This Jamaican rasta pasta recipe is a one pan vegan Caribbean style pasta dish with a medley of bell peppers, seasoned with the infamous jerk marinade and cooked down in a creamy coconut sauce.
If you are a big fan of all things pasta based then you are going to love this vegan pasta dish. This cuisine is brimming with heat and true island flavour. Best of all, it's a one pan dish that's so easy to bring together and great to prep ahead of time or in bulk to save yourself the hassle of being in the kitchen.
Growing up I don't recall hearing about "rasta pasta" it definitely wasn't a recipe which my family were even aware of. Like so many other cuisines with time I guess they have evolved into a newer concept for the younger generation (not that I'm old, but ya know).
I've made pasta dish a few times behind the scenes now to where I'm confident enough to share my recipe. It didn't take a lot of trial and error. Nor did it leave me with a great financial loss, which is a bonus.
What is rasta pasta
In short, is a pasta based cuisine made with bell peppers - red, yellow (gold) and green. These Tri-colours represent the Rastafarian lifestyle. Typically you will find some jerk seasoning/paste, onions, scallion, cheese and cream to make the sauce.
Since the title "rasta" is associated with the Rastafarian movement and rasta's don't eat meat (some eat fish). This has sparked a debate as to whether meat should be included in the recipe.
I've seen the following
- Jerk chicken and shrimp pasta
- Oxtail rasta pasta
- rasta pasta with shrimp
The list goes on and on but my personal stance is to keep it as ital (meat free) by omitting the use of poultry. My recipe is vegan, gluten and very much foolproof similar to my vegan paella recipe.
I've heard there is a restaurant in selling rasta pasta in Brooklyn. Apparently footprints' rendition is amazing, let's see if I can surpass them for flavour.
The ingredient you will need
- Bell peppers (Red, yellow and green)
- Scallion
- Garlic
- Onion
- Tomato
- Pasta (brown rice or chickpea fusilli both are gluten free options)
- Coconut milk
- Jerk marinade
- Turmeric
- Thyme
- Vegan cheese
- Coconut oil
- Water
How to make Jamaican rasta pasta
Boiling the pasta - You want to add the pasta of your choice to some water and bring to the boil for roughly 7 minutes. This will par cook the pasta to firm (al dente) stage.
Sauteing the base ingredients - add the coconut oil to the skillet. Then sautee the garlic, onion and scallion just until they become soft and translucent.
Steaming the bell peppers - I like my peppers on the soft side so what I do is add the peppers to the skillet, stir and then add about ¼ cup of warm water to the pan, cover for 10 minutes so the veggies are steamed and softened.
Jerk marinade - this will yield your heat and flavour. I used 1 tablespoon which is a nice fiery heat, but not overpowering. If you don't care for spice, use 1 teaspoon instead. I also add the tomato during this stage as well.
The vegan sauce recipe - it's made with coconut milk but I promise you won't be able to taste the coconut flavour because of the additional ingredients. I pour the coconut into the pan with the par cooked pasta and turmeric.
The vegan cheese - the cheese should be the last thing to hit the pan and only needs a few minutes to melt and infused into the coconut milk
Garnish - Prior to serving I like to loosen up the leaves of some fresh thyme and sprinkle all over the cooked dish along with some black pepper.
Can I freeze the pasta?
Yes, any leftovers and be frozen and eaten at any given time.
Do you have any other pasta recipes?
Yes, you may like my Vegan Pasta Bake and my Vegan Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese recipe.
Notes and tips
- Prep the bell peppers ahead of time by chopping them the overnight
- Only use a teaspoon of jerk marinade to lessen the spiciness
- Use chickpea fusilli pasta for a high protein option
Step by step pictures
Bring the pasta (add 1 tablespoon of pink salt) to a boil for about 5-7 minutes and saute the onions, garlic and scallions until soft.
Add the bell peppers, water and steam the for 10 minutes (covered).
Add the tomatoes and jerk marinade to the skillet and stir.
Stir in the pasta and the turmeric into the rest of the ingredients.
Finally add the coconut milk and vegan cheese into the pan and stir.
More Jamaican recipes you may enjoy
- Jamaican curry powder
- Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
- Jamaican steamed cabbage
- Jamaican banana fritters
- Jamaican rice and peas
- Jamaican hot chocolate
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Vegan rasta pasta dish
Ingredients
- 2 cups of pasta rice brown or chickpea fusilli, heaping
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 scallion sliced
- 1 small tomato chopped
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- 3 bell peppers - red yellow and green, all sliced
- 1 can of full fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon of jerk marinade/sauce vary depending on heat, see post
- 1 teaspoon of turmeric
- 1 cup of vegan cheese
- 2 tablespoon of coconut oil
- ¼ cup of warm water
- Garnish
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- ½ teaspoon of black pepper
Instructions
- Bring the pasta to a boil for 5-7 minutes (with 1 tablespoon of pink salt), then drain/rinse in a colander and set side.
