Vegan Alfredo Sauce (Ultra Creamy & Easy!)

Here is the best creamiest vegan alfredo sauce! It’s easy to prepare and contains nutrient-dense cauliflower and protein-rich cashews.

Do you eat whole foods, plant-based (WFPB) but miss the creaminess of alfredo sauce? Then this recipe is for you! More people than usual have been telling us lately that they’re trying to eat more plant-based foods. In fact, according to the New York Times, 40% of Americans want to eat more plant-based foods. WOW! Alex and I have been plant-based for years, and we can attest that it’s an incredibly tasty and energizing way to eat. This Vegan Alfredo Sauce recipe is the perfect example. It’s creamy and juicy, but packed with nutrient-dense cauliflower and high-protein cashews. Ready to cook?

What’s in this Vegan Alfredo Sauce?

There are many ways to make vegan alfredo sauce. The more vegan recipes you eat, the more tricks you’ll learn! This sauce uses a few tricks to create a creamy white sauce that will fool your brain into thinking it’s alfredo sauce. Here’s what we have:

• Cauliflower: These bold white vegetables give body to the sauce. It’s packed with vitamin C and fiber (see below for more on nutrition).
• Cashew: Packed with plant-based protein, these nuts create a magical creamy body that looks like dairy (see below for more recipes).
• Garlic: One key to making vegan recipes flavorful and meaty: garlic! We use it in so many of our recipes we’ve lost count…
• Olive oil: It’s used to sauté garlic and cauliflower and adds a little richness.
• Spices: Garlic powder, black pepper and some nutmeg round off the spices here.

what people say

Alex and I sent this recipe to friends and family close enough to tell us about theirs TRUE Opinion! This is what they say about this vegan alfredo sauce:

• “This is the best vegan alfredo sauce! This is my new goal. It had just the right amount of creaminess and the seasoning was just right! Some recipes say the sauce will be creamy and come out a little runny. This one is really creamy! -Maeghan
• “Yummy! I love it! It’s super easy to do. I did it again 2 days later!” -Lisa

It’s also a gluten-free alfredo sauce!

Another perk of this vegan alfredo sauce is that it’s also gluten-free! Many alfredo sauce recipes include flour because it’s used to make the “roux” that thickens the sauce. Because this one uses cashew nuts, it’s also gluten-free.

Preparation of the sauce: let it simmer, then puree!

This Vegan Alfredo Recipe is so easy to make! Here are the basic steps you will follow (see below for the full recipe):

• Cook: Sauté the garlic, cashews and cauliflower, then add the vegetable broth and spices. Simmer until the cauliflower and cashews are tender (this part takes 12-13 minutes).
• Mixed! Put everything in a blender and puree until creamy!

For mixing you need a good quality blender. If you don’t have one, you might want to invest in one (a friend of mine had one that was so bad you didn’t even have to put the top on while shuffling!). Alex and I have a high-speed blender (we use this Vitamix blender) and it makes this vegan alfredo sauce quick.

How Much Does This Vegan Alfredo Sauce Make?

This vegan alfredo sauce makes 6 cups in total. Alex and I measured and we were happy to use to our liking about 5 cups alfredo sauce for 1 pound of pasta. So if you make a pound of fettuccine alfredo, you’ll have about 1 cup left over. We typically calculate that 1 pound of pasta equals 8 modest servings, which would be just over ½ cup of sauce per serving of pasta. Of course you can use as many as you like for one serving!

Top creamy vegan recipes with cashew nuts!

You’ll be amazed at how the cashews melt together into a rich, creamy body for this vegan alfredo sauce! Unless, of course, you already know this trick: it’s pretty common in vegan recipes. Alex and I use it often in our plant-based recipes here on A Couple Cooks! Here are some of our favorite recipes that also use cashews to make them creamy without using dairy:

1. Best Wild Rice Soup This is a fan favorite! It’s incredibly creamy, full of flavor and packed with tender veggies and hearty rice. Everyone asks for the recipe it’s that good.
2. Vegan Corn Chowder You’ll never believe this creamy soup is vegan: it has the perfect velvety texture and is packed with flavor.
3. Cashew Cream Cashew Cream is the vegan equivalent of sour cream or mayonnaise: and it only takes 5 minutes at a time.
4. Creamy Cilantro Sauce This cilantro sauce is creamy, flavorful, savory, sweet and totally delicious! It’s plant-based and perfect for baked potatoes and tacos.
5. Best Potato Salad Without Mayo This might be the best healthy potato salad you’ve ever eaten—it tastes like a classic picnic potato salad!
6. Vegan Nacho Cheese As the basis of the vegan queso, this cashew cheese sauce recipe is ultra simple and totally creamy: no cheese!

Cauliflower Nutrition and Recipes

Cauliflower is one of the top 20 vegetables to eat! Cauliflower only has 25 calories per cup of florets, making it a low-calorie way to add vitamins and nutrients to your diet. It is rich in vitamin C, potassium and omega-3 fatty acids. It’s also high in fiber (1 cup is about 10% of your daily requirement).

Find them the tastiest cauliflower recipes on the internet? You’re in luck: we’ve rounded up our best cauliflower recipes showcasing the glamorous vegetable that it is.

This Vegan Alfredo Sauce recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.