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  • Oil-free and Vegan
    • Feb 16, 2021
    • 2 min read

Creamy Basil Rigatoni

Updated: Feb 19, 2021

Who said oil-free means fat free? Not me. Every now and then, I enjoy a nice creamy pasta sauce, especially on cool fall days when I just want to cozy up and maybe Netflix and chill 😉.




You'll need:

  1. One box of Rigatoni (any brand)

  2. One can of unsweetened coconut cream (for a lighter sauce, an alternative is coconut milk - full fat, or lite)

  3. One glass jar of spaghetti sauce (oil-free brands or make your own)

  4. One Shallot

  5. 3 cloves of garlic or minced garlic (I like the Costco brand)

  6. A handful of fresh basil leaves

  7. Field Roast Smoked Apple & Sage sausage (one sausage roll from the pack)

  8. Approximately 1/2 tablespoon of dried spices (or use fresh herb sprigs if you have them)

  9. Oregano

  10. Thyme

  11. Rosemary

  12. Vegan 'chicken' seasoning or 'chicken' salt

  13. One tablespoon Better than Bouillon (no beef base)**

  14. 1 teaspoon of garam masala (trust me)

Garnish: Vegan parmesan


Make it:




  1. Boil the Rigatoni according to the box instructions, drain (save about 1/2 a cup of the pasta water), and set aside

  2. Chop sausage into small to medium pieces

  3. In a wide saucepan on medium high heat, add about 1/3rd cup of hot water and one tablespoon of the better than bouillon. Stir until fully dissolved.

  4. Add in chopped shallots and garlic and stir

  5. Mix in spaghetti sauce along with dried spices and salt to taste

  6. Allow mixture to cook for about 10 minutes on medium low heat

  7. Add garam masala and 1/4th cup of coconut cream and mix in well with sauce

  8. Add fresh basil to sauce

  9. Adjust spices to taste and then turn off heat

  10. Pour sauce over rigatoni and serve as is or with additional fresh basil

  11. Garnish with homemade vegan parmesan or store-bought vegan parmesan






**Better than Bouillon has some canola oil in it - it adds about 1.5 g of additional fat into the entire sauce which isn't a whole lot. You can omit this ingredient and use regular salt or seasoned salt instead. Additional alternatives include McCkay's Vegan Instant Broth Chiken Style seasoning or Jada Spices Vegan Chicken Salt. The flavor might just be a little different but still good!