Learn how to make the most delicious 20 Minute Easy Vegan Dairy-free Alfredo that will blow away all your guests, shock them that it is dairy-free and healthy! Rich, creamy, decadent and just 7 ingredients and without any butter or oil!
EASY DAIRY-FREE ALFREDO
Sometimes the most amazing vegan recipes happen as the result of impromptu recipes. This recipe is one of those times. I was planning on making my Best Vegan Garlic Alfredo for dinner one night, but realized I was too low on cashews (gasp!) and out of lemon juice. So, I decided to just throw together some ingredients and wing it with what I had and holy moly, this one turned out just as rich and so amazing. I double dare you to make this for somebody (don’t tell them it’s not full of butter or cream) and tell me they don’t love it. While I love my original (it’s the most popular recipe on the blog).
HOW TO MAKE DAIRY-FREE ALFREDO
First you need to gather the ingredients to make this vegan alfredo:
- raw cashew butter (I make my own here since store-bought tends to be roasted and with added oil, which will not work well)
- vegetable broth
- brown rice flour
- apple cider vinegar
- some dried Italian herbs
- garlic powder
- nutritional yeast
It’s quite different than my original, which uses a lot of cooked onions and garlic, this one does not. But this one with the rice flour makes it so creamy. My husband scarfed it down SO fast and said “this is the best you’ve ever made”. We both debated on me calling it “Restaurant Style Alfredo”. It is just that good.
You will start out by adding the cashew butter, brown rice flour, apple cider vinegar, Italian herbs, nutritional yeast, salt and just blend them up in your blender. I used my Vitamix.
Add them to a pan and it will be very thin (like water), as in the above picture, but after just a few minutes of cooking, it will turn out creamy and fabulous like this.
I’m not kidding that this dairy-free alfredo sauce comes together in 20 minutes. It took exactly 19 minutes to do the pasta from start to finish and only 12-15 minutes for the sauce. You won’t find a more easy vegan alfredo!
This is also perfect for all of you that don’t have high powered blenders needed for raw cashews in so many sauces.
This healthy dairy-free alfredo sauce is so healthy, gluten-free and 100% oil-free. It is also just 8 ingredients (+salt).
MORE VEGAN CREAMY SAUCES
- Vegan White Wine Sauce
- Vegan Lemon Florentine Pasta
- Vegan Pimento Cream Sauce
- Vegan Lemon, Garlic & Thyme Sauce
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Easy Dairy-free Alfredo
Ingredients
FOR THE PASTA
- 14 oz bag pasta of choice
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
ALFREDO SAUCE
- 2 cups (480g) well-flavored low-sodium vegetable broth (SEE NOTE)
- 1/4 cup (64g) RAW cashew butter with NO added oils or salt (I make my own here because it's practically impossible to find a raw oil-free cashew butter in stores.)
- 1-2 teaspoons (5-10g) apple cider vinegar (I find this can really vary depending on brand of broth used, start with none or 1 teaspoon at first.)
- 2 tablespoons (16g) nutritional yeast (Highly recommend the unfortified Sari brand-no weird vitamin taste)
- 2 tablespoons (20g) brown rice flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- optional: any veggies you may want to add
NOTE
- If you would like to use raw cashews (instead of cashew butter) you will just use the same weight amount, which is about a scant 1/2 cup. If you don't have a high-powered blender, then you must soak them overnight in a bowl of water, drain and rinse. Otherwise, your result will be gritty and NOT creamy. A food processor usually works better with soaked cashews versus a blender that isn't very powerful.
UPDATE
- I highly recommend the low-sodium veggie broth by Trader Joe's, if possible or the Pacific brand. Both are so flavorful. If not using nutritional yeast, slightly increase the garlic powder and add a teaspoon of onion powder.
Instructions
- Follow each step closely to have this ready in 20 minutes. You will first need to start your pasta before the sauce. Add 12 cups of very hot water to a large pot and put the lid on (it will come to a boil faster). Turn to high heat and let it come to a boil. Mine took about 10 minutes before it was boiling (yours may be faster). Once it's boiling add the pasta and salt and quickly stir it around to loosen it up. The salt is important because it flavors the pasta. Cook for 9 minutes or until al dente. Yours will vary depending on the pasta used.
- While waiting on the water to boil, add all the "alfredo sauce" ingredients to a blender, starting with just 1 teaspoon of the vinegar. Broth brands greatly vary in flavor and I find depending on the brand used, I may need NO vinegar or only 1 teaspoon. Blend, then taste and decide. Blend until very smooth. It will be very runny, don't worry as it will thicken up a lot when cooking.
- Check your water to see if boiling yet.
