This post wraps up my series on plant-based mother sauces with a look at tomato sauce and hollandaise. Unlike béchamel, velouté, and Espagnole, which all begin with a roux (a cooked mixture for thickening sauces and soups), these sauces bring their own unique methods and flavours to the table. Once you’ve mastered them, you’ll unlock a world of possibilities—hundreds of secondary sauces just waiting to elevate your plant-based cooking.
Plant-Based Tomato Sauce – Sauce Tomate
This is a red sauce made from a base of tomatoes with a mirepoix and stock. While the Italian version of tomato sauce may be most familiar, the French version is often not plant-based, but that’s easy to amend.
Sauce tomate may be a classic, but it’s far from limited to tradition. It’s a natural fit for plant-based dishes, adding richness to a hearty stew, depth to a baked gratin, or a velvety base for stuffed vegetables. Its versatility shines in everyday cooking, whether layered into a veggie lasagna or spooned over grains for an easy weeknight dinner. It’s a plant-based staple that belongs in every kitchen.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil or stock for an oil free option
- 1 finely chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic – minced or micro planed
- 1 carrot – diced
- 1 celery stalk – diced
- 2 x 400g crushed tomatoes or fresh tomatoes
- 2 tsp dried oregano or 1 tsp fresh
- salt and pepper to taste
Method
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery, and cook until the vegetables are tender. Add the crushed tomatoes and oregano, simmer for about 30 minutes for the flavours to develop then season to taste.
Plant-Based Hollandaise
Unlike the other mother sauces, Hollandaise is traditionally an egg and butter based emulsion with a hint of acidity, but super easy to make plant-based. My version starts with a roux to reduce the amount of plant-based butter found in some versions. This sauce is ideal for plant-based brunch, serve with a tofu scramble or Florentine. If soy isn’t an option for you, you can also make a cashew based Hollandaise instead.
For more egg-free secondary sauces, read this guide.
Ingredients
- 200ml soy milk
- 30ml lemon juice
- 2 tbsp plant-based butter
- 2 tsp cornflour
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar or to taste
- sea salt and round white pepper, season to taste
Method
Add the lemon juice to soy milk and set aside to thicken, this may take about 15 minutes.
In a small pot, melt the plant-based butter, add the dijon mustard, nutritional yeast and cornflour, stir to melt and combine. Pour in the soy milk and whisk over a gentle heat until the sauce thickens. Adjust the flavour by adding white wine vinegar and season to taste.
Cool to room temperature before serving, if it thickens too much add a dash of soy milk. If the sauce separates, whisk while warming to re-emulisfiy.
