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Vegan Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

This vegan puttanesca pasta is simple but massively satisfying. The tomato sauce is emboldened by olives, capers, and miso. Fresh parsley and shredded nori give a bright pop and mild taste of the sea.

Easy Vegan Spaghetti Puttanesca with olives and capers

What inspired this Vegan Puttanesca

I’ve had and enjoyed regular Puttanesca several times in my life and really appreciate the simplicity and convenience of the dish. The idea is that you can take a few items you’ve got in your pantry and make a pretty tasty pasta sauce in not much time. In the original version, the olives, capers, and anchovies serve the purpose of elevating and enhancing the tomatoes and they do a pretty good job.

I thought this dish would be a good candidate for veganization because only the anchovy would need to be replaced. They type of canned anchovy used in puttanesca is known for its extreme saltiness and a bit of umami and taste of the sea. I opted for some more delicate replacements here. A mild miso and some shredded nori (the type of seaweed used to wrap sushi) add largely the same flavor elements in a way that is not overpowering.

If I had one complaint about the flavor of the original version, it’s that even a small piece of canned anchovy can overwhelm several bites of pasta with its saltiness. Since miso is easy to spread throughout the sauce, we can avoid this issue.

For reference, I consulted two very reliable resources when developing this recipe – the Italian internet and Serious Eats.

Ingredients for vegan puttanesca: pasta, tomatoes, olives, olive oil, garlic, capers, nori, miso, and parsley

What makes this dish great

Simplicity – The sauce requires relatively few ingredients for the level of flavor you get from it. Prep is easy and quick and involves just slicing the garlic and chopping the olives, capers, and parsley. The nori can be shredded using scissors once you’ve finished cooking. And cooking should only take about 20 minutes, including boiling the pasta.

Big flavor – The dish has a few flavor enhancers including capers, olives, and miso. And they all work toward the same goal of making a flavorful savory tomato sauce. And the olive oil creates a rich, almost creamy mouthfeel.

Easy Umami Vegan Spaghetti Puttanesca in a Skillet

The cooking process for Vegan Puttanesca

Making this dish is really straightforward. Once you’ve prepped everything, you start boiling water for the pasta. On another burner, you heat olive oil in a skillet, saute garlic, red pepper flakes, and capers. Once they’re browned, mix in the miso and tomatoes, combining everything and breaking apart the canned whole tomatoes. Cook the sauce a while to reduce. While the sauce reduces, boil and drain the pasta. Then stir the pasta, olives, and parsley into the sauce.A

Quick Simple Vegan Spaghetti Puttanesca Sauce Pasta with Olives

Some cooking notes before you start

Spaghetti appears to be the most common type of pasta used with Puttanesca. You can use any type of long pasta you like, but keep in mind the boiling time. Pick one that needs no more than 10 minutes of boiling time.

Shown in the photos is angel hair pasta. This type has the shortest cooking time but requires more attention because it can easily be overcooked.

Regardless of the pasta you use, you’ll want to undercook by 1-2 minutes when you boil it, so it will be just cooked after being mixed in the sauce for 1-2 minutes.

The quantity of pasta can range from 8-16 ounces (250-500 grams) and this depends on your preferred pasta-to-sauce ratio. I like my pasta extra saucy so I only used 8 ounces (250 grams) when I tested the recipe. Feel free to adjust the amount of pasta based on your meal plan.

Miso can vary a lot in its potency and one way to judge the potency is the amount of sodium (saltiness) per tablespoon. The one I used in this recipe is particularly mild and contains about 450 milligrams of sodium. Some Japanese misos contain as much as 800 milligrams. Check your miso before adding it. If the amount is in the 500-600 range, you can reduce the amount of miso by a third. If in the 700-800 range, you can reduce the amount by half. You can always add more toward the end.

The photos show whole olives, but slicing them will allow better distribution throughout the pasta. Some olives are especially salty, so the flavor will be more even if you distribute them.

I recommend rinsing the olives and capers because they can be especially salty.