- Meanwhile, on medium heat, melt the coconut oil and saute the onion, garlic and scallion until soft
- Add all of the bell peppers to the pan, pour in the ¼ cup of water, reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet and allow to steam for 10 minutes.
- Once steamed, increase the heat to medium and stir in the tomatoes and jerk marinade.
- Add the pasta, turmeric and pour the coconut milk into the skillet and combine all of the ingredients together.
- Allow the pasta to cook some more with the coconut milk for a further 3-4 minutes.
- Finally stir in the vegan cheese and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
- Garnish with thyme (loosen from stem to sprinkle) and black pepper
- Serve accordingly
Notes
- Prep the bell peppers ahead of time by chopping them the overnight
- Only use a teaspoon of jerk marinade to lessen the spiciness
- Use chickpea fusilli pasta for a high protein option
- Freeze any leftovers in a freezer friendly container
El
Will the flavor change to much if i dont include the onions or garlic my friend is allergic to both.
Charla
Hi El, the results will still be just as tasty if you need to omit the onion and garlic due to allergies. Enjoy and thank you commenting 🙂
Jess
Very Very Delicious. Added some seasoning salt for desired taste and this was perfect. Really enjoyed this dish and look forward to trying more. Thank you
Charla
Thank you Jess. You are so welcome!
Lauri M
First thing I’ve gotten him to eat and not complain since we’ve gone gluten and dairy free! Are use gluten-free penne pasta and followed the recipe exactly and as usual with dismay as the plate approached him he had that look on his face. To my pleasant surprise after two bites I heard Yum! He had a stroke last February in 2021 and recovery has been difficult, we went gluten and dairy free to lessen the inflammation and expedite healing. Thank you so much, I finally got one for the win-win.
Charla
Hi Lauri. Thank you so so much for reaching out to me. I'm sorry to hear about the health issues that your loved one is facing. On a more positive note, I am very happy to hear that he loves this pasta dish. Gluten free cooking definitely takes some time to get used to but it can still be just as flavoursome with the right adaptations.
Anthony
This hits everytime!
Charla
Thank you for your feedback Anthony!
Joanne Davies
Absolutely delicious! My family loved this dish so much. I can’t wait to make it again. Thank you!
Charla
Thank you so much Joanne for your wonderful feedback.
Kailee
THIS IS THE BEST PASTA DISH! Will no doubt be a summer staple!
Charla
Thank you Kailee
Mia
What kind of vegan cheese do you use for this recipe?
Charla
I use Violife vegan cheese
Lisa Ocasio
Hi! What flavor of Violife did you use?
Charla
The original one but I've changed to using Applewood Vegan Smokey Cheese since I first uploaded this recipe.
Kryssy
I just made this and cannot believe how great this is! Best recipe for vegan Rasta Pasta I’ve found ( and I tried a few). For the cheese I used Good Planet Plant based Parmesan cheese.
Charla
Thank you Kryssy. I'm going to check out that plant based parsmesan cheese.
Maureen
Can i serve this cold?
Charla
Yes you can!! Enjoy!!
Nisha
Do you have a recipe for the jerk seasoning/marinade you used to make this?
Charla
Hi Nisha. I haven't released my homemade version of the jerk marinade just yet. In terms of a brand that I recommend that you can purchase in the meanwhile timeWalkerswood Jamaican jerk seasoning is a good brand.
Nisha
Thank you Charla, looking forward to making it this weekend!
Charla
That;s great news Nisha. Enjoy! You are more than welcome to drop me a line if you need any further assistance.
Steffi
What size can of coconut milk do you use? Here they cone in different sizes.
Charla
400ml is the size I use which is a large can of coconut milk
Asha
Can’t wait to try this recipe, and many others on your site! I just stumbled across it and wanted to let you know I love what you’re doing here- healthy food and Caribbean flavors. Great job!!
Charla
Aww thank you for stopping by and showing some love Asha. I hope you enjoy these healthy Caribbean recipes!
Liz
This looks so good! I love pasta, and LOVE spicy. Your recipes are always easy to follow and look delicious; this one though really has me jazzed to try it. Thank you for sharing!!!
Charla
Thanks for the love Liz, I'm sure you will enjoy this rasta pasta dish!!
Liz
UPDATE:
I just finished making and devouring this pasta. I don't normally cook, so it's kind of a big deal for me to both cook AND eat veggies without some kind of meltdown.
IT'S SO GOOD CHARLA. I love this so much, thank you for making it easy for me to make some super good vegan food that I cannot wait to share with my friends.
Many, many thanks!
Charla
It's my favourite vegan recipe right now. I'm so glad you liked it because I tested the recipe several times over before publishing it.