This eight-ingredient Vegan Alfredo Sauce with cashews is silky and savory with herbs and roasted garlic. Mushrooms roasted with wine make this sublime Italian sauce even more delicious. A vegan, gluten-free and soy-free recipe.
I am revisiting my creamy and velvety Vegan Alfredo Sauce with mushrooms and roasted garlic. It's a classic recipe I first published in 2013 and many of you have made it over the years and come back to tell me about it.
After making it myself for the umpteenth time this past weekend, I thought it might be a good idea to pull this recipe out from the bowels of this blog and back to the front so those of you who are new to this blog can find it.
Alfredo is a creamy and rather voluptuous Italian white sauce for pasta made with lashings of butter and cream and cheese. To me, it's always presented itself as an oxymoron. While its lush flavors scream out "eat me," an Alfredo's ingredient list pretty much makes it a no-no for nearly everyone except the most intrepid of eaters.
As a vegan, butter and cream and cheese are also out. So when I made a vegan version of this sauce all those years ago, I improvised with cashew cream, which makes a great substitute for cream in nearly any dish. It has a pleasing sweetness, like cream, and a similar mouth-feel, which is important because you want the texture of your Alfredo sauce to be silky and smooth.
The cheese is replaced here by nutritional yeast, and roasted garlic and summery herbs add an abundance of flavor.
Cashews are not a low-calorie food themselves, but they are certainly way lower in calories for all those dairy products they replace in this vegan alfredo sauce. Cashews -- and the fat in them -- are also actually good for you, unlike butter and cream and cheese. Altogether, there are just 228 calories in a serving of this alfredo sauce, and 11 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber, which actually makes it quite good for you, unlike the traditional version.
I really love adding sage to this sauce. For one, this smoky, savory herb is plentiful in the summer months, and it begs to be used. And sage is such a lovely flavor with mushrooms which, in turn, are so perfect in pasta recipes, like this vegan mushroom pasta and vegan mushroom lasagna.
Ingredients
- Raw cashews. Cashew pieces are fine and even better because they're more economical than whole cashews. They will be blended up anyway. If you are nut-free, you can swap out the cashews for pumpkin seeds.
- Cremini mushrooms
- Sage
- White wine (or vodka will do). It's optional, but use it for more flavor.
- Nondairy milk (like unsweetened almond milk or soy milk. Don't use coconut milk please -- the flavor just doesn't work with an Alfredo sauce.)
- Nutritional yeast
- Garlic
- Oregano (dry)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or vegan butter)
Step by step instructions
- Slice the tops off two whole bulbs of garlic. Place the bulbs in a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle on some olive oil on the exposed tops, and then wrap the garlic in the foil. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes until the garlic is golden and soft and squeezes out easily from the papery skin.
- Soak 1 cup of cashews in 2 cups of any nondairy milk (except coconut -- the strong flavor doesn't really work here). After about 15-30 minutes, blend it until very, very smooth with 2-4 tablespoon of nutritional yeast (use more or less according to your preference), the roasted garlic, 1 teaspoon of dry oregano, salt and ground black pepper to taste.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of vegan butter or extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan. Add the mushrooms along with some salt and ground black pepper. Saute for a couple of minutes, then add about 1 tablespoon of chopped sage and ¼ cup of white wine or vodka. Continue to stir fry until all of the visible moisture has evaporated.
- Add the creamy cashew sauce to the skillet, stir well to mix, then cover and let it cook for 15 minutes on a low flame.
- Season with salt if needed and turn off the heat.
- Stir in your cooked pasta and enjoy.
Which pasta shape works best with alfredo sauce
- Alfredo is traditionally served with fettuccine, a slim, ribbon-like pasta. I had pappardelle on hand this time, so I used that and it's what you'll see in the pictures. While a flat ribbon shape like is a nice vehicle for the creamy sauce, you don't really need to stick with it. Many kinds of pasta are perfect with this sauce. A conchiglie or a farfalle pasta would be great here, as would orzo.
- To make a meal of this, all you need is a leafy salad on the side. If possible, serve with some vegan cashew parmesan.
