Easy Vegan Alfredo Sauce

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 For a winning meal, serve this Easy Vegan Alfredo Sauce topped on freshly-cooked pasta. It'll be a surefire hit with a hungry crowd and will take you no time at all. Just 25 minutes! The base is made with cauliflower and cashews which creates an ultra-creamy and luxurious sauce (nut-free option available).

If you're looking for a quick and easy meal with a gourmet flair, you've gotta make this sauce! It's perfect for a romantic dinner or a busy weeknight meal.

I adapted this from my 30-Minute Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo which is made with potatoes and cashews as the creamy base. The cauliflower version is just as luxurious and delicious.

The cauliflower flavor is very subtle, but if you're not a fan at all, you may want to make the potato-based version. You'll love it!

How to make Vegan Alfredo Sauce

* This is a quick overview with step-by-step photos. For the complete ingredient amounts and instructions, scroll down to the recipe card.

• Chop cauliflower head into florets.
• In a large pan/pot, sauté garlic in butter until lightly golden
• Add vegetable broth, cauliflower, and cashews. Bring to a low simmer and cover for 12-15 minutes or until cauliflower is fork-tender.
• Add everything from the pan into a high-speed blender, along with soy milk, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, granulated onion, and salt. Blend on high until smooth and creamy. Taste for seasoning and add more if needed. 

Success Tips

• If you don't have a high-speed blender, the sauce may not get completely smooth. I would suggest cooking the cauliflower longer until it's really soft (add a few splashes of broth if needed). You can also try pre-soaking the cashews in cool water for 1-2 hours before cooking (or overnight).
• The consistency of the sauce should be thick and creamy. If it seems thin, you can cook it down a few extra minutes on the stove to thicken up. If you want it extra thick, you can add a cornstarch slurry. Add 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch to 1 tablespoon of water. Combine well before stirring into the sauce. Cook for a few minutes until it thickens.

The Best Way to Use Alfredo Sauce

Pour it on pasta! This yields enough sauce for 1 pound of pasta and It's perfect with fettuccine noodles! If you decide to use this sauce for pasta, you can boil the water and cook the pasta while you are preparing the Alfredo sauce. Drain the noodles and drizzle them with olive oil to prevent sticking. Add the noodles to the sauce and gently combine. Top with fresh-cut parsley, crushed red pepper flakes, freshly cracked pepper, and Vegan Parmesan Cheese if desired.

More Delicious Ideas:

• Top it on Vegan Pizza
• Use it for Casseroles
• Make it into a Dip
• Use it for Vegan Lasagna

Can you freeze the sauce?

Yes, this sauce freezes really well. Just let it thaw out in the fridge overnight and heat it up in a saucepan over medium heat. I usually add a few splashes of vegetable broth to thin it out a bit. Stir often to prevent burning. It should take 3-5 minutes to heat throughout.

Nut-Free Option

Just add 1 ½ tablespoons of Tapioca Starch/Flour to the blender (along with the soy milk, nutritional yeast, onion, and salt). After blending, return the mixture to the pan over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes until the sauce thickens up nicely.

If you LOVE cauliflower, you may want to check out these 20 Game-Changing Vegan Cauliflower Recipes. There are so many tasty ones to choose from!

I love to hear from you

If you make this Vegan Alfredo Sauce, let me know what you think by ★ star rating it and leaving a comment below. It would really make my day. You can also follow me on Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @veganhuggs and hashtag #veganhuggs so I don’t miss it.

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5 from 33 votes

Easy Vegan Alfredo Sauce

For a winning meal, serve this Easy Vegan Alfredo Sauce topped on freshly-cooked pasta. It'll be a surefire hit with a hungry crowd and will take you no time at all. Just 25 minutes! The base is made with cauliflower and cashews which creates an ultra-creamy and luxurious sauce. 

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time25 mins

Course: Main Course, Sauce

Cuisine: Italian, Vegan

Servings: 5 people

Calories: 151kcal

Author: Melissa Huggins

Ingredients

US CustomaryMetric

• ▢ 1 pound cauliflower , cut into florets (about 1 medium head)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons vegan butter
• ▢ 4 cloves garlic , minced
• ▢ ½ cup raw cashews , unsalted
• ▢ 1 ½ cups vegetable broth , low sodium
• ▢ 1 ½ cups soy milk , unsweetened (or any plant-based milk)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons lemon juice , fresh squeezed
• ▢ 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast , more to taste
• ▢ 1 teaspoon granulated onion
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon salt , more to taste

Recommended Equipment

• Blender
• Large Pan or Pot

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

• In a large pan or pot (that can be fitted with a lid), heat the butter over medium heat. When melted, add the garlic and saute for 1 minute until lightly browned. 
• Add the broth, cauliflower, and cashews. Raise heat to bring to a boil. Now turn the heat down to a low simmer and cover with lid. Cook for 12-15 minutes until cauliflower is fork tender. Remove from heat.
• To a high-speed blender, add soy milk, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, granulated onion, salt and the cooked contents from the pan. Blend on high until smooth and creamy. Taste for seasoning and add more if needed. Pour mixture back into the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat to warm up a bit. If the sauce seems thin, let it cook down for a few minutes to thicken up.

Video

Notes

Nut-free option: Add 1.5 tablespoons of Tapioca Starch/Flour (sub with cornstarch) to the blender along with the soy milk, nutritional yeast, onion, and salt. After blending, return the mixture to the pan over medium heat. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the sauce thickens up. 

If you don't have a high-speed blender, the sauce may not get completely smooth. I would suggest cooking the cauliflower longer until it's really soft (add a few splashes of broth if needed). You can also try pre-soaking the cashews in cool water for 1-2 hours before cooking (or overnight). 

The consistency of the sauce should be thick and creamy. If it seems thin, you can cook it down a few extra minutes on the stove to thicken up. If you want it extra thick, you can add a cornstarch slurry. Add 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch to 1 tablespoon of water. Combine well before stirring into the sauce. Cook for a few minutes until it thickens.

This yields enough sauce for 1 pound of pasta. It's perfect with fettuccine noodles! If you decide to use this sauce for pasta, you can boil the water and cook the pasta while you are preparing the Alfredo sauce. Drain the noodles and drizzle them with olive oil to prevent sticking. Add the noodles to the pan of sauce and gently combine. Top with fresh-cut parsley, crushed red pepper flakes, freshly cracked pepper, and Vegan Parmesan Cheese if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 151kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 358mg | Potassium: 477mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 215IU | Vitamin C: 44mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1.6mg

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