Make this immediately!
I don’t think I have ever met a pasta as creamy as this vegan one pot caramelized caprese pasta! It is AMAZING! Cooked all in one pot, as the name implies, this caprese pasta is quick, so easy and mind blowingly delicious. Baby tomatoes are sauteed with garlic, olive oil and agave until they are so sweet and burst open. Then you cook the pasta right in the liquid that will turn into the dreamiest, creamiest, cheesiest sauce ever.
Toss the pasta with the caramelized tomatoes and fresh basil! It is so simple, you won’t believe me when I tell you that it is so dang flavorful! The sweetness of the tomatoes is one of the best things I have tasted paired with the incredible pasta!
You have a lot of great options to add extra protein here! This would be stellar with crispy tofu or tempeh. Also, if you use gluten-free pasta, this is an entirely gluten-free meal! You can also customize the milk you use here and make it either nut-free or soy-free!
Every time I create a new recipe, I’m like this, this one is my favorite. However, this time, it may be true. This vegan one pot caprese pasta is something I implore you to try! I am in love, my omnivore husband is in love and my vegetarian 6 year old daughter says it is definitely kid- approved! One pot. 25 minutes. Healthy. Divine. Done.
Vegan One Pot Caramelized Tomato Caprese Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
- 16 Ounces Cherry tomatoes
- 6 Cloves Garlic, chopped
- 2 Teaspoons Agave syrup(optional)
- 3 Cups Vegetable broth
- 1 Cup Non dairy milk, I used almond milk
- 1 Can(13-14oz.) Coconut milk, full fat (coconut cream)
- 2 Tablespoons Nutritional yeast
- 2 Tablespoons Corn starch
- 2 Tablespoons Water
- 16 Ounces Pasta
- 1 Cup Fresh basil, chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil on medium high. Then add the cherry tomatoes and chopped garlic. Saute, reducing heat as needed for 2-3 minutes or until the tomatoes start to burst. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Then add the agave syrup if using. This helps them caramelize and makes them sweet and delicious, but it is optional.
- Continue to saute for another 2-3 minutes or until the tomatoes are a little brown and have all burst.
- Remove the tomatoes and garlic from the pot, put in a bowl and set aside.
- Now, add the vegetable broth, non dairy milk of choice and can of coconut milk to the pot. Stir and then season with a few pinches of salt and pepper and the nutritional yeast. Stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil, then in a small bowl, whisk together the corn starch and water, then add it to the pot. Stir to combine.
- Next, add the pasta to the boiling pot of liquid. If using long noodles, I like to break them in half. Stir the pasta into the pot. Simmer reducing heat if needed until the pasta is done (check package for directions). When the pasta is done, it should have absorbed most of the liquid and it should just be nice and creamy and saucey.
- Once the pasta is done (don't drain!), taste and adjust seasoning, you may need more salt and pepper.
- Then add the caramelized tomatoes and chopped fresh basil into the pasta. Stir to combine, taste one more time and adjust seasoning. I like to add a squeeze of lemon juice, but that is optional. Serve immediately! I grated VioLife vegan Parmesan on top of mine!
This recipe sounds so good! My daughter is allergic to basil though, what would you recommend I use as a substitute? Would a different dried herb work?
I bet oregano would be great!
Hi! can you make this recipe not vegan!?
Do you mean use regular milk and regular cream? I have not tested that, of course, but I do think that would work fine. You could also use Parmesan instead of nutritional yeast. I hope that helps, and I hope that works out for you!
I use 1/2 & 1/2, tsp sugar in place of the agave and fresh shredded Parmesan. No Yeast. This is the best ever! Made it last week, cooking a double batch now and hope doubling everything works as expected. Thank you!!
Hi there! I have made this with parsley when i couldn’t get basil and enjoyed it 🙂
Lauren you have done it again. this recipe is SO GOOD, the best i’ve tried from this site so far. listen when it says to not drain!! there will be a point where the pasta seems done but there’s still lots of liquid, just turn the heat down a bit and keep at it and it will turn wonderfully creamy. and listen when it says big pot lol, i used a medium one and it got hairy to stir
this was delicious! All your recipes amazing – next time I would double the tomatoes bc they were soo tasty! Also think the lemon squeeze is a must! 🙂 thank you for sharing!
I would double tomatoes too! Sooooo good! I made it with zoodles!
My partner Cherry prepared this and we have just eaten it along with a fine red. Absolutely brilliant! Who’d a thunk using coconut cream in a Mediterranean type dish would work. We’ll it does! Beautiful culinary experience! 11 out of 10! My partner’s superlatives were boundless – “This is bloody marvelous!” “This is sooo amazing I don’t even want to eat my salad!” “The flavors are so intensely wonderful” she cried as she wantonly consumed it – as did I. Full marks for this one rabbit and wolves!
