so much for sharing! xo
This was absolutely amazing! I’ve never thought to use tempeh in this way and it’s so inspired. I only used 1/2 tbsp maple syrup and upped the red pepper flakes to 1 tsp. We were so impressed by the depth of flavor. Will definitely be adding this to our regular recipe rotation. Thanks for another great recipe.
Thanks for sharing, Nico!
This is absolutely delicious as written! I used lentil pasta, 1 TBSP maple syrup and only 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, so the kids would eat it as well. Thank you for making healthy food taste incredible!
Yay! So glad everyone enjoyed it, Julie! xo
We really liked this meal. I added a little more mushrooms and fennel for my personal taste but followed the directions otherwise. This is definitely going in my weekly rotation. I tasted no bitterness from the tempeh without steaming. I served it over pasta with some steamed kale on the side to get extra veggies. Thank you for this recipe! Your website has been a lifesaver since my husband had to go on a strict whole food, non processed, no oil diet 7 months ago.
Thanks so much for the sweet note and lovely review! We are so glad you enjoyed it! xo
I made this yesterday, it exceeded my expectations. Very hearty, and delicious! I will definitely be making this again. My husband didn’t even realize it wasn’t a meat sauce!
Whoop! xoxo
I’ve made this recipe at least five times… I usually add a couple diced zucchinis and play around with the seasonings a bit, but I always love it!
Yay! Thanks, Vashti!
This is seriously amazing. I didn’t use wine because I didn’t have an open bottle. Served it over zucchini noodles.
Thanks for sharing, Leslie!
SO delicious!
Something about this recipe is a little off to me… it might be that I’m not a huge fan of tempeh or that it seems a little heavy handed on the tomato paste as written.
Hi Nicole, sorry to hear this didn’t turn out as you were hoping for. You may prefer our Lentil Bolognese or Chickpea Bolognese. Hope that helps!
Thank you for the tips!
A total winner! Will become a staple recipie. Grating the tempeh is genius.
I made this tonight and served it with zucchini noodles. The reviews I read before making this were spot on. It was easy and delicious. I added extra fennel and extra red wine. Fabulous recipe – thank you so much for sharing it. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes. X – SD
Thanks so much for sharing, Sue! We are so glad you enjoyed it! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! xo
This recipe is so delish and easy to make. I’m not a fan of Tempeh, so I was sceptical, but it turned out to be awesome. I didn’t have any vegan Parmesan so I added nutritional yeast instead. I omitted the sweetener too.
Served with courgette spaghetti. Yum, will definitely make again.
Dana, I love your recipes, I have made so many and they have always turned out great. Best vegan website for sure.
Thanks so much for the sweet note and lovely review, Clara. We are so glad you enjoyed it! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! xo
This recipe is AMAZING! SO flavorful (I omitted some ingredients I didn’t had (garlic, fennel, dry wine, vegan parmesan – and still fantastic).
I’m planning on making this again (I made it a couple weeks ago) because it was sooooooo good and I’ve been dreaming about it ever since. All the wonderful comfort and deliciousness when you think of homemade bolognese, but without the meat component. It was absolutely delicious, and had such rich and wonderful flavor and I’m not even a tempeh fan!!
Simply delicious! The wine definitely added depth, as well as the tempeh and mushrooms. I didn’t have fennel so look forward to adding that next time. Thanks for sharing!
Since going Vegan I just avoided having spaghetti nights. I made this today and it’s so delicious! I skipped on the parm, but it was still great!
Thank you!
I loved this! Will definitely make this plenty of times more!
It also worked really well in the freezer :)
This was amazing! I didn’t simmer for long enough at the end so my tempeh was a little crunchy but I liked that. Great flavor and so hearty. Thank you!
I loved this recipe and what a cool way to use tempeh! I am not vegan….so used parm and rigatoni which were fantastic vehicles of goodness to hold bites of flavorful and texturally superb bolognese. Also didn’t add any sweetener and thought I came out really fantastic without the additional sweetness. Only had dried mushrooms which I rehydrated in hot water for about 15 mins before mincing and also was pleased with how not rubbery they turned out. Great meal and my meat eating friends didn’t miss the beef one bit. Will keep this in my repertoire and will keep an eye out for more tempeh recipes from Dana!
