The Best Vegan Alfredo Sauce

This rich and creamy alfredo sauce tastes so much like the real thing, but is completely vegan!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword alfredo pasta, cashews, vegan

Prep Time 30 minutes

Servings servings

Calories 411kcal

Author Cheryl Malik

Cost $3

Equipment

high-speed blender

Ingredients

1 ½ cups raw cashews
3/4-1 cup water or unsweetened almond milk
2 cloves garlic peeled
2 tablespoons lemon juice fresh
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 - 1 ½ teaspoon salt plus more to taste
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon tahini
3/4 pound fettuccine or other pasta cooked in salted water according to package instructions and drained
parsley for garnish freshly chopped, for garnish, optional

Wine pairings

Instructions

Soak raw cashews in hot water for 30-60 minutes while I do other things. (See notes.)
Drain the cashews and add to high-speed blender along with other water or almond milk, garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt, tahini, and dried basil, and blend on high speed about 90 seconds until smooth. Toss with the hot, cooked pasta and serve immediately.

Notes

Soaking cashews: Optional if using a high-speed blender, but recommended. If not using high-speed blender, cashews MUST be soaked in hot water for several hours.
Sauce note: Reserve a little of your pasta water and add it to your alfredo a tablespoon at a time to help thin the sauce and help it cling to the noodles.

Wine pairings
I recommend buying wine from Scout and Cellar, especially for lower carb or sugar and the health conscious. There’s no added sugar to these wines, and they’re all much lower in carbs, calories, and sugar. For me, there’s no headache or fogginess the next day!
There are so many types of wine that go well with the buttery flavor of alfredo sauce, but here are a few of my faves:
- Chardonnay, like 2019 Dove Hunt Dog Chardonnay from Potter Valley, California
- Pinot Noir, like 2018 Middle Jane Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, Oregon
- Pinot Grigio, like 2019 Che Fico Pinot Grigio from DOC delle Venezie, Italy

Nutrition