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This Pumpkin Pasta Sauce is the perfect way to celebrate pumpkin season! It tastes like a restaurant-quality meal and takes less than 20 minutes to prepare.
This creamy pumpkin pasta sauce is inspired by the Tuscan Pumpkin Pasta Sauce I saw at the grocery store. It’s the perfect Fall twist for your next pasta night!
As written, this is a vegan pumpkin pasta sauce recipe, but it’s also delicious with a topping of grated parmesan cheese if you don’t need a dairy-free dish.
The flavor is so delicious that you can reheat the leftovers as a quick soup or as a dip for a grilled cheese sandwich.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Pumpkin puree gives this sauce a velvety texture that’s a little heartier than traditional marinara sauce, and the coconut milk makes it creamy, without adding a significant flavor, for a dairy-free sauce. If you have cooked butternut squash on hand, that will work here, too!
If you don’t need a dairy-free sauce, swap the coconut milk for a 1/4 cup of heavy cream, instead.
How to Make the Best Pumpkin Pasta Sauce
If you plan on serving this sauce over pasta right away, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once it’s boiling, cook the noodles according to the directions on the package.
Use gluten-free pasta if you need a gluten-free dish. Any type of pasta, like spaghetti or rigatoni, will pair well with this delicious sauce.
While the pasta is cooking, add the olive oil to a separate skillet over medium-high heat, and saute the onion until it’s tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.
Add in the minced garlic and fresh sage, and stir until very fragrant, about 1 to 2 more minutes.
To a high-speed blender, add the diced tomatoes, canned pumpkin, coconut milk, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Add in the cooked onion, garlic, and sage then blend until smooth, about 60 seconds.
Safety Tip: Blending the sauce before you heat the tomatoes and pumpkin makes it a little safer to blend since everything won’t be piping hot yet.
Return the blended sauce to the pan on the stove and warm it over medium heat until it’s gently simmering. Whisk often, to prevent any sticking to the pan.
Drain the cooked pasta and toss it with the pumpkin sauce. Taste the pumpkin pasta and adjust any seasoning to taste. (It may need more salt once you’ve added it to the noodles.)
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! This creamy pumpkin sauce is very flexible. I purposefully decided to use only 1 cup because I wanted to use the rest of the can to make another pumpkin recipe. But if you want to use a whole can, or only 3/4 cup pumpkin in this recipe, you are welcome to do that.
If you don’t have diced tomatoes on hand, you can use a can of tomato sauce or strained tomatoes for similar results. When using tomato sauce as a substitute, be sure to cut back on the salt and omit the maple syrup, since tomato sauce may already have seasoning added.
I have tested this recipe using dried sage instead of fresh, and I love it that way! Use a 1/2 teaspoon of ground sage as a swap for the 1 teaspoon of fresh.
Yes! As written, this recipe is dairy-free and vegan. However, all of my family members are not vegan, so we usually add a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top, for those who want it.
Looking for more pumpkin recipes? Be sure to try Roasted Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Smoothie, Pumpkin Oatmeal, or Healthy Pumpkin Bars.
Ingredients
- 16 ounces spaghetti noodles (or pasta of choice)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion , chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh minced sage , plus extra for garnish
- 1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes (no salt added)
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- salt & pepper , to taste
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ cup canned coconut milk (optional)
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the noodles according to the directions on the package. While the noodles are cooking, prepare the sauce by adding the olive oil to a separate skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onion until softened, stirring often, about 8 minutes.
- Add in the garlic and sage, and cook until fragrant, about 1 to 2 more minutes.
- In a blender, combine the tomatoes, pumpkin, 1 teaspoon of salt, a 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, maple syrup, and the cooked onions, garlic, and sage. Blend until very smooth. For an extra-creamy sauce, add in the coconut milk, too. (Highly recommend!)
- When the pasta is done cooking, drain the noodles. Pour the blended sauce back into the large skillet, and heat it up, so it's ready to serve. Toss with the noodles, and season with additional salt and pepper, to taste. I usually have to add at least a 1/2 teaspoon more salt, but that will vary based on how much salt the pasta absorbs while cooking. You can also adjust the flavor by adding a touch of lemon juice for more tartness, or another teaspoon of maple syrup for more sweetness.
- Serve warm, with any extra pasta toppings you love. This recipe is vegan as written, but you can top it with a little Parmesan cheese if you don't need a dairy-free recipe. Leftover sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, or you can freeze it for up to 3 months.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this Pumpkin Pasta Sauce recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below so I’ll know how you like it!
Just made this and me and my husband love it. We are not even vegan. I tossed the sauce with some wholewheat spaghetti. This is so creamy and has great fall flavor without the cheese. It’s a great change from just regular tomato sauce.
I was really skeptical at first and even when I was making this, I couldn’t imagine it tasting like a savory dish. Honestly, I was totally prepared to try it, not like it, and then make myself something else for dinner. But guess what?! It’s delicious! The combination of pumpkin and tomato works really well together. It’s a big bonus that the sauce takes basically 15 minutes to make. I am looking forward to leftovers! Also, I used soy milk instead of coconut, since that’s what I had on hand.
me, too. And I was lazy and substituted onion powder (3/4 tsp) , garlic powder (1/8 tsp), dried sage (1/4 tsp) and left out the oil (nothing left to saute!. It was delish – and hubby wanted to know why he couldn’t eat the rest of the pot worth off the spoon!
Omg this was amazing! I made it using gluten free brown rice spaghetti, so good!!!!!!!!
Can you reccomend a good gluten free pasta?
Jovial brown rice pasta
I added a bit of chilli powder to this recipe and it was awesome!! I cooked some black bean noodles along with it… so delicious 🙂
This is beautiful! 🙂 I can’t help but stare at the pictures! I’ve come back multiple times and every time I’m in awe of how pretty it is! I’m definitely going to try it sometime soon! I’m not a huge pumpkin fan but this convinces me 🙂 Love this 🙂 Thanks for this simple recipe!
This was fantastic!! I ended up using a can of tomato paste and filling the rest of the 1 cup with water to thin it out. I may have added more water in the end to make it creamier as well. So glad you are sharing savory pumpkin recipes!!!
Thank you 🙂
I just made this and OMG it was delicious! I am cooking for 1 so decided to make extra sauce so I didn’t waste ingredients and plan on either freezing the leftovers or eating as soup cuz it’s just that addicting! I pretty much doubled everything but the maple syrup- I only used the 4 tsp and it was perfect for my taste. I had to omit the onion because I’m allergic but it still had tons of flavor! I will definitely be making this again.
PS- I tried to give this 5 stars but it would only let me click on 4. 🙁
This is so delicious! My husband typically will lump something like this into the half of the week’s cooking that I will eat but he LOVED this. Looking forward to making more batches for the freezer. Love it.
Hi Megan, I am so glad to see your recipe for this sauce. I seen the sauce at Bed bath and beyond and wanted to try it but as you I didn’t like the cream in the ingredients, I was thinking about doing my own creation but I see it has been done already for me. Can’t wait to make it. Will post to let you know how it turns out.