Quick Vegan Spaghetti Puttanesca for dinner

More Plant-Based Italian-Inspired Recipes

If you try this recipe out, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @gastroplant on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.

Vegan Spaghetti Puttanesca Square
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Vegan Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

This vegan puttanesca pasta is simple but massively satisfying. The tomato sauce is emboldened by olives, capers, and miso. Fresh parsley and shredded nori give a bright pop and mild taste of the sea.
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 4
Author: Thomas

Ingredients

  • 8-16 ounces Spaghetti or other long thin pasta (250-500 grams)
  • 4 cloves garlic sliced thinly
  • 4 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 sushi-size (8x8 inch / 20x20 inch) sheet of nori shredded
  • 1 Tablespoon miso or more or less, depending on intensity - see note
  • 3.5 ounces pitted black olives sliced in half lengthwise and rinsed (100 grams)
  • 2 tablespoons capers rinsed and chopped
  • 28 ounces peeled canned tomatoes (800 grams)
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley plus more to garnish

Instructions

  • Boil the pasta according to the package instructions, but about 1 minute less than recommended. You want it to be firm because it will be cooked a bit more in the sauce. Reserve at least 1 cup of the boiling water for later use.
  • Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic, pepper flakes, capers. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes until the garlic is very lightly browned.
  • Add the miso and stir together with the ingredients. Cook for 1 minute.
  • Add the tomatoes along with the juice in the can. Turn to medium heat Break the tomatoes apart with the spatula. Continue cooking for 10 minutes, stirring often.
  • Add the pasta, olives, parsley, and spaghetti. Use a pair of tongs to stir well. Continue cooking until the pasta is perfectly al dente, 1-2 minutes. If the mixture becomes dry at any point, gradually add pasta boiling water and stir. The consistency should be saucy but thick enough to eat with a fork.
  • Taste and season with salt and black pepper as needed. You may not need much salt since the ingredients are already quite salty.
  • Serve pasta immediately, garnishing with nori and more parsley.

Notes

The quantity of pasta can range from 8-16 ounces (250-500 grams) and this depends on your preferred pasta-to-sauce ratio. I like my pasta extra saucy so I only used 8 ounces (250 grams) when I tested the recipe. Feel free to adjust the amount of pasta based on your meal plan.
Miso can vary a lot in its potency and one way to judge the potency is the amount of sodium (saltiness) per tablespoon. The one I used in this recipe is particularly mild and contains about 450 milligrams of sodium. Some Japanese misos contain as much as 800 milligrams. Check your miso before adding it. If the amount is in the 500-600 range, you can reduce the amount of miso by a third. If in the 700-800 range, you can reduce the amount by half.
Easy Vegan Spaghetti Puttanesca Collage

Appetizer

Air Fryer Tomatoes

These Air Fryer Tomatoes are beautifully simple. The flavor is highly concentrated with notes of smokiness, yet the texture is tender and juicy. The tomatoes shine so much on their own that they hardly need any seasoning. They’re as versatile as raw tomatoes – put them in salads or sandwiches or on pizza or crostini.

Easy Air Fryer Tomatoes with Baguette

Simplicity as a goal

As a recipe developer, it’s easy for me to get caught up in complicated cooking methods that use a couple dozen ingredients. I’m trying to avoid that tendency and stay away from needless complication. Often a single high-quality ingredient, cooked properly, creates a superior experience.

Fresh tomatoes for roasting

Developing the tomato flavor

Starting from the premise that concentrated tomato flavor is quite nice on its own (observing this from sundried tomatoes and tomato paste) I wanted to see how much I could develop their flavor using the air fryer. Some recipes go for complete dehydration, which can take a few hours. I was aiming to get similar flavor concentration to dehydrated tomatoes, but keep the tomatoes tender. I also wanted to experiment with putting a char on the tomatoes. I have grilled tomatoes in the past and the smokiness adds another nice dimension.

