Learn how to make absolutely #1 The Best Vegan Garlic Alfredo Sauce as rated by readers! So easy, dairy-free, oil-free, just 6 ingredients (+salt & pepper) and so incredibly creamy and full of flavor!
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VEGAN GARLIC ALFREDO SAUCE
One of most people’s indulgent comfort foods is alfredo sauce. I admit, I used to love it too, but I didn’t love how after just a few bites, I felt sick. There is such a thing as foods being too rich. Feeling nauseated and in a nasty food coma for hours after eating something isn’t really worth it to me. Enter the best Vegan Garlic Alfredo Sauce you’ll ever have.
HOW DO YOU MAKE VEGAN ALFREDO SAUCE?
Easy, you just need 6 simple ingredients:
- raw cashews
- onion
- garlic
- lemon juice
- nutritional yeast
- low sodium vegetable broth
First, you will cook your onions low and slow until really tender.
Add the garlic and cook until soft. Add the onion and garlic to a blender with the remaining ingredients. Blend until completely smooth.
Serve over pasta and enjoy the decadent, but healthy, vegan alfredo sauce!
No need to try any further anymore. This one is dairy-free and oil-free. Most vegan versions contain vegan butter or oil, not healthy. This one is made from cashews which make it exceptionally creamy. I wanted a whole food version and oil-free.
WHY VEGAN ALFREDO IS BETTER THAN TRADITIONAL
Traditional garlic alfredo sauce has butter, milk, cream, parmesan cheese (or other cheeses) and garlic in it. Major dairy overload! Bloated, icky feeling. It also does not have onion in it. However, I wanted to give my alfredo sauce that slightly, sweet richness typically reached by cream and butter, so I added cooked onions, lots of them.
Here’s a little side by side nutrition for my alfredo sauce in comparison to Olive Garden’s version:
Mine per 1/2 cup serving which is a hefty serving:
125.2 calories, 7 g fat, 5.6 g protein, 11.3 carbs
and Olive Garden’s: (they use heavy cream, milk, lots of cheese and 6 egg yolks, see here)
460 calories, 43 g fat!!, 9 carbs, 8 grams protein
Wow, what a difference! Hey, so it has a hair less carbs, but who cares when all of my ingredients are quality ingredients and not heavy on the heart. Nothing wrong with indulging occasionally, but you could eat my alfredo sauce weekly with much less guilt.
DOES IT REALLY TASTE LIKE ALFREDO?
I know what you are thinking….does it really taste like garlic alfredo sauce?? Well, my hubby said, “spot on” and then “it really tastes exactly like garlic alfredo sauce”. I was shocked. I’ll let you be the judge. I’d say it is pretty darn close, especially considering it doesn’t have any of the typical ingredients!
Regardless, it is delicious and very creamy and you can eat this alfredo sauce without tons of guilt.
Other Vegan Alfredo Recipes to try:
Sadly, this recipe is my MOST popular weekly and is continuing to be stolen and copied and posted by other sites/blogs without ANY credit. It is very upsetting, so please know that I worked hard to create this recipe years back and it is my original creation. If you like this recipe, please give credit where credit is due.
the Best Vegan Garlic Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 medium white onion, diced (200g) (MAKE SURE to measure out 1 1/2 cups b/c this is where lots of flavor comes)
- 1-2 cups (240-480g) low sodium vegetable broth, divided
- 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 x-large (15g) minced garlic cloves
- 1/2 heaping cup (75g) raw unsalted cashews (see NOTE)
- 1/2-1 tablespoon lemon juice (start with just 1/2 and taste after blended!)
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (I highly recommend this Sari brand, it is non-fortified with much better taste.)
NOTE
- It is not recommended to sub or eliminate any of these ingredients, as I cannot vouch for the results if any are changed. The lemon juice is crucial, as it eliminates any cashew flavor.
NOTE
- If you are using raw cashews and 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.
Instructions
- Add the onion and ONLY 1 cup of the broth to a large pan over medium to medium-high heat. Cook for about 8 minutes until the onion is very tender. (Add a tiny bit more broth if it is cooking too fast or turn the heat down, so the onions don't burn) After 8 minutes, add the garlic and cook a couple of minutes more, stirring often. All of the broth should have evaporated by now. If not, keep letting it cook until the broth is GONE. You don't want any more liquid once it's done cooking, so the end result is thick and creamy.
- Add the cooked veggies (the onion and garlic) to a blender. Start out by adding JUST 1/2 cup more of the remaining broth and add the remaining ingredients (salt, pepper, cashews, starting with JUST 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, nutritional yeast-starting with just 2 tablespoons yeast). Blend on high for a couple of minutes until very creamy and smooth. Add any more broth to reach desired consistency, if necessary. I did not. If you don't add more broth, you would likely not need any more yeast. Taste and add any more salt & pepper or lemon, if desired.
- Serve over preferred pasta. Note: When preparing your pasta, make sure to salt your water well, so your pasta has flavor and isn't bland, which can affect the end flavor result of the dish. I add around a tablespoon to a large pot of boiling water. Garnish with parsley, lemon zest and salt & pepper, if desired. Add any veggies you like. I like to add broccoli or even peas. Store leftovers in the fridge. The sauce will thicken up even more overnight, which you can thin out a little with a touch of broth when reheating, if necessary.
