Vegan Alfredo Sauce Dairy Free

Looking for a non-vegan version? We have you covered with classic Homemade Alfredo Sauce! I love a creamy pasta sauce! This dairy-free Alfredo sauce is made from cashews to create a beautiful sauce that will coat your pasta like a dream. To make it even better, it’s incredibly quick and easy to make, perfect for a weeknight dinner!

Vegan Alfredo Sauce

I normally find it challenging to recreate a recipe that only uses a small number of ingredients. There are only so many changes that can be made, which creates limits to how creative you can be. But turning traditional Alfredo sauce vegan is surprisingly easy. The magic ingredient is the cashews, which add substance to the sauce as well as a pleasant nuttiness. In some ways this creamy vegan Alfredo sauce is just like the original. The consistency is spot on, with all the velvety creaminess you could hope for. It also coats the pasta like a dream! The taste is not quite a mirror of the original sauce, and there is no way to completely replace dairy in a simple recipe like this. Cashews bring a different set of flavours to the table that will never totally match butter, cream and parmesan cheese. That doesn’t mean this can’t be a tasty sauce with all the luxurious creaminess you could possibly want! You may get results you are truly happy with by playing around with the proportions in the recipe. I’ve made this according to the flavours my family prefer, but have tested it with different amounts of garlic and lemon to get it just right. I recommend a bit of experimentation! One way to alter the flavour is to add a vegan parmesan cheese. My family is not fond of vegan hard cheese so I’ve left it out, but cheese would add salty umami flavour.

How to Make It

Alfredo sauce uses a short list of ingredients and is quite simple. By far the longest part is soaking the raw cashews. Pour boiling water over the cashews and let them soak for 30 minutes to 1 hour. You may need to let them soak longer if you don’t have a high powered blender. Once the cashews are done soaking, add them to a high-powered blender with nutritional yeast, a clove of garlic, oat milk and a pinch of salt. Blend them until velvety and smooth. Transfer the sauce to a pan or saucepan and cook for a couple of minutes over low heat. The aim is to warm everything up and give the garlic a chance to cook. That’s it! Toss the sauce with cooked pasta of your choice (I used tagliatelle) and enjoy!

Serving suggestions

For me, pasta in this vegan cashew Alfredo sauce is a satisfying meal all on its own. But if I was looking for a side dish, I would look for something crisp and fresh to match up well with the creamy sauce. Something like Spring Pea and Arugula Salad, or Summer Tomato Salad with Herbs will do the trick. Both have natural sweetness and freshness that are a welcome addition. A sprinkling of black pepper would also be welcome!

Storage and leftovers

Pasta is never quite as nice the next day, becoming soggier the longer it is kept. If you want the real al dente experience, it’s much better to eat it fresh. And especially don’t freeze. Pasta hates freezing! If you do want to store it, keep it in the fridge sealed in an airtight container and eat within 5 days. Reheat in a microwave. You can refrigerate any leftover sauce for up to a week. The lack of dairy means that it will keep longer than classic Alfredo sauce. When reheating the sauce, warm it over medium heat and add a splash of milk to loosen it.