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Literally one of the best sauces I have ever tried! Sooooooooo good!!
Stephanie
This recipe is sponsored by DeLallo
This (vegan) creamy roasted red pepper pasta is just such a gift.
It wins all categories: creamy, amazing texture; savory, rich taste; shortness of ingredient lists; versatility; ease of preparation; nutritional punch; and totally vegetarian.
IT HAS EVERYTHING.
We’ve done the creamy red pepper sauce thing before, a few times – like here, with cashews and roasted cauliflower, and here, with almond milk and zucchini noodles, and here, with the butter and fettuccine and shrimp. And we’ve done the creamy cashew sauce pasta before too and this creamy sweet potato soup with blended nuts as well. And then there’s this classic, basic, red pepper pasta too. But this version is special because it sees us just as we are in this moment:
- at the very end of summer with some lingering peak-season produce.
- wanting to eat well.
- needing food to be easy.
- craving straight-up comfort food.
Whenever I share a short-ingredient-list recipe, I always like to emphasize the importance of the quality of ingredients. These few ingredients are the MVPs that are going to carry the weight of all your simplest, most beautiful recipes.
GOOD olive oil, QUALITY pasta, ACTUALLY DELICIOUS jarred roasted red peppers.
You know we love DeLallo and you know right now that I’m going to recommend DeLallo staples for this recipe.
No, scratch that. I’m going to recommend just making a once or twice annual pasta-loving, joy-bringing, pantry-stocking online order of DeLallo products. Picture this: one order, a shipment of authentic Italian pastas and olive oils and vinegars and antipasti-type yummies, delivered to your door so you can pull together quality meals on the fly and don’t have to think about it for the whole season ahead. Yeah? (Here’s the link if you want to just pasta window shop.)
Brand allegiance aside, I can’t say enough good things about this creamy red pepper pasta situation.
It’s full of flavor, it is adored by me (for it’s flavor, texture, and nutrition, and ease of prep), by my husband Bjork (for having a super satisfying creamy sauce), by my toddler (for being fun to eat), and by my sister (for being totally vegan).
Speaking from experience, it has all the makings of a weekly staple recipe that is both feel-good for the body and crave-able for the tastebuds. ♡
Check Out Our Video For How To Make Creamy Red Pepper Pasta:
The inspiration for this recipe came after seeing this dreamy picture while perusing In Pursuit of More which is one of my favorite vegan recipe sites!
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Creamy Vegan Red Pepper Pasta with Blistered Tomatoes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 generous servings 1x
Description
This Creamy Red Pepper Pasta is seriously delicious and seriously vegan! Perfectly chewy rigatoni, blistered juicy tomatoes, a creamy-but-cream-less roasted red pepper sauce, all sprinkled with fresh chives and basil.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. rigatoni (DeLallo brand)
- 2–3 cups cherry tomatoes
- a quick swish of olive oil (DeLallo brand)
- salt and pepper
Sauce
- 1 1/4 cup cashews
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 large roasted red pepper (DeLallo brand – not a whole jar, just one, or if you’re using sliced red peppers, about 1/2 cup)
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- chives and basil for topping
Instructions
- Pasta: Cook pasta according to package directions.
- Tomatoes: Preheat the broiler. On a baking sheet, toss cherry tomatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Broil for 10-15 minutes until very roasty.
- Sauce: Meanwhile, blend up your sauce ingredients in a blender until *very* smooth and creamy. Pour over hot cooked pasta (off heat) and stir to mix – it should cling well to the pasta.
- Serve: Serve with tomatoes over the top, as well as herbs and more salt and pepper.
Equipment
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Buy Now → Notes
The sauce thickens when you reheat it, so be prepared to just add more water if you’re eating leftovers.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: roasted red pepper pasta, vegan pasta, cashew pasta, tomato pasta, pasta with tomatoes
Thank you to DeLallo for sponsoring this recipe!
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our creamy and delicious dairy-free recipes. Check it out!
I made this recipe just now to have for lunch later, only I didn’t have any cherry tomatoes in so used finely chopped sun-dried from a jar, also put a couple of the sun-dried tomatoes into the blender with the sauce and it was really delicious, thankyou for the recipe 💕
Can this recipe be served cold or room temperature? Thank you!
