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.
Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I always have to tweak a recipe. This recipe needs nothing added and nothing taken away. Trust me. Don’t change anything. It’s officially been added to our weekly repertoire – and officially my ‘carnivore’ hubby’s fav plant based pasta!
Thank you so much!!!! This was absolutely amazing! I just got done making it!this will definitely be a weekly staple in my life! I made it and used spagetti squash for my noodles and added brocolli!
So very happy to hear how much you enjoyed this Brittany!!
This is delicious!! I folded through sautéed garlic mushrooms and we couldn’t get enough.
Yum! Sounds amazing!
I love this recipe! It is so great that it has no oils and uses simple ingredients.
Thank you Kelly!
If I hadn’t made this myself I would never have believed it was vegan. I made a mistake in caramelizing the onions and garlic, which probably helped with flavor but made the color of the sauce more brown than white. I also overdid it just a bit on the garlic. But it was extremely good anyway, delicious even. Thank you for a great recipe!
This is recipes makes such a delicious alfredo sauce! I have shared it many times with my fellow Alpha Gal Syndrome sufferers. Is it possible to freeze this sauce?
Awesome! yes you can freeze it!
Made this without the nutritional yeast which I don’t use but substituted with miso, it was delicious!
If I make this for a party, will it dry out if I keep it in a crock pot on warm (pasta with sauce)?
I’m not sure, I have not ever tried that. It might get really thick though because of the cashews. It might be ok, just not sure! I don’t own a crockpot.
I have made this many times and it is always enjoyed by all.
I often add lightly cooked asparagus or broccoli to the sauce.
Thank you for this !!
Sue M
That sounds wonderful Susan, sounds amazing!
Made this tonight and was AMAZED! I think I’ll make it again to use on a white pizza with roasted garlic and spinach!
Curious to know how long I could keep a jar in the fridge for future use if I wanted to make it ahead?
That is awesome Amanda!! It will last a week in the fridge!
WOW!!! That is all I can say here… this is THE BEST Alfredo sauce I think I’ve EVER had, dairy free or not!! This blows all other Alfredo sauces out of the park! I didn’t have fresh onion, so I used 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder, so I can only imagine how the fresh onion would make it EVEN BETTER! And the lemon?!? Makes all the difference! *Chef’s Kiss* Be prepared, because you’re going to want to double this recipe. It’s just me, and I ate 1/3 of the sauce, never mind the fact that I wanted to bathe in it! I added some finely chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, and a couple leaves of fresh basil ribbons to the top – YUM!! Next time I’ll be using fresh onions, and will be doubling the recipe so I can make a bigger batch. I can’t wait to try out your other recipes. THANK YOU!!
Yay, this made me happy to read!!
Can I use cashew milk instead of using raw cashews? If so how many grams of cashew milk I can put to replace?Would 1/2 cup nay work? Thanks!
Hi, no you definitely need to use cashews as they are what will thicken and make the sauce creamy. Milk is mostly water, it will not work at all.
I made this with the only change being that I doubled the garlic since we are a garlic-loving household. Perfection! We went with peas for our veg, and we are already planning on asparagus and mushrooms for the next go around. So good, thank you!!
Sounds wonderful!
So easy and delicious!
I’m not sure if I’ve already reviewed this or not but this is our go-to pasta sauce and we love it! It’s one of the few meals all my children like. I seriously love this recipe. Easy, fast and perfect! Thank you for it!
Só good! I used it on my veggie cauliflower pizza and the rest over garbanzo pasta. Yum
I’m a huge Alfredo sauce lover and had to eliminate dairy products. This recipe is spot on!! Followed exactly how written and it came out perfect. I was pleasantly surprised. Thanks for sharing your recipe with us!
My wife was having migraines from certain food triggers, and aged cheeses was one of them. That meant no Alfredo, which was a bummer because we really like it. I looked for a dairy-free Alfredo sauce and found this recipe. I didn’t have a high powered blender the first time I made this, but I bought one right after. The sauce is so good that we prefer this over ordinary Alfredo sauce. In fact, the sauce is so good that we were inspired to search out other vegan recipes for other dishes. We *could* end up going vegan, eventually. All thanks to this recipe. It’s really, really good.
So awesome to hear this Dan!!
I will try this fo dinner tonight
My daughter followed the recipe and made it this evening with shrimp and asparagus. Delicious!!!!
This is AMAZING. Hubby said, it’s better than classic alfredo. SO yummy. I probably added too much garlic, but is there really such a thing? Didn’t even need any parm.
Can’t believe I finally found a delicious vegan Alfredo sauce recipe! And it’s even healthy! I am obsessed with this sauce, I’ve made it twice a week since finding it, can’t get enough. Thank you so much for this, you’re a genius!!
This was delicious!
A few modifications to increase thickness and amount of sauce without adding more fat:
I cooked a chopped medium potato with the onions and added that to the blender. I used pre minced garlic from a bottle instead of peeling and mincing the cloves myself. I also added 2 tsp of tapioca flour and 3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast instead of 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast. I didn’t soak the cashews overnight, but soaked them in hot water for 10 minutes while the onion cooked, and that was enough since I have a high powered blender.
There was plenty of sauce to cover 1 pound of spaghetti (to split between 3 people).
I haven’t made this yet but plan too. All the changes made by Li-San sounds as though that would ruin it. I’m going to try it just as written! Thank you!
Delicious recipe! So creamy, rich and satisfying. Even my omnivore son-in-law loved it, and wanted my daughter to get the recipe so they can make it again later. I added pesto to the sauce at the end for a pesto Alfredo. Absolutely divine!
I loved this recipe! I used chickpea penne pasta instead of traditional to boost the protein while keeping it low glycemic. I also sauteed 8 ounces of chopped portabello mushrooms on the side using it’s own liquid to cook down until all juices were gone. I added this to the finished “alfredo sauce”. I also used a large fistful of cherry tomatoes and blistered them with a little avacado oil in a covered saucepan. When they blistered open rendering their juices, I added a pinch of red pepper flakes, a splash of vegetable broth and a fistful of baby spinach. I cooked this covered until spinach was wilted then I added it to the penne, alfredo sauce, and mushrooms. It was DELICIOUS!
Sounds amazing, I am so happy you loved it!!