There's nothing I love more than a big bowl of pasta drowning in creamy alfredo. This vegan alfredo sauce is made from cashews. And it's so rich and creamy, you'll never believe it's 100% dairy-free. All that - and you can make it in just five minutes!
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If you've been following my recipes, then you already know that cashews are one of my favorite ingredients. When blended, they turn a perfectly creamy consistency that's just perfect for making all sorts of dairy-free sauces.
Cashews are also the star of the show in my internet-famous One Pot Vegan Mushroom Pasta, my Grilled Nectarine Salad with Cashew Cream, and my top rated Vegan Mac and Cheese. Yum!
This vegan alfredo sauce is:
- Quick & Easy
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Dairy-Free
- Gluten-Free
- Savory & Cheesy
- Totally Irresistible
And did I mention that you can make this vegan alfredo sauce in just five minutes. Yep - I said five minutes. It does't get much easier than that.
If you love vegan cooking, make sure you grab a copy of my free vegan cheat sheet while you’re here. It’s packed with all my favorite plant-based substitutions to help you vegan-ize any recipe!
How to Make Vegan Alfredo Sauce
This might be the simplest recipe on the blog.
You simply take all your ingredients - cashews, water, nutritional yeast, dijon mustard, garlic, salt and pepper - and toss them in the blender.
Blend until everything is nice and creamy, and you're done. Perfect vegan alfredo sauce in five minutes!
Maybe less than five minutes.
To serve, simply heat the sauce in a pan over medium heat and toss it with your favorite pasta. (Here are some of my top vegan pasta recipes for inspiration.)
Tips for Perfect Vegan Alfredo Sauce
- Make sure to use raw cashews - not the kind that are already roasted or covered in salt. Only the raw cashews will blend into the creamy goodness you need for alfredo sauce.
- Experiment! Add some roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, or sun-dried tomatoes to your vegan alfredo sauce to infuse some extra flavor. The variations are endless. In fact, I first made this sauce as part of this vegan mushroom alfredo.
- Don't skip the nutritional yeast. I know it sounds weird. It is a little weird. But I promise it gives the vegan alfredo sauce a delicious, cheesy flavor that you can't get from anything else.
- You can use almonds instead of cashews if you prefer, but I find that cashews have a more neutral flavor and a slightly creamier consistency.
And don’t forget to grab a copy of my free vegan cheat sheet too! It’s packed with my favorite easy substitutions to help you make just about any recipe vegan!
FAQs about this Vegan Alfredo Sauce
Yes! You can freeze this after blending, but before heating. It will stay good for 4-6 weeks in the freezer.
It will stay fresh for 3-4 days in the refrigerator, or 4-6 weeks in the freezer.
Not this one. But you can make my 15-minute one pot vegan mushroom pasta with cashew milk. No blender required!
Nutritional yeast consists of small flakes of deactivated yeast. They have a distinct, nutty taste that lends a cheese-like flavor to dairy-free dishes.It's also super nutritious!
You can get nutritional yeast at nearly every grocery store or here on Amazon.
For more delicious ideas, check out my favorite one-pot vegan meals here, or this collection of easy vegan dinner ideas for a simple weeknight meal.
Recipe
Vegan Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup raw cashews unsalted
- 1 ¾ cups water
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp Dijon Mustard
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
Supplies You'll Need:
Instructions
- Add the cashews, nutritional yeast, water, mustard, and garlic to the blender.
- Blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- For serving: Heat the vegan alfredo sauce in a large frying pan, over medium heat until warmed through. Toss with your favorite pasta, and enjoy!
Elily says
Should you soak the cashews before blending?
Nicole says
You actually don't need to soak the cashews for this recipe. The trick is that you need to use a really good high-speed blender and let it run until it's nice and creamy. If you need to use a food processor or a less efficient blender, then pre-soaking is a good idea, as it will make them easier to blend.
A little trick if you do decide to soak them - rather than soaking overnight, you can soak them in hot water for around 20 minutes.
Fiona Manoon says
Thank you so much for sharing recipes.Great blog!!!
Alexandra @ It's Not Complicated Recipes says
That looks so delicious! My bestie is vegan, so I love to come across new ideas of food I can make for her.
Thanks for sharing!
xx Alex