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!
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
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
- 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!
Notes
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.
The only Alfredo sauce I make! SO GOOD!
Thanks so much Christina! We’re so happy that you like it!
Love this recipe very much. Thanks for posting
Thanks so much for commenting!
Thank you for this recipe! After making something else this past weekend that was a total flop, it was wonderful to be able to dig in and enjoy eating this! Not only was it easy to make, it was also absolutely delicious.
I must say, however, that I didn’t see the “4 cloves of garlic” until it was too late — with an entire freaking bulb, ours turned out extra garlicky. Oops!!! Still, it’s so tasty, I might just always make it like that. Good thing I’m working from home lol!
Thank you, Jessica, and greetings from Germany!
Awesome! We’re happy you liked it Linda. Also there is no such thing as too much garlic in my book haha.
Looks fantastic! Do you have a brand of vegan Parmesan you prefer? I’ve not yet found one that’s particularly satisfying. Thanks.
We love follow your heart and Myokos. I hope that helps.
Made this for the first time last night and OMG SO good (even my non vegan boyfriend loved it) I added a bunch of steamed broccoli for something extra. This will be my new go to alfredo recipe!
Can the sauce be frozen and used at a later time?
Hi Shameika, thanks so much for reading. Yes it can be frozen. I hope this helps.
Super delicious recipe! I love the texture. Next time I’m going to use a different milk (my soy milk has an overpowering taste). I will def use this recipe again!
So happy you enjoyed Brittany!
Looks so good! I don’t have any nutritional yeast tho, would it be possible to make the recipe without it??
Thanks so much Eloísa! It is possible but the nutritional yeast adds so much cheesy flavour to the dish that it would really be missing it. If you have miso paste or soy sauce that may help a little. I hope this was useful.
omg soooo good!!!! we forgot veg parm & went without it, honestly don’t think it needed it. we used oat milk and forgot to use our pasta water but it was amazing with just water 🙂 such an easy recipe oh my gosh i’m excited to share it with my nonveg fam!
Thank you so much Savanna! We’re so happy that you like it.