Finally, a kidney-friendly pasta sauce!

This low sodium roasted veggie pasta sauce meets all the kidney-friendly standards. It is low in sodium, has no added sugar, is negative PRAL (potential renal acid load), and has a controlled amount of potassium.

Most store bought pasta sauces are 400 or more milligrams of sodium and 300 or more milligrams of potassium (per 1/4-1/2 cup serving). While this recipe uses tomatoes, it also incorporates other veggies that are lower in potassium to help make the overall recipe a controlled amount of potassium (213 mg per serving).

Even with adding a little salt to the recipe, the overall sodium content is very low (107 mg). Roasting the veggies and using oregano and pepper adds a lot of flavor without increasing the sodium content. So there is still plenty of room for you to add hot sauce, other seasonings, or a even sprinkle a little salt on top if you need to 🙂

How to make it

1. Start by roughly chopping your washed veggies. Add them to a sheet pan with parchment paper. Take the whole tomatoes out of the can and add them to the sheet pan with the other veggies. Make sure you save the tomato juice that is in the can (this will be used to blend the sauce).
2. Toss the veggies in olive oil or avocado oil, oregano, pepper, and salt.
3. Roast them in the oven for ~ 30 minutes at 400 degrees F.
4. After the veggies are roasted, add them to a blender with the leftover canned tomato sauce and blend until smooth (or leave slightly chunky if you prefer that).
5. Pour the sauce over your pasta and enjoy! 🙂

How much pasta sauce can you eat?

While this will depend on your individual nutrient needs, here are a few things to consider.

1. One serving is 1/3 cup of pasta sauce. You can view the nutrition info below to see if you can eat more or less than that. 1/3 cup of pasta sauce is a generous amount to cover 1 cup of cooked pasta noodles (which is a usual serving).
2. If you want a bigger bowl of pasta (very understandable), I would recommend adding more veggies to the dish. This will bulk it up and add fiber which helps keep you full longer. Depending on the pasta you use (white, wheat, chickpea, quinoa, etc.) you may be able to eat a larger portion.
3. If you are sticking to a 1 cup serving of cooked pasta noodles and 1/3 cup of the pasta sauce, you can add a side salad or more cooked veggies on the side.
4. If your protein needs are higher, you can add crumbled tofu or tempeh to the dish.

Make it simple and practical

It’s obviously way easier to just buy a jar of pasta sauce at the store. I get that! I hope that the taste and kidney specific benefits will help encourage you to make your own sauce at home though!

This recipe makes 12 servings. I am a family of three, one of which is a toddler. I always freeze some of the sauce in ice cube trays so that I can defrost a few cubes at a time when I want to make just one serving of pasta.

You can keep this sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days and have pasta leftovers throughout the week. Even if you don’t have pasta leftovers, this sauce can be used on roasted, sautéed, or steamed veggies to add some extra flavor. You could also use it as a veggie dip (for your cucumber, carrots, celery, etc). Or use it to make a casserole. There are a lot of options!

Whether you are refrigerating or freezing your leftover pasta sauce, make sure you allow it to cool before transferring to the fridge or freezer.

Get more kidney-friendly meal ideas!

A veggie packed pasta with a low sodium pasta sauce is a great weekly staple meal. If you’re looking for more meals to make that are kidney-friendly and kidney-protective, check out my How To Eat Plant Based To Protect Kidney Health E-Guide.

You will learn how to estimate your nutrient needs and incorporate more plants in your diet to help preserve kidney function!