This fresh Sauce Free Pasta with Roasted Pepper and Kale recipe will get five stars from everyone sitting at the table. It is super easy and so good for your gut health!

All you have to do is chop, stir, and watch as your fresh garden vegetables caramelize into a delicious pasta topping. If you’re anything like me, and busy running between work and life, less is more. This sauce free pasta simplifies dinnertime without sacrificing taste.

This post is all about sauce free pasta!

Plant Points: 8

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Healthy Micro superheroes featured in Sauce Free Pasta

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What Will It Take To Put This Together?

First, roast the bell peppers.
Second, sauté the vegetable medley. Remove from heat and top with basil and feta.
Third, cook the pasta.
Last, serve! Spoon a heaping serving of vegetables over your al dente pasta and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Enjoy!

Easy Pasta Sauce

This simple yet incredibly delicious pasta sauce perfectly caramelizes red onion, oven-roasted peppers, garlic cloves, and sweet figs to create a naturally sweet and savory plate of gut healthy vegetables that is sure to be a household favorite!

Our kids were absolutely delighted with this delicious pasta dish which was drizzled in a perfect balance of extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar for an acidic tang, complemented by a light olive oil dressing. Miraculously, they all loved it and ate their vegetables (mostly) without complaints!

Pasta Sauce Ideas

The kids are not huge fans of feta, so I kept it optional, adding it as a topping rather than in the skillet. Either works! If you leave the feta out, this vegetarian sauce free pasta is also vegan. With homemade roasted red peppers, garden fresh kale, thinly sliced red onion, garlic, fig, and pine nuts this pasta is fancy enough to serve at a dinner party. However, the caramelized onion, fig, and peppers make it sweet enough for everyone to enjoy.

Healthy Pasta Sauce Alternatives

Yes, pasta can actually be healthy! Not only is pasta deliciously convenient to make and affordably priced, it can also be a healthy part of your diet if you make some smart substitutions. Healthy pasta sauce alternatives, like fermented vegetable sauces, can harness the power of micro-superhero bacteria which in turn supports gut health and helps keep our digestive systems running smooth.

Kale, a superfood leafy green, charges this pasta with healthy benefits. For an extra health boost, cooked red onion, garlic, and roasted bell peppers are bursting with antioxidants and beneficial micro bacteria that can work to help protect against cancer. To find out more about the incredible benefits of this tomato-free pasta sauce, read on to discover how it is packed with gut-friendly ingredients that offer amazing health benefits!

Tomato Free Pasta Sauce with Kale

Kale is full of antioxidants including beta-carotene, lutein, vitamin C, and kaempferol (Sikora & Bodziarczyk, 2012). Beta-carotene and lutein support your eye health while vitamin C and other flavonoids can increase skin cell turn over leaving you with a more youthful glow. Vitamin C is popular in skin creams for this exact reason, including my favorite, Drunk Elephant Vitamin C serum. In fact, kale is so rich in vitamin C, one cup provides more vitamin C than an entire orange (Nutrition Data, 2022)!

Kale is a plant-based source of iron…The vitamin C from a lemon cranks up iron absorption and allows you to get what you need from a non-heart disease/colon cancer/diabetes-inducing source, meaning a plant.
Bulsiewicz, 2020, p. 82

Full of Antioxidants

Antioxidants do not only keep your skin looking fresh, they also can help prevent disease including cancer (Rajendran, 2014). While other superhero components of kale may help decrease your cholesterol and risk for heart disease (Kahlon et al., 2007).

How Might Kale Reduce Your Cholesterol?

Your liver turns cholesterol into bile acids. When you eat a meal high in fat it releases these acids into your digestive system. When the fat has been absorbed, biles acids are reabsorbed into your bloodstream for later use. If there is a lot of left over bile acid, cholesterol increases (Kahlon, 2007).

Kale can trap bile acid by binding it in your digestive system rather than being reabsorbed into the blood stream. Imagine kale as a pac-man eating all the bad extra bile before it escapes. Keeping bile acid out, kale lowers your total cholesterol (Kahlon et al., 2007). And, as cholesterol decreases so does the risk of heart disease (Kahlon, 2007).