Air fryer tomatoes close-up

The experiment

I tried a few different kinds of tomatoes, as shown in the photos here. They included Roma (aka plum), Campari (the smallish round ones), on-the-vine (both yellow and orange), and heirloom (the big irregularly shaped ones). My cooking method went as follows: air fry at medium-low temperature until sufficiently dehydrated then air fry at the highest temperature briefly to get a smoky char on the outside. The method was the same for all the varieties, though the low-temperature roasting time varied a lot depending on the size and type of tomato. Obviously, larger tomatoes and those with higher liquid content will take longer to dehydrate. You can see from the photo (particularly the fourth stage) what I mean by “sufficiently dehydrated”.

I cut each tomato in half, heightwise and placed each piece as if it were a bowl, to minimize the leaking of the juice. It’s important that the juice stays in the fruit so the water can evaporate and the flavor can concentrate.

As a sanity check, and to make sure I didn’t destroy the tomatoes, I started from the “Air Fryer Dried Tomatoes” recipe in Kathy Hester‘s book Vegan Cooking in Your Air Fryer. I recommend that book if you’re interested in a thorough and diverse collection of vegan air fryer recipes.

Air fryer tomatoes cooking process

The tomato varieties

Roma

These tomatoes have the lowest water content and are relatively small. They dehydrate quickly and hold their shape well. The flavor isn’t as concentrated as the others but they’re still tasty.

Campari

They are juicier than the Roma tomatoes but still quite small, so they cook quickly and have great flavor. Because of the higher liquid content, they do become slightly fragile after roasting and should be handled carefully.

On-the-vine

These are less juicy than the Roma, but not as dry as the Campari. They’re larger than either of the previous two, so they take more time to cook. Overall, I don’t think they were as flavorful in this application, so I don’t recommend them unless they’re the ripest ones available to you.

Heirloom

I almost felt bad experimenting with heirloom tomatoes because they are so glorious when eaten raw. And these tomatoes are larger than the others, so they take longer to cook. But I didn’t regret it once I tasted the final product. They have a ton of flavor and hold their shape quite well. If you do go for heirloom tomatoes, be sure to choose the smallest ripe ones.

Grape / Cherry / San Marzano

These tomatoes are smaller than those I tested, so they should cook quite quickly. If you can get your hands on some ripe ones and want to cook them quickly, I’d recommend trying these, using the guidelines given in the recipe. Just be careful not to overcook them – the margin of error will be smaller.

Easy air fryer tomatoes

Serving tips

I ate the tomatoes I roasted on slices of baguette (aka crostini) and it was plenty flavorful. The tomatoes can benefit from a few grains of salt, but it’s a matter of personal preference.

It is not (yet) a thing to eat tomatoes with a full breakfast in the US, but I love copying the British custom and serving them alongside a Tofu Scramble or Cheese Grits.

They will otherwise be great in any application where you’d use raw tomatoes – think salads, sandwiches, tacos, and pizza.

Smoky air fryer tomatoes

Some final notes

Check on your tomatoes frequently. You don’t want them to get too dried out or burned. The goal is to roast and concentrate the flavor, but not completely dehydrate them.

You can stack the tomatoes in the air fryer if you want to cook more of them at one time. They may become tricky to remove as they soften and melt into one another. They may not look as pretty at this point, but the flavor will still be there.

If you try this recipe out, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @gastroplant on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.

Easy air fryer tomatoes square
Print Recipe

Air Fryer Tomatoes

Their flavor is highly concentrated with notes of smokiness, yet the texture is tender and juicy. The tomatoes shine so much on their own that they hardly need any seasoning. They’re as versatile as raw tomatoes - put them in salads or sandwiches or on pizza or crostini.
Cook Time1 hr
Course: Appetizer, Dinner, Side Dish
Cuisine: American, Italian
Author: Thomas

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ripe fresh tomatoes cherry, grape, San Marzano, Campari, Roma, on-the-vine, or heirloom, cut in half heightwise