We had this tonight. It is honestly the best dish we have had since going vegan 18months ago.
It was so tasty ” I did not touch my salad (bad I know but it tasted too yum to stop and put green goodness onto my mouth) next time I will have salad 20 mins before then enjoy the diviness of this great pasta dish.
We did not have enough fresh cherry tomatoes out of our garden so I drained a can of organic cherry tomatoes and that was perfect.
Thanks so much for coming up with such a magical recipe. Really, it was that damn good!
I almost NEVER comment for anything…..THIS though. Hot DAMN! Made it last night, added fresh spinach and kalamata olives as well, both my husband and I went back for seconds. Beyond yummy, thanks!
My family loved this dish! It was a flavor meld between cultures with the coconut milk. Gave us a subtle Thai vibe that we enjoyed. We’ll be adding this to our meal rotation!
I am trying to make more vegan dishes as my family transitions, This was absolutely delicious!! Thank you for putting love into this recipe, it is one of the best I’ve tried! Simple but full of flavor! I added chopped onion while carmelizing the tomato and then I added crushed tomatoes, fresh spinach, dried basil, and dried oregano. My husband and 7 year old son cleaned their plates! I am now on bowl #2 lol
Yay! So happy that you all enjoyed it!
I was surprised how easy and TASTY this dish was!!! Actually so far all of your recipes have been easy and very yummy! Thank you for sharing!!
How would you tweak the recipe to use spaghetti squash instead of pasta?
So, since the noodles are cooked in the liquid, it thickens as the pasta absorbs the liquid and turns into a sauce. So, if you were to just cook spaghetti squash in the same way you cook the pasta, you would probably just have soup. I would recommend reducing the amount of liquid by maybe half. Then just make the tomatoes as normal and add everything else normally. I am not 100% sure on that since I haven’t tested it, but I think it would be delish! I hope that helps!!
Just made this tonight and it was a huge hit with my 2.5 year old. I added spinach and a browned trader Joe’s Italian sausage. I’ve never tried a one pot pasta and now I can’t imagine wanting it any other way. A+
This was lick-the-bowl good!!’ And I didn’t even use the whole can of coconut milk (I used one cup and then oat milk for the rest). My husband said it was restaurant quality.
This pasta was AMAZING!! It was creamy, flavorful, and I love that its vegan. I made it and I was shocked there were no dairy products when i tried it…it was that good. I never leave comments on blog posts but this pasta was just so so so good. Thank you for sharing.
I made this last night and it was incredible!
I made this tonight and my entire family loved it. My boyfriend couldn’t believe that the base was made from coconut milk, he asked me twice what cheese I used. I should mention that he doesn’t like pasta dishes so the fact that he ate his entire serving and claimed the leftovers tells you how awesome a recipe this is. If anyone reading this post is contemplating whether or not they should make this, stop thinking about it and make it now!!!
Made this last night at it will go into regular rotation. Delicious! Perfect ‘mouth feel’. Creamy, garlicky. Wow! Rabbit and wolves isn’t quickly becoming a favorite.
Is becoming a favorite!!!
This is such a simple yet delicious meal!! Found the recipe last week and have already made it 3 times! Thank you!
Love this recipe! It’s a great “lighter” tasting version of pasta that even my non-vegan friends and family love! I add zucchini to add some more veggies as well!
Literally best pasta ever! Pasta used to be one of those dishes I was scared of eating, but all your recipes have helped me overcome that. So simple yet delicious! My boyfriend and his nonvegan family love this pasta! They could not believe that there was not any dairy in it. Slowly trying each and everyone of your recipes haha
This recipe is delicious, I don’t know if I would have made it if not for all the comments (because I was dubious about a pasta recipe containing coconut milk!) But it is so so good. Strongly recommend to all! I added thinly-sliced zucchini to the mix (when cooking the tomatoes) and had fresh oregano on hand instead of basil. Super tasty. Can’t wait to cook it for friends and family!
This is BEYOND delicious! Super easy recipe to follow, total winner!!
Could you sub something for cornstarch? Perhaps flour? Thanks in advance!
Regular flour or tapioca starch should work. I have not tested it with either, but anything you generally use as a thickening agent should work!
this recipe is truly amazing!! So creamy and fresh! Makes me want to dance! Thank youuu!!
I HATE the taste of coconut milk so was very hesitamt to try this but I’m SO GLAD I DID! Wouldn’t even guess there was any coconut milk in this, I also subbed the agave for maple syrup and just used regular tomatoes instead of cherry. SO GOOD!! I definitely recommend trying this recipe.
