Are you craving a creamy, delicious pasta recipe? Then look no further than this vegan fettuccine alfredo! It's made with simple ingredients and delivers all the creamy goodness you want in your pasta alfredo.
This my go-to recipe for alfredo pasta! It satisfies all my comfort food cravings delivering loads of carbs in a creamy dairy-free alfredo sauce! Even better the sauce is gluten-free so you can easily turn this into a gluten-free meal by using your favorite gluten-free pasta or zucchini noodles instead of pasta.
The secret is using cashews along with coconut milk to create that creamy texture you want in a traditional alfredo sauce without using any dairy. It truly makes a family dinner that will please everyone!
For more dairy-free swaps check out this vegan sour cream, vegan cottage cheese, and a vegan strawberry cream cheese.
What You'll Need This Vegan Alfredo Fettuccine Recipe
Making a vegan alfredo sauce isn't super complicated thanks to a couple of special ingredients to create a cashew alfredo sauce that's creamy and cheesy.
- Olive oil: Just a little swirl for cooking the onions and garlic. You can use other neutral flavored oils but olive oil has a unique flavor that works great when making this vegan sauce.
- Aromatics: Onion and garlic lay down the foundational flavor for the sauce.
- Coconut milk: Use canned full-fat coconut milk for the creamiest texture and don't worry that it will taste like coconut because it won't.
- Cashews: Blended cashews give the sauce a bit of thickness and make it creamier. Make sure you soak them overnight so they blend up smoothly. Raw cashews work best but in a pinch, you can use roasted as long as they're unsalted.
- Lemon: Definitely use fresh lemons! It adds brightness and flavor to the sauce.
- Nutritional yeast: This ingredient is essential for adding that parmesan-like flavor in order to create a flavorful vegan version of alfredo sauce.
- Cornstarch: It's added at the end to achieve a perfectly thick and creamy sauce.
- Pasta: You can really use any pasta with this vegan alfredo sauce. But to keep it traditional, fettuccine makes the best option as the thicker long noodles work perfectly with the consistency of the alfredo sauce.
Variations
If you're looking to change up your cashew fettuccine alfredo just a bit here are some ideas!
- Stir in just a bit of vegan pesto for a creamy pesto alfredo sauce or you can mix in a bit of homemade marinara sauce to make a pink sauce.
- Add more protein on top of your pasta such as baked tofu, chickpeas, or any other favorite vegan protein.
- Add some veggies! Steamed or roasted broccoli, squash, green peas, or mushrooms are just a few ideas.
How to Make Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
Making this dish doesn't require a lot of work. Here's an overview of the main steps!
- Cook your chopped onion and garlic in a large pan with a drizzle of olive oil until they start to release their flavor and the onion becomes translucent.
- Transfer the cooked onion and garlic to your food processor.
- Add the coconut milk, soaked cashews, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper to the veggies in the food processor. Blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Pour the alfredo sauce back into the pan you used for cooking the onion and garlic.
- Add in the cornstarch and whisk it up, breaking up any clumps.
- Cook the sauce over medium heat until the sauce starts to thicken from the cornstarch.
- Serve up your sauce on top of your fettuccine noodles or store it in a jar in the fridge.
How to Store
Store vegan alfredo sauce in the fridge for up to four days in an airtight container or jar. Since it doesn't contain any dairy you can also freeze it if you want to make it last longer.
If it's frozen, thaw it out in the fridge overnight. You can heat the sauce in the microwave or on the stovetop. You may need to adjust the consistency with more liquid or a bit more cornstarch when reheating.
How to Serve
Here are just a few ideas for serving up your pasta:
- I love to add some homemade garlic bread to the table along with this pasta dish so everyone can scoop up every bite of the sauce.
- Serve it up with a side salad such as this strawberry summer salad for a vegan meal.
- Having a dinner party? This vegan alfredo fettuccine makes an easy dish to make for a crowd. Serve it up with this vegan bruschetta recipe as a starter and vegan tiramisu for dessert.
- I like a simple sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley over the top. You can also top it with your favorite vegan parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, or some lemon zest for a bit more flavor.
- You can also use vegan white sauce to make pizzas and lasagna, or use it as a dipping sauce.
Recipe Tips
- Don't overcook your noodles. Cook them just until al dente so they have a little bit of bite still.
- Make sure to soak your cashews the night before. They need adequate time to absorb the water so they blend up perfectly creamy. If you forget you can soak them in hot water for an hour before making this vegan alfredo sauce recipe.
- Use canned coconut milk for the creamiest texture. It contains more fat making it similar to heavy cream or half and half so it works better than other types of plant milk.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can! It may take a bit more stopping, starting, and scraping down to blend the mixture up but you can.
There are several different ways to get a creamy alfredo sauce without any dairy. My favorite is using a combination of coconut milk and soaked cashews. You can also use sunflower seeds or almonds in a similar way to the cashews but it turns out slightly different in flavor and consistency. Cauliflower is another ingredient used to make creamy sauce.
More Vegan Pasta Recipes
Easy Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
Ingredients
- 1 splash olive oil
- ½ medium onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 can of coconut milk
- ½ cup soaked cashews 75 g
- juice of ½ lemon
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 box of fettuccine pasta
Instructions
- Start by cooking the pasta according to the package instructions and then set it aside.
- Chop the onion and garlic.
- Drizzle olive oil on a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook them for 3-4 minutes, until they start to release their flavors and the onion becomes translucent.
- Transfer the onion and garlic to a food processor. Then add the coconut milk, cashews, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper. Blend until everything is smooth and creamy.
- Pour the alfredo sauce back into the pan that you sauteed the onion and garlic and turn the heat back to medium.
- Add in the cornstarch and whisk it up, breaking up any clumps. Cook the sauce for 3-4 minutes, until it starts to thicken from the cornstarch.
- Once the sauce has thickened to your liking, pour it on top of your fettuccine noodles and enjoy!
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