Instructions

  • Their flavor is highly concentrated with notes of smokiness, yet the texture is tender and juicy. The tomatoes shine so much on their own that they hardly need any seasoning. They’re as versatile as raw tomatoes - put them in salads or sandwiches or on pizza or crostini.
  • 1 pound ripe fresh tomatoes (cherry, grape, San Marzano, Campari, Roma, on-the-vine, or heirloom), cut in half heightwise
  • Place cut tomatoes in the air fryer basket skin-side-down. This orientation is important to minimize the leakage of the tomato juices. Cook tomatoes at 240 F (115 C) for 45 minutes. Check on them every 10 minutes or so.
  • Continue to cook the tomatoes in 15-minute intervals until they are about half their original size (the shrinkage may mostly be in depth. Use the photos above as a guide.) Larger, juicier tomatoes will require more time. The heirloom tomatoes I tried required about 1 hour and 15 minutes in this stage.
  • At this point, you can either serve the tomatoes or air fry them at high temperature to get a smoky char. This depends on your preference.
  • To achieve the smoky char, cook the tomatoes in the air fryer at 390 F (200 C) for 5-6 minutes. Again, use the photos in the blog post as a guide for doneness.
  • When removing the tomatoes from the air fryer, be careful not to rupture the tomatoes, as the juices contain a lot of flavor at this point. A spoon may be the best utensil to use to remove them.

Notes

Smaller tomatoes are recommended for shorter cooking times.
Though large heirloom tomatoes do offer very rich flavor.
Choose tomatoes on the riper end of the spectrum.
You can store roasted tomatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Easy roasted air fryer tomatoes collage

Meal Prep

Air Fryer Carrots

These Air Fryer Carrots are dusted in spices and air-fried until crispy and sweet. The flavors of the carrot develop nicely and pair perfectly with the cumin, chile, and garlic. It’s a solid easy side dish that you can whip up on a moment’s notice.

Easy spiced air fryer carrots on the dinner table

Simple dishes make for easier decisions

I’ve been cooking a lot lately and it can get exhausting. A lot of the dishes have on the complex side, many with 20 or more ingredients. It’s fun to cook stuff like that, but not practical for a quick weeknight dinner. Lately, I’ve had to fight the impulse to order takeout and remind myself that cooking doesn’t need to be so complicated all the time.

Dishes like these carrots make it a lot easier to fight that takeout urge. Just 15 minutes of air-frying, and you’ve got a tasty and nutritious side dish. Air-frying is quite a hands-off process, so you can focus on doing something else during that time.

Ingredients for air fryer carrots

Inspiration for the air fryer carrots

There were a few things that influenced me to develop this recipe. Of course, there was my own need to have another quick side dish I could rely on. And I’ve been using the air fryer quite a bit since my stove-oven combo doesn’t have gas at the moment.

But I also wanted the flavors to be intense enough that the dish is fun to eat. I was inspired by the flavor profile used in many dishes in Northwest China (Xinjiang for you geography nerds). It’s cumin and chile powder and it is fantastic on practically anything roasted or grilled. The flavor profile is also consistent with dishes in many other cuisines, including Indian, Mediterranean, and Mexican.

The cooking process

Start by preheating the air fryer for 5 minutes. While that’s going on, you can wash and chop the carrots. You can also peel them if you want. There are some who say you should always peel them for better texture and flavor. But there are also some who say you don’t really need to. When I cooked this recipe, I did not peel the carrots and they still came out delicious.

After the air fryer has preheated, you put the carrots in (no seasoning yet) and cook them for 10 minutes. This will dehydrate the exterior a bit and help develop flavor in the interior.

After that’s done, you quickly transfer the carrots to a bowl and toss them with spices and oil. I add the oil later because the cooking temperature we’re using is above the smoke point of olive oil. And you don’t want to burn your olive oil because burned oil tastes bad and will activate your smoke alarm. You also want to toast, but not burn, the spices.

