Creamy Mushroom & Spinach Pasta Skillet Recipe (Video)

Guess what we ate for dinner a lot before going vegan?

Hamburger Helper and those Birds Eye Voila Skillet Meals. 

Don't judge me.

I liked the convenience of those meals and really thought cooking a homemade meal would take too long.

I was wrong.

As you can see in the dinner recipe video below, this meal will only take about 30 minutes and its filling, simple and delicious.

I usually double the ingredients to serve my family of 5.

The ingredients listed below are for 4 people.

This meal should take you about 35 minutes and you can serve it with vegan garlic bread and a salad.

Don't like mushrooms? I think more vegetables, black beans or vegan sausage (from a brand like Field Roast) will work as a good replacement.

Creamy Mushroom & Spinach Pasta Skillet Recipe

by Brown Vegan

Keywords: vegan vegetarian

Ingredients (Serves 3-4 people)

• 1 teaspoon coconut or olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 12 oz mushrooms, chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• (2) 15 oz cans of coconut milk
• 1 lb farfalle/bow-tie pasta (uncooked)
• 3 handfuls of fresh spinach
• Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

In a large skillet, saute the onion for 5 minutes on medium heat.

Add in mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes.

Mix in red bell pepper, garlic, cumin and vegetable broth.

Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Shake the cans of coconut milk, open and pour into the skillet along with the bow-tie pasta.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium.

Be sure to mix the pasta every 2-3 minutes to ensure that it doesn't stick together (should be ready in 20 minutes).

Mix in spinach and cook for about 1 minute.

Season to taste with salt & pepper.

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Let me know what you think once you try the recipe.

Mushroom, Spinach & Mashed Potatoes Recipe | What's for Dinner # 5

If you're just getting started on a vegan journey, I know how important it is for the food to be familiar, comforting and flavorful.

This dinner recipe delivers in all of that -- mushrooms, spinach and mashed potatoes? Yes, please!

If you want to save a little time, you can also use rice, pasta or quinoa in place of the mashed potatoes.

Check out the full recipe and video below…

Mushroom, Spinach & Mashed Potatoes Recipe

by Brown Vegan

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 45

Keywords: saute entree vegan vegetarian

Ingredients (Serves 4)

For potatoes

• 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, washed, peeled and cut lengthwise into quarters
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond or soy milk (add more if necessary)
• 1/4 cup vegan margarine (Earth Balance and Smart Balance are options)
• 1 teaspoon salt (1 teaspoon more salt for the cooking water)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

For Mushrooms & Spinach

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 1 lb mushrooms of your choice, chopped
• 3 garlic gloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 handful of raw spinach

Instructions

In a large pot, add potatoes then cover with water and salt.

Cover with lid and bring to a boil. Cook until soft.

While the potatoes are cooking, in a large skillet add oil.

Then saute onion for about 7-8 minutes on medium heat until translucent.

Next, add in mushrooms and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Mix in garlic, cumin, salt and black pepper.

Stir in garlic and continue cooking for about a minute.

Then add in spinach, stirring frequently until wilted.

Turn off heat and place skillet to the side.

Once the potatoes are done, drain the water and place back into the pot.

Next, add in almond or soy milk, vegan margarine, salt, black pepper and garlic powder.

With a potato masher, mash the potatoes until you get your desired consistency (try not to over mash because it will make the potatoes have a gluey texture).

Adjust seasoning for the potatoes and mushroom mixture, if necessary.

Enjoy!

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Get Ready Set Go Vegan --- the vegan starter guide for families here. 

Quinoa & Sausage Skillet Recipe | What's for Dinner? (VIDEO)

I was a bit nervous about making this recipe for my family. They have a love/hate thing going on with quinoa, so I wasn't sure what the reaction would be...plus it doesn't look the most appetizing (at least not to me).

The verdict? All 5 of us loved it!

This meal is super simple, filling and the flavor is bomb. From start to finish, it will take about 35 minutes to put this together, so it's an awesome weeknight recipe.

The more I think about it, the more I realize my family just may not be the biggest fans of tri-color quinoa (who is more nutty and chewy) and actually probably just like the white quinoa that I used in this recipe.

Either way they loved this one and I've made it 3 times for them already. I usually double it so that we can eat the leftovers for lunch the next day. 

Once you make it, let me know what you think here or over on my Facebook page.

