Pasta Sauce – Substitute for Tomato Sauce?

February 6, 2025 4:40 AM

Looking for some suggestions of something to toss into some leftover pasta, to quickly enjoy it the next day (as a break from our beloved tomato-based sauce) while trying to avoid white-based (alfredo-esque) sauces.

Firstly, we LOVE pasta AND tomato sauce. Tomato sauce is our go-to pasta sauce (and we have quite a bit of pasta). However, when we have leftover pasta, having it with tomato sauce the next day isn’t always something we want (tomato sauce can be quite ‘heavy’) so we are looking for some light alternatives to have with leftover pasta.

However, due to some lactose issues in our house, Alfredo sauce hasn’t been something we have had in many years (not to mention that I am just not a fan of the taste of it).

Side note, we switched from cooking with olive oil to avocado oil a couple of years back, so would tossing some of that on the pasta be an option?

posted by dbirchum to Food & Drink (33 answers total)

What about pesto?
posted by synecdoche at 4:48 AM on February 6 [7 favorites]

I'm a lazy cook and love convenience foods, and one of the ways I do pasta is by adding the following to a skillet to heat:

- a spoon of chicken better than bullion
- a glug of pasta water
- a handful of frozen mushrooms
- a handful of frozen spinach
- little squirts of prepped minced garlic and prepped sun dried tomato paste in a tube
- whatever seasonings from my cabinet I'm feeling
- [at this point I toss in the pasta to get it coated]
- topped with several very generous shakes of nutritional yeast
posted by phunniemee at 4:50 AM on February 6 [2 favorites]

I am a bit confused by your heavy tomato sauce - all it needs is tomatoes, a bit of oil, garlic and potentially some herbs. So perhaps consider your go to recipe.

Tossing the pasta with oil of your choice, a bit of garlic and some chillies or a dash of hot sauce is yummy.

If you search for 'roasted bell pepper sauce' you will get countless recipes. Some are quite complex and include potentially heavy ingredients but some are very simple and should meet your light criteria.
posted by koahiatamadl at 4:52 AM on February 6 [2 favorites]

Just oil and shredded or sliced parmesan can be nice (AFAIK hard aged cheese like parmesan is low in lactose). Crumbled goat or feta cheese is great in pasta but maybe more of a lactose issue.

You could also try some oil and fresh chopped tomatoes. Maybe some of the perceived “heaviness” of tomato sauce is due to onions and garlic (and the latter is also true of pesto). Like, “strong flavor that stays with you” heavy as opposed to caloric/fatty. I love garlic and onions but often don’t want them involved in breakfast or lunch.
posted by staggernation at 4:58 AM on February 6 [1 favorite]

It could most anything with sauce. Something beefy, like stroganoff. Something creamy, like chicken a la king. Or just a judicious drizzle of most any salad dressing.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:58 AM on February 6

Riffing on the pesto suggestion, any bunch of pulverized fresh herbs (plus salt, pepper, garlic) is a wonderful option and can be accompanied by many accoutrements (lemon, vinegar for acid; nuts for fat; chili, fresh or dried, or loads of extra black pepper for heat). I often don't even bother making a sauce of it. I'll roughly chop a FULL BUNCH of basil, one of parsley, roughly chop a handful of almonds or walnuts or hazelnuts, then toss everything together with a squeeze of lemon and a splash of the salty cooking water. Add salt and pepper and you've got a meal. There's no strict need for oil to dress pasta.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 4:59 AM on February 6 [1 favorite]

Instead of oil try butter with some parmesan and pepper. Simple, quick and tasty, even better with some garlic.
posted by ashbury at 5:19 AM on February 6 [4 favorites]

Gently fry cubes of pancetta or bacon, add a bit of chili flakes and/or freshly ground pepper. When the pork is the right consistency for your taste, add a handful of frozen peas. Now optimally, you have saved 1/2 cup of pasta water from the day before, but otherwise just add a 1/2 cup of water to the pan, add your pasta, turn up the heat and stir vigorously until the pasta and peas are warmed through and there is a silky sauce just covering the pasta, not slopping on the bottom of the pan. The sauce comes from emulsifying the rendered pork fat with the water and starch from the pasta, so stirring is all important.
A vegan version of this can be made with cubes of onion or shallot instead of pork, cooked till soft and sweet in the oil of your choice. Add salt to the onions at the beginning of cooking, and season to taste again before serving.

