This vegan fettuccine Alfredo is made with tender pasta dressed in a sauce that's so rich and creamy...you'd never guess it was dairy free!
It's tough to think of a dish that's more rich and comforting than fettucine Alfredo. Is it even possible to create a vegan fettuccine Alfredo that's as delicious and decadent as the original? I'm happy to say that the answer is a resounding yes!
Cashews are the magic ingredient, just like they are in so many of my favorite creamy vegan recipes like vegan mac & cheese, vegan cheesecake, and vegan scalloped potatoes. Blend them up with roasted garlic and a few other ingredients, and you've got one amazing dairy-free Alfredo sauce.
My other secret ingredient: roasted garlic. It does double duty here by adding flavor and silky texture to the sauce.
There's a lot of garlic in this recipe, but don't worry! Roasted garlic is super mellow and buttery — mild enough to eat on it's own. Mild enough even, to include a whole bulb in a recipe, or even two, as I've done here. I promise, if you follow the recipe, the garlic flavor will not be overpowering.
Let's talk about how this dish comes together!
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What You'll Need
- Garlic. Choose big bulbs with nice big cloves if you can!
- Olive oil. You could substitute with another high-heat oil if needed, but olive will give you the best flavor.
- Dried fettuccine pasta. You can absolutely substitute your favorite pasta shape — the dish won't be fettuccine Alfredo, but it'll still be delicious!
- Raw cashews. They absolutely must be raw. Roasted cashews will make your vegan Alfredo sauce taste like cashew butter! You'll need to soak them in some water for a few hours to soften them up for blending.
- Non-dairy milk. Just about any variety will do, as long as it's unflavored and unsweetened.
- Lemon juice. Be sure to use freshly squeezed juice for the best flavor.
- Salt.
How to Make Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Roast the Garlic
- Cut the top off of your garlic bulbs, drizzle them with oil, then wrap them loosely in foil. Pop them into the oven until the cloves are browned and soft. (You can boil your pasta while the garlic roasts. Be sure to save a bit of your pasta water — we'll get to that in a bit!)
- Open up the foil and let them cool when they're done cooking. Once they're cool enough to handle you can squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of the bulbs.
- If you're never roasted garlic before, check out my tutorial on how to roast garlic for some detailed instructions.
Make the Alfredo
- Now place your roasted garlic into a blender or food processor, along with your soaked raw cashews, non-dairy milk, lemon juice, and salt. Blend the mixture until it's smooth and creamy. Be patient! Blending can take a few minutes, especially if you're not using a high-powered blending device.
- Tip: if you forget to soak your cashews, try boiling them for 20 minutes. They might not blend up quite as smooth, but the dish will still be delicious.
- Pour the sauce over your pasta and stir it up. It'll probably be very thick. That's okay! Thin the sauce with some of that pasta water you saved. The starch in your pasta water will also help bind the sauce to the pasta.
Pile your pasta onto plates. If you'd like, top it with a sprinkle of fresh parsley, red pepper flakes, and/or vegan Parmesan cheese.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover vegan fettuccine Alfredo will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3 days. The sauce might thicken up during storage — just add some water when you reheat the pasta if it does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Just use your favorite gluten-free pasta.
Macadamia nuts or sunflower seeds usually work, but I haven't tested either with this recipe. If you're not up for risk-taking, try this cauliflower fettuccine Alfredo instead.
Nope! The pasta water helps bind the sauce to the noodles, but it's not strictly necessary. Use regular old water or some more non-dairy milk instead.
More Creamy Vegan Pasta Recipes
- Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
- Vegan Pasta Alla Vodka
- Creamy Vegan Pesto Pasta
- Vegan Cajun Pasta
- Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Pasta
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
Ingredients
For the Roasted Garlic Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
- 2 garlic bulbs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 12 ounces dried fettuccine pasta
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4-8 hours, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup unflavored and unsweetened soy or almond milk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
Instructions
Roast the Garlic
- Preheat the oven to 400°.
- Cut the tops off of the garlic bulbs, cutting just low enough to expose all of the cloves.
- Place each garlic bulb on a sheet of aluminum foil and drizzle the top with a tablespoon of olive oil. Loosely close the foil over each garlic bulb and place it into the oven.
- Roast the the garlic until the cloves begin to turn light brown and soften, about 40 minutes.Â
- Remove the garlic from the oven, open the foil, and allow the garlic to cool for a few minutes.
Cook the Pasta
- While the garlic roasts, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook it according to the package directions.Â
- Drain the pasta into a colander, reserving at least ½ cup of the pasta boiling water. Return the pasta to the pot and toss it with a dash of olive oil.
To Make the Sauce
- When the garlic has cooled, squeeze the bulbs to extract the roasted garlic cloves, then place them into a blender or the bowl of a food processor fitted with an s-blade.
