Sauces are the unsung heroes of any cuisine, transforming simple dishes into culinary masterpieces. For those embracing a plant-based diet, sauces are especially vital, adding flavor, moisture, and essential nutrients to meals. If you're not currently a fan of sauces, hopefully, this article will help to change your mind.
Why Plant-Based Sauces?
Homemade sauces offer several advantages over store-bought versions:
- Healthier: You control the ingredients, eliminating refined sugars, excessive salt, unhealthy oils, and artificial additives commonly found in commercial sauces.
- More Nutritious: Homemade sauces are a fantastic way to sneak more whole foods into your diet. You can pack them with fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, boosting the nutritional value of your meals.
- Cost-Effective: Making your own sauces is often cheaper than buying pre-made options.
- Environmentally Friendly: By making your own homemade sauce, you are also kinder to the planet.
Key Ingredients for Plant-Based Sauces
Creating flavorful and healthy plant-based sauces involves understanding the key ingredients that provide essential flavor components:
- Umami: For savory depth, incorporate ingredients like miso, reduced-sodium tamari, coconut aminos, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and nutritional yeast.
- Sweet: Use whole food sweeteners such as dates, date paste, maple syrup, or fresh fruit.
- Tangy: Add acidity with lemon or lime juice, or vinegar.
- Creaminess: Achieve rich, creamy textures using plant-based ingredients rich in healthy fats, such as cashews, sunflower seeds, tahini, avocado, nut or seed butters, tofu, and plant-based yogurts.
- Thickeners: Thicken sauces naturally with chia seeds, flaxseed, tofu, rolled oats, nut or seed butter, and even beans. Adjust the amount of water to reach the desired consistency, adding it in small increments.
- Flavor Boosters: Explore a variety of spices and herbs to create unique and exciting flavor profiles.
Tips for Making the Perfect Plant-Based Sauce
- Seek Culinary Inspiration: Turn to specific cuisines for inspiration. Consider the origins of the meal you’re preparing and match your sauce to suit.
- Balance Flavors: Most healthy homemade vegan sauce recipes have at least two of the following flavor components: umami, sweet, and tangy.
- Taste as You Go: Adjust flavors and textures as needed. Add more acid for a bite, natural sweetness to balance acidity, or plant-based fat for a creamier texture.
Plant-Based Sauce Recipes to Elevate Your Meals
Here are some amazing vegan sauces recipes:
Liquid Gold Sauce
This sauce is a magical concoction born from experimentation. Its vibrant neon yellow color and delicious flavor make it a versatile addition to any meal.
Read also: Delicious Plant Paradox Breakfasts
Ingredients:
- Chickpeas
- Nutritional yeast
- Garlic
- Lemon
- Tahini
- Salt
- Ground turmeric
- Curry powder
- Ground cumin
- Cayenne (optional)
- Maple syrup
- Water
Instructions:
- Add all ingredients to a small blender (or food processor).
- Blend on high until creamy and smooth, adding water as needed to achieve a thick, pourable consistency.
- Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more salt, curry powder, tahini, lemon, cayenne, or maple syrup to taste.
- Use immediately or store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Vegan Pesto
This lip-smacking pesto is an ace up any vegan cook's sleeve, quickly turning an average meal into a cafe-quality one. Featuring cashews for creaminess, fistfuls of basil for sweet-peppery flavor, and nutritional yeast for cheesy depth, it’s a handy family-friendly sauce to keep around. Add it to pasta, wraps, grain bowls, or tomato soup.
Wasabi Orange Sauce
Your taste buds will flip over this fresh-tasting peanut-orange sauce seasoned with the earthy-spicy tones of wasabi. Drizzled over a salad or used as a dipping sauce for spring rolls, this vibrant sauce will make you feel like a professional chef!
Vegan Queso Sauce
Jarred roasted red bell pepper is the secret ingredient in this scrumptious vegan queso, adding robust flavor while nutritional yeast brings cheesiness and ground rolled oats keep it creamy. Try it with Mac and Cheese with Roasted Veggies, on a baked potato, over veggies, or as a dip.
Ponzu Sauce
Naturally sweetened and fragrant with lemon and lime zest, this classic Japanese citrus sauce is great with veggies and will turn a bland stir-fry or salad into something special. For a deeply satisfying pasta meal try Ponzu Noodle Salad or Vegan Soba Noodle Salad; served cold, they’re ideal for a make-and-take lunch.
Tahini Dipping Sauce
Simple yet famously useful, tahini sauce can add subtle nutty flavor and an appealing tang to just about anything. Add it to a salad, sandwich, or grain bowl, or use it as a dip with veggies or crackers. Drizzle over falafel and serve with Homemade Pita Bread.