Another option is a sort of pasta salad. You still need to warm the pasta. Chop up a fresh, ripe tomato, half a bell pepper, a handfull of whatever herbs you have on hand and some green olives. Then gently warm some oil with chili flakes and/or freshly ground pepper. Finely chopped garlic can be fine here too (not crushed, you don't want it to burn). When the oil smells fragrant, add in the pasta and a splash of water and stir till the pasta is heated through. Now turn off the heat and add the tomato, bell pepper, herbs and olives, salt to taste. Mix and serve.
posted by mumimor at 5:19 AM on February 6 [3 favorites]

Pesto and butter
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:23 AM on February 6

We like to make a "green goddess" sauce. In your food processor, grind up a handful of cashews or almonds, then add to it and process baby spinach, if you have fresh herbs like parsley and basil that is good too, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and avocado oil. Processes to get to your desired consistency with as much oil as you want, and maybe some water if you want it really thin. I add nutritional yeast and parmesan, but you don't have to. This feels very light and is super flexible.
posted by ojocaliente at 5:26 AM on February 6 [5 favorites]

When she had to stretch a dollar my nonna made aglio al olio, pasta with sautéed garlic, oil or butter, pepper and tossed in a few eggs from the hens in the yard to make a yummy sauce. Fun fact; this was in Brooklyn, NY and all the other off the boat Sicilians kept chickens.

When the hens were less cooperative, there were no eggs or butter.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 5:30 AM on February 6 [4 favorites]

Canned beans, drained, and a little oil and pasta water. Some chilis if you like heat. I like chickpeas/garbanzo beans with pasta a lot. Cannellini beans, great northern. Quick, tasty, nutritious.
posted by tmdonahue at 6:08 AM on February 6 [3 favorites]

Pasta is so much better when it's freshly cooked though. Yesterday's pasta is sticky & weird. Cook 100g of dried pasta per person, then you don't have any leftovers. You can still eat all those delicious sauce ideas that everyone else has suggested - but serve them with today's pasta, so they're even yummier.
posted by rd45 at 7:04 AM on February 6 [1 favorite]

I was really surprised by how much I liked a pasta recipe that was yogurt-based (not pasta salad, hot pasta). It's the "Creamy, Lemony Pasta" from NYT Cooking.
posted by rachaelfaith at 7:19 AM on February 6

Fry up bacon or sausage, onions, a little garlic and deglaze at the end with white wine.
posted by soelo at 7:27 AM on February 6 [1 favorite]

A spoonful or two of Lao Gan Ma chili crisp.
posted by sesquipedalia at 7:49 AM on February 6 [1 favorite]

Canned beans, drained

Oh yeah, to my thing above I also will sometimes add a half a can of beans to it depending on mood and pantry stores.
posted by phunniemee at 7:56 AM on February 6

Canned sardines in oil, parsley and lemon. Get good beefy sardines - I like Wild Planet that I get from Costco. If you want to go deeper there, I looove pasta con la sarde, which has a base of diced anchovy, fennel and onion, deglazed with wine and sardines/breadcrumbs/toasted nuts added at the end. May be too fussy for a quick dinner, but it's very special as a non-tomato driven pasta.

Pasta e ceci - there's a bit of tomato in there, but it's mostly chickpeas, water/stock, rosemary and oil. Mash up some of the chickpeas to give the sauce more substance.

Go in a different direction, Kenji did a video on some classic San Francisco Garlic Noodles a couple years back that I like. You'd want something to balance the umami weight of it, like a side salad.
posted by SoundInhabitant at 8:20 AM on February 6 [1 favorite]

A spoonful or two of Lao Gan Ma chili crisp.

Gift link for NYTimes' Chile Crisp Fettuccine Alfredo With Spinach
Yes, you said there are lactose intolerance issues, but I made this last night with a plant-based heavy cream substitute, and it's good (I also added some shrimp).
posted by ShooBoo at 8:22 AM on February 6

Do you like peas?

I LOVE pea sauce on pasta, and the way you say you want something to toss on it quickly makes me think this could be a super easy go-to for you, like it is for me.

You can do it the 'right' way or the easy way, but I do the easy way - I just microwave some frozen peas and throw them in a blender to puree with olive oil (avocado oil sounds even better for this), pre-minced garlic, salt, pepper and lemon juice. I don't measure any of this; if I need to thin it out in the blender I add either pasta water (if I've just boiled the pasta) or a little bit of water in a reasonable amount with the oil and lemon juice. Toss in with the pasta and microwave. Add parmesan or not according to your preference. You can leave some whole peas and have peas mixed in with the pasta and pea sauce if you like.
posted by fennario at 8:55 AM on February 6 [4 favorites]

3Tbsp brown sugar
3Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
6Tbsp sriracha

Makes a great sweet & spicy sauce for noodles. Fry up some tofu or the protein of your choice, scramble an egg or two if you like, and toss with your noodles for a quick meal.
posted by xedrik at 9:25 AM on February 6 [3 favorites]

