This Vegan Rasta Pasta recipe is unbelievably delicious! It's a delicious creamy pasta dish with a jerk-spiced Caribbean-inspired sauce. Rasta Pasta is easily made vegan as most of the ingredients are naturally vegan anyway. Non vegan versions will often add chicken to the pasta, however I've used vegan chicken here instead, as well as given you some yummy alternative ideas.
I love the spicy heat of Caribbean food so much. In fact, I lived in South London for years which has a huge Caribbean community, so at festival time, all the amazing flavours would be pumping out from the jerk BBQ's, along with the music.
If you love Jamaican and Caribbean food as much as I do, you need to check out this Jamaican Jerk Jackfruit with Rice and Peas recipe, as well as this Jamaican roti wrap and of course, Ackee and Tofuish. All delicious Carribean inspired foods, made vegan!
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🍝What is Rasta Pasta?
Rasta Pasta was invented by chef Lorraine Washington. It's a jerk chicken flavored Caribbean creamy coconut sauce with pasta. The sauce is Rasta because it has jerk spices that would typically be used to make jerk chicken as well as other typical Caribbean flavors such as coconut and thyme. The trio of bell peppers (red, yellow and green peppers) are the colours of the Rastafarian flag. Even the type of pasta that was originally used (tagliatelle) looks a bit like dreadlocks. Any pasta is fine to use though - we used gemelli pasta which is beautiful and twisted and really clings to the creamy sauce.
A vegan version of rasta pasta is not much different to the original but uses vegan chicken, nutritional yeast instead of cheese, and won't use any dairy heavy cream.
🌶️Ingredients
Here are the main ingredients to make the vegan rasta pasta: for the quantities, head down to the recipe card.
- Jamaican Jerk seasoning - giving that delicious and spicy Carbibbean jerk flavour. You can use a dry seasoning (we love Steenbergs jerk spice) or a jar of jerk marinade. Use between one and two tablespoons, depending on how spicy you want it.
- Vegetable stock - gives extra flavour to the creamy sauce.
- Colorful Bell peppers - be sure to use one red pepper, one green pepper and one yellow (to match the rasta colors! ).
- Green onions/Scallions: These add to the unique flavour and bring a pop of green.
- Garlic Cloves- as much as your heart desires- I suggest at least three or four.
- Turmeric - to give that hint of orange colour.
- Nutritional yeast - giving a cheezy flavour to the rasta pasta, like a true Italian-Caribbean fusion! You could sprinkle some on top of the dish once cooked as a sort of vegan parmesan cheese.
- Thyme- fresh is best.
- Optional Scotch Bonnet Peppers: these have a sweet heat. Use as much or as little as you like, depending on how spicy you like your food!
- Pasta - you can use any kind of pasta, but we love using gemelli pasta or tagliatelle as they look a bit like dreadlocks. Penne pasta is also super popular to use as it's a great short pasta that helps scoop up the sauce.
- Full-Fat Coconut milk - or coconut cream for a creamy jerk pasta sauce, and to balance the spicyness of the jerk seasoning.
- Sea Salt and black pepper
- A little olive oil: to saute the vegetables. You could also use a little vegan butter.
- Vegan chicken - this is optional (you could use beans instead, or leave out completely). You can make your own vegan chicken from seitan, or buy vegan chicken - we love What The Cluck and THIS Chicken Pieces.
👩🏾🍳How To Make
This is how you make Vegan Rasta Pasta! It's basically about making a jerk-flavoured creamy coconut sauce that's mixed through delicious al dente pasta!
- First of all slice your peppers into similar lengths to the pasta, slice the spring onions and mince the ginger and garlic.
2. Fry off the vegan chicken or seitan pieces over medium heat until a bit crispy. Cook your pasta al dente in plenty of boiling water. Be careful not to overcook it.
4. Make the creamy jerk sauce by sauteeing the garlic, spring onions/scallions, ginger, and bell peppers in a little oil. Add the jerk seasoning and stir to release the flavours. Then add half of the vegetable stock.
5.Add the coconut milk, the rest of the stock and the nutritional yeast. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes. Then add the al dente cooked pasta and vegan chicken, and stir through.
- Enjoy your vegan rasta pasta with fresh herbs and maybe a grating of vegan cheese or a squeeze of lime juice.
🥫Storage
Any leftover pasta will keep well in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container. Reheat to eat, or just eat cold, straight from the fridge. I won't tell.
I do not recommend freezing this recipe.
🌿Substitutions and Variations
Here are some of the easy ways you can switch this recipe up should you need to:
- Gluten Free: Choose a good gluten free pasta in place of regular pasta. You can get some delicious quinoa and chickpea pastas that also add extra protein to the dish.
- Other Veggies: Florets of broccoli, ribbons of carrot, chunks of courgette, add any sweet crunchy veggie in that you have around to suit your own taste buds.
