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Silky smooth Vegan Alfredo Sauce is a tasty comfort food pasta dish with the sumptuously creamy texture of the American classic but entirely dairy-free!
Looking for a non-vegan version? We have you covered with classic Homemade Alfredo Sauce!
I love a creamy pasta sauce! This dairy-free Alfredo sauce is made from cashews to create a beautiful sauce that will coat your pasta like a dream. To make it even better, it’s incredibly quick and easy to make, perfect for a weeknight dinner!
Vegan Alfredo Sauce
I normally find it challenging to recreate a recipe that only uses a small number of ingredients. There are only so many changes that can be made, which creates limits to how creative you can be.
But turning traditional Alfredo sauce vegan is surprisingly easy. The magic ingredient is the cashews, which add substance to the sauce as well as a pleasant nuttiness.
In some ways this creamy vegan Alfredo sauce is just like the original. The consistency is spot on, with all the velvety creaminess you could hope for. It also coats the pasta like a dream!
The taste is not quite a mirror of the original sauce, and there is no way to completely replace dairy in a simple recipe like this. Cashews bring a different set of flavours to the table that will never totally match butter, cream and parmesan cheese.
That doesn’t mean this can’t be a tasty sauce with all the luxurious creaminess you could possibly want! You may get results you are truly happy with by playing around with the proportions in the recipe.
I’ve made this according to the flavours my family prefer, but have tested it with different amounts of garlic and lemon to get it just right. I recommend a bit of experimentation!
One way to alter the flavour is to add a vegan parmesan cheese. My family is not fond of vegan hard cheese so I’ve left it out, but cheese would add salty umami flavour.
How to Make It
Alfredo sauce uses a short list of ingredients and is quite simple. By far the longest part is soaking the raw cashews. Pour boiling water over the cashews and let them soak for 30 minutes to 1 hour. You may need to let them soak longer if you don’t have a high powered blender.
Once the cashews are done soaking, add them to a high-powered blender with nutritional yeast, a clove of garlic, oat milk and a pinch of salt. Blend them until velvety and smooth.
Transfer the sauce to a pan or saucepan and cook for a couple of minutes over low heat. The aim is to warm everything up and give the garlic a chance to cook.
That’s it! Toss the sauce with cooked pasta of your choice (I used tagliatelle) and enjoy!
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Because the sauce is made of nuts a skin will form very quickly if the sauce is left unattended. If you do need leave it for a few minutes, covering the pan with a lid will keep the sauce from drying out.
- I’ve used oat milk for this recipe as it has a neutral taste, but other plant-based milk options such as almond milk, rice milk or soy milk can also be used. Avoid using a variety that has been sweetened as this will change the flavour.
- Both fresh garlic and roasted garlic can be used for the sauce. They will bring different dimensions to the flavour, with roasting mellowing out the garlic flavour. If roasting, use a second clove.
- Boil your pasta in a This is an affiliate link.large pot of salted water to package directions, and reserve a cup of pasta water before draining. The pasta water is a useful way to loosen the sauce if you feel it’s needed or has become too stodgy.
- As with all pasta sauces, I recommend taste testing before serving. Add salt, pepper or another squeeze of lemon juice if you feel it would benefit from it.
- The cashews used in this recipe need to be raw, not roasted, and they will need to be soaked beforehand. A high-speed blender such as This is an affiliate link.Kitchen Aid, Vitamix or Blendtech will be able to manage cashews that have been soaked for a short time such as a half hour. If you have a blender that is not as powerful, you may need to soak them overnight.
Serving suggestions
For me, pasta in this vegan cashew Alfredo sauce is a satisfying meal all on its own. But if I was looking for a side dish, I would look for something crisp and fresh to match up well with the creamy sauce.
Something like Spring Pea and Arugula Salad, or Summer Tomato Salad with Herbs will do the trick. Both have natural sweetness and freshness that are a welcome addition. A sprinkling of black pepper would also be welcome!
Storage and leftovers
Pasta is never quite as nice the next day, becoming soggier the longer it is kept. If you want the real al dente experience, it’s much better to eat it fresh. And especially don’t freeze. Pasta hates freezing!
If you do want to store it, keep it in the fridge sealed in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container and eat within 5 days. Reheat in a microwave.
You can refrigerate any leftover sauce for up to a week. The lack of dairy means that it will keep longer than classic Alfredo sauce.
When reheating the sauce, warm it over medium heat and add a splash of milk to loosen it.
More vegetarian pasta recipes
- Pasta Cream Sauce
- Truffle Mac and Cheese
- Tomato and Mascarpone Pasta Sauce
- Vegetarian Mushroom Bolognese
Vegan Alfredo Sauce (dairy free!)
Ingredients
- 150g/1 cup raw cashews
- 500ml/2 cups boiling water
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast, flakes
- 250ml/1 cup oat milk
- 1 clove garlic , or 2 cloves roasted garlic
- ½ lemon, juice of
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Pour boiling water over raw cashews and let them soak for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Boil a pot of water and add the pasta with salt. Cook according to package instructions.
- Drain the cashews and add to a blender together with nutritional yeast, 1 clove of garlic, oat milk, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Blend till smooth, then transfer to a pan or a saucepan and gently heat through over low heat for approximately 2 minutes while stirring. We want the garlic to cook and the sauce to warm through. Toss with pasta.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