Kale Health Benefits and Side Effects May Support Weight Loss

Kale is low in calories and high in water. Similar to cucumbers, which I posted about in 5 Reasons to Love Cucumbers: How Cucumber Health Keeps You Hydrated And Healthy, several studies have shown when you eat foods high in nutrients and low in calories you have a greater likelihood to lose weight (Rolls et al., 2005). No surprise there! Kale also provides protein and fiber both of which can support healthy weight loss (Bulsiewicz, 2020).

Swap Bell Peppers for a Pasta Sauce without Tomatoes

Bell peppers are often thought of as vegetables, but they are actually fruits. They have a ton of antioxidants and vitamins, making them an excellent addition to your meal rotation. For another meal idea with bell peppers, check out Take Out Worthy Kung Pao Shrimp and Basmati Rice!

High in water, similar to cucumbers, bell peppers are a nutrient dense vegetable. With a low calorie burden, bell peppers pack a good deal of nutritional benefit with little cost. They are an excellent source of healthy carbs, protein, fat, and fiber. Similar to kale and carrots, the antioxidants in bell peppers support healthy eyes. Additionally, as a rich source of vitamin C, they may prevent anemia or low iron levels.

Easy Pasta Sauce with Bell Peppers and Your Health

Doctors have found certain antioxidants support eye health. Antioxidants including lutein and zeaxanthin decrease eye degeneration and likelihood for cataracts (Abdel-Aal et al., 2013; Carpentier et al., 2009; Moeller et al., 2000). Results show consumption of these antioxidants in food can largely decrease your risk for cataracts (Karppi et al., 2012; Delcourt et al., 2006; Seddon et al., 1994).

Lutein and zeaxanthin also protect your retina! Your retina is the inner wall of your eye that is light sensitive. Have you ever had drops put into your eyes to dilate them? That light sensitivity is related to your exposed retina (Griff, 2018). Over time and lacking proper nutrients, your retina can become damaged. However, bell peppers may slow oxidative damage to your retina due to aging (Bone et al., 2000; Whitehead et al., 2006). Yet another reason to preheat the oven and start roasting your own homemade bell peppers today!

Bell Peppers are a Healthy Pasta Sauce Alternative

In addition to these benefits, bell peppers are high in vitamins that can support your overall health (Sun et al., 2007). Micro superstars residing within bell peppers include:

beta-carotene, which helps your body build vitamin A (Marín et al., 2004).
Vitamin B6 which supports red blood cell development, an important component to our immune system.
Vitamin K which helps our body clot blood. Anyone with/or has had a toddler knows how important this is, as they are constantly banging their bodies into something.
Potassium, which may support heart health (Whelton & He, 2014).
Quercetin, which has been shown to support heart health and prevent other chronic disease (Marin et al., 2004). Although it is worth saying that green bell peppers are higher in polyphenol levels and therefore better for this particular aim, than colored bell peppers (Marin et al., 2004).

Pro Tip

Use a larger skillet or wok than you need to saute the vegetable medley. This keeps things inside the pan and reduces your clean up!

Best Large Wok with Non-Stick Lining!

The Rachel Ray non-stick wok is the largest, best wok ever! It uses Platinum Shiel Technology to keep your wok lining easily clean. It’s dishwasher safe, and it can be put in the oven up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit!

This post was all about how to create sauce free pasta that is gut healthy and delicious.

This delicious and healthy sauce free pasta is packed with a multitude of gut friendly ingredients like kale and bell peppers that can provide myriad benefits to your overall health. Not only do these two superfoods support your immune system, but they can also greatly reduce your risk for certain types of cancers and promote your heart health in the long run.

To sweeten the meal, figs truly make this incredibly tasty, sugar free pasta irresistible! Add balsamic vinegar to balance it out with a perfect hint of acidity.

Have you tried making this recipe and ended up with any delicious leftovers?! This Sauce Free Pasta with roasted peppers and kale actually reheats amazingly well the next day – so why not give it a try and let us know what you think in the comments section below?

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