- Tofu: Switch out the vegan chicken pieces with firm tofu. Choose smoked tofu or just firm tofu that you marinate a bit in some seasoning first, then pan fry
- Seitan: Instead of using pre-bought vegan chicken, make your own seitan instead. It's cheaper and just as delicious- my go-to recipe is this Seitan Chicken one.
- Chickpeas or White Beans: Instead of using vegan chicken or tofu, add a tin of white beans or chickpeas to the pasta.
- Less Spicy: Add just a pinch of the Jerk seasoning to the dish if you are sensitive to spice or serving this to kiddos. You can serve it up with extra hot sauce for the spice lovers.
- No Coconut: Instead of using coconut, use oat or soy milk or cream, or blend up some silken tofu to make a creamy sauce.
❓FAQs
It is a pasta dish flavoured with Caribbean ingredients, as well as having the colours of the Rastafarian flag reflected in the red, yellow and green bell peppers! Even the shape of the pasta such as tagliatelle, looks like dread locks - but any pasta shape is fine. Many recipes use penne, but we've used gemelli.
It will keep in the fridge for a few days. It's great to add to a tupperware and take out for lunch! It freezes well too.
Yes, we just added it as we wanted an alternative to the non-vegan options which had chicken in them. Either leave out or add some beans instead.
You could blend up some silken tofu and use that to make the sauce creamy instead. That would still be delicious, or use some oat cream instead.
Yes, just use gluten-free pasta. Also, make sure if you're using a vegan chicken that it's gluten-free.
🍽️Other recipes
If you love this vegan rasta pasta then you'll love some of our other Caribbean-inspired recipes such as:
You may also love some of our best pasta recipes too, which are perfect for midweek meals!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Rasta Pasta
Equipment
- 2 Saucepan
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
- 1 packet vegan chicken (around 200g or 1½ cups, homemade or bought, leave out if desired)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 120 ml (½ cup) vegetable stock
- 3 bell peppers (ideally one red, green and yellow)
- 1 bunch scallions / spring onions (finely chopped)
- 5 cloves garlic (finely chopped/crushed)
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger (grated)
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme (use dried if you don't have fresh)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1-2 tablespoon jerk spice (just use 1 tablespoon for a milder sauce)
- 400 ml (1⅔ cups) full fat coconut milk (full fat helps give a creamier sauce, equivalent on 1 tin/can)
- 30 g (½ cup) nutritional yeast
- 360 g dried pasta (enough for 4, around ½ cup or 90g per person)
To Serve (optional)
- Fresh parsley
- Sprinkling of nutritional yeast
- Vegan cheese (grated)
Instructions
- Place a saucepan/frying pan on a medium heat with the olive oil. Once hot, fry the vegan chicken until a little brown and crispy (or use an air fryer). Set aside. Skip this step if not using vegan chicken.
- Cut up the peppers into slices, then cut each slice in half.
- In a large saucepan, sautee the peppers, scallions, garlic and ginger in half of the stock. Reserve the rest of the stock for later.
- Once the veggies are softened (after around 5 minutes), add the jerk spice, turmeric, thyme, salt and pepper. Let the flavours infuse for a few minutes while stirring.
- Add the tin/can of coconut milk, the rest of the stock and the nutritional yeast. Let it cook for another 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, cook your pasta. Follow the instructions on the packet until your pasta is as you like it (I like mine al dente - or with a bit of bite to it!).
- Once the pasta is done, drain and add to the rasta sauce, along with the vegan chicken. Mix in gently until all the pasta and chicken is coated.
- Serve your vegan rasta pasta with some chopped fresh parsley (or any fresh herbs), a squeeze of lime and maybe grate on your favourite vegan cheese.
Nutrition
This recipe was developed by Vanessa, one of the original co-founders of this site. Vanessa is now working on her plant based health coaching business, Energise and Thrive Plant Based.
She's also brought out her FREE Guide - 5 Steps to Balanced Plant Based Eating which you're welcome to download. Of course, all the recipes she has created for The Vegan Larder (like this one!) will remain here for you to access.
Amanda Wren-Grimwood says
I love the idea of a spicy pasta sauce. My husband will love this on our next pasta night.
Katie says
I love the full, bright flavors! This is such a great pasta dish, and my family loved it!
Kema says
This was really good. I am not a fan of meat replacements so I just used lentils. It was amazing. I didn’t have nooch, so I used a little Dijon mustard and a splash of soy for the cheesy umami flavor . It was a hit with everyone except the 3 year old but he is sustained on chaos, corn chips and my anxiety!
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
I'm so glad you liked the recipe and it turned out well. I haven't tried it with lentils, but I have made it with chickpeas and it was delicious. The dijon mustard & soy sauce is a great idea as a substitute for nooch! Hopefully with time your 3 yr old will become less chaotic and your anxiety levels can return to normal. - Good Luck with him!x
Natalie says
Such a great recipe for lunch or dinner! Can't wait to try it soon ♥
Rachna says
This looks absolutely delicious and I like the name too. Jamaican food is a big favorite at my home.
Casey says
WOW these flavors were amazing!!! Such a great, healthy dish! It was a hit!