Vegan Sauce Recipes: Find the Right Sauce for Dinner

A good sauce turns plain vegetables, grains and tofu into dinner. As a chef, I like having a few different sauces to choose from rather than starting from scratch every night. Here are the full recipes from our sauce archive, sorted by how you might use them, plus our homemade ginger oil. Choose a sauce for what you already have, or follow one of the complete meals near the end.

Start here: five recipes to try

Not sure where to begin? Start with these five reader favorites. Ginger oil is a weekend project; the stir-fry sauces come together in under 10 minutes.

• Homemade Ginger Oil — Ginger infused in olive or coconut oil. total not stated; 2 hours steeping, plus 2 hours dehydration or 24 hours air drying.
• General Tso’s Sauce — Made with vegetable broth, ketchup, soy sauce. 9 minutes total.
• Stir-Fry Sauce for Vegetables — Made with soy sauce, mirin, rice wine vinegar. 8 minutes total.
• Chinese Garlic Sauce- Take-Out Style — Made with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, mirin. 8 minutes total.
• Curry Miso Sauce — Made with fresh ginger, garlic clove, white miso paste. 2 minutes total.

Times shown come from each recipe card. A few recipes need soaking or drying time, so check the full method before you start.

Stir-fry & Asian sauces

General Tso’s, stir-fry sauce, Chinese garlic sauce and curry miso are in the Start here list above.

• Vegan stir fry sauce – Japanese Style — Made with vegetable broth, soy sauce, sake wine. 10 minutes total.

Pasta & creamy sauces

Some entries are standalone sauces; others are full pasta recipes that put a sauce to work. Cashew cream’s four-hour card total includes soaking, so plan for that before blending.

• No Oil Marinara — Made with large onion, cloves garlic, vegetable broth. total not stated; prep 2 minutes; cook 1 hours.
• Easy Vegan Cheese Sauce — Made with pumpkin puree, raw cashews, vegetable stock. total not stated; prep 4 minutes.
• Blood Orange Cashew Cream Sauce — Made with raw cashews, water, salt & pepper. total not stated; prep 5 minutes.
• Cashew Cream Sauce — Made with raw cashews, water, freshly squeezed lemon juice. 4 hours total (includes soaking).
• Lemon Tahini Sauce — Made with tahini, extra virgin olive oil, garlic cloves. 7 minutes total.
• Vegan Lentil Bolognese for Pasta or Polenta — Made with olive oil, onion, carrots. 37 minutes total.
• Lemon Garlic Sauce for Pasta or Vegetables — Made with olive oil, garlic cloves, vegetable bouillon cube with 2 cups of pasta water or hot water. total not stated; prep 5 minutes; cook 5 minutes.
• Rigatoni with Vegan Butternut Sage Cream Sauce and Toasted Pine Nuts — Made with Rigatoni pasta, pine nuts, fresh sage leaves. total not stated; prep 10 minutes; cook 45 minutes.
• Miso Vodka Sauce with Shiitake Bacon for Pasta — Made with olive oil, garlic cloves, large or 1 small yellow onion. total not stated; prep 15 minutes; cook 1 hours 10 minutes.
• Vegan Cashew Cheese Sauce — Made with olive oil, butternut squash ), raw cashews. 30 minutes total.
• Easy 5 Ingredient Tomato Basil Sauce — Made with olive oil, garlic cloves, large or 1 small yellow onion. 1 hours 15 minutes total.
• Vegan Cheese Sauce without Nuts or Oil — Made with cooked potatoes, canned pumpkin, nutritional yeast. 35 minutes total.
• Vegan Red Pepper Cream Sauce and Roasted Cauliflower with Pasta — Made with jar roasted red peppers drained of liquid, canned crushed tomatoes, raw cashews. 50 minutes total.