Recipe adapted from Peas and Thank You

Quinoa & Sausage Skillet

by Brown Vegan

Keywords: entree vegan

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 2 cups quinoa
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon oil (to saute vegetables)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 15 oz crushed tomatoes, canned
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 4 meatless sausage links, sliced (Field Roast & Tofurky are good brands)

Instructions

Add quinoa and water to a pot and bring to a boil.

Cover and cook on med-lo for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a large skillet, saute onion, red bell pepper and celery for 7 minutes on medium heat.

Add in basil, oregano, salt, black pepper and garlic-cooking for another minute.

Stir in tomatoes and vegetable broth and bring to a low boil.

Next, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Mix in vegan sausage and quinoa and cook until the sausage is warm (about 5 minutes).

Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

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See more "What's for Dinner?" videos on this playlist

Plan Your Dinners in 30 Minutes of Less

Ready, Set, Go Vegan is a starter guide to help you and your family go vegan together. Ain't nobody got time to make multiple meals, so I cover meal planning a lot in the guide. Here's a little strategy I use when I wait until the last minute to plan dinners for the week.

My go-to meals are spaghetti, tacos and stir-fry. I love using these simple dishes because the options are endless.  

3 possible combinations for each meal:

Spaghetti

*Spaghetti noodles + mushrooms + red onion + spaghetti sauce

*Spaghetti noodles + vegan crumbles + spaghetti sauce

*Spaghetti-Nos with Lentil balls  

Tacos

*Roasted chickpeas (seasoned with cumin & chili powder) + lettuce + salsa + taco shells

*Seitan + cilantro + vegan sour cream + taco shells

*Black Beans + mushrooms + arugula lettuce + vegan cheese + taco shells

Stir-fry

Vegan sausage + broccoli bell peppers + red onion + rice

Tempeh + red bell pepper + onion + rice (full recipe here)

Tofu + canned tomatoes + onion + basil + rice (full recipe here)

There's so many possibilities with all these meals! Carrots, kale, spinach, kidney beans, sweet potatoes, are just a few more ingredients you can play around with.

 

What are some of your go-to meals?

3 Simple & Affordable Vegan Dinners

I mentioned before that I'm working on showing more vegan meals with accessible ingredients.  I recorded a video featuring 3 vegan dinners using simple & affordable ingredients that can be found in any grocery store.

Here's the YouTube video :-) 

Dinner #1

*****Be sure to check the ingredient list on the bread to ensure it doesn't contain dairy and/or eggs.*****

Full recipe from Chloe Coscarelli (the ingredients and method are listed in the description box of Chloe's video) 

*Click here for the recipe video*

Dinner #2

Vegan Red Beans & Rice

by Brown Vegan

Prep Time: 8 hours

Cook Time: 1 1/2 hours

Ingredients (Serves 5)

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose seasoning
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 lb dried red beans, soaked overnight
• 8 cups vegetable broth or water
• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke (typically found in the same aisle as the BBQ sauce)
• 1 bay leaf
• To garnish: green onion, chopped
• 4 cups of cooked rice

Instructions

In a large stockpot, sauté onion, garlic and celery for 5 minutes on medium-high heat with oil. Add in cayenne pepper, all-purpose seasoning and salt.

Add in beans, vegetable broth (or water), liquid smoke and bay leaf

Reduce heat to med-lo, cover and simmer for 1 ½ hours, or until the liquid is thick or beans split open. If the water absorbs too quickly, add more ½ cup more at a time.

Remove bay leaf.

Adjust seasoning, if necessary.

Serve with rice.

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Dinner #3

Vegan Stuffed Shells

by Brown Vegan

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 8 oz jumbo shells
• 3 garlic cloves
• 8 basil leaves
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 14 oz firm tofu, drained
• Jar of spaghetti sauce

Instructions

Preheat oven at 400º

Boil jumbo shells in water until al dente.

In a food processor, blend together garlic, basil, onion, salt, pepper and oregano. Scrap down the sides of the food processor with a fork.

Crumble tofu with your hands and blend until smooth in the food processor.

Fill each shell with the tofu filling.

Line the bottom of a casserole dish with ½ cup of spaghetti sauce.

Cover with the shells and spoon on additional spaghetti sauce.

Cover with foil and bake for about 20 minutes.

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