This was delicious. Since it is a Monday night, I did not wish to open a bottle of wine. I brew artisan beer (I have a 10 tap Keezer), so I replaced the wine with English bitter. I doubled the mushroom volume (used portobello). I’m not vegan, so I used real parmasan cheese.
Great recipe.
Thanks for sharing, Daniel! Such inventive swaps :D
I did make this recipe last night. The reason I did not give it 5 stars was for two reasons: using maple syrup as a sweetener made it too sweet (I used 1Tbsp.), and I don’t like using tomato paste in my sauce, but I wanted to follow the recipe.
I loved the sauce, but I am Italian, and, of course, I make my sauce the way my mother always made it. This was great except (for my taste–that is) the two ingredients I mentioned above. I know that people are always adding sugar or carrots to their sauce due to the acidity of the sauce. My mother never did, and I guess I am used to the taste without it and prefer it. Also, as you cook sauce, it thickens, which is why I never add tomato paste, and the flavor is quite good on its own with the flavors of the onion, garlic, and herbs–oregano, basil, parsley, etc.
Unlike my mother’s recipe, I added tempeh instead of meat. I made the spaghetti squash and a brown rice pasta. It was delicious, but again, my only issue was the sweetness. So, take my comments with a grain of salt or consider that when you make it yourself.
I love all your recipes. So, I am a loyal fan.
I so appreciate the feedback, Lucy! Glad you enjoyed it!
I made the recipe with a few modifications: I added 1 extra tablespoon of tomato paste, used soy sauce instead of coconut aminos, and omitted the wine since I didn’t have any bottle open. It turned out delicious! The combination of the soy sauce, tomato paste and maple syrup really gave it a great depth of flavor. Tempeh bolognese is a regular for me, and I think I just found my new go-to recipe! Thank you :)
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Cath!!
This is now literally my most favorite red sauce – I made with spaghetti squash as my “pasta” which was just so very yummy! I did add the maple syrup for a bit of sweetness and I think that is why I am so in love with it! Would be great on a pizza crust (if the cauliflower ones). Really I just want to eat it with a spoon!! IN LOVE!!
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Chris!
While that s happening you can cook up a big pot of pasta to go with your tempeh bolognese. Spoon the sauce over the pasta, sprinkle with extra nutritional yeast, and enjoy your dinner!
So so so good. Why haven’t I thought of grating tempeh before??
I followed the recipe as is, and then decided it wasn’t enough… I wanted more! So I threw in the rest of the carton of mushrooms (chopped) and an additional can (28oz) of tomatoes and then spices to taste. Absolutely to die for. Thank you for yet another game changer recipe.
I also doubled my recipe.
Thanks, Mallory!!
Gah this looks sooo fantastic! We are crazy about tempeh so I can already tell this is going to be our new favorite recipe!
And I just wanted to say thank you for all of your amazing recipes, my husband and I no joke use your recipes at least 2-3 times (a lot of times more) a week for dinner so I don’t know where our meal planning would be without you! :D
Thank you for the sweet note, Jessica! So glad our recipes are helpful for you xo
Wow! This recipe is amazing! Made it yesterday and it tasted so good. My (meat eating and Italian food loving) boyfriend was eating unholy amounts of it, haha. We were so surprised of how similar it was to ‘regular’ bolognese. I used a lot of the spices and red wine, way more than the recipe indicated, so I would say adjust to your own taste :) I minced the tempeh in a food processor and that worked fine. Next time I would steam the tempeh beforehand because I could taste some of it’s bitterness. Will definitely be making this again, thanks for the great recipe!
Haha yay! Thanks for sharing, Renée! Your tips are super helpful. I’ve also found that steaming tempeh can reduce bitterness. But sometimes it’s so little that it’s hard to notice / justify the extra time. But yes! I think if I was serving this for folks eating tempeh for the first time, I’d steam it!
