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Walnut Tofu “Meat” and Homemade Tomato Sauce

Make this pasta sauce and fall in love with its versatility. I used walnuts and tofu to create the most flavourful and nutritious vegan bolognese tomato sauce. Gluten free and egg free vegan meatballs!

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I have been meaning to get this one on here for a long time and TBH I thought it was until I reposted another fabulous bolognese on my feed and realized that it hadn’t made it up yet. Well today is the day. We originally made this recipe for tacos cause a)who doesn’t love meaty tacos and b)TACOS. AMI RIGHT?? A couple days after eating said tacos I was trying to figure out what to do for dinner when I realized that I had the makings for spaghetti bolognese at my fingertips. 

Hand shredding cheese over a bowl of pasta

I have been vegan now for almost as long as I’ve been sober. When I gave up the booze a few other things came for the ride. Cigarettes, same day as booze. Gluten came next and then dairy and meat. Fish was the last to fall off and that was about 5 years ago. I was a pescatarian for about two years after I got sober and truth be told I really needed to be. My body was going through a major transition detoxifying and I needed the rich fat from the fish to not literally lose my mind. I started to feel incredibly guilty about it and eventually that went too. What does this have to do with tofu bolognese? Not much except for the fact that sometimes I still really miss eating a carnivore’s diet. There I said it. I have no intention of starting again, kinda like I’m never going to drink again but this is a one day at a time kind of like for me so I’ll just say today.

a pot of walnut tofu meat in tomato sauce
a pot of pasta with walnut tofu meat

To the SAUCE! I looked in my fridge that day, saw leftover tomato sauce, leftover tofu meat and a lightbulb went off. OF COURSE! How can this be bad? I was somewhat worried about the texture but then all the memories of meat bolognese came back and I knew that this sauce was going to rock my world. 

TERI ANN CARTY

Food Photographer and Recipe Developer based in Toronto, Canada. 

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a pot of pasta with walnut tofu meat

Walnut Tofu “Meat” and Homemade Tomato Sauce

This incredible Walnut Tofu "Meat" and Homemade Tomato Sauce pairs exceptionally well with pasta! Try it tonight!
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Servings: 3 servings
Author: Teri-Ann Carty
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

Equipment

  • food processor or blender
  • oven
  • stove

Ingredients

WALNUT TOFU MEAT INGREDIENTS

  • 1½ cup walnuts
  • 1 package tofu extra firm
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp cayenne
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp tamari
  • 1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste

INGREDIENTS FOR TOMATO SAUCE

  • 1 can San Marzano tomatoes
  • ½ yellow onion diced
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 pinch cayenne (optional)
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • salt and pepper to taste
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

WALNUT TOFU MEAT INSTRUCTIONS

  • Crumble walnuts in the food processor until pea sized.
  • Mash tofu with fork (or hands!) until pea sized.
  • Whisk wet and dry ingredients together and combine with walnut and tofu mix.
  • Spread on baking sheet and bake at 350 F for 35 min, stirring at half way to ensure even baking.

TOMATO SAUCE INSTRUCTIONS

  • Sauté onions, add garlic.
  • Add tomato paste and cook for 1 min.
  • Add tomatoes, cayenne and cook on simmer for approximately 30 minutes.
  • Cook pasta, heat pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil, add walnut meat just to heat through, add 1-2c of tomato sauce (more if you like really saucy-less if you like more meaty) to create the bolognese.
  • I added in sautéed cremini mushrooms, fresh basil, tons of vegan parmesan, olive oil and chili flakes! You could throw in spinach, red pepper, zucchini, black olives or whatever else you desire.
  • Buon Appetito

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 656kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 49g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 32g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Sodium: 1104mg | Potassium: 1094mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 969IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 318mg | Iron: 7mg

*Macros are provided as an estimate for convenience. Your final numbers will vary depending on ingredient brands, substitutions, and how you portion the recipe.

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