This vegan white pasta sauce has it all: it is silky, creamy, garlicky, savory and versatile. And it's made with good-for-you beans. Serve it over any pasta of your choice - my favorites are spaghetti, fettuccine or linguine.
An epic white pasta sauce that's healthy and easy
My vegan white pasta sauce recipe made with white beans has been a reader favorite since 2017. This is truly a fantastic sauce: there's no cream or butter here but also zero deprivation. The sauce coats the pasta silkily and wraps your tastebuds in the warmth of garlic and oregano. And it helps to know, as you lick the bowl clean, that it's so, so good for you.
This is an easy, weeknight-friendly recipe. Most of the sauce is made in a blender and you cook it for a short time after. You need just nine pantry-friendly ingredients and you can have dinner on the table in 30 short minutes.
One of the problems I encountered when I first created this recipe all those years ago was that the sauce had a tendency to thicken up as it stood: that's because beans suck up liquid. To get over that hurdle, and for more richness, I added cashews to the recipe. Of late I've also bumped up the olive oil a tad bit. These tweaks do a marvelous job of keeping the sauce silky and creamy over time so you can enjoy your leftovers just as much.
I use some nutritional yeast to give this vegan white pasta sauce a cheesy flavor, but it's optional. I've made this sauce just as often without it - as have many readers - and it still tastes great. The sauce is gluten-free, soy-free and you can make it nut-free.
Recipe card
Best vegan white pasta sauce recipe
Ingredients
For blending
- 3 cups canned or cooked white beans (approximately 26 ounces. If cooking beans from scratch, use 1 cup dried beans.)
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup water
Other ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 8-10 cloves garlic (minced or put through a garlic press)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 cups water
- Juice and zest of one lemon (juiced and zested)
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano (optional)
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
- Salt to taste
For serving
- 16 oz pasta (cooked to al dente texture)
Instructions
Blend the sauce ingredients
- Place the beans in a blender with the cashews, optional nutritional yeast and oregano. Add 1 cup water.
- Blend until very smooth. Set aside.
Make the sauce
- Place olive oil in a sauté pan with the garlic. Turn heat to medium low and sauté the garlic 2-3 minutes until very aromatic and just beginning to turn color. Add the red pepper flakes and dried oregano and sauté for a few seconds.
- Pour the blended bean puree into the pan. Add two cups water and mix well.
- Turn heat up to medium and cook the sauce, stirring it frequently to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Let the sauce warm through until steam rises. You don't have to wait for the sauce to boil. Add salt to taste, stir in the lemon zest and juice, fresh oregano, if using, and parsley. Turn off heat and mix into pasta.
Notes
- Nutrition information is for sauce with pasta. One serving of the sauce alone is 139 calories with six grams of protein.
- Using a total of three cups of water in this recipe yields the perfect texture. But if you want a thinner sauce add more water.
Nutrition Information
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White pasta sauce FAQs
Most white beans will work, including cannellini, great northern beans, navy beans or lima beans. All white beans are nourishing and loaded with protein and fiber.
Yes, use either canned beans in this recipe (rinse them under running water to get rid of the brine), or cook 1 cup of dried beans from scratch.
You can skip the cashews but in that case increase olive oil to ¼ cup to keep the sauce flavorful and rich-tasting. You might also need to add more water when you reheat the sauce.
Serve this white sauce with any pasta of your choice. I like it with long pasta shapes like spaghetti or fettuccine but short pastas like penne, farfalle, orecchiette and rotini work just as well. Serve a fresh salad on the side, like vegan Caesar salad or grilled corn salad.
Store the vegan white pasta sauce either by itself or mixed into the pasta for up to four days in the fridge. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave until warmed through.
More delicious vegan pasta sauce recipes
Recipe posted on March 3, 2017. Updated and republished on May 9, 2025.
Donna says
This turned out really well! I had already soaked too many cashews for another recipe so used at least a cup of those and 1 cup less of beans. My lemon was quite large and maybe I shouldn’t have put all the juice in since it ended up very tangy. Still great recipe though! Oh and I had to use all dried herbs since it is winter in Alaska and fresh is hard to come by. Still good! Thanks
RJ says
Could you use this for a lasagne sauce??
Vaishali Honawar says
Yes absolutely.
Shira says
Any nutritional yeast substitute? Will Parmesan cheese work the same way?
Vaishali Honawar says
Yes!
Amina says
This was so, so good. I ate it over whole wheat pasta and added roasted cherry tomatoes and spinach to the sauce at the end. Omitted the oil, but kept the cashews. Only question is how much water to put in in the beginning to bring beans to a boil? Recipe doesn't seem to specify. I just played it by ear and added as needed, and it turned out yummy.
Vaishali says
Hi Amina, I've clarified the amount of water in the revised recipe. So happy you loved the sauce!
Anonymous says
Excellent! Used 1 can of beans and cut the recipe in half and it was outstanding!!!
Vaishali says
So happy to hear!
VictorIa says
It was really tasty and no one suspected it was made with beans!
I made too much sauce. Do you think the sauce would freeze well.
Audrey says
Hello, I've been looking for a recipe like this for a while and almost all of them call for cashews (I'm allergic)... do you know of a good substitute for the cashews?
Lee says
I didn’t use the cashews and it tasted great!
Vaishali says
Awesome!
Shannon says
Hemp hearts are a great substitute to make a cream sauce too! It adds extra protein but I’m not sure if it reduces the chances of the sauce “drying out” as described in this recipe but I’d love to find out!
Vaishali says
Great idea!
Athena says
Hi! I've made vegan alfredo with cooked cauliflower that's been blended well. I add garlic, spices, lemon juice/white wine vinegar, and some corn starch/tapioca flour. I also thin with non-dairy milk as necessary. Hopefully this helps!
Anonymous says
I made this without the cashews and it is perfectly fine. I added vegetable stock to simmer the beans and then added some of the pasta water as needed for thinning. I did use nutritional yeast and the lemon is a must. Added freshly ground black pepper and Himalayan salt to taste at the end. I served this sauce over fettuccine with broccoli.
Vaishali says
Yay! Thanks for sharing your feedback.