Vegan Alfredo
Fettuccine in a creamy sauce of blended cashews, soy milk, garlic and nutritional yeast, with no dairy.
Before You Start
Blend the sauce for longer than you think.
Taste for salt and lemon at the end.
Loosen with the pasta water, not more milk.
Cooking Vegan Alfredo
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Cover the cashews with boiling water and soak for 10 minutes. Drain.
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Boil the fettuccine in salted water for 10 minutes until al dente. Keep a mugful of the water, then drain.
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Blend the cashews, soy milk, garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, oil, salt, pepper and nutmeg until completely smooth.
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Pour into the pasta pan over low heat, add the pasta and toss for 2 minutes, loosening with the pasta water.
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Serve at once with black pepper.
Why It Works
A weeknight pasta for four, and the sauce is blended, not cooked. Alfredo is normally butter, cream and parmesan, and this version builds the same richness from cashews, which blend into a smooth cream when soaked and puréed.
Soak the cashews in boiling water for 10 minutes to soften them, then blend with soy milk, garlic, lemon juice and nutritional yeast until completely smooth. A high-speed blender gives the silkiest sauce; with a weaker one, blend for longer and add a splash more milk. Taste for salt and lemon at the end, because a creamy sauce with no cheese depends on those two for its flavour.
Warm the sauce gently in the pan with the drained pasta and a splash of the cooking water, which helps it cling. Do not boil it hard, as it can thicken and turn pasty. A grind of black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg finish it.
After You've Cooked It
Best eaten at once. Keeps for 2 days in the fridge; reheat with a splash of water.
Ingredient Swaps
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
Good With
- Steamed broccoli
- Garlic mushrooms
- Green salad
Questions and Answers
Why did my Vegan Alfredo turn oily or grainy instead of creamy?
The cheese seized rather than melted, almost always from too much heat or too little starchy pasta water. Take the pan off the heat before adding the cheese, add it gradually while tossing, and loosen with more of the reserved pasta water rather than trying to fix it with more cheese, which makes a seized sauce worse.
Vegan Alfredo Nutrition Facts
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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