Mushroom Lentil Pasta

This Mushroom Lentil Pasta is the perfect easy dinner to cook up in no time! Hearty, vegetarian/vegan, flavorful and super budget friendly. Healthy comfort food at its finest and the perfect family dinner recipe.

Mushroom Lentil Pasta

TNNers, sometimes you just need a hearty, comforting pasta dish. Ain’t no shame and this lentil mushroom sauce does the trick for me and my family every time.

If you are new to lentils, this recipe the perfect place to get started on your legume lovin’ journey. The rich red sauce gives the slightly chewy lentils a familiar flavor. This is one of my daughter’s favorite Meatless Monday dinners and was key in encouraging her to try lentils in many other dishes. Now, she proclaims that lentils are her #2 favorite food…. after bananas!

Health benefits of lentils

Lentils have been a rich and healthy food source since the beginning of civilization.  They are wildly rich in calcium, potassium, zinc, iron and Vitamin B and are probably the most nutritious of all the legumes (sorry peanuts). Combined with chopped mushrooms, this pasta sauce has a lovely texture that will dazzle even the most die-hard meat lover. 

Health benefits of mushrooms

Before anyone says it….yes. I know that mushrooms are botanically considered a fungus ….but let’s be honest. People eat them like a vegetable. And, mushrooms are super nutrient dense, like a veggie! So let’s just refer to them as a veggie for the moment.

Mushrooms are an awesome thing to add to your veggie-loading loving life. Loaded with fiber, B vitamins, selenium and potassium. There is even some protein hanging out in mushrooms! (source). There have even been studies that show that mushrooms help to boost your immune system. SO, this fungus is as awesome as any veggie in my book.

Adding mushrooms to this pasta sauce is also a great way to not only get more plants into your diet, but also pairs so beautifully with lentils to give this mushroom pasta sauce an extra hearty comforting texture and flavor.

Time saving hacks for making Mushroom Lentil Pasta

Let’s face it, very few of us have oodles of time to cook dinner. We need and/or want fast recipes that are healthy, filling and don’t create tons of dishes. If you are sitting there, noodling your head because it is like I am reading your mind, here are some easy time saving hacks for simplifying this Mushroom Lentil Pasta and getting it on the table FAST!

• Cook your lentils ahead of time! I will do that as part of my weekly meal prep and let the lentils hang out in the fridge until I am ready to make this sauce (or other lentil loaded recipes). Here are 3 different ways to cook lentils, so you can make them however works best for you!
• Use precooked lentils. You can find them with the canned vegetables at most grocery stores or in the refrigeration section of the produce area.
• Finely chop mushrooms in food processor. I do this ALL. THE. TIME. I just throw my mushrooms in my food processor with the “S” blade and pulse a few times. So fast and perfect for getting that “meaty” texture that mushrooms have while skipping standing over a cutting board.

Suggested adaptations

• Use homemade veggie-loaded tomato sauce. If you want to add extra veggies to this meal, I love to use this veggie-loaded tomato sauce that is super easy! Or make homemade sauce in your slow cooker!
• Add extra veggies to the sauce while it cooks. I love to throw in shredded carrots, finely chopped spinach or leftover roasted veggies. They add to the flavor and texture of the sauce while bulking up the veggies in your meal.
• Make the sauce ahead of time. This sauce makes for a great leftover! Make it, store it in your fridge and reheat it when you need it! BOOM! Dinner became as easy as boiling pasta!

Other amazing lentil recipes

Okay, so now you are jazzed about eating more lentils. But if you are staring at the bag of dry lentils in your pantry, wondering what other ways you can use them beyond this amazing mushroom pasta recipe, here are some of our other favorite lentil recipes!

• Instant Pot/ Slow Cooker Lentil Soup
• Vegan Carrot Muffins (with lentils)
• One-Pot Curry Lentil Soup
• Slow Cooker Lentil Tacos
• Veggie-Loaded Lentil & Quinoa “Meatballs”

Loving the Mushroom Lentil Pasta and hungry for more?

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