A Quorn bolognese is simple and quick and ready in just 30 minutes making it perfect for mid-week dinners. Quorn mince can be cooked from frozen, making a perfect standby for those busy days. Swapping beef for Quorn is also an easy way to reduce your meat and is ideal for meat-free Mondays!
Bolognese originates from Bologna in Italy, but there is no 'typical' or traditional recipe. People use a variety of different vegetables and herbs and make it their own. This is a simple recipe, built around common ingredients and designed to be straightforward and quick to make. You might also like my Mushroom and Lentil Ragu as an alternative vegetable-based ragu sauce to enjoy with pasta. If you'd like more easy Quorn recipes, check out my Quorn Cottage Pie or Easy Quorn Chilli. If you've got leftovers, how about using this sauce to make a Quorn Lasagne.
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Ingredients
This spaghetti bolognese with Quorn recipe uses simple ingredients.
- Quorn Mince is a great standby and can be cooked from frozen.
- Chopped Tomatoes. I always suggest using the best quality tinned or canned tomatoes you can afford. Cheaper varieties usually have a higher water content so will make your sauce runnier.
- Tomato Puree or Paste. This helps give extra flavour and depth to the sauce. It's not a disaster if you don't have it.
- Worcestershire Sauce. A traditional ingredient in a cottage pie. It adds a spicy concentrated flavour. A traditional version does however contain anchovies so is not suitable for those who don't eat fish. However, vegetarian and vegan versions are widely available.
- See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Fry the chopped onion, carrot and garlic together for 5 minutes over a medium heat.
Add the Quorn mince and fry for a further 3 - 4 minutes. You can add Quorn mince from frozen.
Stir in the tinned chopped tomatoes, passata, Worcestershire Sauce, fresh basil, and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions whilst the bolognese sauce is simmering and grate any cheese you might like to sprinkle over the top.
Substitutions
- Quorn Mince - I've tested this recipe with Quorn mince which is a particular brand. You could use other plant-based or meat-free mince products. Quorn is not suitable for vegans, but other plant-based mince products are.
- Vegetables - I've just used onions and carrots in this recipe to keep it simple, but you could also add in celery and mushrooms.
How to Serve
You can serve this bolognese sauce with spaghetti or any pasta shapes. It's also lovely on top of a jacket or baked potato or even with rice. If you're looking for some extra side dishes, try a traditional garlic bread or green salad.
Sustainability
Reducing your intake of red meat is a significant step you can take toward lowering your carbon footprint. Quorn has a much lower carbon footprint than mince as it uses 90% less land, water, and carbon emissions than animal proteins. Beef has the highest amount of carbon emissions of all foods so substituting beef occasionally will help. Olive oil, black pepper, and even red wine are all now available as Fairtrade products, which makes a huge difference to some of the world's poorest farmers. As always, try to buy the vegetables lose to minimise packaging and from local producers. Keeping food miles low not only helps support the local economy but also lowers the carbon footprint.
Cooking a batch
This is a great recipe for cooking a batch. (see storage instructions below). Batch cooking can help save on energy costs and means you always have a standby meal in the freezer. Like most recipes, when cooking in bulk, you won't need to double or treble the liquid. The liquid should just about cover the ingredients, but not feel like the Quorn, carrots, and onions are swimming in sauce. The sauce will thicken slightly when cooking. It's difficult to give precise instructions around this because tinned tomatoes for example vary considerably in how much liquid they contain. Some passatas are thicker than others.
Storage
Quorn mince can be frozen and can be cooked from frozen making this a great standby. If you want to defrost it in the fridge, you should cook it within 24 hours. Once cooked, a Quorn spag bol will keep well in the fridge for 48 hours. You can also freeze it, even if the mince was frozen before. Let it cool and place in the freezer for up to one month. Let it defrost fully in the fridge for 24 hours and reheat it until it is piping hot. You should only reheat the dish once.
📖 Recipe
Easy Quorn Vegetarian Bolognese
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil organic, fairtrade
- 2 onions peeled and diced, organic
- 250 g carrots peeled and diced, organic
- 2 cloves garlic organic, peeled and crushed
- 300 g Quorn mince
- 400 g chopped tomatoes organic, use tinned
- 125 ml red wine organic, fairtrade or low alcohol cooking wine
- 250 g passata organic
- 2 tablespoon fresh basil or dried basil / Italian Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce organic
- 1 dash black pepper freshly ground, organic, fairtrade
- 1 dash salt
- 360 g dried spaghetti organic
- 25 g Parmesan cheese organic, to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or oven proof casserole dish over a medium heat and fry the onion, carrot and garlic for 5 minutes
- Add the Quorn mince to the pan and cook for 5 minutes
- Add the chopped tomatoes, passata, Worcestershire sauce, red wine, fresh basil and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Cook the pasta as per the packet instructions, then serve together with the bolognese sauce and some fresh parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.
Notes
Ingredients
- Quorn Mince is a great standby and can be cooked from frozen.
- Chopped Tomatoes. I always suggest using the best quality tinned or canned tomatoes you can afford. Cheaper varieties usually have a higher water content so will make your sauce runnier.
- Tomato Puree or Paste. This helps give extra flavour and depth to the sauce. It's not a disaster if you don't have it.
- Worcestershire Sauce. A traditional ingredient in a cottage pie. It adds a spicy concentrated flavour. A traditional version does however contain anchovies so is not suitable for those who don't eat fish. However, vegetarian and vegan versions are widely available.
Substitutions
- Quorn Mince - I've tested this recipe with Quorn mince which is a particular brand. You could use other plant-based or meat-free mince products. Quorn is not suitable for vegans, but other plant-based mince products are.
- Vegetables - I've just used onions and carrots in this recipe to keep it simple, but you could also add in celery and mushrooms.
Batch Cooking
This is a great recipe for cooking a batch. (see storage instructions below). Batch cooking can help save on energy costs and means you always have a standby meal in the freezer. Like most recipes, when cooking in bulk, you won't need to double or treble the liquid. The liquid should just about cover the ingredients, but not feel like the Quorn, carrots, and onions are swimming in sauce. The sauce will thicken slightly when cooking. It's difficult to give precise instructions around this because tinned tomatoes for example vary considerably in how much liquid they contain. Some passatas are thicker than others.Storage
Quorn mince can be frozen and can be cooked from frozen. If you defrost it in the fridge, you should cook it within 24 hours. Once cooked, a Quorn bolognese will keep well in the fridge for 48 hours. It can also be frozen, even if the mince was frozen before. Let it cool and place in the freezer for up to one month. Let it defrost fully in the fridge for 24 hours and reheat it until it is piping hot. You should only reheat the dish once.Nutrition per serving
The Nutritional Values are computer generated estimates based on industry standards and are provided as a helpful guide only.
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