- Add the sauce to a large pan over high heat. Once it starts bubbling all over, immediately turn to medium-low heat and whisk continually while letting it cook 3-4 minutes until thickened. You want to continually whisk around the bottom and sides, so the flour doesn't clump. Don't walk away from it! You don't want to overcook because it will thicken up a lot as it cools. Add any veggies if you like. I sometimes add peas and carrots from the freezer and let them cook a minute in the sauce.
- Once the pasta is done, drain and rinse with water to stop the cooking. Brown rice pasta can stick really badly, so I rinse really well and serve immediately. If using regular gluten pasta, you don't need to rinse it. Add to a plate, then add the sauce and garnish with extra dried Italian herbs or red pepper flakes or anything else you like.
Too many comments to read them all so maybe someone already noted, but you listed ACV twice so it’s just 8 I gradients WITH salt! Can’t wait to try this!
Would using cashew butter that does have oil in it work ok? (Store bought cashew butter?) Thanks!
Hi Paige, cashews will oil tend to be roasted or have a really strong flavor. I don’t use oils so I can’t say exactly how it will affect the taste and texture of the alfredo, but you are of course can certainly try it.
So yummy and easy to make!
Yay! Thrilled to hear that!
My daughter and have to avoid dairy and saturated fat, and we have really missed alfredo sauce. I have tried cauliflower alfredo sauce recipes, but I have been a little disappointed with them. I am so excited to try your recipe! I don’t have brown rice flour, but I do have brown rice, a Vitamix blender, and a Nutrimill (grain mill). Did you buy your brown rice flour or make your own? Would you suggest using the Vitamix or Nutrimill to grind the brown rice? Thanks!
Hi Hillary! You can just sub white flour if you like, that should work the same 🙂 I do buy my own brown rice flour though, Bob’s Red Mill brand. It is sold at many stores these days and is very inexpensive. I use it for all of my thickening in soups and also like to use it in baking. If you want to make your own, I guess the Vitamix would work fine, I’m not sure, I’ve never tried it!
WOW. I fed this to non-vegan friends and they could not believe that it didn’t have cream or dairy in it. By far the best alfredo sauce I’ve ever tasted!
Yay! So awesome to hear that Jen! What a glowing review, thank you! If you get a chance to leave a star rating right below the comment box, I would so appreciate it!
Thanks for the recipes. I’m newly vegan so am thrilled to find so many delicious recipes. This turned out great. I didn’t have enough cashews so added walnuts. still tasted good.
So happy to hear you loved it!
This is delish! Everyone in my family loves it, even my omni husband. We sprinkle it with red pepper flakes and parsley at the table. Also, I just pour the sauce into the freshly cooked and drained pot of noodles and stir till thick. Saves a pan. Thanks for this recipe!
Thank you so much Alisa, so happy to hear you all loved it! Yay!
This was good even with a cashew butter that had sunflower oil and salt added. I don’t usually add extra salt to pasta while cooking or even in recipes, really. My family seems to enjoy it! Win =D
So glad you enjoyed it!
Holy Cow! This is delicious! I just made it for supper and am blown away. We have been plant-based for about three years now, but most recipes that are imitations don’t live up. This does! I usually don’t say we are having vegan alfredo or vegan mac n cheese. I usually just say it is a pasta, because I don’t want unrealistic expectations, but this I can definitely call alfredo. Didn’t have cashew butter and didn’t want the extra step of making it first, so I just used a heaping 1/2 cup of cashews and blended with the rest of the ingredients. Simple and turned out great. I added frozen broccoli chopped as that was the way I used to eat alfredo! Thanks again!
So awesome to hear that Andrea! Thank you so much for the amazing review, so happy to hear this was so enjoyed!
I tried this recipe amd my kids and I loved it! They even liked it better than store-bought alfredo!
So awesome to hear that Yadira!!
This sauce is the best thing ever. 🙂 Raw cashew butter is super expensive so I’ve been using regular for now but it’s soooooo good.
Awesome Hannah, thank you for the awesome review!
Oh. My. Goodness! So delicious! New to the plant-based lifestyle and I was really sad to be giving up cheese! I stumbled upon this recipe from a Facebook group and I had to try it! I used cashew butter with added oil since it was all I had and it turned out fabulously! Thank you so much! 🙂
So very happy you loved this Samantha, thank you for the review!
Hi Brandi! To make the cashew butter – I have a Ninja blender. Do I blend the cashews raw or do I soak them first? Thank you!
Hi Rachel! I hope it works in the Ninja! No, definitely don’t soak them 🙂 Just use as raw.
Made this tonight and tried making my own cashew butter but apparently my blender is terrible. So I took a risk and used the hazelnut butter i had on hand and mixed in some of the more buttery parts of my cashews. And i didn’t have rice flour so I used corn starch… And while I have no idea how it compares to the original… it was pretty darn amazing! Thanks for the recipe!!
