Veggie-loaded bolognese (low-calorie)

This is the ultimate weight loss sauce. I don´t know if I can call this a bolognese, though. This has no meat, added fat, or dairy products. This vegan bolognese is made purely of healthy vegetables and beans. You can eat all you want of this plant-based sauce!

Why you will love this recipe

1. Healthy: This sauce is packed with veggies and an easy way for you to eat more of them in your day. (Read more on plant-based diet)
2. Tasty: Veggie-loaded WFPB bolognese is delicious, with a rich and savory flavor that satisfies the taste buds. The recipe can be made with a variety of vegetables and spices, making it versatile and flavorful.
3. Weight Management: Low-calorie meals are beneficial if you are trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. By reducing calorie intake, you can create a calorie deficit that can lead to weight loss over time.

Ingredients and substitutions

• Zucchini
• Carrots
• Red Cabbage- you can use regular but this makes the color different.
• Crushed Tomatoes
• Onion
• Garlic
• Kidney Beans
• Tomato Paste
• Miso Paste or 2 teaspoon Soy Sauce (or salt)
• Garlic Powder
• Black Pepper
• Smoked Paprika
• Dried Thyme
• Coriander powder
• Cumin powder
• Oregano
• Sriracha or Chili Flakes

Is spagetti bolognese fattening?

Yes, bolognese sauce is fattening if you prepare it with fatty meat. To get a low-calorie bolognese sauce, increase the number of vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, celery, and onions, and replace the meat with soy protein.

A traditional bolognese sauce has high saturated fats if you use a traditional recipe with beef or pork mince. When we transitioned to plant-based eating, I started to replace the meat with dried dark soy crumbs. They taste bland, but with the right spices, you get a delicious sauce. Later, I noticed you could use whatever vegetables and beans and get them to taste delicious if you use the same mix of spices. Soy crumbs are also processed so even better is to use lentils or beans, but for the same type of meat texture, the soy is good.

As spaghetti for ultimate weight loss, you can use zucchini noodles. Zucchini is really low-calorie food but has fiber and nutrients; you can eat a big portion of zucchini. One middle-size zucchini of 350 grams only has 64 calories. The same weight, 350 grams of cooked spaghetti, has 353 calories. Eating a whole-grain version of spaghetti will though keep you full for a longer time.

If you want to try out zucchini spaghetti, you can use a special spiralizer tool. If you don´t have that, try a basic peeler or make thin slices with a knife.

How many calories are in a bowl of spaghetti bolognese?

A big portion of 200 grams of cooked full-grain spaghetti and a vegan vegetable bolognese sauce is only 310 calories. You get a total of 12 grams of fiber in one portion and 12,4 grams of protein.

If you ate this sauce with white spaghetti, the fiber content would be much lower, only 9 grams. This is also a lot if you compare it to a traditional meat sauce, but white pasta spikes your blood sugars more, and it has a lot less iron and other nutrients than whole grain. I always recommend eating organic whole-grain products.

If you eat a portion of this sauce with a whole medium-size zucchini, it would only be around 170 calories. The whole portion!

What can you have with bolognese instead of pasta?

Some healthy replacements are:

• Whole grain rice pasta
• Lentil or bean pasta
• Cooked potatoes
• Noodles made of zucchini or carrot.
• Shirataki noodles
• Quinoa pasta

How do you make bolognese less watery?

Let the sauce simmer long enough, so excess water evaporates. You can add starch to it to make it thicker. As a starch, you can use wheat flour, potato flour, or corn starch. Mix 1 tablespoon of flour in some water, add to the sauce and let boil for a couple of minutes.

This sauce might be a little watery. I did not add any starch to the recipe but feel free to add some if you think it is needed. When I made this, it turned out just fine, but maybe not the most photogenic sauce, though.

How does vegan bolognese differ from a traditional one?

Bolognese sauce is called bolognese because it originates from Bologna, Italy. There are many sauce variations, but traditionally it is made of onions, celery, carrots, ground meat, tomatoes, milk, and some wine. Vegan variations leave out the meat and milk and replace it with other plant-based protein sources.

I find that best tasting bolognese sauce is made with using onion, celery, carrot and substituting the meat with a plant based prosessed mince product. Some wine and plant based cream. This is a great transision sauce for those meat lovers because it tastes "authentic" but if you want to lose weight then you have to cut out the processed products.

In this recipe I don´t use celery and in my sauce we did not have onions, because I am a little allergic to celery and we don´t tolerate onions well.

You can try out different veggies in the sauce. Great options are a little celery and bell peppers as well. I often cook with what I have at home, so remember that you don't have to use these specific ingredients for your sauce as I have in my recipe. I used these ingredients because it is the autumn season, and we had cheap local cabbages, zucchinis and carrots, and onions.

This si a simple recipe, but if you want to make a little twist to it to make it even better, you can caramellize the onions, add a little wine and make a lovely creamy sauce by adding some cashew creamer.

Make the cashew creamer by soaking cashew nuts and blending them with water and a teaspoon of nutritional yeast in a high speed blender and mixing it with the sauce. Use ½ cup of cashews and ½-1 cups water.

This sauce is high in fiber with all the vegetables. It also has a lot of vitamin A, carotenoids. One portion covers half of your daily needs. This is also high in vitamin C, although heating destroys half of it, in one portion you still get half of needed vitamin c that you need.

📖 Recipe