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bowl of vegan alfredo pasta sauce
Home // Method // 10 Ingredients or Less // 6 Ingredient Vegan Alfredo Sauce

6 Ingredient Vegan Alfredo Sauce

Get ready for creamy and "cheesy" deliciousness with this 6 Ingredient Vegan Alfredo that actually tastes like traditional alfredo! Made with a cashew base, this easy vegan alfredo sauce is lighter than most recipes yet still tastes "cheesy" thanks to the nutritional yeast.
Prep Time 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes minutes
Total Time 15 minutes minutes
Jump to RecipePrint Recipe

This creamy and “cheesy” 6 Ingredient Vegan Alfredo Sauce is made with cashews and nutritional yeast but still tastes like traditional alfredo! While I love a good hearty pasta dish, I also appreciate a lightened up version that tastes just as delicious … which is why I love this easy vegan alfredo sauce.

And for me personally, a dairy free alfredo sauce just settles better. Plus, thanks to add-ins such as fresh minced garlic and lemon, this Vegan Alfredo Sauce is just as flavorful!

And if you’re looking for another sauce + pasta recipe for a cozy night in, these Vegetarian Spicy Tahini Rice Noodles recipe totally blew up on Pinterest (and for good reason)!

There is a speckled white ceramic bowl filled with creamy six ingredient vegan fettucine alfredo. On top there is fresh chopped parsley and two forks twined into the pasta. In the background surrounding the main bowl, there are two more partial bowls of alfredo. There is also a small bowl with more fresh chopped parsley.

Ingredients in Dairy Free Alfredo Sauce

Raw Cashews – The base for this vegan cashew alfredo sauce! The cashews blend into a creamy sauce and have a great neutral flavor that doesn’t mask the cheesy-ness of this alfredo.

Nutritional Yeast – Adds the “cheesy” flavor to this alfredo while keeping it entirely vegan and dairy-free. This is my favorite brand for Nutritional Yeast and it’s also a great source of protein, vitamins, and minerals!

Lemon Juice – I recommend using fresh lemon juice. The lemon really elevates the flavor of this vegan alfredo pasta dish and adds a little bit of zing!

Garlic – Fresh cloves are a must for this cashew alfredo sauce.

Fresh Parsley – While it is optional, I love the touch of green and slight flavor of fresh parsley to truly make this the best vegan afredo sauce!

Pasta – You can use any type of pasta that you’d like, I personally love to make this as a vegan fettucine alfredo!

On a white backdrop there are the ingredients for this vegan alfredo sauce. This includes uncooked fettucine noodles, a whole lemon, a small bowl of nutritional yeast,  4 garlic cloves, a measuring cup with water, a bowl of fresh parsley, a lemon juicer, and a measuring cup with raw cashews.

How to Make Vegan Alfredo Sauce

1. To a Vitamix or high-speed blender, add the raw cashews, water, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and salt. Blend for 4-5 minutes on medium until you reach a smooth consistency. Set aside. 

2. While the cashew mix is blending, heat a large sauté pan to medium and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Add minced garlic and cook 1-2 minutes until it just starts to brown.

3. Add the cashew cream mixture from the Vitamix to the saute pan with the garlic. Cook on medium low for 3-5 minutes, or until sauce has thickened to desired consistency.

4. Add cooked pasta to vegan alfredo sauce. Finish with fresh cracked black pepper and garnish with chopped fresh parsley. Enjoy!

  • There are raw cashews, water, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and salt inside a vitamix center of the photo. It is the first step to make 6 Ingredient Vegan Alfredo Sauce.
  • It is an overhead shot, looking down into a vitamix full of the base for 6 Ingredient Vegan Alfredo Sauce. The mix is a creamy white sauce with frothy bubbles on top.
  • A mental colander is filled with fresh cooked plain fettucine.
  • There is a large pan filled with the 6 Ingredient Vegan Alfredo Sauce and the fettucine noodles have been poured on top. There is a slotted wooden spoon reaching into the pan to combine the fettucine with the vegan alfredo sauce.

What Goes Well with this Cashew Alfredo Sauce

Once you have the base of pasta and this 6 Ingredient Vegan Alfredo sauce, the options are limitless!

If you’re looking to add more vegetables to your meal, try adding roasted or sauteed broccoli, red pepper slices, zucchini rounds, mushrooms, or even cherry tomatoes right into the pasta and alfredo mix.

