Vegan Turkish Pasta
Let’s make the Viral Turkish Pasta but Vegan! Trends come and go, but this one is worthy of the hype! Meaty, Tangy and Delicious!
I don’t usually do a lot of viral TikTok recipes, but every now and then, one of them will catch my eye. This Turkish Pasta kept showing up everywhere and I had to admit, it sounded good. And it turns out my intuition was right!
This is based on a Turkish Manti, which is a dumpling style dish, so many folks are saying this is like a deconstructed Manti.
Either way, this is a super delicious dish as it’s meaty, tangy, and best of all, very easy to make!
ingredients for vegan Turkish Pasta
These are pretty straight forward ingredients, but here’s some tips and substitutions too!
The Meat
To make this super easy and convenient, I used store bought plant-based meat (like Impossible or Beyond). That said, there are a bunch of other options if that’s not your bag! Here’s a few options…
- Onions & Garlic – We’ll be employing the flavor twins of course!
- Seasonings – In the original video, Anna Paul’s mom uses just a shake of Curry Powder. I tested this with 1 tsp and 1 Tbsp and I feel like the more the merrier! I also used Smoked Paprika instead of Sweet.
- Vegan Beef Broth – To add a bit of moisture to the meat sauce!
- Worcestershire Sauce – A little bit of Worcestershire never hurt!
- Yogurt Sauce – We are just using some unsweetened vegan yogurt, lemon, garlic and salt for this! Simple but effective!
- Paprika Butter – Literally just Vegan Butter and Smoked Paprika!
- Pasta – I’m using Shells in this recipe but you can use any pasta you like! I suggest using 8 oz – 12 oz depending on how much pasta you like to sauce.
- Cherry Tomatoes and Parsley – to top it off and add a little brightness and sweetness!
How to make Vegan Turkish Pasta
First, this does come together pretty quickly. If you get your mise en place, you should be able to make it in the time it takes to boil the pasta.
While that happens, we’ll saute our onions, and then add in our spices.
Stir that around, and then add in the garlic, stir that and cook for one minute. Then add in the tomato paste, and you guessed it, stir that around too!
Add in your vegan beef, break it up and cook that until it’s browned. Then add in the Worcestershire and Broth.
Season to taste, cover and keep warm on low!
For the Yogurt Sauce, simply combine everything!
For the Paprika Butter, melt some butter and add in the paprika! You can also just microwave the butter if you don’t want to dirty another pan.
Once the pasta is done cooking, top it with the Yogurt Sauce, the Meat Sauce, and then drizzle on the Paprika Butter. Top with Cherry Tomatoes and Parsley and dig in!
You can eat it as is or you can mix it all up together, both ways are delicious!
Storage & Reheating
Store in the fridge in an airtight container for 2 – 3 days.
This makes about 4 servings, so if you are only eating 1 or 2, you could totally store the Meat and Yogurt Sauces separately, then cook some pasta, warm the sauces and top it like so.
Or just mix everything all together and store it like a Hamburger Helper style meal. It’s really so good, there’s no wrong move!
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Vegan Turkish Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 – 12 oz. Pasta of choice (depending on how saucy you like it!)
- Cherry Tomatoes (as many as you like!)
- 2 – 4 Tbsp Chopped Parsley (for garnish)
Meat Sauce
- 1 cup Diced Onion
- 1 – 3 tsp Curry Powder (start with 1, add more as you like)
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika (or Sweet Paprika)
- 4 – 5 Garlic Cloves (minced)
- 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- 12 oz. Plant-Based Meat (like Impossible or Beyond, see notes for other options)
- 1 Tbsp Vegan Worcestershire
- 1/2 cup Vegan Beef Broth (or Veggie Broth)
- Salt & Pepper (to taste)
Yogurt Sauce
- 1 cup Unsweetened Vegan Yogurt
- 2 – 3 Garlic Cloves (minced)
- 1 – 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- Salt (to taste)
Paprika Butter
- 1/4 cup Vegan Butter
- 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- Salt (to taste)
Instructions
Prep Notes
- If you prep all the veggies, seasonings, and just get your mise en place, you should be able to put the rest of it all together in the time it takes to boil pasta. Either way, boil pasta according to package instructions! I like using Shells for this recipe.
Yogurt Sauce
- Simply combine everything in a bowl and set aside for later!
Meat Sauce
- In a large skillet over medium heat, warm up a little cooking oil. Add in the diced onions and cook for 5 – 6 minutes or until softened and translucent.
- Stir in the curry powder, onion powder and smoked paprika. Cook for a minute, then add in the minced garlic and cook for another minute. Then stir in the tomato paste and cook for one more minute.
- Add your vegan beef, break it up into small pieces and stir to combine. Cook until it's browned and cooked through. Pour in the Worcestershire and Broth, taste and adjust for seasoning. Cover and keep warm on low.
Paprika Butter
- Simply melt the vegan butter in a small saucepan or skillet over medium heat, and stir in the paprika. You can also melt the butter in the microwave and stir in the paprika as well.
Pasta
- Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add a servings worth to a plate. Top with some of the Yogurt Sauce, then the Meat Sauce, drizzle on the Paprika Butter, and top with the Cherry Tomatoes and Parsley and dig in!
I have an onion allergy so we skipped that. I also blistered some tomatoes with curry and paprika, which was tasty but I preferred the raw tomato flavor. TVP. Shell pasta. This recipe was absolutely delicious!! It was very warm and comforting with a bit of zip at the end of the bite. Definitely adding it to my regular dinner rotation! The creaminess and freshness of the yogurt sauce blended beautifully with the rich meat sauce.
Excellent, so glad to hear it! One of my new favorites too!
This combination of ingredients looked bizarre to me, but the result was fantastic. Made the recipe pretty much as written with Impossible Beef and Kite Hill yogurt. Agree that a tablespoon of curry powder is the way to go. Love that this uses easy-to-find ingredients that I mostly always have on hand. This comes together quick so it’s an awesome weeknight meal that’s more exotic than our normal rotation.
Honestly I think some kind of yogurt sauce on pasta is a good move from now on, glad you dug it!
Thank you for this recipe—it was really delicious!
Yay, glad you enjoyed it, thank you!
I’ve made this a few times. It’s a banger every time, even with my loosey goosey measuring. Can’t wait to try your other recipes!
Heck yes! Glad you liked it!