Hi! This is best served warm.
Is this a stand alone meal, or should it be accompanied by a side?
I’ve been wanting to try this forever and finally did tonight! It was a hit and definitely had a very elevated flavor like something from a high end restaurant. We’re not vegan so I added browned sweet Italian sausage for protein and used orange fresh pepper because I accidentally bought jarred chili peppers (I added one but was worried it would be too spicy with the full amount). I used bowtie pasta. It was so good! It also feels like an easy recipe to use up what’s in your fridge – sautéed mushrooms or rotisserie chicken would be great. The roasted tomatoes were the icing on the cake – don’t skimp on those!!!
This is delicious! For my family of 4, I pared down a bit and wish I would’ve made a whole recipe, they love it! On our rotation.
How can something so simple be so decadent and delicious! I have never made sauce with cashews before and I was so impressed. This in insanely good!
So glad you enjoyed it!
I don’t know how something so simple can be so decadent and delicious but this is incredible! It will be on our regular rotation. So so good!
I started making this recipe once I went dairy free for nursing and it has become a household favorite! I’ve made it for company and they love it. It will continue to be in our regular rotation moving forward. The only change I’ve done is use the whole jar of roasted bell peppers because I can’t resist.
This pasta was delicious! My vegan-averse husband enjoyed it very much. I’ve learned if I don’t tell him something is plant based, he doesn’t have preconceived notions (which is silly IMO). Don’t skimp on the basil! I used a bit of leftover sauce on roasted cauliflower the next day. Yum! Very easy and will go into my rotation.
This was delicious. We all loved it. The only issue was that it seemed like way too much water. Is it indeed supposed to be 1 1/2 cups? I wondered if it was meant to be 1/2C? Regardless, wonderful vegan recipe.
This came together so quickly and was perfect for my sad looking grape tomatoes. I love cashew cream but never tried it with red pepper. I added a squeeze of lemon juice to the sauce (I do that for most things) Another keeper!
I loved this recipe. So easy, So yummy. I have leftover sauce that will be perfect for tofu or chicken. THANK YOU!
Plain/regular olive oil, or extra virgin olive oil?
Thanks! As a vegan and gluten-free eater, I adore this recipe. Delallo’s gluten free pasta is literally the best!
We usually always prefer EVOO!
There’s not really much to say except, I love this pasta! I discovered it while I was vegan, and although I’m not vegan anymore, I still love it. The sauce is delicious, silky, and creamy. It’s a great way to get some veg in for those picky eaters. We even served this for our anniversary dinner a few years ago and it was a hit. I keep coming back to it. It’s that good!
What a delicious-looking recipe!
Can this transition well to be served cold like a summer pasta salad?
Thanks!
I’d say yes!
Hi Lindsay! I’m halfway through writing down this recipe and excited to try it. Have you found anything vegan that replaces the cheesy flavor that nutritional yeast produces? I know it’s optional, but I *do* love the flavor of nutritional yeast. I just have to omit it for health reasons and Google doesn’t mention anything that seems like a realistic substitute. Thanks in advance. ~ Jess
This is such a staple!! Make sure you double check your cashews and peppers to see if there is added salt there. Even the 1 ½ tsp seems a little too salty so I cut back there and cut back the water too to make it super thick and creamy! I added protein powder and collagen tonight and you can’t even tell! So good!
This is my go to easy pasta. I love that it is creamy with no dairy. We often add the chicken meatballs!
Would this be ok to freeze?
We don’t think this recipe would freeze well unfortunately.
This is one of our favorite recipes. Love that it is so creamy and dairy-free.
This is one of our favorite recipes. Love that it’s dairy free and so creamy.
Wow this was so good and easy! And plant based too. This will go into my regular rotation for sure.
Could I blend in the tomatoes too? My kids don’t like them whole and chunky.
That could work!
Just made this exactly as instructed and its perfection. I had no idea what to cook and it was 7 pm. i was scrolling stories in IG and saw the story on Lindsay page with the recipe. I had some cooked chicken breast and 20 minutes later food was served. This will be on rotation. Thanks!!
Have made this one several times now and it always comes out so well! Very tasty and love that it’s a great option for my dairy-free friends!