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If you love creamy pasta, but you’d rather not use heavy cream and loads of Parmesan, this dairy-free alfredo is a satisfying alternative. No store-bought vegan cheese is required, so you may already have most of the ingredients you need in your pantry.
It comes together quickly while you wait for the pasta to cook, so it’s a fast weeknight meal that tastes a lot more decadent than it really is. (Really!)
Whether you’re vegan or not, it’s a delicious recipe to try when you want a luscious sauce that’s higher in fiber, lower in fat, and naturally dairy-free.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Featured Review
“Holy Moly! I don’t think Im going to have any left to put on the pasta! Soooo good!!!” – Laura
Vegan Alfredo Sauce Ingredients
- Cashews. Use unroasted and unsalted cashews for the most mild, neutral flavor. These are softer than other nuts, so they break down into a creamy sauce easily in the blender.
- Onion. Sauteed onion helps boost the flavor and creates a silkier sauce when blended with cashews.
- Garlic. A key flavor in any good Alfredo sauce. I use four medium-sized cloves in my recipe, but you can add more or less to your liking.
- Lemon Juice + Vinegar. The combination of these two tangy ingredients creates a cheese-like flavor without relying on nutritional yeast.
- Salt + Pepper. These two spices are crucial for the perfect flavor.
How to Make Dairy-Free Alfredo Sauce
Step 1:
If you plan on serving this sauce with pasta, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Use gluten-free pasta, if you need to. By the time the noodles are done cooking, your vegan cashew alfredo sauce will be ready to use.
Add olive oil or vegan butter to a large skillet over medium heat and saute the onions until they start to soften and look translucent, about 8 minutes. Add in the minced garlic and stir for 1 more minute.
Step 2:
Transfer the cooked veggies to a high-speed blender, then add in the cashews, water, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and black pepper.
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Blend until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. Keep in mind that it will thicken when you toss it with pasta in a hot pan.
Step 3:
When the pasta is done cooking, drain the noodles, then return them to the large pot. Pour the creamy Alfredo sauce over the top, and toss well. (This can also be served over zucchini noodles, for a veggie-packed option.)
Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. I usually add more salt and black pepper, to make the flavor pop!
Serving Tips
If the sauce still doesn’t taste like Alfredo, you probably haven’t used enough salt. (Parmesan cheese is very salty, so we’re trying to mimic that here.)
Once you’re happy with the flavor, serve warm with any add-ins you love, like roasted broccoli, peas, crispy mushroom bacon, or other vegetables.
Storage Tip
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Or you can freeze it for up to 3 months.
Dairy-Free Alfredo Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion , chopped
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 cup whole cashews (not roasted or salted)
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt (I use Real Salt brand)
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and saute the onion until it's soft and translucent. This should take 5 to 8 minutes. Add in the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 more minute. Remove from the heat.
- In a high-speed blender, combine the cashews, water, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add the sauteed onions and garlic, then blend until very smooth. The sauce should look creamy, without any visible chunks of cashews.
- Serve this alfredo sauce over your favorite cooked pasta, then adjust any seasoning to taste. The noodles will dilute the flavor of the sauce, so you may need to add more salt and pepper, as needed. (This recipe makes enough to coat one pound of pasta.) Leftover sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
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If you try this Vegan Alfredo Sauce recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below, letting me know how you like it.
Love this recipe! Tastes great! Can the sauce be frozen?
My family and I are not vegan but very much enjoyed this vegan Alfredo. It was just a tad too lemony, but we added more salt, which balanced it out. Next time, I will back off the lemon a bit, but it’s definitely a keeper. Thanks for another yummy recipe, Megan!
This was really good! I”m in phase 2 of a food sensitivity elimination diet, so am looking for recipes with ingredients I can eat. I had to leave out the onion and lemon juice and subbed white wine vinegar and rice vinegar, but it still was delicious. Everyone liked the sauce, even my husband. Unfortunately, the rice noodles I cooked to go with it didn’t turn out right, which means I’ll just have to make this again!
Can’t wait to try! I love all your recipes! Can the sauce be made in advance?
I made this for the first time last week… not gong to lie, I wasn’t sure if we would like it…. boy oh boy… we didn’t like it…. WE LOVED IT!!!! I will NEVER buy or make any other alfredo sauce again in my life…. seriously, my husband and I thought it was the best thing ever… making it for Easter dinner… ITS THAT GOOD!!!! We used it over veggies the next day…. DELISH!!!!
Delicious recipe I make this for my mom
Since
She can’t have
Milk products. We add broccoli or zucchini or whatever vegetables is in the fridge and I leave
Out the black pepper because of my own dietary restrictions. It’s a fast and simple recipe everyone loves it. Thank you Melissa
Megan does it again! A few simple ingredients and it tastes like real Alfredo. My kids had no complaints.
Delicious Megan! Your recipes never disappoint including this one! My non vegan husband said it was the best Alfredo he ever had! Adding it to our favorite recipe list along with many other of your recipes! Made it brown rice noodles! Added chicken as well.
Yay!! I’m so happy to hear that!! Glad you both enjoyed it, and thank you for letting me know. 🙂
This Alfredo sauce is so delicious and so easy. Yum! Yum! Yum! I tossed in some pea shoots right before serving, and placed some walnut Parmesan on the table for each person to use as desired. Next time I want to try it with mushroom bacon, as you suggest. We love mushroom bacon, and I’m sure it will be wonderful with this sauce. Thank you for another amazing recipe.
I read this and was skeptical. The cashews weren’t soaked and there was no nutritional yeast. But you said it’s been one of your go-tos, so I tried it. And wow, it is AMAZING! And could not be easier to make. Looking forward to making it again soon.