Pasta puttanesca is a staple of Italian cuisine. Simple yet flavourful, it's the perfect dish for home cooks of any experience level to have a delicious dinner without following a super-complicated recipe. Typically made with anchovies, this vegan pasta puttanesca still manages to retain the dish's classic delectable savoury taste without it thanks to the olives & capers.

Prepared pasta puttanesca in a shallow bowl.

My first exposure to pasta puttanesca was actually as a child when I read the book The Bad Beginning, a part of a series of children's novels called A Series of Unfortunate Events. I had no idea what pasta puttanesca looked or tasted like, but just thought it had a funny name.

Fast forward to a few years ago when I saw it available at a vegan restaurant. Remembering the name from the book, I ordered it and was impressed by its depth of flavour despite its simplicity. I knew I had to try and recreate it at home and share my findings in this recipe.

Ingredient Highlights

Tomatoes: Whole tomatoes create the flavour base of this recipe. Tangy and nutritious, tomatoes make the pasta puttanesca shine.
Olives: Thanks to being cured in brine, olives bring the saltiness and a hint of bitterness to this dish. They also make pasta puttanesca feel more meaty and filling.
Capers: Working together with the olives & tomatoes, these bring a strong salty & tangy flavour to the dish.
Pasta Water: By using the starchy water leftover from cooking spaghetti, you can help make the puttanesca sauce thicker and help it stick to the spaghetti, making the dish more textural and tasty.

Why You'll Love Vegan Pasta Puttanesca

It's simple. If you have even a little bit of experience in the kitchen, this is one of the easiest recipes to prepare. Boil some pasta, simmer some sauce, combine, and that's it!
It's quick. If you start making the sauce while the pasta is cooking, you can very reasonably finish this recipe in under 30 minutes.
It's delicious. The combination of flavours at play in Pasta Puttanesca makes for something quite unique and tasty. It's tangy, salty without being overbearing, and includes hints of bitterness and sweetness. This makes for a very satisfying lunch or dinner.

How to Make Vegan Pasta Puttanesca

Start off by preparing all your ingredients. Make sure you have 300g of spaghetti noodles, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1 can of whole tomatoes (396mL), 20 pitted kalamata olives, 2 tablespoons of capers, ½ teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon of red chili flakes (omit or reduce if you don't want your pasta puttanesca to be as spicy),

The ingredients for pasta puttanesca laid out on a table in containers. These include uncooked spaghetti, olive oil, minced garlic, salt, red pepper flakes, whole tomatoes from a can, kalamata olives, and capers.

Start of by boiling your spaghetti according to its package instructions. Make sure to save ¼ cup of pasta water before you drain the spaghetti.

You can start working on the sauce as soon as your spaghetti starts to cook in the boiling water. Heat a skillet under medium heat. Then once hot, add the oil then the garlic. Sauté the garlic for 1 minute, making sure to stir frequently to avoid any burning.

Add the whole tomatoes, capers, olives, red pepper flakes, and salt into the skillet. Stir everything until well-combined and cook for 20 minutes uncovered, making sure to break up the whole tomatoes as much as possible while cooking. Make sure to add in the pasta water once the spaghetti finishes cooking!

Ingredients for pasta puttanesca sauce right after they have been combined into a pan. Includes olive oil, whole tomatoes from a can, kalamata olives, minced garlic, capers, red pepper flakes, and salt.

Pasta puttanesca sauce in the pan midway through cooking.

Remove the skillet from the heat, add in the cook pasta from before, then mix until all the ingredients are well-combined. And that's it, quick and simple. Enjoy!

Tips

Use the least amount of water possible when cooking the pasta. The less water you use when cooking the pasta, the starchier the resulting pasta water. This helps make the sauce as thick and sticky as possible.
Save time by preparing the sauce while the pasta is boiling. Once your spaghetti starts cooking in the boiling water, you can start preparing the sauce. This can save you up to 10 minutes rather than waiting for the spaghetti to finish cooking before moving on.

Vegan Pasta Puttanesca

This vegan pasta puttanesca is an animal-free take on a simple but delicious Italian classic that's sure to please the taste buds of any home cook.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 25

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 2

Equipment

pot
skillet
Strainer

Ingredients

300 g spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1 can whole tomatoes 396ml, drained through strainer with some juices leftover (see note)
20 kalamata olives pitted
2 tablespoon capers
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon red chili flakes optional

Instructions

Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Make sure to save ¼ cup of pasta water before draining.
While cooking the pasta, you can prepare the sauce. Heat a skillet under medium heat.
Once skillet is hot, add the oil then the garlic. Sauté for 1 minute, making sure to stir frequently to avoid burning.
Add whole tomatoes (with some of the leftover juices), capers, olives, red pepper flakes (if using), and salt into the skillet. Stir until everything is well-combined and cook for 20 minutes uncovered, breaking up the whole tomatoes while cooking. Make sure to add in and mix the pasta water once the spaghetti finishes cooking!
Remove sauce form heat. Add in cooked pasta from before. Mix until all ingredients are well-combined.

Notes

- When straining the canned whole tomatoes, there are going to be some juices left in the strainer because of how thick they area. Include this into the pan when you add the tomatoes. This allows it to be saucy without being too watery. Don't add in all the juices from the can because that will make the pasta puttanesca too watery.

Keyword vegan pasta puttanesca