Earthy, rich, and gently creamy—this vegan pasta features tender maitake mushrooms in a smooth soy milk sauce.
Vegan Creamy Maitake Mushroom Pasta is one of my favorite cozy dishes. The cream sauce is naturally thickened with rice flour, making it velvety and smooth without any risk of curdling. Enhanced with umami-rich onion koji and mild miso, this sauce adds comforting flavor to the dish and pairs beautifully with seasonal vegetables.
🌿 This recipe features a naturally gluten-free, plant-based cream sauce. To make the entire dish gluten-free, simply choose gluten-free pasta to pair with it.
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🥛 Ingredients ｜Serves 1
Soy Cream Sauce Base (Gluten-free)
- 1 tablespoon onion koji (mix well before use)
- 1 teaspoon rice miso (preferably sweet, high-koji type)
- 1 tsp rice flour (baking-grade)
- 200 ml plain soy milk
🌿 Gluten-free Tip: This sauce is naturally gluten-free; the whole dish will be gluten-free only if you choose gluten-free pasta.
Sauce Making
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ clove garlic (about 5 g), minced
- 100 ml pasta water (2 ladles)
- Ground black pepper, to taste
Pasta
- 100 g spaghetti
- 1 L water
- 1 teaspoon salt (5 g)
Vegetables
- 50 g maitake mushrooms
- 50 g lotus root, sliced thinly
- 50 g broccoli florets
- A handful of spinach
🌿 You can swap the lotus root, broccoli, and spinach for other seasonal vegetables you like.
Notes on Ingredients:
- Onion Koji: A gentle vegan seasoning that adds depth without needing stock. Mix onions, salt, and rice malt, then let it ferment at room temperature (about 1 week in summer, 2 in winter).
- Rice Miso: Sweeter miso balances the creamy sauce and adds natural umami.
- Rice Flour: Thickens the sauce easily and reliably.
- Maitake Mushrooms: Must-have for their earthy flavor and texture—essential for a satisfying cream sauce. You can also substitute with oyster mushrooms (hiratake), which will add a subtle, seafood-like umami to the creamy sauce. You can see how this flavor works in our Hiratake “Oyster” Mushroom Stir-Fry recipe.
🔪 Instructions
The key to this pasta is to cook the sauce and the pasta at the same time. This way, the starchy pasta water naturally enriches the sauce, giving it a smooth, creamy texture—without any extra steps!
- Preparation
- Begin boiling 1 L of water for the pasta.
- In a small bowl, dissolve rice flour, miso, and onion koji in a little soy milk. Then combine with the remaining soy milk for a smooth, lump-free sauce.
- Cut the vegetables into bite-size pieces. Boil the spinach separately, squeeze out excess water, and chop.
- Boil Pasta & Vegetables
- Once the water boils, add 1 teaspoon salt and start cooking spaghetti according to package instructions.
- Add broccoli about 1½ minutes before pasta finishes, then drain all together.
- Make Sauce
- While the pasta cooks, heat olive oil in a pan and gently sauté garlic until fragrant.
- Add maitake mushrooms and lotus root, and lightly stir-fry until tender.
- Pour in pasta water and let it reduce slightly.
- Turn off the heat, add the soy cream sauce base, stir gently, and heat over medium-low until thickened. Season with black pepper to taste.
- Toss & Serve
- Combine cooked pasta, broccoli, and spinach with the creamy sauce.
- Toss gently to coat evenly and serve immediately while warm.
🥣 Tools
- Kitchen knife & cutting board
- Frying pan
- Cooking chopsticks or spatula
- Pot & colander
💭 Tips & FAQs
Yes! I use baking-grade rice flour, which dissolves easily and gives a smooth, creamy sauce. Any rice flour labeled “suitable for baking” should work well.
Certainly, the sauce will still be flavorful thanks to onion koji and miso.
You can skip it or use another crunchy vegetable like carrot or asparagus.
