Creamy Tomato Silken Tofu Pasta Sauce
This Creamy Tomato Silken Tofu Pasta Sauce is absolutely delicious yet healthy and high protein. Bonus: this plant based and oil-free sauce comes together in only 5 minutes! Simple ingredients, big flavor, and minimal effort—what more could you ask for?
Equipment
- 1 Blender or a food processor may be used, but how smooth it gets depends on the strength of your machine
- 1 Blender spatula not necessary, just makes it easier to get all of that silken tofu pasta sauce goodness out of the blender!
Ingredients
- 16 Ounces Silken Tofu, drained, see Notes section below for substitutions
- 14.5 Ounces No-Salt-Added Tomato Sauce see Notes section below for substitutions
- 1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast, see Notes section below for substitutions
- 3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice, fresh is best but bottled is fine
- 1 Tablespoons White or Yellow Miso Paste, to taste, see Notes section below for substitutions
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Granulated Onion
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Granulated Garlic
- 1 Teaspoon Sweet Paprika
- 1/2 Teaspoon Dried Italian Seasoning
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to the blender: I like to plop in the tofu first (drain the package of excess water, then scrape the container out with a spatula), then add liquids, then spices.
- Blend: Sometimes my spices like to stick to the sides of the blender. If this happens to you, stop the blender and scrape down the sides with a spatula. Then continue blending.
- Taste: Stop the blender and stick a spoon in there. Taste the sauce. If it's not salty enough, add more miso. Not flavorful enough? Add more nutritional yeast, granulated onion, and granulated garlic. Blend again if you add anything.
- Use: Pour on cooked and drained pasta (I usually put it on my favorite pasta, Chickapea brand, as well as spaghetti squash which I also love it on!), potatoes, steamed or roasted veggies, or anything you like! If you need to heat the the silken tofu sauce, you can microwave it in a microwave-safe dish or pour it into a small nonstick pot and heat gently over low heat until warmed.
- Store: If you heated the sauce, let it cool to room temperature. Store in an airtight jar (I find food tastes better when stored in glass) in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Use the sniff test if not sure. I store it in a jar and shake up the jar before using. When reheating, pour the amount you want to use either in a small microwave-safe dish or pour it on your food and then heat it up.
Video
Notes
- Silken Tofu: This recipe calls for 16 ounces silken tofu. You can find 16-ounce packages of silken tofu in the refrigerator section at your local grocery store, that's where I buy mine even in my little town that has almost nothing. But if you can only buy your silken tofu in the shelf-stable 12-ounce aseptic containers, you can either use 1 + ¼ of those, or just use one pack and add 2-4 tablespoons of soaked raw cashews, soaked raw sunflower seeds, cooked white beans, or dehydrated potato flakes.
- Tomato Sauce: I've attempted this silken tofu pasta sauce recipe with other canned tomato products such as no-salt-added stewed tomatoes, no-salt-added crushed tomatoes, and no-salt-added diced tomatoes and they all seem to work quite well! Just make sure you read the ingredients label since I've discovered that some brands add sugar when they remove the salt *insert eye roll*.
- To Substitute the Silken Tofu: If you can only find soft or regular tofu (don't use firm), you can use this and just add a little plain unsweetened non-dairy milk (just enough to blend). If you don't want to use tofu at all, you can do 1+½ cups drained and rinsed canned (or cooked from dried) white beans, or 1 cup of either soaked raw cashews or soaked raw sunflower seeds (and you will need water or plain unsweetened non-dairy milk to blend, and how much depends on how long you soaked them so start with equal parts nuts/seeds and liquid and adjust from there.
- Nutritional Yeast: If you can't eat nutritional yeast, try a little extra miso (just a smidge), onion, and garlic.
- Yellow or White Miso Paste:This is to replace the salt in the recipe, but I also love the little hint of umami flavors. Per Dr. Michael Greger of NutritionFacts.org, the soy in miso has a protective effect so the sodium in miso paste will not affect us negatively. If you're fine eating salt (or if you eat the potassium chloride salt substitute) you can go ahead and use that. If you are totally avoiding added sodium, you can leave it out.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5 cupCalories: 61.7kcalCarbohydrates: 7.5gProtein: 5.2gFat: 2.4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.09gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.03gSodium: 88.3mgPotassium: 340.9mgFiber: 1.8gSugar: 2.2gVitamin A: 18.41IUVitamin C: 4.52mgCalcium: 43.6mgIron: 1.6mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!