Sweet Baby Jesus, absolutely delicious, like “I’m licking my plate delicious! I used spaghetti squash and it was amazing together.
Just finished cooking and eating the Alfredo! And I’m stuffed!! It was GOOD! I didn’t have any cashews, so I used Brazil Nuts, and it worked ok. Can’t wait to do it again with cashews.
Really nice. Thank you!
Awesome! Yes cashews definitely by far provide the best flavor and texture here!
I have made this recipe dozens of times past five years and it is so dang good and versatile. Add pesto or white wine or Dungeness crab and peas or chanterelle mushrooms or broccoli…endlessly delicious
Made this sauce tonight and it was fantastic! I threw in two good handfuls of spinach along with my noodles and shiitake mushrooms. I kept dancing at the dinner table because it was so yummy!
I desperately want to try this as but my son has a cashew allergy period what do you think about substituting white beans? Any other substitutes you can think of? Thanks in advance!
Hi! Make this one instead, it’s nut-free. I wouldn’t sub beans, here, no. https://thevegan8.com/nut-free-vegan-garlic-alfredo-sauce/
This was AMAZING!!!!!! Everything that is said about it being better than regular is true. Loved it!
Woohoo!!
It turned out to be so good!! Even my non-vegan husband loved it. I didnt have any veggie stock so i subbed with kombu water and it was just fine. Funny how recipes adapt in different parts of the world, right? 🙂 A big thank you from Seoul💚I can’t wait to try your other recipes as well!
That’s so wonderful! Hi! So cool you’re from Seoul!
Can I use this sauce to make a vegan lasagna? I’m trying to make ahead and plan to cook it then freeze it until Sunday. Would this sauce dry out too much in a lasagna?
Yes I think that would work great and other readers have used it too!
This was insane! I didn’t hold much hope as I made a garlic Alfredo sauce a couple of weeks prior and it kind of put us off, but omg, this is definitely our new ‘cheat’ meal!!
Yay!! So glad it was a hit!
This is delicious. Thank you
I absolutely love this recipe! And sometimes I substitute vegan broth for pea or cashew milk.
Thanks for sharing this recipe, it’s one of our favorites!💕
Great recipe! I made a batch today & it was a huge hit!
I cook once in a while and it usually has to look super easy. I made the vegan garlic alfredo sauce and shared with my daughter and son-in-law. We all liked it. It is very good, very easy to make and I absolutely WILL make again. I followed the recipe exactly. Great!! Thank you!
I read this recipe and all the comments and decided that I needed to taste it tonight. The timing is accurate and all the yummy descriptions are spot on. I love the taste of buttery creamy sauce. Surprisingly this tastes just like it but doesn’t hurt my stomach!! Delicious, rich, exceptional recipe that hit the spot. Thank you!
Yay Jen!!
I love this recipe..Thank you.
I’d live to make this tonight, how can I give you credit in tik tok?
Hi! That’s so sweet, thank you! Just tag me at @thevegan8brandi
I just made this tonight – it’s delicious! I added maybe 2 cups of frozen peas, and an unmeasured amount of basil and parsley. I ended up adding in a cup of cashews – it measured one cup BEFORE I soaked them; 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice, 3 tbsp nooch, and almost all the broth. It was killer – I’ll be making this many more times. Thanks for the recipe!
So awesome, thank you Johanna!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I happened upon your site when looking for a creamy vegan pasta sauce. As the name says, it is “The Best Vegan Garlic Alfredo Sauce”. I am looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
That is awesome to hear!
This is probably one of the best vegan alfredo recipes I have tried. It was so flavorful and quite simple to make. I made the recipe as is and added a little more salt to my bowl once served to balance out some of the sweetness, but that’s just personal preference. This will definitely be on our regular rotation.
Very sorry to hear this recipe is being stolen. I’ve made it several times – delicious without fail. Kids love it too… thank you! A regular on our home menu.
Thank you so much Regina, that is wonderful!
This is a tasty creamy sauce for fettuccine, and we enjoyed it. But … It is NOT a good vegan version of Alfredo sauce. The nutritional yeast brands it something different. Maybe without the “nooch” and with a little nutmeg, it would be closer to the real deal. Will try again with these modifications.
It could be the brand of yeast. Some are way stronger than others and taste like vitamins. Always use unfortified.
I’m the only vegan in my family, yet this is a meal that everyone in the house loves. Highly recommend!!!
You are so right in everything you said! What a wonderful hack to make a comfort food into practically a superfood! I personally like to add a itty bit of olive oil to mine! But this is an AMAZING recipe that is so easy to make that it’s now a staple sauce and I don’t even have to glance at a recipe sheet – It’s all in my head! THANK YOU!!!
So wonderful, thank you Cathy for the review!
Love this sauce and want to double it and freeze some. How do I print a doubled recipe? I don’t see that option.
So wonderful to hear Carolyn! I’m sorry, the recipe card doesn’t have that function, I apologize!
Made it and Loved it. Pleasantly surprised. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication in making the recipe. Can’t wait to try the vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. So glad I found you.
*****
So kind and glad to hear it Janice!