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Italian cooking is generally known for its inclusion of flavorful herbs and spices, garlic, olive oil, and tomatoes.

Some of the most popular Italian recipes include pizza, soups, pasta, salads, and delicious sauces that use these ingredients. Tomatoes are frequently incorporated either fresh as the main ingredient or in the form of marinara sauce.

Not everyone who enjoys classic Italian recipes likes tomatoes, though, and some people are even allergic to them. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some creative and equally tasty tomato-free Italian cooking.

This article offers 15 Italian-style recipes that are tomato-free.

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1. Tomatoless ‘tomato’ sauce

While tomato-based marinara sauce may be among the most widely used Italian sauces, you can mimic it using other vegetables and seasonings.

This recipes use butternut squash, zucchini, and garlic cooked with beet stock and apple cider vinegar. Use it for pasta, pizza, or casseroles.

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2. Vegetarian pumpkin seed alfredo sauce

Alfredo sauce doesn’t typically contain tomatoes, but this is a nice alternative to tomato sauce and can be used similarly.

This recipe uses pumpkin seeds and cream cheese thickened with corn starch. Make it vegan by substituting dairy-free plant products.

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3. Tomato-free vegetable lasagna

Lasagna doesn’t have to be slathered with tomato sauce. Instead, this recipe layers lasagna noodles with mushrooms, garlic, onion, and spinach with a creamy cheese sauce.

To make this recipe easier, substitute store-bought lasagna noodles for homemade ones.

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4. Carrot pasta sauce

This is an easy tomato-free sauce that could pair well with a variety of noodles.

Just cook and combine onions, grated carrots, and soy sauce for an inexpensive and simple pasta topper. This particular recipe tops the carrot sauce with beans, Parmesan, and sunflower seeds.

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5. Avocado pasta sauce

Avocados are naturally creamy and versatile. This recipe blends them with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and fresh basil for a simple tomato-free Italian pasta sauce.

All you have to do is cook your pasta, make the avocado cream sauce, and gently combine them for a satisfying dish.

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6. Green minestrone

Here’s a classic Italian minestrone soup that combines great Northern white beans with green vegetables like parsley, zucchini, green beans, and peas instead of tomatoes.

Between the textures, flavors, and beautiful colors of this soup, you won’t miss them.

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7. Penne with black olives, portobello mushrooms, and Romano cheese

This pasta is packed with olives, portobello mushrooms, charred peppers, and Romano cheese, all of which help make it a hearty standalone meal.

This tasty recipe doesn’t call for any tomatoes but is still bursting with delicious flavor.

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8. Lemon spaghetti

Italian doesn’t get much easier than this.

Simply cook spaghetti noodles and toss them with olive oil, cheese, lemon juice, and basil leaves for a light and tasty pasta dish. Top with lemon zest to bring out even more lemon flavor. You could use any variety of noodles here.

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9. Summer squash and arugula pizza

The options for topping a tomato-free white pizza are endless.

This recipe tops pizza dough with a flavorful combination of cheese, thinly sliced summer squash, arugula, red chiles, and rosemary. To make it even easier, you could use store-bought pizza crust.

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10. Classic vegan white pizza

Here’s a dairy-free and vegan version of white pizza that tops pizza dough with a variety of veggies.

The creamy white sauce is made with plant-based milk, cheese, and butter. Use a store-bought pizza crust to make it even easier.

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11. Creamy pesto gnocchi

Gnocchi, a traditional Italian dish, are small dumplings made with potato, semolina wheat, or flour.

While they’re often topped with marinara, this recipe uses a creamy pesto sauce made with cream, broth, and garlic.

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12. Spaghetti with oil and garlic

You could make this recipe using any variety of pasta.

All it requires is cooking your noodles, tossing them with olive oil and garlic, and topping everything with red pepper flakes, parsley, and cheese, or customizing it further as you see fit.

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13. White eggplant Parmesan

This tomato-free white version of eggplant Parmesan is just as good as its traditional marinara-heavy counterpart.

Simply fry slices of eggplant in oil and bake them in the oven topped with cheese. You could serve these over a bed of noodles.

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14. Summer Caprese salad without tomatoes

A traditional Italian Caprese salad depends on tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella, but this version doesn’t.

Instead, it highlights the flavors of mozzarella and basil and combines them with fresh peas and asparagus, serving it all over a bed of arugula.

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15. Three-cheese-stuffed shells with white sauce

Stuffed shells are often packed with cheese and spinach and topped with marinara sauce to bake.

Instead, this recipe uses a neutral-flavored creamy white cheese sauce, with no tomatoes required. It could be made vegan by substituting plant-based milk products and tofu in place of ricotta.

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The bottom line

Italian cooking is known for a vast array of pasta dishes, pizzas, soups, and sauces that often contain ingredients like garlic, olive oil, fresh herbs, and tomatoes.

Yet, not everyone likes tomatoes, and many people are allergic to them. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to enjoy Italian recipes without using tomatoes.

Some recipes may require omitting the tomatoes altogether, while others use creative alternatives that don’t rely on tomatoes at all.

Try some of the recipes above that highlight other ingredients to create creamy and flavorful tomato-free Italian dishes.