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!
*This post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy here.
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.
Is it the “original” or “natural” nutritional yeast you recommend?
I’m not sure..it should say non-fortified.
Delicious!! Thank you for this recipe!
Does this freeze well?
Yes! Just thaw overnight in the fridge an reheat over low.
Got damn this was goooooddddd!
I did t change anything except added an extra clove of garlic. Oooh whee! I don’t miss regular Alfredo sauce!
So happy you loved it Reah!!
This is the most amazing sauce. I keep a jar in the fridge and use it on everything! I put it on pizza and pasta. One of my favorite ways to use this is to open a can of fat free refried beans and mix it with the sauce and use on whole grain tortillas for a quick, easy and tasty lunch! No cheese sauce can compare to this one!!
Made this for dinner and it was awesome! Very easy and quick to make. This will definitely be a regular at our house. Thank you for sharing!
This dish has been a weekly staple for my family over the last two years. My go-to recipe for Alfredo as a veteran vegan due to the taste, texture, and quick process. Would just like to note that it never takes me just 8 minutes to sautee the onions and evaporate the broth no matter how great a pan I have, how high the heat is, the type of range, etc – this is a 15-minute process easily. Just a note so readers know what to expect. Can’t stop, won’t stop! This recipe is life!
So happy you love it Mary, thank you for sharing!
This was awesome! I have thrown out several vegan cheese attempts but even my 4 year old granddaughter liked this one. Great recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Yay, thank you, that’s wonderful to hear!
Loved it!
Best Alfredo recipe!!
Felt like I was getting yelled at the whole time during this recipe but other than that it came out amazing.
Lol! Sorry, I’m just super thorough and want to make sure people have success, as I’ve found from so many years of sharing recipes, if I’m not REALLY specific in instructions, people will miss steps and get mad if the recipe doesn’t work. I promise I’m definitely not yelling, haha
This recipe was absolutely delicious. I just tossed everything in the blender and blended it till smooth and then heated it on med for a couple min. It was a hit. Wonderful. Thank u
Thank you so much Tiff!
I have tried a lot of vegan Alfredo sauces. This one is hands down the best! So good!
Yay, glad to hear it!
Omg, I have been searching for a simple and delicious Alfredo sauce, and WOW, holy crap this recipe blew me and my family’s taste buds away. My 22 month old toddler gobbles the stuff up!
I love so many of your recipes and have your Vegan 8 cookbook. Thank you, thank you for the super tasty recipes!
Woohoo, glad to hear this, thank you Rebecca! Thank you for the kind words!
Holy cow! This recipe is amazing! Thank you so much. I mixed in foraged ramps, morels and black trumpet mushrooms. I’m in heaven.
Yup. Definitely THE BEST Alfredo recipe I’ve found so far. Thank you. So simple & quick. 5 stars.
So wonderful to hear Taylor, thank you!
I made the vegan garlic Alfredo tonight for the first time. It was quick & easy and tasted delicious. I will be putting this in regular rotation for a satisfying easy meal.
Love this recipe, my family requests it all the time. I do wonder however what the fiber count is per serving as I can’t find it listed by the recipe.
This is a really great tasting, creamy garlic sauce! I served it over pasta with some vegan chicken strips and asparragus and its a 5 star recipe hands down!
I made this once before with walnuts and loved it. Tonight I used the raw cashews and didn’t like it quite as much. I find cashews to have a subtle sweetness which I don’t care for in this recipe. Wondering if the yeast would make it more savory since I didn’t use it?? I’ve never used nutritional yeast.
Yes the yeast has a bitter, salty cheesy taste to it so if definitely add that!
This recipe is superb *chefs kiss*
This recipe is absolutely AMAZING! I have a family of six, with my kids ranging from 4 to 17, so as you can imagine, everyone has their own preferences but EVERYONE loves this recipe!! I add roast chicken and avocado to mine but am even thinking of adding some baby spinach and crushed nuts etc. I’m so glad I came across this recipe, thank you 😍😍 p.s. was wondering if you can freeze it as I was thinking of potentially doing a big batch up and freezing it into portions??
This makes me so happy to hear Cherie, thank you for the amazing feedback! Yes, you can freeze it! Just thaw overnight and reheat on very low because cashew-based sauces will thicken up a ton when reheating.
I mixed the sauce with the pasta kind of dry. I added balsamic vinegar which helped. Next time, I’ll make more sauce. Still good!
Yes, don’t add too much pasta at first!
This was delicious! It’s awful that anyone would take credit for your recipe. Shame on them. My entire family was blown away by this sauce. Thank you!
I FORGOT TO GIVE IT 5 STARS!
Delicious! My partner and I loved it. Thank you!