Lentil spaghetti sauce

With this recipe, you can make a delicious spaghetti sauce with lentils in no time!

Preparation

5 minutes
Cooking

20 minutes
Yield

5 cups
Key ingredient(s) in this recipe
- Lentils

Good to know

If you don’t have dried lentils, a 540 ml can will also do the trick! Be sure to rinse them well before adding them to the recipe.
Frozen vegetables, previously blanched (cooked in boiling water for a few minutes), save time and they are just as nutritious as fresh ones.If you have time and fresh vegetables on hand (such as onions, zucchini, carrots, celery, eggplant, peppers, etc.), even better! You can even use vegetables that are a little “tired”. Cut them into small pieces or grate them (depending on the vegetable) and start the recipe by browning them in oil over high heat until tender.
If you don’t have fresh garlic, you can replace it with ½ teaspoon of garlic powder.

Source : Viens Manger (French only), adapted by Amélie Parenteau, Équiterre nutritionist

1

5 ml (1 tsp) vegetable oil
2

2 cloves garlic, minced
3

500 ml (2 cups) frozen (or fresh) mixed vegetables
4

500 ml (2 cups) cooked lentils, drained
5

796 ml (1 can) crushed tomatoes
6

10 ml (2 tsp) sugar
7

15 ml (1 tbsp) dried herbs
8

Salt and pepper to taste

Estimates for the nutrient content, greenhouse gas emissions and costs associated with this recipe have been provided by researchers at CIENS.
Compared to the ready-to-heat spaghetti sauces sold in supermarkets, this recipe contains:

• 6 times less saturated fat
• 1.5 times more fibre

It represents:
• 7 times fewer greenhouse gases than a version made using beef

And costs:
• Approximately the same price

When you eat fewer ultra-processed foods, such as ready-to-heat spaghetti sauces, you avoid taking in excess salt, sugar and fat, as well as numerous food additives that have been linked to the development of chronic diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease.

What's more, you reduce the risk of falling into the traps of shrinkflation and skimpflation, since these marketing tactics are most frequently applied to ultra-processed foods.