Vegan Garlic Alfredo Pasta
By Jessica Hylton -
- Updated
This Vegan Garlic Alfredo Pasta is such a creamy and cheesy weeknight dinner! It’s absolutely decadent, made with a cashew cream sauce, and the sauce is made easily in your blender!
Where do I start? You’re going to absolutely love and want to devour this Vegan Garlic Alfredo Pasta. I’m talking cheesy, creamy, absolutely indulgent in taste kind of pasta dinner. The kind of dinner that totally hits the spot, and makes you want to curl up on a Friday night. Without the heavy feeling, of course. All my pasta cravings are hereby conquered.
First things first – I haven’t been a big pasta fanatic. LET me be clear. When a pasta dish is done well – I am all for that. If you’re a vegetarian or a vegan though, you know that lots of pasta dishes just are not done correctly. Kind of a leftover, oh yeah whoops, kind of scenario, and it can drive you to never want to have pasta again.
WHAT a terrible nightmarish scenario. Fortunately, after making this Vegan Garlic Alfredo Pasta, I now know I have the best pasta dish sitting and waiting at home on me! You’re going to want to grab some cashews right now so that you can make this for dinner, friends.
Let’s talk key ingredients. That roasted garlic is a must. I mean, it deepens the flavour of the entire sauce, and really brings it to another level. You’re going to have to wait for your cashews to soak anyway, so you might as well make it. I guarantee it’ll change all of your dishes.
Speaking of which, cashews. OMG. Adding soaked cashews to this sauce makes it so creamy and gives it that traditional white colour. No, the sauce won’t taste like cashews, thanks to the addition of another ingredient: lemon or lime juice. This acid helps to neutralise the cashew flavour so all you taste is the cheesiness.
The nutritional yeast and the vegan parmesan cheese! I speak all about nutritional yeast here, and I made a vegan parmesan cheese for you here. You can also buy your vegan parm though, so it’s totally up to you. That extra bit of tanginess really ups the sauce, and you can add eons of it on top too. The nutritional yeast in the Alfredo sauce gives it that cheesy flavour, that will have you taste testing the heck out of this sauce.
Almond milk and pasta water! Don’t use regular water! Pasta water already has some saltiness, some starch, and is a perfectly seasoned form of water in this sauce. The almond milk of course adds more creaminess.
Basically what I’m saying is, friends, every ingredient is key here. Including the cooked down onions (adding a nice flavour + umami). What you get is a beautiful vegan Alfredo sauce recipe made in your blender that you can pour back on your pasta and then dig in. The kind of sauce you’ll probably want to put on anything, but will definitely slather all over your pasta.
That’s it! Your pasta dreams have come true! Dive in friends, and enjoy!
Vegan Garlic Alfredo Pasta
This Vegan Garlic Alfredo Pasta is such a creamy and cheesy weeknight dinner! It’s absolutely decadent, made with a cashew cream sauce, and the sauce is made easily in your blender!
Ingredients
Pasta
- 12 ounces any pasta I used fettuccine
- chopped parsley for garnish
Vegan Alfredo Sauce
- 2 teaspoons vegan butter or olive oil or any oil
- 1/2 red onion chopped
- 1 cup cashews soaked overnight, or in hot water for one hour
- 1/4 cup pasta water
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened almond milk or any vegan milk
- 4 cloves roasted garlic*
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons vegan parmesan cheese + extra for topping
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
Instructions
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions in a well salted pot of water. Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water.
- While the pasta is boiling/you're waiting for the water to boil, in a pan over medium high heat, heat the vegan butter or olive oil. Add the onion, stir and let cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Remove the onions from the pan and add it to a blender. Add the rinsed off soaked cashews (without the water), the pasta water, the almond milk, the roasted garlic, the nutritional yeast, the sea salt the vegan parmesan cheese and the lime juice. Blend it all together until completely creamy. If you have a high powered blender this will happen quickly, about 1 minute, if not, just keep blending until completely smooth and creamy. Taste and add more salt or vegan parmesan cheese if necessary.
- When the pasta is finished boiling, drain and pour back into the pan you had used earlier or even into a Tupperware container if you want. Pour the Alfredo sauce over and stir to combine completely.
- When serving, top with parsley to garnish and more vegan parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Video
NOTES
*YES roasted garlic takes about 40 minutes, but you’ll need to wait for your cashews to soak for an hour at least anyway! Cut a bit of the tops off of a whole head of garlic, put it in foil, drizzle olive oil on it, wrap the foil around it and cook it at 450 degrees F for 45 minutes in your oven until the cloves are soft and velvety! Allow it to cool, then push the cloves out.
You can reheat this! Just reheat it in a stove top over medium high heat with a bit more almond milk to thin it out again until hot.
Prep time doesn’t include soaking the cashews overnight.
Nutrition
Calories: 375kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 309mg | Potassium: 340mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 102mg | Iron: 2mg
by Jessica
As a vegan for 12 years, I have tried a lot of “Alfredo” recipes. This is one of the best I’ve had! It comes together quickly, and I agree with Jessica about her instructions regarding roasting the garlic. It adds a mellow richness to the overall taste. I added some freshly ground pepper and my hubs added some crushed red pepper flakes to his. We also added broccoli and used high-protein pasta to up the nutrition even more. Great recipe!
Can you use savory nutritional yeast?
Thanks so much for reading. yes you can.
So delicious! The sauce was very creamy and rich. I added freshly cracked black pepper at the end for a little extra pizzazz
Thank you so much Victoria!
This is literally the most perfect pasta sauce ever! It is everything I’ve ever wanted in an Alfredo. Cheesy, creamy, rich but not heavy tasting/feeling. It is literal perfection. I would say it’s my fave Jessica recipe but they are all equally loved by me 😂
Thanks so much Kat. We’re happy that you love this and other recipes!
THEEE BEST vegan alfredo pasta I’ve come across . I got my fiancé to eat it, and he said it’s vegan ?? I’m like yes. So creamy and delicious . The only thing is that my 3 year old is allergic to nuts . Do you know what I can substitute and if it’s even possible . It’s soo good and I hate she has to miss out on it due to cashews . This will be made as my go to Alfredo pasta for now on . I’m trying to get my mom to go more vegan so she’s going to try the mushroom soup recipe for me in a few days . I’ll leave a review once we try it . Thank you !!
Thank you so much Paris and yay!! Haha that’s the best compliment for sure!! Yes you can try cauliflower instead for a cauliflower alfredo sauce or tofu. You could also use sunflower seeds! I’m trying to work on a specific alternative recipe for this, because I do get this question a lot! Fingers crossed!
So happy and hope your mom loves it too and that you enjoy the mushroom soup recipe too!! You’re so welcome!!