Creamy Tomato Pasta with Cashew Cream
This creamy tomato pasta gets its rich, decadent texture from a simple vegan swap: cashew cream! It’s a delicious, satisfying weeknight dinner for pasta lovers.
When I first made this creamy tomato pasta recipe, I wasn’t intending it for the blog—I was intending it for dinner. Sometimes I just throw together a little of this, a little of that, and make a meal out of it. You can relate, right? But this one was so good and so simple, I knew I had to share it with you. The flavours are absolutely magnificent, and that creamy vegan sauce is swoon worthy!
Why This Creamy Tomato Pasta Is the Perfect Pasta Dinner
This creamy tomato pasta is a quick and delicious dinner option that’s perfect for any night of the week! Here’s why:
- Quick to make. This recipe comes together in just 30 minutes, so it’s great for busy weeknights or those days when you crave a homemade dinner, but don’t have the energy to put in a lot of work to make that happen!
- Easy to customise. Like my Creamy Garlic Pasta, Lemon Pasta, and Vegan Garlic Alfredo Pasta, this is the kind of pasta dish that can be eaten as-is, or bulked up with the addition of a protein or veggies. I will share some ideas later in this post.
- Rich, creamy, and SO flavourful. That’s all thanks to the simple combination of cashew cream + tomato sauce, along with a little bit of nutritional yeast for some extra cheesy flavour.
Notes on Ingredients
This creamy tomato pasta keeps it simple with a short list of ingredients! Scroll down to the recipe card to find the ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.
- Pasta shells – Or another pasta shape you like. For extra protein, use a legume-based pasta.
- Olive oil
- Red onion – Or yellow onion if that’s what you have on hand.
- Garlic
- Tomato sauce – I love my Homemade Tomato Sauce, but canned tomato sauce is just fine—no need for anything fancy!
- Cashew cream – I keep Cashew Cream on hand in the fridge at all times, or you can make it just for this recipe—in that case, be sure to add a little more time to the prep when planning your cooking.
- Nutritional yeast – Vegan Parmesan (store-bought or homemade) can be swapped in instead if you’d like.
- Sea salt
- Basil – Fresh basil leaves add brightness and aroma.
How to Make Creamy Tomato Pasta
Below you’ll find a visual overview of the steps involved for making this vegan creamy tomato pasta. The full written instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Boil the pasta. Cook your pasta in salted boiling water according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Cook the onion and garlic. Heat the oil in a skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the onions with a pinch of salt, and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Stir in the garlic and cook for a minute more.
- Make the sauce. Lower the heat to medium and stir in the tomato sauce, nutritional yeast, cashew cream, and sea salt.
- Add the pasta. Stir the pasta into the sauce and simmer for a few minutes to bring it all together. Season to taste and garnish with basil before serving.
Tips and Variations
- Salt the pasta water. This step is often overlooked, but adding salt to the water before boiling your pasta will make your pasta taste SO much better.
- Cook the pasta to al dente. Because we’re going to simmer the pasta and sauce together a bit at the end of the recipe, it’s important to cook the pasta only to al dente to keep it from getting mushy.
- Try it with roasted garlic. Use Roasted Garlic or Air Fryer Roasted Garlic instead of fresh garlic to add a slightly sweet, caramelised flavour to the sauce.
- Give it a kick. For a spicier version, add some red pepper flakes with the onions at the beginning of the recipe. The flakes will infuse the oil with flavour, giving your whole sauce a little bit of warmth (if you use a small pinch) or a BIG kick (if you add a lot of red pepper).
- Add some smokiness. Sprinkle smoked paprika into the skillet when you add the garlic to give your sauce a smoky flavour.
- Try the sauce with gnocchi instead of pasta. I love this Cauliflower Gnocchi!
Serving Suggestions
As always, I recommend serving any pasta recipe with my favourite Roasted Garlic Bread. It’s divine! You can bulk up this pasta by adding rinsed and drained canned white beans or chickpeas (or Crispy Roasted Chickpeas), Vegan Chicken, or your favourite veggies (I recommend Balsamic Roasted Vegetables).
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
- Refrigerator: This creamy tomato pasta will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days in an airtight container. I don’t recommend freezing this recipe, as both the sauce and pasta are likely to lose their texture.
- To reheat: Add the pasta to a pan over medium heat and cook until warmed through. If needed, you can add a splash of water or vegetable broth to loosen up the sauce. You can also microwave it until warmed through.
More Vegan Pasta Recipes
Enjoy friends! If you make this creamy tomato pasta, please snap a photo and tag #jessicainthekitchen on Instagram! We’d also love it if you would leave a comment below, and give the recipe a rating! Thanks so much!
Creamy Tomato Pasta with Cashew Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups pasta shells, 200 grams
- ½ tablespoon olive oil, 600 ml
- ½ small red onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 24 ounces tomato sauce, 680 grams
- ¼ cup cashew cream, 60 grams
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, 7 grams
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt, 1.5 grams
- Garnish with basil
Instructions
- In a salted pot of boiling water, cook your pasta according to package directions. When finished cooking, drain and set aside.
- In a pan over medium high heat, add the oil and heat through. Add in the onions with a pinch of salt, and sauté for about 5 minutes until slightly browned.
- Add in the garlic and sauté for about a minute.
- Lower heat to medium and stir in the tomato sauce, nutritional yeast, cashew cream, and sea salt. Stir to combine. Add in the cooked pasta and stir to combine again. Let cook for about 3-5 minutes for the pasta to absorb the sauce, them remove from heat. Taste and add more salt if needed.
- Serve, garnishing optionally with basil, and enjoy!
Notes
- Refrigerator: This creamy tomato pasta will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days in an airtight container. I don’t recommend freezing this recipe, as both the sauce and pasta are likely to lose their texture.
- To reheat: Add the pasta to a pan over medium heat and cook until warmed through. If needed, you can add a splash of water or vegetable broth to loosen up the sauce. You can also microwave it until warmed through.
Disclaimer: Although jessicainthekitchen.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, kindly note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on the product type, the brand that was purchased, and in other unforeseeable ways. Jessicainthekitchen.com will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your doctor first.
Where do you find cashew cream and nutritional yeast? What store sells these items? Thank you.
Hi Bert,
I’d love to help! Generally nutritional yeast can be found in your local grocery store, so that one is easy peasy. For the Cashew Cream, this could also be at your local grocery store, or natural foods store! Alternatively, if you’re a bit stuck finding the cashew cream, you can just blend 1 cup cashews with 1/2 cup water and ¼ teaspoon sea salt. Super easy. I hope this helps!
This was so simple and easy to make and yet SO DELICIOUS!! I didn’t know what to cook tonight and stumbled upon this one and happen to have all the ingredients! This was a crowd pleaser that even my kids loved! Added grilled chicken for my husband and he devoured it. Another great recipe from Jessica!!
Very good! Loved it. Will definitely make it again!
So happy to hear this thanks for sharing Stephanie!