If you try this recipe, please share your thoughts in the COMMENTS 🐒. Also feel free to ask any questions or leave any requests!
👨🏻🍳 More Vegan Pasta Recipes
If you’re craving more pasta, here are some recipes you might want to try…
🫙 Umami-Packed Vegan Seasonings
Discover these umami-packed vegan seasonings to bring rich flavor to your plant-based dishes!
🧺 More Dishes with Maitake Mushrooms
📖 Recipe Card｜Printable
Vegan Creamy Maitake Mushroom Pasta
Equipment
- kitchen knife
- cutting board
- frying pan
- cooking chopsticks
- Spatula
- pot
- colander
Ingredients
A Soy Cream Sauce Base
- 1 tablespoon onion koji (mix well before use)
- 1 teaspoon kome (rice) miso
- 1 teaspoon rice flour (baking-grade)
- 200 ml plain soy milk
B Vegetables (use maitake, and feel free to swap other vegetables with seasonal ones)
- 50 g maitake mushrooms
- 50 g lotus root
- 50 g broccoli
- spinach ( a handful)
C Sauce Making
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 g garlic (½ clove)
- 100 ml pasta water (≈2 ladles)
- ground black pepper (to taste)
D Boiling Pasta
- 100 g spaghetti
- 1 L water
- 5 g salt (1 tsp)
Instructions
Preperation
- Begin boiling water.1 L water
- In a mixing bowl, combine ingredients for A.Tip: Dissolve the rice flour in a small amount of soy milk first to prevent lumps.1 tablespoon onion koji1 teaspoon kome (rice) miso1 teaspoon rice flour200 ml plain soy milk
- Cut vegetables into bite-size pieces. Boil the spinach separately, squeeze out excess water, and chop.50 g maitake mushrooms50 g lotus root50 g broccolispinach
Boil Spaghetti
- Once the water boils, add salt and start cooking pasta according to package instructions.Tip: Add broccoli 1 min 30 sec before pasta is done, cook together, and drain.50 g broccoli100 g spaghetti5 g salt
Making Sauce (simultaneously with pasta)
- Heat olive oil in a frying pan, sauté garlic until fragrant.1 tablespoon olive oil5 g garlic
- Add maitake mushrooms and lotus root, lightly stir-fry.50 g lotus root50 g maitake mushrooms
- Pour in reserved pasta water and allow to simmer.100 ml pasta water
- Turn off heat just before liquid evaporates, then add soy cream sauce base. Mix thoroughly.
- Return to medium-low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Season with black pepper.ground black pepper
Toss
- Combine pasta, broccoli, spinach, and sauce in the pan. Mix well and serve hot.spinach
Notes
- Maitake mushrooms are essential for this recipe as they provide a deep umami flavor. Other vegetables such as lotus root, broccoli, or spinach can be adjusted based on what’s in season.
- When making the soy cream sauce, dissolve the rice flour in a small amount of soy milk first to prevent lumps.
- Be sure to cook the pasta and sauce at the same time—this helps the flavors meld beautifully and ensures everything is served hot and creamy.
- If you prefer a richer flavor, add a drizzle of extra olive oil before serving.
- This recipe serves 1 person, but you can easily multiply the ingredients for more servings.
- Gluten-Free Tip: The creamy soy sauce is naturally gluten-free thanks to the rice flour. To make the entire pasta dish gluten-free, be sure to select gluten-free spaghetti or another gluten-free pasta.
🍽 Try This Next
If you enjoyed this creamy maitake pasta, you might love our Hiratake “Oyster” Mushroom Stir-Fry — a simple, umami-packed vegan dish that brings a delightful seafood-like flavor without any animal products.
💬Did you try this recipe? Let me know how it turned out in the comments— or mention #vegin_vegan_vegun or just tag us @veginveganvegun with your delicious creations!
Aoi says
It was very satisfying! I'll definetely make it again!