And if you’re not vegan and would like to add some protein, grilled shrimp, seared scallops, baked salmon, or any meat would work as well. You could also try adding hemp hearts or toasted sesame seeds on top for more plant based protein!

Alongside this vegan alfredo pasta dish I’d suggest serving warm bread, a refreshing salad (like this Tabouli Salad), or even another form of vegetable like roasted nutritional yeast broccoli!

There are three speckled white ceramic bowls filled with creamy six ingredient vegan fettucine alfredo. On top there is fresh chopped parsley and two forks twined into the pasta. In the background surrounding the bowls, there are three small bowls, one filled with red pepper flakes and two filled with more fresh chopped parsley.

How to store? Can you make the sauce ahead of time?

You can store this sauce in the fridge for up to 5 days, and yes! You can totally make ahead of time and reheat as needed. This would be perfect as a part of your a meal prep.

Tips & tricks

– Make sure you use raw, unsalted cashews or cashew pieces. I usually buy from Trader Joe’s.

– Don’t skip the nutritional yeast as this is where you get the traditional ‘cheesy’ flavor from. It’s available at most grocery stores these days, including Trader Joe’s + Whole Foods.

– If you don’t need to keep it vegan, feel free to serve this alfredo dish with an additional protein like seared shrimp or chicken breast.

It is a close-up photograoh of fettucine noodles with a creamy white vegan alfredo sauce mixed into the noodles.

Why This is the Best Vegan Alfredo Sauce

Besides the delicious flavor and ease of only 6 ingredients (!) this Vegan Alfredo is the best because:

– You can use raw cashews, which I love, because then you don’t need to soak overnight or even do a quick soak!

– As I mentioned, it’s just 6 ingredients and takes less than 20 minutes to make this easy alfredo sauce.

– The vegan cashew alfredo sauce is creamy + delicious, no one will know this sauce is made with better for you ingredients!

– As long as you use gluten free pasta, this is a vegan + gluten free recipe that will be perfect for everyone!

And I mean honestly, what’s not to love about pasta + a “chessy” sauce?!

If you’re in the mood for more pasta, check out this Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp Noodles Recipe that will satisfy your pasta cravings with a pop of flavor!

Or for a not-so-traditional “pasta” dish, check out this Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce Recipe that I paired with zucchini noodles (you could use regular pasta as well).

If you try this recipe, please let me know by leaving a comment and rating in the boxes below! I always love to hear from you and it helps other people find this recipe when they search online for the BEST 6 Ingredient Vegan Alfredo Sauce 🙂

bowl of vegan alfredo pasta sauce

6 Ingredient Vegan Alfredo Sauce

Prep: 5 minutes minutes
Cook: 10 minutes minutes
Total: 15 minutes minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Print Leave a Review
Get ready for creamy and "cheesy" deliciousness with this 6 Ingredient Vegan Alfredo that actually tastes like traditional alfredo! Made with a cashew base, this easy vegan alfredo sauce is lighter than most recipes yet still tastes "cheesy" thanks to the nutritional yeast.

Ingredients

  • 12 oz pasta of choice cooked according to package directions
  • ½ cup raw cashews
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • ⅓ cup fresh parsley chopped, optional
  • cracked black pepper

Instructions

  • To a Vitamix or high-speed blender, add the raw cashews, water, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and salt. Blend for 4-5 minutes on medium until you reach a smooth consistency. Set aside.
  • While the cashew mix is blending, heat a large sauté pan to medium and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Add minced garlic and cook 1-2 minutes until it just starts to brown.
  • Add the cashew cream mixture from the Vitamix to the saute pan with the garlic. Cook on medium low for 3-5 minutes, or until sauce has thickened to desired consistency. Taste and season with additional salt if needed.
  • Add cooked pasta to vegan alfredo sauce. Finish with fresh cracked black pepper and garnish with chopped fresh parsley. Enjoy!

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Reader Interactions

1 comments

  1. Christine says

    June 15, 2023 at 12:54 pm

    5 stars
    Delicious!
    I had left over cashew cream from the quiche recipe so turned it into this sauce. I’ve had a lot of pasta already this week so had the sauce drizzled over cooked spinach & mushrooms with some air fried tofu cubes on top. The spinach in particular was perfect with the sauce.
    I’ll definitely be making this again.