Read also: Nutritious Granola Recipes
Roasted Poblano Salsa Verde
With tangy tomatillos playing a starring role, salsa verde is easy to make oil-free, no need to compromise on flavor. In this version, roasted poblano peppers are blended with fresh tomatillos for a tangy kick, while cilantro, garlic, lime zest, and serrano chile add bright, zesty heat. Add a dollop on everything from grain bowls to breakfast hash, sandwiches, and of course, tacos.
Cauliflower Bechamel
Featuring a creamy cauliflower base made from a whole head of cauliflower, this vegan bechamel is perfect for when you want a white sauce without all the butter and wheat found in traditional versions. Poured over vegetables, stirred through pasta, or added to a casserole, the possibilities are endless.
Roasted Tomato Salsa
The success of this full-bodied salsa comes from pan-roasting chile and tomatoes separately, giving a rich, grilled flavor. Ready in 20 minutes, the payoff for making your own salsa is so great you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
Almost Instant Peanut Sauce
Ground ginger adds a luscious warmth to this yummy five-minute peanut sauce. Want it spicy? Just add cayenne pepper to taste. Use this sauce anywhere you want creamy, peanutty flavor, such as with fresh spring rolls.
Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing
Creamy, sweet, and tangy, this 10-minute dressing is perfect for drizzling over greens, tossing into pasta or coleslaw, or serving as a dip. Silken tofu makes it luxuriously smooth, while Dijon mustard and rice vinegar add a zesty kick, and poppy seeds lend nuttiness and crunch.
Read also: Advantages of a Plant-Based Cleanse
Curried Mango Ketchup
A sweet twist on a classic condiment, this curried mango ketchup works well with roasted veggies, veggie burgers, or a breakfast scramble. Ripe mango and fresh tomatoes are simmered with curry, ginger, maple syrup, and apple cider vinegar for the perfect balance of spice, sweetness, and acidity. It takes just 20 minutes to make, but be sure to allow time to chill before serving.
Homemade Harissa
Harissa is a Tunisian red chile sauce and is a tasty way to boost the flavor of so many dishes. Featuring red peppers, dried chiles, fragrant spices, and a squeeze of lemon juice, it’s wonderful added to hummus or made into a dressing; the possibilities are endless.
Peanut-Sesame Dipping Sauce
This quick peanut dipping sauce from food blogger Anh Tran comes together in minutes and makes a great dipping sauce for fresh vegan spring rolls or Vietnamese hot pot. Hot water helps blend peanut butter with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, and a touch of crushed red pepper for heat.
Masala Simmer Sauce
Add Indian flair to any meal with this delicious-and easy to make-vegan Masala sauce. A few dates and a good amount of onions lend sweet flavor to the tomato sauce base while fresh ginger and lemon juice perk up the flavors.
Garlic Dipping Sauce
Garlic lovers, this dipping sauce is made for you! Raw garlic shines in a bold mix of soy sauce (or coconut aminos) and rice vinegar, creating a savory base with just the right tang. A touch of maple syrup softens the edges, while fresh red chile adds a lively kick. Serve with fresh spring rolls or Vietnamese Hot Pot.
Chile-Garlic Sauce
Think of this zesty chile garlic sauce as your new go-to for quick, homemade heat. In just 15 minutes, red chiles and bell pepper are blended with garlic, a splash of vinegar, and a hint of sweetness, then simmered until the flavors meld. Keep a jar in the fridge (or freezer) to instantly spice up stir-fries, grain bowls, or anything that needs a fiery boost.
Spanish-Style Olive-Herb Sauce
Briny green olives meet fresh oregano and parsley in this zesty Spanish-style herb sauce, which also features cooked green bell pepper and onion. Tangy mustard and red pepper flakes round out the flavor, making it ideal for marinating mushrooms, topping tacos, or brightening a grain bowl.
Fresh Tomato Ketchup
Naturally sweetened with dates and featuring a tantalizing blend of fresh tomatoes and tomato paste, this delicious, subtly spicy ketchup is like summer in a bottle.
Easy Vegan Ranch Dressing
Fresh dill, parsley, and chives add enchanting herb flavor to this versatile vegan ranch dressing.
Vegan Potato “Cheese” Sauce
Nut-free, soy free, and gluten-free, this creamy, potato-based "cheese" sauce is so good you'll want to add it to everything: veggies, pasta, casseroles, pizza, the lot!