Wow, who knew that tempeh could be so hearty and versatile in an interesting way?! I definitely think this bolognese could pair perfectly with zucchini noodles, bean pasta, or even on top of a salad or steamed vegetables! Definitely will try making this one day with TVP!
THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE. Im a Indonesian and Tempes are ABUNDANT here where i live. We eat it almost every other day but to cook it like this, never cross my mind before. I just made it for lunch, with few modifications based on what available here. I caramelized the onion first, sub the wine with pasta water, used mushroom powder instead of coconut aminos, used homade tomato sauce instead of tomato paste. It came out amazing. I DID NOT MISS THE MEAT AT ALL. You can not believe how estatic i am right now because tempes are andundant and cheap and nutritious and locally made and sold wrapped in a banana leaf here. It ticks soo many boxes. Thank you thank you thank you
Thanks for sharing!!
This was okay. Grated tempeh gave it a great beefy texture, but it wasn’t one of those recipes that you’ll remember forever. Still good though!
I could not find the red wine suggested. We live in a very small rural town . Can you make another wine suggestion that would be easier to find?
Anything dry to semi-dry and red!
Great recipe.
I minced the mushrooms and tempeh together in a food processor. It made a a great ‘mince blend’. Although I’d like to see how the recipe works if I baked it briefly prior to using, to dehydrate it somewhat. If I do this, I’ll post the results.
Overall, a great recipe. I would never have thought to use tempeh this way.
Smart! Thanks for sharing your experience, Jes!
Hi,
I’ve tried so many ways to contact you, but to no avail. Could you please delete my original comment, or change it to ‘Jes’. I didn’t realise that it used my full name. Thanks
Yes! I can do that. Sorry about that!
Thank you so much! :-)
This was the first recipe from your blog that I made, and it was amazing! I haven’t eaten meat in a really long time so I can’t say if it tasted like the meat version of Bolognese, but my meat eating friends said it tasted a.ma.zing! Thank you for a great recipe!!
Lovely! Thanks for sharing, Irina! Next time would you mind leaving a rating? It’s super helpful to us and other readers. xoxo!
Made this tonight. When I first saw the post I wasn’t sure. But I love tempeh and I want the fam to too. Started with sauteing the garlic and mushrooms. Didn’t do onion, but instead fennel (like the bulby part–cuz we don’t do onion) and celery cut real tiny. let that get nice and yummy with salt and olive oil for a good 10-15 in the pan. then I added the finely chopped tempeh and let it all cook together for another 20 and I’ll be darned if that tempeh didn’t end up tasting hella good!!! lots of smoked paprika (that’s about my spice tolerance these days), added the crushed tomato, paste, and water. let that simmer for 30 ish min. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t even tell you how dang good it was. This will be in my weekly rotation until further notice. Thank you so much :-)
Whoop! Thanks, Jenn!!
Lovely! Thanks for sharing your experience, Nic! So glad we could provide some inspiration.
Absolutely delicious. We’re in the process of cutting back the amount of meat we eat. Such that we only eat meat once or twice a week now. For someone who was brought up on meat and 3 veg as ‘normal’ this recipe was a revelation.
I’ve never eaten or cooked with Tempeh before so a quick trip to the local chinese supermarket and we were off! We followed the recipe except for the following …
Mushrooms – we finely chopped the chestnut mushrooms that we had in the fridge (basically brown button mushrooms).
Tempeh – the only stuff I could source was frozen so I sliced it into strips and then diced it further before cooking.
Coconut aminos – we used 1/2 dark soy sauce (no light soy in the house) and 1/2 balsamic vinegar.
Tomatoes – I worked out that 28 ounces of tomatoes = 2 tins of tomatoes in the UK
…oh and we used a lot more of the chilli flakes, non vegan parmesan and omitted any sweetener!
