This red pepper pasta sauce is one of my favorite homemade recipes packed with sweet and smoky grilled piquillo peppers, onion, garlic, and herbs. Serve this easy pasta sauce tossed with fettuccine, spinach, and feta cheese for a quick, satisfying vegetarian dinner!
Every so often, I like to break up a stint of meaty pasta sauces like my family-favorite homemade Bolognese and slow cooker spaghetti sauce with a fresh and easy, vegetarian number. This red pepper sauce with pasta never disappoints.
This recipe blends the flavors of Macedonia (literally) into one deliciously light and creamy red pepper pasta sauce. It’s so simple. I take a jar of my favorite mild piquillo peppers and blitz them with seasoned sautéed onions, garlic, and olive oil. The result is a silky, flavor-packed sauce that I immediately toss with sautéed spinach, then feta, and finally, fettuccine pasta. HOLY MOLY. Let’s just say, it’s a very silent dinner. Not because we have nothing to say, but because no one wants to come up for air!
What Makes This Red Pepper Pasta Sauce So Great
- Fresh Mediterranean flavors. This red pepper sauce is creamy and garlicky, and a little smoky from sweet but mild jarred peppers. Once I wilted in some fresh baby spinach and sprinkled over salty feta, it immediately reminded me of Macedonia. From shakshuka to sausage and peppers and chopped salad, Macedonians are always finding a way to work peppers and feta into a recipe!
- Ready in under 30 minutes. My red pepper pasta sauce has a super-quick 15-minute cooking time. With a little bit of prep in and around that, the whole recipe takes about 30 minutes. It’s an easy meatless meal, perfect for weeknights.
- Versatile. This rich red pepper pasta sauce tastes delicious on any pasta. I add spinach and feta to keep things vegetarian (it’s one of my favorite easy Meatless Monday meals). On other days, I’ll whip up a batch of air fryer meatballs to toss in the sauce when serving. It’s super flexible!
Sauce Ingredients
These are the ingredients you’ll need to make this light, easy, and flavorful red pepper sauce pasta. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card after the post for the full list and printable recipe details.
- Red Peppers – I love making this sauce with grilled piquillo peppers, which are marinated red peppers with a sweet, smoky flavor. I simply drain off the oil and blend them up.
- Olive Oil – Extra virgin olive oil or another quality cooking oil.
- Yellow Onion – Or shallot, thinly sliced.
- Garlic – In pasta recipes, in my eyes, the more fresh garlic, the better! Feel free to adapt the amount of garlic to taste. If you don’t have garlic cloves to mince, you can substitute ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder per clove.
- Thyme – You can use dried or fresh thyme if you have it (you’ll need to triple the amount if you’re using fresh). Other herbs like basil, oregano, and rosemary also go nicely with this sauce, or you can use a mix of herbs, like Italian seasoning.
For Serving
- Pasta – You can use any pasta you like. I love serving this red pepper pasta sauce over fettuccine. Other good options are linguine, spaghetti, penne, rigatoni, fusilli, or bowtie pasta.
- Baby Spinach – Fresh or frozen baby spinach is a great way to add greens. There’s no need to thaw frozen spinach first, you can sauté it as-is.
- Feta Cheese – Rounding out the Mediterranean-inspired flavors is creamy, crumbly feta. You can also finish this red pepper pasta with goat cheese or freshly grated parmesan.
Use Roasted Red Peppers
If I’m making a batch of Macedonian ajvar (red pepper relish), I’ll roast a double batch of fresh red peppers and use the leftovers for this pasta sauce! Pro tip: The prepared relish also makes a great base for this sauce.
How to Make Red Pepper Pasta Sauce
Like my spinach fettuccine and sun-dried tomato pasta, this red pepper sauce is a speedy vegetarian recipe with very little hands-on time. For now, set the drained piquillo peppers aside in the blender. Meanwhile, get your choice of pasta boiling according to the package directions and follow these steps to make your sauce:
- Sauté the onions. In a skillet, season the onions and garlic with thyme, salt, and pepper, and sauté in olive oil until softened.
- Blend the sauce. Add the onions and garlic to the blender with the peppers. Pour in a little water, and blend until you reach your desired consistency.
To Serve
With your red pepper sauce blended, you can store it for later (see the storing section further on for details). Or, turn it into dinner with some of my favorite easy ingredients:
- Put it all together. Wilt the spinach in your skillet from earlier, then add the cooked pasta and crumble in the feta cheese. Finally, spoon the red pepper sauce into the skillet (add as much as you’d like) and toss everything together to coat.
Tips and Variations
- Salt and save the pasta water. This is a helpful trick when cooking pasta and sauces. Season the pasta water with a couple of heaping spoonfuls of salt before you add the pasta. Afterward, reserve a cup of starchy pasta water, just in case. It’s a great way to thin out the sauce (if needed) while making it smoother and more flavorful.
- Adjust the consistency. If, after blending, the sauce is too chunky for your liking, you can add a little more water, pasta water, or olive oil and blend again to thin it out. If you need to thicken up red pepper sauce that’s too thin, your best bet is to simmer it in a pan over low heat so that it reduces.
- Make it creamy. For a creamy red pepper pasta sauce, blend in heavy cream or cream cheese to taste. You can also mix in a little béchamel sauce.
- More add-ins. Instead of seasoning with salt, cook an anchovy alongside the onions to blend up into the sauce for a nice hint of umami. You can also sauté add-ins like olives, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes with the spinach to stir in at the end.
How to Store, Reheat, and Freeze
- Refrigerate. If you’re not using the red pepper sauce right away, transfer it from the blender to an airtight container. Store leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Reheat. Warm the sauce (with or without pasta) in a saucepan on the stovetop until it’s hot throughout. You can also use the microwave.
- Freeze. Freeze leftover red pepper sauce on its own, without the pasta, for up to 3 months. Thaw the sauce in the fridge before reheating.
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Boil the pasta. Cook pasta according to the directions on the package.
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Sauté. Place drained piquillo peppers in a blender and set aside. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Add sliced onions, smashed garlic, thyme, salt, and ground pepper. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender.
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Blend. Remove from the heat and transfer the onion mixture to the blender with the peppers. Add water and blend until completely smooth. If too thick, add a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil or water and continue to blend until the desired consistency is reached. Taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly, then set aside.
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Cook the spinach. Heat the remaining extra virgin olive oil in a skillet. Add spinach and cook for 2 minutes, or until wilted.
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Put it all together. Drain the cooked pasta and add it to the skillet with the spinach. Stir in feta cheese, and add as much pepper sauce as you’d like. Toss around to combine, then remove from heat and serve.
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 391kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 513mg | Potassium: 352mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 3503IU | Vitamin C: 52mg | Calcium: 184mg | Iron: 4mg
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