More creamy pasta sauce recipes
Recipe card
Vegan Alfredo Sauce with Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 2 large heads garlic
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 2 cups nondairy milk
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 2 to 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (or vegan butter)
- 32 oz cremini mushrooms or button mushrooms sliced
- ¼ cup white wine (or vodka makes a good substitute. The alcohol is optional, but nice)
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage (fresh, cut thinly. You can sub with 1 teaspoon dry sage)
Instructions
- Slice the tops off the heads of garlic. Place the bulbs in a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle on some olive oil on the exposed tops, and then wrap the garlic in the foil. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes until the garlic is golden and soft and squeezes out easily from the papery skin.
- Soak 1 cup of cashews in 2 cups of any nondairy milk (except coconut - the strong flavor doesn't really work here). After about 15-30 minutes, blend it until very, very smooth with 2-4 tablespoon of nutritional yeast (use more or less according to your preference), the roasted garlic, 1 teaspoon of dry oregano, salt and ground black pepper to taste.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of vegan butter or extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan. Add the mushrooms along with some salt and ground black pepper. Saute for a couple of minutes, then add 1 tablespoon of the chopped sage and ¼ cup of white wine or vodka. Continue to stir fry until all of the visible moisture has evaporated.
- Add the creamy cashew sauce to the skillet, stir well to mix, then cover and let it cook for 15 minutes on a low flame.
- Add more salt and pepper if desired, then stir in your cooked pasta. This sauce is best served hot when it's at its smoothest and silkiest. If you have leftovers, reserve some of your pasta cooking liquid in the refrigerator and reheat the sauce with a small amount of the pasta liquid to make it smooth and silky again.
- You can garnish your pasta with parsley and serve with vegan cashew parmesan on the side.
Nutrition Information
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Brenda B says
I've been wanting to lighten up on certain foods for a healthier life style. I made this recipe for dinner last night and am blown away by it. Never imagined it could be as good as it was. This recipe was absolutely delicious! I may have to do this again tonight, add can't stop thinking of it! Your great, thankyou
Nick LaRoche says
36 years vegetarian, and now I've gone vegan. I made this recipe (with extra garlic and spices, and I soaked in hot almond milk) and found it to be very delicious. Thank you for your helpful hand.
Eva Somers says
How many times have I tried recipes that I found online and on Instagram, which sucked, had way too many ingredients, or were just way too difficult? This one took a while, but was sooooooooo good, omg!!! I have wanted to make a creamy mushroom pasta for a long time, and tried this one because I had half a kilo of mushrooms in my fridge. I was not disappointed!
I don't particularly like cooking. It needs to be easy and fast for me, but still healthy. At the same time I'm trying to loose weight, so I'm in a calorie deficit, AND I have a big appetite, so I need a lot of protein. It gets hard to find recipes. That's why I usually tweak the recipes I find a little. For this one, for example I used a little less cashews, because they are incredibly calorie dense. And I added vegan chicken for a little more protein. It was a good, filling meal. I will definitely make this again. Thank you so much!
I also like the tips that are added in the recipe, for people like me, who are no naturally born cooks. Like the tip to add a little pasta water to the sauce the next day (I always cook for two days), so that the sauce gets creamy again.
This site is a real find. I will try more recipes from here. Again, a big thank you to the author. You're really helping me out here <3
Miriam says
Deeeeeelicious!!! I used oat milk with the cashews, and gin instead of wine (that’s all I had hah). So good!! I love mushrooms & this will definitely become a regular dinner.
jules says
can i use tequila instead of vodka?
Vaishali says
I suppose it would be fine, although wondering if the strong tequila flavor would leave behind an aftertaste...if you try let me know!
Kaytlin says
This was SOOO good. I had fun drinking wine and making this amazing dish. Thank you!!
Vaishali says
So happy to hear, Kaytlin!
Anonymous says
Loved loved loved this recipe! Even the picky non vegan teenager approved. Only change is next time I will add more soy milk for extra sauce to dunk my garlic bread in.
Vaishali says
Awesome, so happy to hear!
Angie says
Have you tried this with something other than cashews? We have a new cashew allergy in our family and all the good creamy vegan recipes use cashews. 🙁 Looks so good tho'...
Vaishali says
You could try pumpkin seeds!