Your childhood favorite has gone vegan, and it’s just as delicious as you remember! You’re going to love my version of vegan spaghettios — Chef Sarah D’s Not-from-a-can Spaghetti and meatballs!
Although I think raising David as a vegan is the best for him, I don’t want him to ever feel like he is going to “miss out” on traditional “kid foods” like mac and cheese, s’mores, and chicken nuggets. I love to recreate these foods for David in a vegan way. They may still not be considered health foods, but when I make them at home I can control the ingredients and I feel good about that!
Vegan Spaghettios
Are these Campbell’s Spaghettios? Or Chef Boyardee’s Spaghetti and Meatballs? Are those basically the same thing anyway? I’m too old to remember! Whichever they are, they are delicious! Spaghettios was a childhood favorite of Irving’s. Oddly enough, canned processed foods, while routine here in the states, were a rare treat for my husband. Can you imagine a life where fresh mangoes are boring and spaghettios are a treat?! Sounds good to me! None the less, I made this meal for both of my boys and they both gobbled it up! The sauce is a dead ringer for the traditional canned pasta, and the “mystery meatballs” were too. Mysterious in this case because lentils are transformed into tiny protein packed bites!
Other Kid Favorite Pastas You Will Love!
Homemade “Boxed” Macaroni and Cheese
I hope you love these vegan spaghettios! They are packed with creamy, cheesy, tomato flavor, and are so delicious—totally reminiscent of my childhood. Better yet, this dish comes together in less than an hour—less than 30 minutes if you aren’t making the meatballs (although they are totally worth the extra time!).
Chef Sarah D’s Not-From-A-Can Spaghetti and Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound shell pasta
- salt (for water to cook pasta)
- 1 6 ounce tomato paste
- 4 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add salt and pasta, and cook pasta until al dente.
- In the meantime, mix all other ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, using a whisk to break up the tomato paste. I like to start with the tomato paste and a few splashes of milk to get it mixing, and then add the rest of the ingredients, whisking as I go.
- Drain cooked pasta and add to sauce. It will seem very soupy but after about 5 minutes the pasta will absorb A LOT of the milk and will make a creamy sauce. Mix well, and then add in meatballs (see notes). Stir gently, without breaking up the meatballs.
Notes
Mystery Meatballs
I used this recipe from Post Punk Kitchen, increasing the bread crumbs to 3/4 of a cup. Alternatively, you could use vegan sausages, diced into small pieces. Gently toss prepared meatballs into pasta and sauce mix, being careful not to break up meatballs. Enjoy!A note about the pasta
I made this on Friday with letter pasta. The pasta was so cute and I thought it would be perfect. However, it was so small, and so absorbent, that it soaked up all of the sauce and turned into mush—good tasting mush, but still mush. So I made it today with shells. It was SO much better, and the little shells scooped up extra sauce in every bite.
Leave a Reply