Creamy, smooth, and big on flavor, this Vegan Alfredo Sauce with Cashews is easy to make with 6 simple ingredients and fifteen minutes from start to finish.
This vegan alfredo sauce has been a labor of love. It took quite a few trial-and-error dinners before I could tweak this recipe enough to win over my family.
Making vegan alfredo sauce doesn’t have to be difficult or high in fat and calories! You can have a creamy alfredo sauce that’s dairy-free yet still has an indulgent traditional finish.
Whipping up dairy-free sauces has revolutionized the meals I prepare for my family. If you love this recipe as much as we do, you’re also going to love our Buffalo Sauce, Nacho Cheese Sauce, and Buttermilk recipe.
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💗 Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- No cream!
- No milk!
- Dairy-Free
- Vegan
- Gluten-Free
- Tastes great! You won’t miss the cream!
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
Cashews: The creaminess of the sauce is created with cashews. Make sure to use raw cashews to get the sauce’s creaminess without the nutty flavor you’d get from roasted cashews.
Unsweetened Almond Milk: You can also use any other dairy-free milk you choose. I suggest using an unsweetened, non-flavored alternative to get more of an authentic cheese taste.
Vegetable Stock: Instead of using oil, cook the onions in vegetable stock. If you don’t have vegetable stock, then you can use water.
Onion: Using onion enhances the rest of the sauce to help provide that authentic aroma and flavor you’re looking for with this sauce.
Garlic: Every good Alfredo sauce needs garlic. It provides an excellent depth and authentic taste to your sauce.
Lemon: This helps brighten up your homemade sauce.
Nutritional Yeast: This gives your Alfredo sauce that cheesy flavor without adding dairy. It also helps to thicken the sauce.
Salt and Pepper: What’s sauce without a bit of salt and pepper?
📋 Vegan Alfredo Sauce Instructions
Step 1: Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the cashews. Boil for 10 minutes. Drain, and set aside.
Step 2: Chop onion and sauté in a saucepan over medium heat with ½ cup of vegetable stock until soft.
Step 3: In a blender, combine 1 cup of almond milk, sautéd onions, two cloves of minced garlic, drained cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, and black pepper. Pulse until thoroughly combined and smooth.
Step 4: Pour the mixture into a saucepan. Stir over medium heat continuously until the sauce begins to thicken. You shouldn’t have any lumps.
Step 5: Pour over your favorite pasta and enjoy!
❓ FAQS
If your vegan alfredo sauce is a little runny, add some more nutritional yeast or cornstarch to your sauce to help thicken it up. You can also use arrowroot powder or almond flour to help thicken the sauce.
Yes, you can freeze this sauce. See my suggestions below about using a freezer-safe container.
This recipe calls for cashews in place of milk and heavy cream. Along with some almond milk to create a creamy finish. You can use unsweetened dairy-free milk, such as soy or coconut milk.
Yes! You can soak the cashews in warm water for at least 6 hours to soften them.
👩🍳 Serving Suggestions
There are so many options of ways you can use this vegan Alfredo Sauce recipe.
- You can use it as a sauce with whole wheat linguini making an authentic version of Fettuccine Alfredo. Or any noodles you enjoy!
- My kids love rotini, and I like to buy the chickpea version for added protein. Pour it over chickpea or lentil pasta.
- Pour it over steamed vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower.
- Make creamed spinach by using this sauce as the cream base.
- Make a vegan vegetable casserole.
- Use it as your sauce, like in this Vegan Mushroom and Spinach pasta dish.
There are so many ways you can use this sauce. It will become one of your family staples since it’s so easy and quick to make and tastes excellent with various recipes.
❄️ Storage
Refrigerator: Store unused sauce in the fridge for up to 4 days. Make sure to store it in an airtight container.
Freezer: You can freeze this sauce for up to 2 months in a freezer-safe container.
Reheat: Transfer to a saucepan and reheat over low-medium heat. Whisk continuously. Add a bit of vegetable stock if the sauce has become too thick.
💭 Expert Tips
- Don’t let your sauce come to a boil, or it could start to get clumpy.
- You could also freeze any sauce leftovers in an ice cube tray for personal serving-size use later.
- This sauce does usually thicken when refrigerated.
- If your sauce is too thick, add some vegetable broth or water in small increments and whisk them together in a saucepan until you reach your desired consistency.
- I don’t suggest using cannellini beans instead of cashews, as this will give your sauce more of a bean flavor than a cheesy sauce.
😋 More Healthy Sauce Recipes!
Recipe
Vegan Alfredo Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- ¾ cup raw cashews
- 1 small onion chopped
- ½ cup vegetable stock
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Bring a medium saucepan to boil. Add the cashews, and boil for 10 minutes. Drain, and set aside.
- Chop onion and sauté in a saucepan with ½ cup of vegetable stock until soft.
- In a blender combine 1 cup of almond milk, sautéd onions, 2 cloves of minced garlic, drained cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper. Blend until thoroughly combined and smooth.
- Pour mixture into a saucepan. Heat over medium stirring continuously until sauce begins to thicken.
Notes
- Don’t let your sauce come to a boil, or it could start to get clumpy.
- You could also freeze any sauce leftovers in an ice cube tray for personal serving-size use later.
- This sauce does usually thicken when refrigerated.
- If your sauce is too thick, add some vegetable broth or water in small increments and whisk them together in a saucepan until you reach your desired consistency.
- I don’t suggest using cannellini beans instead of cashews, as this will give your sauce more of a bean flavor than a cheesy sauce.
- If you choose not to boil the cashews, soak them for at least 6 hours.
- Keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
Andrea
A coffee grinder, that’s awesome. This sauce sounds perfect for pasta.
Jessica Formicola
Only 15 minutes?? I’m sold! This sauce looks so incredible, and I can’t wait to try it!
rebecca
what a great idea! I’ve never made vegan alfredo, but now I need to try it!
Traci
I love to put vegan Alfredo sauce on just about everything savory! Great recipe…easy and useful tips. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Tara
Excellent tip about the cashews! I’ve always had trouble getting a good consistency, too.