How about... sauté some garlic or garlic paste in oil or butter and then add in some sundried tomatoes and feta or other cheese and then toss in the pasta to warm it up and get lightly coated and then add in some baby spinach until it wilts.
posted by bluedaisy at 9:26 AM on February 6 [3 favorites]

I like Indian packet meals - curried lentils or dal or the spinach and potato dish - on pasta. Or basil pesto; I odn't generally eat dairy, but this has been okay. Stir-fried veg with any sauce works well; try frozen butternut squash with a generous amount of oil and herbs, garlic, whatever your taste buds are in the mood for. Most things that are good on rice are good on pasta.
posted by theora55 at 9:34 AM on February 6 [2 favorites]

Kale Sauce. So good. The recipe is for pasta in sauce but you can just make the sauce up through the blending step and store in the fridge or freezer. I just had some with cannellini beans, no pasta at all. Right before serving, zhuzh it up with a bit of parmesan (if that doesn't aggravate the lactose issues) and/or a squeeze of lemon. Bright green, very tasty, highly recommend.

I also like to toss pasta with garlic sauteed in oil and a squeeze of lemon. But I rarely have leftover pasta... however much pasta I cook, I always seem to find room to eat all of it.
posted by mskyle at 9:55 AM on February 6 [2 favorites]

Refried black beans, wilted greens, and something spicy (cajun seasoning, cayenne, cumin and chile pepper, etc.)
posted by indexy at 10:12 AM on February 6 [1 favorite]

Add smooth peanut butter, lime juice, garlic and ginger to xedrix's brown sugar, soy sauce and sriracha and you have a thai-inspired sauce.
posted by sarajane at 10:47 AM on February 6 [4 favorites]

chili crisp, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, butter, salt- toss with chicken, bell peppers, shredded carrots. Garnish with cilantro.
posted by haplesschild at 2:10 PM on February 6

I've been using a butternut squash soup as a pasta sauce. The soup I've been buying just has squash and cinnamon, and so I'll usually add curry powder, pepper, garlic, then throw in some peas, cashews, and broccoli.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 2:14 PM on February 6 [2 favorites]

Guacamole works as a pasta sauce.

Peanut butter noodles (NYTimes gift link). This is super quick and satisfying:
4 ounces spaghetti or 1 individual package instant ramen (seasoning packet saved for another use)
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon finely grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Cook pasta, saving 1/2 cup of cooking water.
Add all ingredients (except cooking water) and stir.
Add some reserved cooking water, a tablespoon or two at a time, until the sauce is glossy and clings to the noodles. Season to taste with salt.

I usually add sauteed onion and diced peppers.
posted by ShooBoo at 4:22 PM on February 6

For lunch recently, I sautéed some chopped red peppers, radicchio, pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes, capers and a few red pepper flakes in a skillet with a little olive oil and tossed in some leftover penne pasta. It was one of those "use up what's in the fridge" meals but it came out pretty well. You mention you've switched to avocado oil - I would imagine this would work with avocado rather than olive oil though I haven't tested it.
posted by zombiedance at 4:44 PM on February 6 [1 favorite]

I love making a carrot sauce. I basically take a combination of garlic, onions, scallions, carrots (up to a whole pound) and saute them with salt and red pepper flakes until everything is very soft and there's a little color on the onions. I tend to use a full tablespoon of oil, but you can add more if you want a silkier sauce. Then you blitz the heck out of it with a blender (a stick blender makes it easiest of all). I toss it with pasta, whatever fresh herbs I've got and some parm or toasted nuts. It freezes well and is a great way to use up those baby carrots that you meant to bring into the office.
posted by annaramma at 7:21 PM on February 6 [1 favorite]

I usually just throw some tuna or salmon on top with olive oil and spices when I have leftover pasta. Too lazy to add anything else.
posted by liza97 at 7:50 PM on February 6

Canned clams, drained, with a little fresh minced garlic.

Olives, diced cucumber, green onion, diced raw peppers. Heat the pasta then add the vegetables. Mayonnaise or salad dressing optional.

Butter and seasoning such as garlic powder, onion powder etc. Family members who are not lactose intolerant can add Parmesan.

Diced cold beef, red peppers and paprika

Soy sauce, beef bouillon concentrate, green onions, left over cold beef or pork, water chestnuts etc.

Singapore curry sauce. Make your own to get the degree of hotness you prefer, especially if you prefer a mild curry. Look for South Indian curry if you don't see any pastes or sauces labeled Singapore, and check the ingredients on any jar of sauce to make sure it doesn't have ingredients with lactose.

Any other lactose free curry sauce

Bacon and peanut butter
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:58 AM on February 7