Vegan Alfredo Sauce in 15 Minutes

Creamy, smooth, and big on flavor this Vegan Alfredo Sauce is easy to make with 6 simple ingredients, and fifteen minutes from start to finish. No need to soak your cashews! It’s a whole food plant-based version of the classic Italian sauce that’s dairy-free, oil-free, gluten-free, and healthy.

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For the last three weeks I’ve been perfecting this recipe for Vegan Alfredo Sauce. I’ve tried multiple methods and ingredients, and while sometimes the taste turned out well the consistency was off. Other times the consistency was there but the taste was off. I continued to give spoonfuls to my family and they shook their head and gave me the look. But I was determined! After multiple rounds I finally created the vegan Alfredo sauce I was imagining, and it’s amazing!

The first challenge I ran into was with getting the cashews to grind down to a smooth consistency. Even when I soaked the cashew overnight I would run into a grainy sauce. I wasn’t using my high speed blender because I wanted to find a way to get a creamy sauce without having to purchase an expensive appliance.

Since I was struggling with the cashew method I decided to try the bean method. In place of the cashews I used 15 ounces of cannellini beans. The result was a thick sauce that tasted more like beans than a creamy cheese sauce.

I went back to the drawing board and started doing some research. That’s when I found a little trick to getting finely chopped cashews without using a high speed blender.

Instead of tossing the cashews into the blender whole with the other ingredients you can grind your cashews to a fine powder using a coffee grinder! Not only is this method much more cost effective if you don’t have a high speed blender on hand, but it’s also a time saver. You don’t need to pre-soak the cashews with this method.

If you have a high speed blender like the Vitamix you can go ahead and pre-soak your cashews overnight, but if not, and you have a coffee grinder at home use it!

When I went back to my taste testers they gave me their nod of approval which is a big deal in our house since they still eat cheese, and milk on occasion. That’s when I knew I had it!

What ingredients do you need for Vegan Alfredo Sauce?

• Unsweetened Almond Milk or dairy-free milk of choice
• Vegetable Stock
• Onion
• Garlic
• Lemon
• Nutritional Yeast
• Salt and Pepper

What tools do you need to make Vegan Alfredo Sauce?

You can use a high speed blender if you have one, or if you’re looking to invest in a high speed blender, the Vitamix is my favorite.

But if you don’t have a high speed blender and you’re not ready to invest in one, I recommend this Cuisenart Blender. At $75 it’s $325 less than a Vitamix. Grab an electric coffee grinder like this popular Mueller Coffee Grinder, and you’re set for less than $100!

How to Make Vegan Alfredo Sauce – Step by Step

Step 1-Pour 1/4 cup of cashews into your coffee grinder. Set to”fine.” Repeat two additional times until you’ve ground a total of 3/4 cup of cashews. Measurement is made before you grind the cashews.

Step 2-Chop onion and sauté in saucepan with 1/2 cup of vegetable stock until soft.

Step 3-In a blender combine 1 cup of almond milk, sautéd onions and vegetable stock, 2 cloves of minced garlic, ground cashews, nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper. Pulse until thoroughly combined and smooth.

Step 4-Pour mixture into a saucepan. Heat on medium stirring continuously until sauce begins to thicken.

Step 5-Pour over your favorite plant-based vegan pasta and enjoy!

What do you pair with Vegan Alfredo Sauce?

There are so many options of ways you can use this Vegan Alfredo Sauce recipe.

1. You can use it as a sauce with whole wheat linguini making an authentic vegan version of Fettuccine Alfredo.
2. My kids love rotini, and I like to buy the chickpea version for added protein. Pour it over chickpea or lentil pasta. (As shown above!)
3. Pour it over steamed vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower.
4. Make a creamed spinach by using this sauce as the cream base.
5. Make a vegetable casserole with this vegan Alfredo sauce as the star ingredient!

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 great with a wide variety of recipes.

CHECK OUT THESE OTHER EASY PASTA RECIPES!

• Easy “Cheesy” Vegan Baked Pasta
• Vegan Pesto Pasta with Arugula and Basil

If you’ve tried my Vegan Alfredo Sauce recipe, please rate it and let me know how it turned out. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for more vegan plant-based family recipes your whole family will enjoy!