Most people, including veggie-phobes of all ages, seem to like tomato pasta. If you cook and whizz in a mix of other vegetables, it’s a good way to get more of a variety into people.
This hidden vegetable pasta sauce is very tasty and is pretty easy to make. Make a big batch and freeze it in portions for a super easy dinner.
I have a new person, a teenager, to feed in the house and she is not particularly fussy, but knows what she likes. Trying to find something that both she and my husband like can be quite tricky. There are many vegetables that she doesn’t like, so one day after doing a pan of mixed roast vegetables, most of which didn’t get eaten by her, I puréed them and added a tin of tomatoes.
Then I cooked some pasta, added the sauce, sprinkled over a little cheese and bingo – a decent sized portion got downed! Success!
What do I need to make a hidden vegetable sauce?
- for 4 portions, about 500g cooked vegetables, whatever you have
- I like to roast them in olive oil, salt and pepper
- 500g would be about 1 largish pepper of any colour, a carrot or two, an onion or a leek
- Any vegetables that you want to use
How do I make a pasta sauce with hidden vegetables?
- Prep all the veg, slick with olive oil, salt and pepper and mix them all together
- Roast for 30-40 minutes in a moderate oven
- Tip the lot into a liquidiser and whizz with a tin of tomatoes
- Add a splash of cream if you like
- Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary
- Make sure the sauce is quite runny, the pasta will soak up quite a lot of liquid
- Cook some pasta of any shape
- Mix the pasta and sauce, make sure the pasta is well coated, add some additional water if necessary
- Sprinkle over some grated cheese if you like – I do, my grand daughter loves that!
- Bake in moderate oven for 25-30 minutes until the top is melted and golden
How to store a hidden veggies pasta sauce
In the fridge in an airtight container, this mix will sit quite happily for 3 or 4 days.
The filling will freeze well for a lovely home made meal
What other ingredients could be used in hidden veggie pasta?
- all root vegetables will roast well so could be used
- beetroot
- celeriac
- parsnips
- carrots
- onions
- fennel etc
- add some fresh or frozen spinach
- cook some broccoli or cauliflower stems or stalks, cook until soft first
- fennel
- peas, frozen or tinned
- sweetcorn
- frozen mixed vegetables would work well here
How much does hidden vegetable pasta cost?
priced at Tesco.com in June 2025
- 1 pepper, 69p
- a couple of carrots 200g, 14p
- an onion, 150g, 15p
- tin of tomatoes, 45p
- 100ml double cream, 55p
- 400g pasta shapes, 33p
- 200g cheddar, £1.30
- Total £3.61, 90p a portion
What else can I use this hidden vegetable sauce for?
- Keep it on the thick side and use it as a dip for bread sticks, crisps or crudités, or even as a sandwich filling, best to make the sandwich and eat straight away
- Top a jacket potato with it, grate over some cheese
- Use it as a pizza sauce on the base
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Course: ,
Lunch
Main Course
Cuisine:
English
Freezes Well
Nut Free
Freezes Well
Servings: 4 portions
Cost per portion 90p
Calories: 493kcal
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Ingredients
- 1 capsicum
- 200 g carrot
- 150 g onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 400 g tomatoes tinned or fresh
- 2 tblsp olive oil
- 100 ml double cream optional
- 300 g pasta dried weight
Instructions
- Prep all the veg, except the tomatoes of using tinned tomatoes, slick with olive oil, salt and pepper and mix them all together1 capsicum, 200 g carrot, 150 g onion, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tblsp olive oil
- Roast for 30-40 minutes in a moderate oven
- Tip the lot into a liquidiser and whizz with a tin of tomatoes400 g tomatoes
- Add a splash of cream if you like100 ml double cream
- Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary
- Make sure the sauce is quite runny, the pasta will soak up quite a lot of liquid
- Cook some pasta of any shape300 g pasta
- Mix the pasta and sauce, make sure the pasta is well coated, add some additional water (or the liquid from the sweetcorn) if necessary
- Sprinkle over some grated cheese if you like - I do, my grand daughter loves that!
- Bake in moderate oven for 25-30 minutes until the top is melted and golden
How to store a hidden veggies pasta sauce
- In the fridge in an airtight container, this mix will sit quite happily for 3 or 4 days.The filling will freeze well for a lovely home made meal
Equipment Needed
Notes
What other vegetables can be used?
- vegetables will roast well so could be used
- beetroot
- celeriac
- parsnips
- carrots
- onions
- fennel etc
- add some fresh or frozen spinach
- cook some broccoli or cauliflower stems or stalks, cook until soft first
- fennel
- peas, frozen or tinned
- sweetcorn
- frozen mixed vegetables would work well here
How to store a hidden veggies pasta sauce
In the fridge in an airtight container, this mix will sit quite happily for 3 or 4 days. The filling will freeze well for a lovely home made meal
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Hidden Veggies Pasta Bake
Amount per Serving
Calories
493
% Daily Value*
Fat
18
g
28
%
Saturated Fat
7
g
44
%
Polyunsaturated Fat
2
g
Monounsaturated Fat
8
g
Cholesterol
28
mg
9
%
Sodium
54
mg
2
%
Potassium
712
mg
20
%
Carbohydrates
71
g
24
%
Fiber
6
g
25
%
Sugar
11
g
12
%
Protein
13
g
26
%
Vitamin A
10488
IU
210
%
Vitamin C
58
mg
70
%
Calcium
72
mg
7
%
Iron
2
mg
11
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @ThriftyLesley or tag #ThriftyLesley !
That gravy sounds like a good idea – I’ll have to try that one too! It’s such a shame when children listen to their friends at school go eww about vegetables, and decide they don’t like them either.
My grand daughter really loves a BBC Good Food vegetable lasagna packed with vegetables like courgette and pepper, yet wouldn’t eat them if she can identify them!
I love your recipes Lesley, many of them remind me of when I was bringing up my 3 children, tasty thrifty delicious food,
Your hidden veg reminds me of something my son and daughter in law used to do, their sons wouldn’t eat vegetables in any guise, so they would serve them meat and potatoes with gravy poured over which they enjoyed or pasta bolognaise that they made the sauce the same as they made the gravy, blending cooked veg until smooth into sauce or gravy,
When they got older they asked how the lovely gravy was made, they are adults now and still love the gravy but also eat their Veggies now,