    Reply

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There is a dish center of the photo that is filled with ten fresh shrimp spring rolls as well as a small bowl filled with peanut dipping sauce. In the background surrounding the dish there are various bowls filled with red pepper slices, fresh herbs, shrimp, and Earthbound Farm Organic spring mix. There is also a small bowl with sea salt on the side. The backdrop is a rustic wood set.

Shrimp Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Vegetarian Spicy Tahini Rice Noodles

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✨MY MOM’S NOT SO ‘SECRET SAUCE’ NOODLE STI ✨MY MOM’S NOT SO ‘SECRET SAUCE’ NOODLE STIR FRY* featuring @beyondmeat, a veggie and protein filled dinner you need to try for dinner!

Now what’s the secret to this sauce? The secret is that it’s so easy to make, just 5 simple ingredients, and the perfect way to add lots of flavor! I also made sure to add the new Beyond Beef with avocado oil for extra delicious flavor and protein, a whopping 21 grams per serving! This is the 4th generation of @beyondmeat and the flavor is the best yet 👏🏼

Here’s everything you need to make this for dinner this week:

My Mom’s Not So ‘Secret Sauce’: 
⅔ cup mirin
⅔ cup sake
⅓ cup soy sauce
2 tsp fresh garlic, minced
2 tsp fresh ginger, finely minced 

Noodle Stir Fry:
4 tbsp olive oil, divided
⅓ cup red onion, finely diced 
3 cloves garlic, minced 
16oz Beyond Beef 
1 tsp salt
6 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced into thin strips
1 small red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
2 cups broccoli, cut into bite-sized florets
1 cup bean sprouts
10 oz ramen noodles, cooked al dente (1 minute less than package instructions)
⅓ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
3 scallions, thinly sliced
Chili crisp drizzle, optional garnish

Instructions included in comments below ⬇️ 

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💚🌱SEARED SHRIMP SALAD WITH GREEN GODDESS DRE 💚🌱SEARED SHRIMP SALAD WITH GREEN GODDESS DRESSING loaded with roasted asparagus, zucchini and bell pepper,  crumbled feta, marinated artichoke hearts, sunflower seeds, and some radish microgreens I grew in my @grow.leath fieldhouse 🏠 Here’s how you make this beautiful and flavorful salad ⬇️
—
Green Goddess Dressing:
2 scallions (washed & roots cut off)
½ cup fresh cilantro (loosely packed leaves & tender stems)
¼ cup fresh basil leaves 
¼ cup full fat greek yogurt
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice 
2 tbsp water
2 cloves garlic
½ tsp kosher salt + move to taste

Seared Shrimp:
1 lb shrimp, peeled & deveined with tails removed (I used size 22-25 ct)
1 tsp chili powder
¾ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp cayenne
2 tbsp olive oil, divided

Grilled Veggies
½ red bell pepper, seeded & cut into 1” pieces
1 small zucchini, cut into half moons
½ bunch asparagus, ends removed and cut into 1” pieces
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp olive oil 

Salad:
5 cups butter lettuce (1, 4.5oz container)
2 cups baby arugula
1 cup radish microgreens
1 cup marinated quartered artichoke hearts (1, 6.5oz container)
½ cup feta, cubed
⅓ cup roasted sunflower seeds
—
Full instructions continued in the comments below ⬇️ 
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🥖 MONDAY: smoked salmon baguette with horseradish aioli, lemon zest, fresh dill, smashed avocado, capers, and pickled red onions 

🌱TUESDAY: roasted mushroom focaccia melt with melted havarti, arugula, and a horseradish mayo 

🍳 WEDNESDAY: southwest avocado breakfast sandwich, with whipped cream cheese, scrambled eggs, avocado slices, @sidedish southwest drizzle (use code CASEY10 for 10% off!), @growleath microgreens, and pickled red onion

🐟 THURSDAY: tinned salmon chili crisp with @fishwife x @flybyjing sichuan chili crisp smoked salmon, tomato slices, avocado, and sliced scallions

✨ FRIDAY:  herby tahini roasted cauliflower sandwich with fresh dill and pepperoncini peppers 

#sandwiches #sandwichrecipes #lunchrecipes #lunchinspo #sandwich #sandwichrecipe #easylunch #easyrecipes

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