Vegan Creamy Tomato Pasta with Cashew Cream

When it comes to pasta, do you prefer a creamy sauce or a rich tomato sauce? What about a combination of both? This Vegan Creamy Tomato Pasta is the perfect dish for a quick and delicious meal.

Our Vegan Creamy Tomato Pasta is a combination of a delicious homemade vegan cream sauce made with cashews, yeast flakes, and water and a rich tomato sauce which we leave simmering for quite a long time to get the most delicious flavour.

Served with some finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil from the garden, this meal is a win-win.

We find the end of the summer the perfect time to make tomato sauce or other recipes containing tomatoes such as our Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup or this amazing Pico de Gallo.

We get loads of tomatoes from the garden during these months and if you are buying them in supermarkets chances are that they will be at their best. As well, our garden is full of basil, oregano, and thyme which are perfect herbs to go in your sauce.

So, make the most of this season. Now is the time to cook tomato sauce to be kept in the freezer for the next months.

This recipe is perfect when you want to treat yourself to an amazing pasta dish that's got the best of the tomato flavours combined with the richness of a lovely vegan creamy sauce.

Our Creamy Tomato Sauce is:

• Vegan
• Dairy-free
• Easy to make
• Kid and toddler friendly
• Comfort food
• Gluten-free if using gluten-free pasta

How to make Creamy Tomato Pasta

INGREDIENTS

Tomatoes. To make the best tomato sauce we recommend using tomatoes that are firm with a meaty texture. Choose tomatoes such as San Marzano, Roma or similar. If you cannot find good ones in your local supermarket, try getting canned tomatoes which are good quality (normally they will come from Italy).

Garlic and onion. These ingredients are the base of our rich tomato sauce. White onion and garlic to add flavour to your sauce.

Herbs. Use any herbs you have at home whether they are dried or fresh. Oregano, basil, bay leaf and thyme are our favourite herbs when making a sauce.

Sweetener (optional). The longer you cook your tomato sauce, the sweeter it will get. If you still like the taste sweeter, add some sugar or maple syrup.

Sun-Dried Tomatoes. For this recipe, we used dry sun-dried tomatoes. We add them at the very end finely chopped. They just need to be rehydrated in warm water for 30 minutes before using them. If you are using oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, they won't need to be rehydrated.

Cashews. We use pre-soaked cashews to make the cream for our sauce. Leave the cashews soaking overnight in room temperature water. Or you can soak the cashews the same day, just make sure to use boiling hot water so they will be ready in 20 minutes.

Yeast flakes or nutritional yeast. To give our creamy sauce a cheesy touch, we use yeast flakes. We love adding yeast flakes when making pasta sauces as it’s a good source of vitamin B12 and gives your sauces a delicious cheesy flavour.

How to make the best tomato sauce

I would say two things are really important when making tomato sauce: the quality of the tomatoes and the cooking time.

To make sauces, we always get our cast-iron pot out. I find cooking in this pot way easier as the sauce won't stick and it helps the ingredients to release their natural flavour faster than in a regular pot.

If you have the first part covered and your tomatoes are looking great, all you need now it's time. Once your ingredients are in, leave the sauce to simmer for at least 30-40 minutes. Keep stirring and tasting the sauce as you go and add more herbs, salt, pepper or sugar as needed.

Stir-frying some onion and garlic before adding your chopped tomatoes is a really important step too to get the perfect flavour.

How to make Cashew Cream

If you want to eat more plant-based food but dairy substitutes are challenging to find, you need to try our vegan cashew cream.

All you need to do is leave the cashews soaking overnight in room temperature water or in warm water for at least 20 minutes. Drain the water, rinse the cashews and transfer them into a blender. We use our Ninja Bullet blender for this recipe as we get the best consistency from it.

Add water, yeast flakes and optionally a bit of lemon juice.

Now blend until you have a perfectly smooth consistency. Now your cashew cream it's ready to be used!

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

Pasta combines perfectly with salad. Get yourself a nice leafy green salad with some seasonal ingredients.

Another great option to serve this dish is with some crusty or vegan garlic bread.

If you have any pasta left over you can keep it in the fridge for 4-5 days. Make sure you keep the leftovers in an airtight container.

TODDLER AND KID-FRIENDLY RECIPE

We really hope this is a phase our toddler Luca is going through, but he's become quite picky some days. He is still a really good eater, but some days are more challenging.

This recipe, we know it's a winner. You can make your kid or toddler's favourite pasta shape and we are sure that they will love this dish.

This is a really healthy recipe to give to your toddler or kid. Cashews are a brilliant source of protein, tomatoes contain a great number of antioxidants and vitamins and sun-dried tomatoes are an excellent source of potassium (even better than bananas!).

Choose a whole wheat pasta or legume-based pasta such as red lentil or chickpea pasta to make this dish even healthier. Remember that white pasta contains a high amount of sugar and it's better to avoid.

HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE NUT-FREE OR GLUTEN-FREE

We use cashew cream for our vegan creamy tomato pasta, but we know that nuts present an allergen problem for many people. Also, many schools won’t allow packed lunches containing nuts.

To make this vegan creamy tomato sauce with cream nut-free, substitute the cashew cream for oat cream or coconut milk. We use them in many of our recipes and they work really well when making this sauce too.

If you want to make this recipe gluten-free, simply find a gluten-free pasta such as legume-based pasta.

OTHER RECIPES TO USE CASHEW CREAM

If you made too much cashew cream, don't worry, we've got you covered. Here are some other dishes you can cook with it!

Roasted Red Pepper and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo

Vegan Creamy Mushroom Pasta

Butternut Squash Pasta

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

4.80 from 20 votes

Vegan Creamy Tomato Pasta with Cashew Cream

Our Creamy Tomato Pasta is the perfect combination between a rich tomato sauce and a delicious vegan creamy sauce.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time45 mins

Total Time1 hr

Course: Main Course, pasta

Cuisine: vegan

Keyword: Vegan Creamy Tomato Pasta

Servings: 4 people

Calories: 583kcal

Ingredients

• 1 white or yellow onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 800 ml tin chopped tomatoes or 4 cups fresh chopped tomatoes
• A handful of fresh or dried herbs
• 1 teaspoon sugar optional
• Salt and pepper
• 150 g cashews
• 300 ml water or stock
• 2 tablespoon yeast flakes
• 4-5 sun-dried tomatoes
• 360 g pasta wholewheat

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

• Soak the cashews overnight in room temperature water or leave them soaking for 20 minutes in boiling hot water.
• Boil water in a big pot and add the pasta. Cook following packet instructions. Drain, rinse and leave aside. Save some of the pasta water for later.
• Finely chop the onion and add it to a preheated pot with some olive oil. Stir fry for a couple of minutes until it starts to soften and add finely chopped garlic. Keep cooking for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, fresh or dried herbs, sugar, salt and pepper. If you are using fresh tomatoes you can blend them before adding them into the pot. Stir until everything is combined and leave simmering for 30-40 minutes stirring occasionally. Keep tasting the sauce and adjust to taste.
• Drain and rinse the cashews. Add them in a blender together with the yeast flakes and water or stock.
• Blend until you have a smooth consistency.
• Mix the creamy sauce with the tomato sauce and combine well. Add the cooked pasta and if needed, some of the pasta water.
• Before serving, add some fresh basil and sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped.

Nutrition

Calories: 583kcal | Carbohydrates: 91g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Sodium: 31mg | Potassium: 1068mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1684IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 78mg | Iron: 7mg