Loved it. It tastes amazing and I will be pairing it with the crispy eggplant parmesan that I’m off to make now. I know that I am gushing about this recipe but it tastes fabulous and I will definitely be making it again! Thank you so much xx
Where have you found tempeh in Portland? I always look in Fred Meyer and New Seasons but haven’t found it for a looong time!
In Portland we have ALL the options. At the PSU Farmers Market (and Alberta Coop) there’s Squirrel + Crow soy-free tempeh! Otherwise I just get Torfurky brand at New Season’s b/c it’s typically gluten-free.
Thank you! My neighborhood store hasn’t had the tofurkey brand (or any) for at least a year – good to know that other locations still stock it!
I really like the Surata Soy Foods Organic Original Soy Tempeh, I get it at Natural grocers. sometimes they are out, so whenever I see it I grab like 3 packs!
Bulletproof recipe! I just polished off the leftovers from last night and added some cottage cheese on top. Never shredded tempeh before – what a cool idea :)
So glad you enjoyed it, Mollie! xo
Does the tempeh need to be steamed beforehand?
We didn’t find it necessary to steam the tempeh in the recipe.
Dana, your photos are so beautiful, each of them would be worth to be put on the wall!
Aww thanks! xo
This is another excellent recipe. I goofed and had to make a last minute change. I did not have the fennel seeds, so I omitted the red pepper but went with the oregano – added a bit of fresh basil and parsley to make it a sweet tomato sauce. It was excellent. The flavor of the mushrooms came through. I used shiitake mushrooms and in every other way followed the recipe. I served it over pasta. A new family favorite. Thank you, Dana!
So glad to hear this is a family favorite! Thanks for your lovely review!
Very Good Dana.. I didn’t have the shrooms you suggested but I did have dry porcini. They gave a nice flav… no wine either or fresh oregano but use the dried version. I use grain penne pasta is what I had. I will make this again. Maybe make double batch for sauce for a vegan lasagna. Thank you for sharing all the delicious eats. Peace
“Thanks so much for the lovely review and for sharing your modifications, Linda. We are so glad you enjoyed it! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! xo
Do you think lentils could be subbed for the tempeh? I need to avoid soy unfortunately.
Yeah! Try this version: https://minimalistbaker.com/zucchini-pasta-with-lentil-bolognese/
Every week I look forward to see what you come up. Since going plant-based, I do pretty well with substitutions. What could I do to substitute tempeh in this recipe due to allergies? Thank you
Hey Paul, I guess tofu wouldn’t be a good substitute for you, perhaps? You’d break it up in pieces with your hands.
Else, my plan b would be to use cooked lentils.
Good luck!
We haven’t tried it, but think adding more mushrooms would work. Other readers have suggested lentils and we think that could work as well. Hope that helps!
Hi Paul, I used a pea protein based meat substitute (Beyond Meat Beefy Crumbles) and this recipe was freaking fantastic with them. (We have a soy allergic member of our family, too).
Do you have allergies to Hempeh as well? Look into that!
Would any other kind of mushrooms work? I’ve got white button and dried shiitake, porcini and maitake; maybe one for flavor and one for texture?
Cremini mushroom is white button mushroom, and is listed as an alternative. So I think that will be fine. It’s what I’m planning on using :)
We haven’t tried other mushrooms, but think it would work! Fresh mushrooms would probably be best. Hope that helps!
I will definitely try this! I wonder if you would consider it necessary to simmer the tempeh block before shredding and cooking. Many tempeh based recipes I’ve read mention pre-simmering tempeh prior to cooking in order to reduce any bitterness. I assume this step wasn’t necessary for this recipe?
Thank you!
Good question! We don’t find it necessary to pre-simmer the tempeh in this recipe. Hope that helps!
Any suggestions for a substitute for mushrooms? Unfortunately, my partner is not a fan!
We haven’t tried this one without mushrooms, but think it could work by increasing the tempeh or onion. If you give it a try, we’d love to hear how it turns out!
Same. A dab of miso and extra onion usually does the trick for me.
hmmm I like this idea, thank you Benjamin.