- Add the cashews, milk, lemon juice, and salt. Blend the mixture until smooth.
- Taste-test the sauce and season with additional salt, if desired.
Serve
- Pour the roasted garlic Alfredo sauce over the pasta and toss to coat. Thin the sauce with the reserved pasta boiling water, using as much as is needed.
- Divide the pasta onto plates and optionally top it some fresh parsley, red pepper flakes, and/or vegan Parmesan cheese. Serve.
Notes
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I thought this was delicious exactly as written! So rich and creamy! Next time I make it (and there will be a next time), I might try adding black pepper and a little nutritional yeast to the sauce, just to see if I like it, but it was really good as it is.
My husband can not eat tomatoes and recently decided to try dairy free also. Makes it hard to come up with a pasta dish. This dish turned out delicious. We both enjoyed it very much. Took it for him to eat at a friends house where they were serving pasta (He has celiacs so everyone is used to us bringing food for him.). Our friends tried it and were amazed that it had that much garlic but still tasted so good. It is a keeper.
Where's the cashews in the instruction? Here is what you say ---: Now place your roasted garlic into a blender or food processor, along with non-dairy milk, lemon juice, and salt. Blend the mixture until it's smooth and creamy.
Am I the only one who noticed this?
Recipe is delish - I always add chopped steam broccoli. And to think I used to make this with tons of cream, butter, and egg yolks. YUCK!!
Hmmm...I'm not seeing what you're seeing. For me the cashews are in step 2 under "to make the sauce." Try clearing your browser cache or looking at the recipe in incognito mode - I'm wondering if you're somehow seeing an older draft of it that I saved. I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe!!
Joanne is talking about your instructions under "Make the Alfredo" (above the recipe) where it says, "Now place your roasted garlic into a blender or food processor, along with non-dairy milk, lemon juice, and salt. Blend the mixture until it's smooth and creamy. Be patient! Blending can take a few minutes, especially if you're not using a high-powered blending device."
But in the actual recipe, you include the cashews in Step 2.
Ah! Thank you! I just fixed it.
I usually don’t comment on recipes but oh my word. I never understood the hype about pasta, probably because I can’t do diary. This recipe changed my mind and I am now on-board the pasta obsession train! I did everything following the recipe except I added a tbsp of nutritional yeast. So worth it!!!
I've made this twice now - it is so delicious! My daughter loves fettucine alfredo and said she prefers this sauce to the real thing.
Hello, if I'm skipping the mushrooms, do I use both bulbs in the sauce?
Yup!
Can you offer any alternative to the cashews? Maybe tahini? My boyfriend is deathly allergic! But I am dying to make this!
Can he have macadamia nuts? They usually work! Cauliflower also makes a great vegan Alfredo sauce: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/cauliflower-fettuccine-alfredo/
How long does the sauce last?
It should be fine for 3 or 4 days in the fridge.
The most delicious thing we have had in a long time and I have cooked several vegan alfredos. This one takes the cake. Your recipes are far better than hot for food, minimalist baker, and oh she glows HANDS DOWN. xx keep up the good work!
Yay!! I'm SO happy to hear that!! Thank you so much Rebekah!
Can I make this ahead of time and reheat when eating
Also I love the chickpea loaf recipe but my friend is allergic to chickpeas. can i use pinto beans or white navy beans.Thanks
You can, but I'd store the mushrooms and the pasta separately. The sauce might dry up a bit - if that happens just add a few splashes of water or non-dairy milk.
We made this last night and it's amazing!!! A couple of things you can't skip in this recipe - roasting the garlic (OMG, it's wonderful!), using some kind of wine (we used rice cooking wine and it was delicious), soaking the cashews for a while (I've sometimes done "quick" soak with boiling water and left for an hour, but it's not as smooth and smooth alfredo is yummy!). Thank you for a wonderful recipe that is now in our family cookbook!!
Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!
I loved this, but how many calories does this have?
Thank You!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I don't normally calculate calories for my recipes, but this is a great tool if you'd like to take a crack at it: https://www.verywell.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4129594
This recipe is so delicious. I added a bit of nutritional yeast to the sauce. Otherwise I made the recipe as is.
Glad to hear it! Nutritional yeast sounds like a great addition to the sauce.
Hey Rhonda - How much nutritional yeast did you add? I was thinking of doing the same thing. Thanks!
This is perfect timing, thank you! I planned on making pasta with roasted cauliflower at some point this week and kept wondering what to do about a sauce. I was a HUGE fan of the kalefredo, so this will be perfect! I'll round out my cauliflower plans with mushrooms and all will be right with the world :)
Perfect! I think if you liked the kalefredo you'll enjoy this one too. :)