Oh, wow, hazelnut butter?! I’m so glad it all worked out in the end, thank you so much Dani!
Brandi, I made this recipe last night. Alfredo Sauce is one of my husband’s favorite. This was super easy to make, and I could tell when I started heating up the sauce, that it was going to a good one, as it thickened.
Oh my gosh, it was so delicious!! My husband said of ALL the alfredo’s he’s tasted, your recipe was his absolute favorite!! He had 3 helpings. There were no leftovers and I doubled the recipe!!!
It takes a while to find vegan recipes that everyone will like, and not know it is vegan, but this was one of those recipes! Creamy, delicious and no one will ever know it is vegan!! Thank you for sharing it.
We will definitely be eating this one once a week!!
Oh, this makes me SO happy to hear Robyn! Thank you so much for the glowing review! Loved that he ate 3 servings, haha! So glad he loved it!
This is THE closest to the milk and butter based Alfredo that I’ve ever tasted. Everyone I’ve served this to gives rave reviews and doesn’t believe it’s vegan.
Thank you so much Estee for the wonderful review!
This is delicious! My husband and I are beginning a mostly plant-based diet and trying different recipes. My husband said he wants to eat this once a week! It will definitely stay in the rotation.
So very awesome to hear that Renee, thank you so much for the wonderful review! Yay!
We loved the 20 Minute Alfredo sauce. I am not a very good cook and can get things mixed up in a recipe and do it wrong!! This was sooooo easy and quick and tasted like a buttery, creamy sauce. My husband was impressed!! Thank you for all of your hard work.
Thank you so much Linda, I’m so happy to hear you all loved this!
You are KILLIN’ IT with this dish. It was easy to make, and watching it thicken into a rich sauce was so cool. I subbed gluten free ap flour, and it was fine. I added diced veggies to it at the end and nearly ate leftover sauce out of the jar. This is saving me because I cannot have gluten or dairy. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thank you!
I am so, so happy to hear how much you loved this Angie! Thank you so very much for taking the time to leave such a kind review!
I have made this many many times and it has been the go to alfredo sauce since we went vegan and quite frankly beats any non-vegan alfredo sauce I have ever had previously. This sauce is delicious over pasta, yes and over broccoli and with good bread dipped into it…..the list goes on. When I’m introducing whole grain plant based eating to someone new, this is one of the recipes I share immediately. I know their kids will love it and it will be a go to meal for them. I love that there are only 8 ingredients and that they are all ingredients almost everyone who is eating Whole-grain plant-based would already stock in their pantry. Thank you Brandi!!! This is the Bomb!!!
This is so wonderful to hear Rebecca! Mmmm, dipping bread in, yes! So good! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe to people in your life, I really appreciate it! Thank you for your kind words!
This was so yum!
I realized halfway through making it that I had no rice flour (not sure how that happened) so I subbed corn flour and it was still fantastic.
I made my own cashew butter as per your instructions. I have heaps left over. How long will this last in the fridge? I’ll probably use it to make more of this Alfredo but it won’t be straight away as I have heaps of that leftover too 😉
I’m so very happy to hear you loved it Claire, thank you so much for the review!
Amazing!!!!! I am what you call a medical vegan with no oil – Following The China Study.
Thank-you ! Thank-You!
My husband is not really a vegan nor is he a fan of many vegan dishes I….He loved this and even licked the plate!!! (So did I) This was soooo yummy and so easy.
Appreciate it!!
This is so wonderful to hear! I’m so happy you both loved it so much. Thank you for the awesome feedback!
Brandi, I would love to make this for my large family but I am unclear as to how much this recipe makes. The only clue is where it says “Serves 1/4 cup sauce”. Does this recipe really only make 1/4 cup of sauce?
Hi there! So sorry for the confusion. I just fixed the recipe. It actually makes a lot more than that, about 2 cups of sauce and then of course the pasta added to that. I just meant that about 1/4 cup of sauce is usually enough per plate with the pasta but obviously add as much as you like 🙂 I have a family of 3 and we always have extra sauce, so it makes a good amount but if you have a really large family, I would probably double the recipe and make sure to use a really large sauce pan!
Thank-you for the quick reply, Brandi!! That clarification helps a lot. Now I can put this recipe on the menu😊
I been doing some serious overeating tonight and I almost licked my plate. This was the best pasta dish I ever had!
The sauce was absolutly amazing!
I posted it – with a link to your blog telling people that it wasn’t my creation – and with a swedish translation om my blog. I hope it is ok 🙂
Hi Brandi, I just made this tonight and it was absolutely divine. We aren’t vegan so I threw some chicken in along with the peas and mushrooms –
the results were so creamy and cheesy. It blew us away! Thanks for sharing your recipes – you have a big new fan over here in Singapore! X
So awesome Sumi! That is wonderful. Thank you so much for the feedback!