A thick, creamy red pepper sauce made with roasted bell peppers and coconut milk. A hearty, savoury sauce for pasta with a cheesy taste. This sauce is delicious and also healthy!

To make this sauce, there are three steps. Sauté vegetables, blend the creamy sauce, then mix everything together with spices and simmer until thick.

Red Pepper Sauce Ingredients

• Sauté vegetables:
  • Diced onions 
  • Diced peppers
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes
• Blend the following:
  • 2 cups coconut milk (Silk brand unsweetened coconut beverage)
  • 2 roasted red peppers (from a jar)
  • 2 tbsp tapioca starch or corn starch
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp white miso
• Add spices:
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp dry minced onion/onion flakes
  • 1/2 tsp basil
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 tsp chipotle pepper
  • 1/4 tsp ground cumin

Sauté diced onions for about 5 minutes. Add diced peppers and sauté for 5 more minutes. I usually add about 1 – 2 tsp of olive oil to the pan to stir fry the vegetables, but you can also sauté them without oil. For oil-free sautéing, it works well to use a bit of the liquid from the canned diced tomatoes to keep vegetables from sticking to the pan.

Add 1 can of diced tomatoes to the pan with the onions and bell peppers. While the vegetables simmer, blend coconut milk, roasted red peppers, tapioca starch, flour, nutritional yeast, and miso until smooth. Corn starch can be substituted for tapioca starch. Tapioca flour is the same as tapioca starch. Note that flour is optional, but I like to add some so the sauce is extra thick. I use unbleached wheat flour but any flour will do. You can use rice flour or gluten-free flour mix if you prefer.

After blending, pour this sauce into the vegetable mixture in the pan. Add spices and stir. Simmer until the sauce thickens, and then serve over pasta. 

Additional Additions

I like to add soy curls to the sauce or on top of the pasta for added flavour and texture. You can stir fry or air fry the soy curls. With this creamy red pepper sauce, I like to make soy curls covered with their own sauce made from vegan mayo, bbq sauce, red pepper hot sauce, maple syrup, and lime juice. First, I hydrate the soy curls in vegetable broth. Next, I coat them with corn starch and/or flour. I then fry them in a bit of oil until crispy. Finally, I toss them with sauce right before serving. I used to cook the soy curls more after adding sauce, but I have found that this can make them soggy, so now I add the sauce right before serving.

More Recipes to Try

• Ginger Soy Curls
• Bowtie Pasta with Creamy Diced Tomato and Bell Pepper Sauce