Dressings & vinaigrettes

• Tahini Dressing — Made with Tahini, Water, Lemon. total not stated; prep 2 minutes.
• Vegan Creamy Greek Dressing — Made with raw cashews, water, clove garlic. 2 minutes total.
• Vegan Caesar Dressing — Made with vegan mayo, garlic clove, Dijon mustard. 5 minutes total.
• Maple Vinaigrette — Made with maple syrup, + 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, fresh lemon juice. 3 minutes total.

Dips & spreads

• Creamy Cilantro Lime Sauce — Made with raw cashews, water, lime. 2 minutes total.
• Tahini Lime Sauce — Made with tahini, maple syrup, limes. total not stated; prep 2 minutes.
• Vegan Queso Sauce — Made with raw cashews, to ⅓ cup water, salt. 8 minutes total.
• Vegan Basil Pesto (Nut-Free) — Made with fresh basil leaves, clove garlic, nutritional yeast. 5 minutes total.
• Vegan Cucumber Yogurt Sauce — Made with plain coconut yogurt, cucumber, green onions. total not stated; prep 5 minutes.
• Vegan Mozzarella Spread — Made with raw cashews, water or nut milk, salt. total not stated; prep 3 minutes; cook 5 minutes.
• Smoky Cajun Sauce — Made with raw cashews, water, lemon. 2 minutes total.

Marinades, oils & condiments

Ginger oil is featured in Start here above. This section also includes a complete tofu recipe built around its marinade.

• Tropical Coconut Marinade and Sauce for Grilled Tofu — Made with can coconut milk, ginger, garlic. 20 minutes total.

Other: gravy and meals with sauce

Everything else in our sauce collection: gravy, bowls and dishes built around a sauce.

• Vegan Fish Fillet with Roasted Tomatoes — Made with roasted tomato vinaigrette, tofu, roasted tomato halves. total not stated; prep 4 minutes; cook 20 minutes.
• Roasted Tomato, Eggplant, and Zucchini Lasagna with Pesto Tofu Ricotta — Made with small onion, zucchini, red bell pepper. total not stated; prep 25 minutes; cook 45 minutes.
• Stir-Fried Baby Bok Choy, Tofu, Shiitake Mushrooms, & Carrots — Made with baby bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, carrots. 30 minutes total.
• Refried Beans and Rice Bowl with Veggies and Smoky Cajun Sauce — Made with brown or white rice, can refried beans, sweet potato. 30 minutes total.
• Coconut Peanut Sauce with Stir-Fried Veggies and Rice — Made with dry jasmine rice or any rice of your choice, coconut milk, of peanut sauce. 20 minutes total.
• Vegan Tostada with Jackfruit, Avocado, Salsa, and Cheezy Sauce — Made with can of jackfruit, recipe taco seasoning, water. 30 minutes total.
• Vegan Kimchi Cream Cheese Stuffed Rice Balls — Made with sushi rice, water, pieces of dried kombu. total not stated; prep 15 minutes; cook 45 minutes.
• Vegan Stir-Fry Veggies in Peanut Sauce — Made with canola, broccoli florets, red bell pepper. 15 minutes total.
• Vegan Gravy for Thanksgiving — Made with large onion, garlic clove, olive oil. 21 minutes total.
• Loaded Hash Browns the Vegan Way — Made with frozen shredded hash browns, red bell pepper, chopped fresh kale leaves. 22 minutes total.
• Rich and Creamy Vegan Mushroom Gravy — Made with crimini mushrooms, large onion, garlic cloves. 15 minutes total.

Batching and storing sauces

Make a double batch on the weekend and you have the start of several dinners: toss it with noodles one night, drizzle it over a grain bowl the next.

• Curry miso sauce and tahini dressing: their cards specify an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
• Creamy cilantro lime sauce and smoky Cajun sauce: their cards specify an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4–5 days.
• Vegan cashew cheese sauce: its card specifies an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Each recipe card has the quantities and method; check the card for how long that sauce keeps.

For the rest of the meal, browse all our vegan recipes. Start with what you have, choose one sauce, and make dinner your own.