Air fry the carrots five more minutes after seasoning and they’re done. They’ll be browned and crispy on the outside, tender and sweet on the inside, and popping with aromatic flavor. You can garnish them with sesame seeds if you like. They add a nice nuttiness that goes well with the seasonings.

Easy healthy spiced air fryer carrots

Cooking tips

When I tested the recipe, I used pretty thin carrots, as shown in the photos. They were all less than 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter and the cooking time is based on small pieces like this. If you make this dish using larger carrots, be sure to cut them so that the thickness is about half an inch (1.25 cm). This will ensure that the carrots are cooked through.

I used a technique to cut these carrots in a sort of irregular way that creates lots of corners to get crispy. To cut carrots as you see here, start by cutting at an angle like you’re trying to create a sharp point on the end of the carrot. Then rotate the carrot 90 degrees and cut the same way. Continue doing this and you’ll have pieces like mine.

Be careful around the spice level. I used a medium-spicy chile powder when I tested the recipe. If you’re using a mild powder or paprika, you can double the amount. And if using cayenne, reduce the amount to a pinch.

If you’re not into this spice blend, the method works with many others, including just olive oil, salt, and pepper. Feel free to experiment.

Easy spiced air fryer carrots close-up

This dish will pair well with

  • Mediterranean Buddha Bowl Meal Prep – the spices used on the carrots will fit in seamlessly with Mediterranean flavors. You can make a double batch and eat them throughout the week.
  • Vegan Massaman Curry – If you need a flavorful side, the carrots use a lot of the same spices as this curry, but with totally different textures.
  • Vegan Turmeric Latte – This drink uses turmeric and ginger, which go very well with cumin and chile. The drink is only mildly sweet so it doesn’t clash with a savory meal.
  • Breakfast Tacos – cumin and chile are so widely used in Mexican cooking that these carrots would be at home in a breakfast taco or in an enchilada.

If you try this recipe out, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @gastroplant on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.

Easy spiced air fryer carrots
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5 from 1 vote

Air Fryer Carrots

They’re dusted in spices and air-fried until crispy and sweet. The flavors of the carrot develop nicely and pair perfectly with the cumin, chile, and garlic. It’s a solid easy side dish that you can whip up on a moment’s notice.
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Total Time20 mins
Course: Side, Side Dish
Cuisine: Chinese, Indian, Mediterranean, Mexican
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound carrots
  • 1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon chile powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Pinch salt
  • Toasted sesame seeds (optional garnish)
  • Fresh cilantro coriander leaves, chopped (optional garnish)

Instructions

  • Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 390 F (200 C). Wash and chop the carrots while the air fryer preheats
  • Place the carrots in the air fryer basket. Air fry for 10 minutes at 390 F (200 C).
  • Transfer carrots to a medium-sized bowl. Combine olive oil, cumin, chile powder, garlic powder, and salt in the bowl with the carrots. Stir to coat the carrots well in seasoning and oil.
  • Return carrots to air fryer basket and air fry at 390 F (200 C) for 5 minutes until the carrots are well browned on the edges.
  • Remove carrots from the air fryer, garnish with sesame seeds and/or cilantro (if using) and serve immediately.

Notes

Cut the carrots so that they are not more than 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick on their thinnest dimension. They can be of any length you like.
I used a chile powder with a medium spice level. You can use more if your chile powder is mild. If using cayenne, reduce the amount to a pinch.
Easy Healthy Spiced Air Fryer Carrots collage

Drinks

3-Ingredient Jackfruit Smoothie

This 3-Ingredient Jackfruit Smoothie is sweet, creamy, and refreshing. It couldn’t be simpler to make and really brings the best flavor out of fresh, ripe jackfruit. If you just bought a whole jackfruit on impulse and don’t know what to do with all of it, give this a try!

