This perfect vegan alfredo sauce will blow you away with its delicious simplicity and its healthy ingredients–think potatoes, onions, garlic, cashews, and coconut milk.
Several years ago, when I started VeganYumminess.com, I shared a recipe for vegan mac and cheese that was (and is) AMAZINGLY delicious and healthy. The cheese sauce is a blended up mixture of cooked potatoes, carrots, and onions, with some cashews and coconut milk to make it super creamy.
Back in, oh, 2012 or so, I also posted a recipe for vegan alfredo sauce that, while delicious, was almost too rich and nearly too sweet (from a whole can of coconut milk added to the sauce). SO, this week I completely reworked vegan alfredo sauce, incorporating some of the hidden vegetable elements of the creamy vegan mac and cheese, and I think you’re going to LOVE it.
How to Make Vegan Alfredo Sauce:
1. Bring 4 cups of water to boil, and dice your potato and onion into 1/2 inch size pieces. Peel a clove of garlic.
2. Place diced potato, onion, and a clove of garlic into boiling water and simmer for about 8-10 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender.
3. Drain water off of potatoes, onion, and garlic clove, saving at least 1 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid to add to your sauce later.
4. Put cooked potatoes, onion, and garlic into high-speed blender with 1 cup of potato cooking water, cashews, coconut milk, lemon juice, nutritional yeast flakes, and salt.
5. Cover your blender and blend on high for about 30 seconds or until alfredo sauce is smooth and creamy. Your alfredo sauce will be warm at this point (from the hot potato water and potatoes/onions), but if you want it hotter, feel free to put it in a saucepan on medium heat for a few minutes, just until hot and bubbly. If you’re sauce seems a little thick, add another 2-4 tablespoons of the potato cooking water, and salt to taste. Then, serve it however you like.
How to Adapt This Recipe:
- Don’t be afraid to adjust the lemon juice and nutritional yeast flakes amount in this recipe. There are SO many different flavor preferences out there, and if you like a more cheesy flavor, add another teaspoon of yeast flakes. If you like your alfredo sauce a little more tangy, add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice or more to your liking.
- If something doesn’t taste quite right, you might need a tiny bit more salt. Again, preference varies widely here, and you shouldn’t need to add much. Remember, you can always add a little more salt, but you can’t take it back out once it’s added.
- Don’t have a high-speed blender? Have one of those inexpensive countertop blenders? No problem. (You definitely need a blender of some kind for this recipe, though.) While the sauce may not be QUITE as creamy as mine, it will still be delicious. Just soak your cashews for a few hours before making this recipe, and dump them into the boiling water for 10 minutes with the potatoes and onions to soften them up.
- Love a strong garlic flavor? Don’t boil your clove of garlic with your other veggies, and just add it to the blender at the end. This will preserve some of the raw garlic spice and tang that you love. I prefer a milder garlic flavor, so I cook it first.
- Want to make this sauce a little richer? Add 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the sauce just before it is blended.
How to Use Your Alfredo Sauce:
There are SO many ways to use this easy vegan alfredo sauce.
- Pour it on pasta or gluten-free pasta, adding your favorite vegetables or seitan.
- Drizzle it on steamed vegetables for a super healthy meal or side.
- Use it as a white pizza sauce, or drizzle on top of your pizza.
- Use it as a sauce for white vegan lasagna.
- Spread it on a slice of French baguette with your favorite toppings and broil it for a few minutes to make a crostini.
Other Pasta Dishes You’ll Love
- Vegan Creamy Kale and Zucchini Pasta
- Creamy Vegan Mac and Cheese
- Vegan Mushroom Ravioli with Sun-dried Tomato Cream Sauce
- Easy Vegan Pesto
- Ultra Creamy Vegan Stroganoff
Did You Try This Recipe?
Don’t forget to leave a comment and let us know how it went! Want to show me what you made? Take a picture of the finished product and tag @veganyumminess on Instagram so I can comment on your image. We love seeing your creations. Follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to stay in touch. Happy vegan cooking!
Perfect Vegan Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup diced potato (should be diced in 1/2 inch pieces)
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 3/4 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 cup coconut milk (unsweetened, from a can, found in the Asian aisle of your grocery store)
- 1 1/4 cup hot water (preferably cooking water from potatoes and onions)
- 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast flakes (Add 1/2-1 teaspoon extra for added cheezy flavor, if desired.)
- 2 teaspoons fresh or bottled lemon juice (Add 1/2-1 teaspoon extra for added tangy flavor, if desired.)
- 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Bring 4 cups of water to boil in a saucepan on medium heat
- Dice a potato and about 1/2 an onion into 1/2 inch pieces. Place 3/4 cup of diced potato and 1/2 cup of diced onion into boiling water on the stove. Peel a clove of garlic, and add that to the boiling water in the saucepan.
- Simmer diced potatoes, onion, and garlic on medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until potatoes are just fork-tender.
- Use a strainer, collander, or slotted spoon, to drain liquid off of cooked potatoes and onions. Make sure to save at least 1 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid.
- Place cooked potatoes, onion, garlic, cashews, coconut milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and salt into a high-speed blender. Add 1 cup of your reserved cooking liquid (or hot water) to the blender as well. (You may add 1/4 cup of cooking liquid later, if you want your sauce a little thinner.)
- If sauce isn't hot enough to your liking, heat it in a saucepan with pasta or vegetables, until it is hot and bubbly.
I do this recipe substituting Lima beans in place of cashews…creamy and lower in fat for those looking for that option…I use this sauce literally everywhere
What a great idea, Beverley! Thanks for sharing. :)
We made this last night and loved it! So creamy, and love the “secret” veggies in it. Thanks for sharing!
Yay! So glad you loved it!
Just made this today, so good and flavorful. Very easy and so quick to put together. I can see myself making it often. I love it!
Yay! So glad you liked it, Safiyyah! Thanks for commenting! :)
Hi, so while this recipe is amazing, I personally preferred your first one (before the revisited one) but for some reason I can’t find it now on your website. Was it removed?! I should have saved it. :(
Thank you very much for all the delicious recipes.
I’ll send it to you, and will probably repost.
That would be awesome, thank you. ❤️
I loved the original recipe that was on here. Have you reposted it somewhere else?
Right here is the original! :)
https://veganyumminess.com/vegan-fettuccine-alfredo/
Best vegan alfredo ever! My family and I loved it.
Yay! So glad you loved it! :)
Can I replace the cashews with sunflower seeds and is the sauce freezable? Looks delicious must say
You know, I’ve never tried replacing the cashews with sunflower seeds in this recipe, but it would probably work! I’ve used sunflower seeds in place of cashews in other recipes before with decent results. If you give it a try, let me know how it turns out. :)
This was an amazing recipe. I went ahead and deleted all other Alfredo sauces that I had marked because I don’t need to try anything else. The flavor is quite surprising, frankly better than real Alfredo sauce. Thank you thank you thank you.
Wow! Thanks, Arzu! I’m so glad you liked it. :)