EASY VEGAN ALFREDO SAUCE
For a winning meal, serve this Easy Vegan Alfredo Sauce topped on freshly-cooked pasta. It'll be a surefire hit with a hungry crowd and will take you no time at all. Just 25 minutes! The base is made with cauliflower and cashews which creates an ultra-creamy and luxurious sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 pound cauliflower, cut into florets (about 1 medium head)
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup raw cashews, unsalted
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth, low sodium
- 1 1/2 cups soy milk, unsweetened (or any plant-based milk)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh squeezed
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, more to taste
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- 3/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste
Instructions
- In a large pan or pot (that can be fitted with a lid), heat the butter over medium heat. When melted, add the garlic and saute for 1 minute until lightly browned.
- Add the broth, cauliflower, and cashews. Raise heat to bring to a boil. Now turn the heat down to a low simmer and cover with lid. Cook for 12-15 minutes until cauliflower is fork-tender. Remove from heat.
- To a high-speed blender, add soy milk, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, granulated onion, salt and the cooked contents from the pan. Blend on high until smooth and creamy. Taste for seasoning and add more if needed. Pour mixture back into the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat to warm up a bit. If the sauce seems thin, let it cook down for a few minutes to thicken up.
Notes
Nut-free option: Add 1.5 tablespoons of Tapioca Starch/Flour (sub with cornstarch) to the blender along with the soy milk, nutritional yeast, onion, and salt. After blending, return the mixture to the pan over medium heat. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the sauce thickens up.
If you don't have a high-speed blender, the sauce may not get completely smooth. I would suggest cooking the cauliflower longer until it's really soft (add a few splashes of broth if needed). You can also try pre-soaking the cashews in cool water for 1-2 hours before cooking (or overnight).
The consistency of the sauce should be thick and creamy. If it seems thin, you can cook it down a few extra minutes on the stove to thicken up. If you want it extra thick, you can add a cornstarch slurry. Add 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch to 1 tablespoon of water. Combine well before stirring into the sauce. Cook for a few minutes until it thickens.
This yields enough sauce for 1 pound of pasta. It's perfect with fettuccine noodles! If you decide to use this sauce for pasta, you can boil the water and cook the pasta while you are preparing the Alfredo sauce. Drain the noodles and drizzle them with olive oil to prevent sticking. Add the noodles to the pan of sauce and gently combine. Top with fresh-cut parsley, crushed red pepper flakes, freshly cracked pepper, and Vegan Parmesan Cheese if desired.
[adapted from VEGAN HUGGS]