I have to admit, when I first started trying to work more vegan dishes into my roster I was super skeptical about how to substitute out cream sauces. I love all things cheese, cream and butter and substituting cashews for creamy sauce just seemed strange. Boy was I wrong to think that though. This Alfredo recipe was one of the first totally vegan recipes I tried and I am now a full believer! Repeat after me: “I don’t need cheese!”. I’m not sure how effective a chant will be so if that didn’t work just take 30 minutes out of your day and make this recipe instead.
Using cashews for the cream sauce works fantastic. This dish is packed with protein and healthy fats so it’s almost guilt free, other than the pasta of course. It is creamy and flavorful, enough to trick the most unhealthy eater in your house.
It does not take too long into experimenting with vegan cooking to realize that soaked cashews are one of your best friends! As a pro tip, I order them in bulk on Amazon and it’s way cheaper than buying them in the store. Keep a jar of soaked ones in your fridge and in no time you can bust out a nacho cheese or this Alfredo sauce.
I hope you guys love this recipe as much as I do. It’s quick, easy creamy, flavorful, filling and healthy! Serve it on it’s own or topped with regular or vegan parm. Enjoy!
Until Next Time,
Jackie
The Creamiest Vegan Mushroom Alfredo
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This extra delicious Fettuccine Alfredo is 100% vegan, made with cashews so it's packed with protein and it takes only 30 minutes to make!
Author: Jackie DeSana
Recipe type: Dinner, Pasta
Cuisine: Italian, Vegetarian, Vegan
Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 2 cups cashews, soaked for at least three hours, preferably overnight
- 1 box Fettuccine noodles
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 8 ounces of white mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1½ cup vegetable stock
- ½ cup dry white wine*
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- a handful of fresh basil, chopped
- 2 tbs olive oil
- A generous pinch of salt and pepper
- pinch of red pepper flakes
Directions
- Fill a large pot with water and add salt and a drizzle of oil and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, place the Fettuccine in and cook to al dente. After the pasta is done, strain and toss in some more olive oil. Set aside.
- While the pasta is boiling, place the cashews, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, water and nutritional yeast in a small food processor and blend on high. If the sauce is too thick add more water. Add salt and pepper to taste and set the sauce aside.
- In a large sauce pan heat two tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of red pepper flakes over medium heat. Add in the mushrooms and onions and stir for about four minutes until the mushrooms are about half cooked down. Then add in the garlic, salt, pepper, dried oregano and parsley. Stir continuously for about another 4 minutes until the mushrooms have been completely cooked down and their liquid has been released.
- After the mushrooms have been cooked down, add in the white wine, bring to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the wine is reduced by half. Stir in the cashew cream sauce and the vegetable stock. Stir the mixture continuously for 5 minutes until it forms a creamy sauce. It should look similar to Alfredo. If it starts to get too thick you can add more vegetable stock to thin it out. I had to add about another ½ cup.
- Add the cooked Fettuccine noodles directly to the pan and toss with the sauce. Garnish with fresh basil and vegan Parmesan cheese! It will heat up really well but you may want to keep some vegetable stock on hand because the sauce will thicken up in the fridge.
Notes
*If you don't use white wine, you can substitute more vegetable stock and just skip the step of cooking it down.
**This sauce thickens up in the fridge so if you reheat it, thin it out with some vegetable stock or even vegan butter for richness.
**This sauce thickens up in the fridge so if you reheat it, thin it out with some vegetable stock or even vegan butter for richness.
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