I am convinced you are a genius! I have made this twice-first time exactly as your recipe states, 2nd time with modifications (due to what I could get my hands on…) used a bit of dry basil, frozen spinach(cause why not?) and only 12 oz of pasta. I did end up adding a bit of water at the end only because the pasta I used decided to take it’s sweet time cooking! I made some baked mushroom ‘bacon’ to add on top paired with steamed broccoli. Absolutely delicious! Cannot mess this up 🙂
This recipe was absolutely sublime. I can’t believe that everyone isn’t cooking this, so incredibly good.
It came out so much creamier than I expected. The flavors were great, and nice to have the sweetness of the caramelized tomatoes along with a bit of saltine us.
I did end up mixing in a bag of baby spinach at the end after the pasta was cooked, that was great. I feel like there are so many options with other veggie additions If you wanted to try it. I was thinking that artichoke hearts might be really tasty.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! Can’t wait to make it many times over
I’d love to make this…our garden is overflowing with full, large tomatoes. Would this work with diced tomatoes?
Sure! I think diced tomatoes would work fine!
Hi there,
Can the nutritional yeast be omitted or replaced?
Thank you! Can’t wait to try
I would give this a 10 star if I could. Easy and delicious. I followed recipe exactly ~ and then added a balsamic glaze drizzle over the top when serving ~ which was like the icing on the cake. Balsamic glaze brand was Nonna pia’s Cabernet merlot 👍 I would also say definitely crack the spaghetti noodles in half to easily mix so they don’t stick together while doing the simmering magic.
I used AROY D brand coconut milk. Made my own broth from better than bouillon “no chicken” and used the agave.
Also, was great heated up for lunch the next day 👍
Easily one of the best vegan cream based pastas I’ve had ~ and I’ve experimented with many the last three years. Can’t wait to make it again ~ thanks so much
One of the creamiest, dreamiest pasta dishes EVER! I loved this so much. I also topped it with some bacon-style tofu (highly recommended). This recipe is a keeper and will be on rotation in my house.
Loved everything about this! So easy because you can cook everything in the same pot. The pasta absorbs the cream sauce & is delicious! The only change I will make next time making it is to add more tomatoes…they were SO good!
For almost 50 years spaghetti was my all-time favorite meal, but then I made this ! How you came up with this creamy concoction is truly mind boggling -it’s perfection.
My only additions were chopped onions and red pepper flakes as I add them to all my pasta dishes.
Thank you for such an incredible recipe.
I have made this three times. Today for a friend coming by but doesn’t know lunch is being prepared. This is great for guests and family mealtime. I didn’t change a thing. Always looking for vegan recipes that are flavorful. This one is tops. Had so many cherry tomatoes in the garden, couldn’t resist giving it a try. I’m hooked.
Thanks for the feedback!
This recipe was very tasty. I did sub out date syrup for agave, because I don’t have agave. I ended up adding 2Tbsp tomato paste, some dried basil and oregano, to try to get away from the coconut flavor a little more. It was extremely delicious. I ate it before I could get a picture and make a formal instagram post, but I add a pic of the leftovers to my “highlights” on my profile @jasminewentvegan , I will definitely be making this again!! Thanks Lauren.
I made this with 2% milk instead of almond milk and maple syrup instead of agave because that’s what I had on deck! It came out sooooo good!! I’m so excited about it!! Thanks!!
I make this pasta regularly and look forward to it every time! Leftovers heat up really well, better than most pasta dishes in my experience!
Wonder if I could make this without the coconut milk/cream? Perhaps use more non-dairy milk? Can’t do coconut 🙁
This was soooo good! Deliciously creamy without being heavy!
We freaking love this! Perfect as is, though we love a little kick and usually add some red pepper flakes when cooking the tomatoes. Often add chopped spinach and let it wilt when the tomatoes are almost done, and sometimes cook up some vegan sausage and add that at the end too. In the winter, this recipe works surprisingly well with canned tomatoes and dried basil–that creamy base makes anything taste fantastic! Thank you!
This is easy and yummy and my kids love it so it meets all the checks!! So good with a few handfuls of fresh garden basil. We’ve made it twice & will make it again. Thanks, Lauren!
I agree, I always read comments but never comment. This is absolutely delicious. I just made it, absolutely perfect. I agree with someones comment with adding the lemon juice, it really adds another depth to it.
So so so good. The tomatoes took quite a bit longer to cook than called for, but otherwise this was perfect. Even my usually picky 6 year old niece loved it and ate 3 helpings!