Sour “Cream”
A dollop of sour cream is a great way to add creaminess to soup, pasta, or anything else you can think of. This vegan version requires just three ingredients-tofu, white wine vinegar, and salt-so it couldn’t be simpler!
Myrna’s Marinara Sauce
You’ll occasionally find an oil-free marinara at the store, but it’s never as good as what you could make at home. This toothsome recipe from Myrna, mother of Forks Over Knives founder and President Brian Wendel, is one to bookmark for when tomatoes are in season.
Vegan Mayo
Keep some tofu in the fridge and you’re only five minutes away from the best vegan mayo around! It’s truly a miracle how a splash of vinegar and a few basic seasonings can transform tofu into a finger-licking good dressing.
Enchilada Sauce
This marvelously mellow, intensely flavored enchilada sauce is a boon for the plant-based home cook. Beyond enchiladas, it’s also divine with pasta and veggies, or stirred through leftover rice, beans, and veggies for a quick meal.
Vegan Cheesy Sauce
This velvety veggie-based cheese sauce leverages the creamy texture of pureed cauliflower and potato to delicious effect. Turmeric adds golden color, and nutritional yeast gives a rich cheesy flavor. Other tasty seasonings lend subtle complexity. Even hardcore cheese lovers will be impressed!
Chipotle Aioli
You can use it in place of vegan mayo in many applications. Put all ingredients in the blender and blend for about 1 minute until aioli has reached a nice creamy consistency.
Tahini Dressing
This makes an excellent salad dressing. Next on my list is to try it with a Romaine Wedge.
Lemon Vinaigrette
Paired with spring and summer veggies, this vinaigrette is perfection.
Greek Dressing
Flavorful and rich without the oil, it is perfect for your Greek Pasta Salad or a fully loaded Greek Salad.
Fajita Crema
It pairs perfectly with grilled vegetables (like fajitas) or drizzle it on your taco or burrito bowls.
Yum Yum Sauce
Inspired by our many trips to the hibachi restaurants in our pre-vegan days, this creamy sauce will certainly enhance your fried rice or noodle bowls.
Peanut Sauce
My go-to sauce for spring rolls, spring roll bowls, or any rice-based dish with fresh veggies.
Yolk Style Sauce
We’ve paired with this breakfast bowls, breakfast burgers, breakfast hoagies, and more. The creaminess is perfect to dip your homefries or soak it up with a nice piece of sourdough toast.
Carrot Ginger Sauce
Blend carrots and water with immersion blender until smooth Mix additional ingredients to desired consistency.
Tofu Mayo
While Eating for Weight Loss, we have reduced our intake of nuts and seeds so this tofu-based mayo is perfect.
Chocolate Sauce
It’s hard to believe this chocolate sauce is sugar-free and free from butter or coconut milk. It’s silky smooth, sweet, and chocolatey. I love it on nice cream, rice pudding, and all sorts of pies and cakes.
Plant-Based Gravy
This is my go-to plant-based gravy for special occasions. It’s a must on Thanksgiving and goes so well over mashed potatoes and my quinoa cakes as well.
Plant-Based Mascarpone
Enjoy the indulgence of mascarpone cheese without dairy! This plant-based, oil-free version achieves its rich, silky texture from cashews, which are blended until they are completely dissolved.
Plant-Based Sour Cream
I use a combination of silken tofu and cashews as the base: not too thick, but with a little richness and silkiness.
Plant-Based Mayonnaise
This plant-based mayonnaise is oil-free but tastes thick and creamy. The secret ingredient is aquafaba, the water that canned chickpeas are stored in.
Mango Chutney
This versatile sauce has a healthy edge over most recipes for mango chutney: it contains no refined sugar. It gets its sweetness from orange juice, raisins, dates, and a little maple syrup.
Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce
This delicious plant-based sauce is a core ingredient for healthy vegan tacos, tostadas, nachos, and burritos at our house.
Plant-Based Mac ‘n’ Cheese Sauce
This plant-based mac ‘n’ cheese sauce uses cashews and carrots, which prevents the sauce from getting gummy and provides a richness and heartiness that many vegan cheese sauces lack.
Tamarind Sauce
Most Indian restaurants serve tamarind sauce as a dipping sauce with appetizers. It has a delicious sweet and sour tang and makes any appetizer more interesting to eat.
Mushroom Gravy
This simple yet flavorful mushroom gravy is a versatile addition to any meal. Using humble ingredients, you can create a rich, savory sauce perfect for topping mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, or baked tofu.
Date Paste
Date paste is a versatile and delicious ingredient forming the foundation of many plant-based desserts. Made from simple, wholesome ingredients, this homemade paste offers a natural sweetness and rich texture.