Hidden veggie pasta sauce – best pasta sauce to freeze

If your kids are fussy eaters like mine, this hidden veggie pasta sauce is a must try recipe for you. Nothing beats simple recipes that add extra nutrients to busy weeknights. This healthy vegetable sauce turns a plain bowl of pasta into a delicious meal. Best of all, it’s the best pasta sauce to freeze.

Dinner time at our house often comes with demands for pasta. Pasta with tomato sauce to be precise. Now, don’t get me wrong, I loooooove pasta. But I don’t want to have the same meal four times a week, only because my kids refuse to venture into the world of cooked vegetables.

As any new parent would, I initially thought it was just a stubborn toddler phase and thought they didn’t know any better. I made big bowls of chunky vegetable sauces, only to have my kids refuse them over and over again. Change was needed and that’s how I came up with this hidden veggie pasta sauce recipe. It‘s a great way to feed those picky eaters a range of different vegetables without knowing. 

To give my children some credit, they do eat a lot of healthy foods throughout the day. Unfortunately, vegetables are a little limited to mostly raw carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers and the occasional piece of broccoli. My mission was to create a tomato sauce with hidden vegetables my kids would love. I wanted it to contain as many vegetables they claim to “hate” as possible. And as you can probably tell, that list is pretty long. 

Thinking about how to tackle this, there were a few considerations. For one, it needed to be a red, tomato based sauce. Next, it needed to have familiar flavours. Third, it needed to be easy to store if I made a large batch – the best pasta sauce to freeze. I wanted it to be thick enough to stick to my favorite pasta to give my kids some nutrients. But most importantly, it should contain at least three vegetables my kids would usually not touch. 

So that’s how I got started. Looking through the fridge, a few items immediately stood out. Onion for flavour. Mushrooms for meaty texture. Carrot for familiarity. Zucchini and celery because they’d never touch them and their flavours aren’t overpowering. Already, these extra veggies added a lot of nutritional value. Lastly, dates for sweetness and a dash of ketchup as a delicious way to round it all up. 

This is how I got started. And it turned out amazing!

Is hidden veggie pasta good for you?

As with any meal, it all depends on the ingredients. You can hide any vegetable you like in a recipe; if the majority of ingredients are terribly unhealthy, the single vegetable won’t make much of a difference. Luckily, my hidden veggie pasta sauce is packed with healthy, fresh foods and oh so good for you. To make this recipe even better, try to opt for fresh, organic produce wherever possible. My hidden veg pasta sauce is vegetarian/vegan, low fat and incredibly kid friendly. Best of all, it is the best pasta sauce to freeze.

How to make pasta sauce taste rich?

If you ever had pasta at a restaurant or your friend’s place or a school canteen, you have probably come across the wonderfully underwhelming, watered down flavour of thin tomato sauce. But fear not, a few simple additions and any sauce becomes rich and tasty. Personally, I like to add yellow onion for flavour and a handful of mushrooms for texture. If you have roasted red peppers or some sun-dried tomatoes, add a few of those also. Lastly, I like to blend my sauce to turn it all into a thick, rich tomato sauce. From there on you can add more vegetables as you like.

What is the healthiest type of pasta sauce?

In my opinion, it’s the sauce containing the freshest, highest quality produce. But at the end of the day it all comes down to what you can access and afford. Do you have a farmers market near you and can shop there? Great! But if not, supermarket produce will do just fine. Try to use little, high quality fats and avoid anything with additives. That in itself will make your simple tomato pasta sauce so much better than any store bought one. 

Can pasta sauce be used for pizza?

I have used this healthy pasta sauce for pizza before, yes. What I found helpful was that my hidden veggie tomato sauce is quite thick, so it adds a lot of flavour to a pizza. I wouldn’t recommend you using a store-bought marinara sauce on pizzas though. These tend to first run off the dough, and then prevent your pizza from turning nice and crunchy due to the high water content. 

Tips for making hidden vegetable pasta sauce

• Start by pan frying your onion and garlic if you use any. This will bring out the base aromas for your sauce. Take your time during this step and allow the onions to turn translucent, or even slightly golden before adding any other vegetables.

• Roast or pan fry any roasting vegetables. My rule of thumb is, if the vegetable works for a Sunday roast, it should be roasted or fan fried for your delicious pasta sauce. I like to use red capsicum, mushrooms and zucchini for this step. Simply place them on a sheet pan and roast a big batch for future use. If you already have roasted veggies leftover, don’t shy away from adding them also.

• Add enough sweetener and salt to your sauce. Tomatoes are quite acidic and need sweetness to round off the flavours of your hidden veggie pasta sauce. I like to add a few dates to my sauce, but you could also use maple syrup or brown sugar. Salt enhances flavours and will make the various vegetables flavours stand out in your sauce. Start with a pinch, stir, taste and work your way up from there.

• If your sauce is too thick, add some of your pasta water until a smoothie-like consistency is achieved. A little vegetable stock will also do the trick. 

Ingredients

Canned tomatoes – I usually opt for finely chopped roma tomatoes or even tomato passata

Olive oil

Brown onion. Red onions will work as well.

Mushrooms – button or brown are best to create a silky smooth sauce.

Zucchini

Carrots

Celery

Dried dates – I recommend Medjool dates as they are incredibly sweet and add so much delicious flavour to your sauce

Italian herbs or Italian seasoning. You can use fresh herbs if preferred. 

Tomato paste

Ketchup – this is my secret ingredient to guarantee my kids will eat it. It only needs a small dash, but works absolute wonders when you want to be extra sure for your kids to eat this sauce. Reduce the amount you add over time until it is completely eliminated.

Salt and black pepper

Tools you may need

Sharp knife

Chopping board

Large frying pan or large saucepan

Hand blender or food processor

How to make hidden veggie pasta sauce

First, wash your vegetables. 

Chop the onion and dates and place them in separate bowls. 

Thinly slice the vegetables and place celery and zucchini in one bowl, mushrooms and carrots in another. This will make it easier to add them as you go. 

Boil a pot of water for your pasta of choice. Add your pasta and cook as per the cooking instructions. 

While the water is starting to boil, place a large frying pan onto high heat and heat two tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, add your onion. 

Sautee the onion until it starts to become translucent, or slightly golden. Take your time during this step and turn down the heat to medium if you have some extra time. The slower your onion cooks, the sweeter your flavours will be. This is especially important if you or your whole family have sensitive tummies. 

Once the onion is starting to brown, add the carrots and mushrooms. Stirring occasionally, allow the vegetables to cook until they start to brown. Your mushrooms will be the best indicator during this step. If short on time, keep the heat to high and stir more regularly.

Next, add your green vegetables, dates, tomato paste and Italian herbs. Stirring regularly, continue to cook the vegetable mix until the zucchini starts to turn translucent or brown. 

Lower to medium heat and add the canned tomatoes. Ensure to stir your sauce immediately, as the heat of the pan will make your tomato sauce splatter right away. Allow the sauce to simmer on low heat until the tomato sauce is hot, about 5 minutes. 

Remove the sauce from the heat and transfer it into a large blender or food processor. Add a dash of ketchup, about one tablespoon, and salt and pepper to taste. Blend the sauce until your veggie sauce has a creamy texture. 

Tip: If your sauce turns out too thick, add some of the pasta water until a smoothie-like texture is achieved.

Serve with pasta, fresh parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

To freeze, allow your sauce to cool down, portion it into an airtight container or freezer bags and store it in the freezer.