Easy Healthy 3-Ingredient Jackfruit Smoothie

Discovering a new fruit

I’m relatively new to jackfruit. I’ve used packaged jackfruit carnitas occasionally in tacos and Buddha bowls and enjoyed it, but never dealt with a whole, fresh fruit. They look pretty intimidating in their whole form – they’re huge and covered with spikes. I was curious to learn more about them though, so I picked one up. It weighed 15 pounds and had to be handled with gloves and wrapped in newspaper when I bought it.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this fruit made me happy from the time I cut into it. It wasn’t as tough to cut through as I had expected and the aroma was fantastic. I tried a piece of the fruit and it was like a pineapple, but not acidic. After trying a few more pieces I could also see the resemblance in flavor to bananas. (I later noticed a likeness to two foods from my childhood – banana popsicles and circus peanut candy.) The texture is also satisfying – springy and meaty. I can’t think of a fruit that has a similar texture, so I’ll just say it has an interesting and unusual mouthfeel.

Ingredients for the Healthy 3-Ingredient Jackfruit Smoothie

The need for a 3-Ingredient Jackfruit Smoothie

The fruit was tasty enough by itself, but I felt like I should make something with it. It was a bit of work to bring the fruit home and dissect it. Further experimentation was in order. Wanting to keep things simple, I thought would be useful to create a drink that balances the sweetness of the jackfruit while still allowing the aroma to shine through. That’s where this smoothie comes in.

This smoothie is all about simplicity and pure flavor. You just need to blend fresh, ripe jackfruit, lime juice, and your choice of plant milk. The lime juice cuts the sweetness of the jackfruit just slightly and makes the drink a little tangy. The overall flavor of the drink is still largely that of the jackfruit.

Making the Easy 3-Ingredient Jackfruit Smoothie

Some notes and tips

Take care to remove all the seeds before blending the jackfruit.

It may be easier to use pre-cut jackfruit if it’s available. A whole jackfruit is a lot to eat and a lot to carry, and it can be a bit of work to get the pods separated and de-seeded.

This recipe is for fresh, ripe jackfruit. If you are interested to try it with canned jackfruit, be sure it is the ripe, not the green variety. And if the fruit comes in a can of syrup, you may want to rinse the syrup off so the drink won’t be overpoweringly sweet.

The smoothie is great mixed with white wine. I haven’t tried it with spirits but would bet vodka, rum, and tequila make for a refreshing addition as well.

If you want a frozen version of the drink, whether alcoholic or not, you can freeze the jackfruit before blending it. Just be sure the pods are well cleaned and the seeds removed before freezing.

The smoothie will stay good for 2-3 days in the fridge. The drink becomes fairly thick when chilled. You may want to think it out with a bit more plant milk (or water) in this case.

This smoothie will pair well with

Easy Healthy 3-Ingredient Jackfruit Smoothie

If you try this recipe out, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @gastroplant on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.

Easy Healthy 3-Ingredient Jackfruit Smoothie
Print Recipe

3-Ingredient Jackfruit Smoothie

This 3-Ingredient Jackfruit Smoothie is sweet, creamy, and refreshing. It couldn’t be simpler to make and really brings the best flavor out of fresh, ripe jackfruit. If you just bought a whole jackfruit on impulse and don’t know what to do with all of it, give this a try!
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time1 min
Total Time6 mins
Course: Breakfast, Drink
Cuisine: Indian, Thai, Vietnamese
Servings: 3 cups
Author: Thomas

Ingredients

  • 2 cups ripe jackfruit meat loosely packed (about 4 whole pods, 8 ounces, or 200 grams)
  • 4 Tablespoons lime juice about the juice of 1 lime
  • 2 cups unsweetened unflavored plant milk

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high for 30 seconds or until uniformly blended. Serve or store immediately.

Notes

Be sure to use ripe jackfruit, not green. If your jackfruit is canned and packed in syrup, you may want to rinse it before blending so the drink is not overly sweet.
Make sure there are no seeds or seed fragments in the jackfruit.
You can store the smoothie in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. The smoothie will thicken once chilled. You can add more plant milk to thin it out.
You can make a frozen version of the drink by freezing the jackfruit meat beforehand.
Easy Healthy 3-Ingredient Jackfruit Smoothie Collage