Vegetarian Spaghetti with mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes makes an easy, healthy one-pot pasta dinner that’s ready in 25 minutes!
A meatless Monday dinner is definitely in order for me this week.
I had a fabulous time at the lake with my girls for our annual boat day this weekend! Lots of sunshine and swimming. Lots of good conversation and laughter. And lots of food and drinks.
And now I need to recover. With healthy, healing foods that are still delicious and comforting.
And easy.
And fast.
Sounds like a tall order, but this one-pot vegetarian spaghetti absolutely delivers.
It ticks ALL the boxes and then some.
I love an easy one-pot pasta recipe for a weeknight meal. I make lots of different versions and this is one of my favorites for being super light but also so creamy and very decadent feeling.
My other one-pot pastas include my one-pot creamy chicken and mushroom pasta with peas and one pot chicken sausage with spinach and peas. You might also like this one pot turkey chili mac. Or these veggie lasagna roll ups for another meatless meal.
In this veggie version though, the noodles soak up the flavor from the vegetable broth and tomatoes and it makes them so rich.
The mushrooms bring a meaty quality to the dish -- and give it some heft -- and the fresh spinach just brightens it all up.
All kinds of deliciousness right here! ❤️
Plus, there's tons of ways to customize it and make it work for you. Keep reading for details.
You can also check out Google web story for this one-pot vegetarian spaghetti recipe.
I think it's going to be a hit in your house and a new go-to vegetarian option, no matter the day of the week!
OK, let's get cooking. So we can eat already.
Here's a little visual of the process:
Now, I’ve got some notes and tips coming up below on how to make veggie spaghetti. Just tryin’ to be helpful.
If you want to jump on down to the recipe, simply scroll right on through the rest of the text. The recipe card is near the bottom of the page, above the comments section.
Ingredient Notes:
- Vegetables: You can definitely add any extra veggies you have on hand: peppers, zucchini and broccoli would all be lovely. Add them in at the same time as the onions and mushrooms and sauté everything together until it’s slightly tender.
- Mushrooms: You can substitute cremini or portobello mushrooms for the regular button mushrooms if you prefer.
- Vegan option: If you want to make this recipe vegan, just substitute nutritional yeast or your favorite vegan cheese in place of the Parmesan.
- Not vegan or vegetarian? You can stir in some cooked, shredded chicken or rotisserie chicken with the spinach at the end to warm it through. (If you have a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian in the house, this can be a great way to make it a dish for both.)
- Cheese: You could also stir in 1-2 cups of mozzarella cheese if you want a super cheesy pasta.
- Noodles: I use whole wheat spaghetti noodles. You can of course use regular spaghetti. You could also substitute a thin spaghetti, a gluten-free spaghetti or even a bean-based pasta if you prefer. Just check the cooking times and adjust accordingly.
Definitely lots of ways to customize this and make it suit your tastes.
One additional note...
Some Parmesan cheese isn't technically considered vegetarian because it's made using animal rennet during part of the process.
However, there are Italian-style hard cheeses and Parmesan-like cheeses made from vegetable rennet that are available in some stores that you could use as a substitute if you are strictly vegetarian.
You can also substitute nutritional yeast, which would make this recipe vegan as well, as noted above. Or leave off the cheese altogether.
So there's your lesson for the day.
Last thing, what to do with any leftovers.
Leftover vegetarian spaghetti, once cooled, can be stored in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to 4-5 days.
Reheat individual servings in the microwave until heated through. Add some extra splashes of broth or water, and some extra Parmesan, to wake it up if needed.
It makes a delicious lunch later in the week.
You can also check out some of my other vegetarian recipes, like my southwest vegetarian quinoa skillet and my veggie burger scramble (aka, the lazy way to make veggie burgers!)
Here’s to a healthy, happy week, friends!
Enjoy!
XO,
Kathryn
One-Pot Vegetarian Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 (8 oz.) package button mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 (14.5 oz.) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 10 oz. thin spaghetti noodles, I use whole wheat
- 3 cups fresh spinach or baby spinach
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving (see notes)
For serving:
- ¼ cup fresh chopped basil or parsley, optional
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onion and mushrooms and saute for 5-7 minutes, until tender and the liquid from the mushrooms has been mostly cooked off.
- Add garlic and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes (if using) and saute another 30 seconds.
- Increase heat to high then add canned tomatoes and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil.
- Add spaghetti noodles and stir until they wilt and fit in the pot. Cover the pot, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes. (Your liquid should be at a low boil this whole time.)
- Remove lid and add fresh spinach, a couple of handfuls at a time, stirring to get the spinach mixed in and wilted.
- Remove from heat and let spaghetti sit, covered, for a few minutes
- Stir in Parmesan cheese, taste and adjust seasonings.
- Serve with fresh basil or parsley and extra Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
This post was updated with new photos in January 2024. Here is one of the originals for reference.
Marina lee
My bf love spaghetti. Definitely I will try new dishes for him.
Thanks for sharing such a yummy dishes.
Tangiz
There was a video explaining the steps where is it? 😭😭
Kathryn Doherty
Hi! If you were on this page for a little while, the video player may have moved to a different recipe video or shuffled them. You can try refreshing the page to get it to re-start and/or you can also view the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfJznnBUR1Y&t=1s
Hope that helps!
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Carmen
Followed the recipe except for some extra spices, it was delicious!!! Definitely a new favorite.
Kathryn Doherty
I'm so happy to hear you loved it Carmen! Thanks so much for sharing!
Oran Lester
Thanks for sharing this wonderful way to.make vegetarian chicken spaghetti. Going to make this tonight for my wife and daughter and husband. We just moved into my daughter and husband's home and we are looking for good recipes that are vegetarian. My daughter and husband are vegitarian and we are also converting to the vegitarian diet. Thanks again snd looking forward to seeing more delicious recipes!!
Kathryn Doherty
Happy you found this and I hope you all enjoyed it! Here are some more of my easy vegetarian main meals if you need some inspiration: https://www.familyfoodonthetable.com/category/easy-vegetarian-recipes/ Enjoy your time getting settled in with them! 😊
Tina
Hello! I absolutely love this recipe! I was wondering if there is an instant pot version of this dish? Do you think it’ll work with an instant pot? Thank you so much!
Kathryn Doherty
I'm so happy to hear you love this recipe Tina! I have not tried making this - or any one-pot pasta really - in the Instant Pot, so I'm not sure what adjustments might be needed. If you decide to play around with it, let us know how it goes!
Amanda Ruth
it is a very good recipe to make. I thought it was good
Kathryn Doherty
I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed it!
Alyssa
This is one of my favorite recipes! However everytime I make it, I get large clumps of spaghetti. Help!
Kathryn Doherty
I'm so happy to hear you love it Alyssa! As for the spaghetti clumping, it might help to spread it out a bit more when you are adding it (I layer the noodles in different directions to help with this). Also, be sure you stir it well when adding the spinach and again when adding the cheese. It tends to clump if it hasn't been moved around. Hope that helps!
Maisie
This looks delicious but is it really only 185 calories. I find that a little hard to believe.
Kathryn Doherty
Hi Maisie! I use a nutrition calculator that's built in software as part of my recipe cards. It's consistently being updated and refined but yeah, it's not always exactly accurate. I just went in to re-run the numbers for this recipe and it came up the same. However, my box of spaghetti says 180 calories for 2 oz. of noodles and this is just over that per serving, so agreed that it's off by at least a little bit.