Vegan Pasta Alfredo is a wonderfully simple and delicious recipe. It couldn’t be easier to make! It’s full of flavour and perfectly creamy, but without the cream!
Vegan Pasta Alfredo is one of those dishes that just exudes feelings of comfort. Before becoming plant based, we used to make the traditional version of this dish with heavy cream, butter and cheese. It would leave us feeling very heavy afterwards! I love the plant version even more because it doesn’t skimp on flavour but also doesn’t make you feel like you want to lie down after you eat it.
The ‘cream’ in this Vegan Pasta Alfredo is replaced with cashew cream in this recipe. We use raw whole cashews which are soaked and then blended with organic soy milk. You could use another version of plant based milk but we found soy to have the best flavour and texture. We choose Eden Organic Unsweetened Soy Milk which is 100% soy beans and water – nothing else!
The ‘cheesiness’ in this Vegan Pasta Alfredo comes from nutritional yeast but it is mild in flavour – not overpowering. We love adding fresh or frozen green peas for flavour, colour and extra nutrition. You could also sub the green peas with some chopped greens cooked down in the sauce or some steamed broccoli. Sautéed mushrooms would also be delicious in this dish.
We used regular organic pasta in this Vegan Pasta Alfredo but you can feel free to use any pasta that you like. You can bump up the protein and fibre content and reduce carbohydrates by using a bean or lentil based pasta. Or for other gluten free options we will sometimes use a rice or quinoa brand. For gluten free we typically choose GoGo Quinoa or Tinkyada. For better quality grain pasta we use Eden Organic Kamut or Spelt varieties.
There are lots of ways to add variety to this pasta alfredo dish so let your creative juices flow! Our kids love this dish and they are our biggest critics. If you are going to have leftovers, we store the sauce and pasta separately. When we are ready to eat it, we heat some sauce in a pan and thin it out with a little extra soy milk or veg broth. Then add the pasta to the pan to reheat in the sauce.
Our Ratatouille Pasta Salad is a wonderful side dish or light lunch. If you’re looking for some other pasta entrée recipes, try out this Simple Weeknight Marinara Sauce or one of our favourites . . . Vegan Mushroom Cream Sauce with Truffle Oil.
Please let us know if you try out this Vegan Pasta Alfredo because we hope there’s others who love creamy sauces as much as we do! Leave a comment and a rating and don’t forget to tag us @plantedandpicked on Instagram and hashtag it #plantedandpicked. Always remember that the best memories are made around the table!
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup cashews, soaked and drained 100 g
- 1 cup soy milk 240 ml
- 1 tsp garlic powder 5 ml
- 1 tsp onion powder 5 ml
- 1 tbsp vegan butter 15 ml
- 1 medium onion 180 g
- 3-4 large garlic cloves
- ½ tsp sea salt 3 ml
- pepper to taste (optional)
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast 30 ml
- ½ lemon, juiced 30 ml
- 1½ cup vegetable broth 360 ml
- ½ cup green peas, fresh or frozen thaw if frozen
- fresh parsley for garnish
- 340 g fettucini pasta
Instructions
- Soak cashews in filtered water for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours and drain. Note that if you have a high powered blender, 30 minutes is sufficient, but that longer periods may be required for less powerful blenders.
- Add cashews, soy milk, garlic and onion powder to blender and blend to produce a smooth creamy consistency. Set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil to cook pasta.
- Heat a large pan on medium heat and melt vegan butter. Add chopped onion and garlic, salt and pepper and sauté until translucent, about 10 minutes, stirring periodically to prevent sticking or burning.
- Add the nutritional yeast to the pan and stir to combine, cooking for a minute or so. Add lemon juice and stir. Turn heat to medium/low.
- Add pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente.
- While pasta is cooking, pour in cashew cream and stir to combine. Then add vegetable broth and continue to stir to a smooth consistency. Add peas and continue to heat for approximately 10 minutes until sauce starts to thicken. It should remain runny enough so that when stirred, the path of the spoon does not show noticeably. If the sauce remains over the heat, you may need to add a little more broth to maintain a slightly runny consistence. This sauce will always appear thicker once combined with the pasta. Feel free to add a little more vegetable broth or soy milk if you need to thin the sauce.
- Once pasta is cooked, drain and rinse in a colander. You can add the pasta directly to the pan with the sauce and stir to combine. Serve family style. Or, if you are not eating all the pasta at one time just add sauce to individual bowls of pasta so that you can store the pasta and sauce separately and have as leftovers.
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