Our Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo is a plant-based alternative to the traditional Italian pasta dish "Fettuccine Alfredo". We use cashews and nutritional yeast to create the perfect creamy sauce and ingredients such as sun-dried tomatoes to enhance the flavour of this satisfying meal.
Why you'll love this Vegan Alfredo Recipe
Our Vegan Alfredo is creamy, nutty, packed full of yummy flavours and really nutritious. The perfect meal when you are looking for a hearty and simple recipe to please the whole family.
Sun-Dried tomatoes add a nice salty punch of tomato flavour to our Vegan Alfredo sauce.
This vegan version comes together in 30 minutes and requires just a handful of ingredients that you may already have at home.
We use cashews to create our creamy sauces. We have tried other ingredients such as cauliflower, soy cream or coconut milk but we still prefer cashews. All you need to do is leave them soaking for at least 20 minutes in hot water and then blend them with water using a high-speed blender to create a perfectly smooth plant-based cream. This Vegan Alfredo is just another recipe of our wide collection of creamy recipes made using cashews. You can have a look at other recipes we made such as this Cauliflower Casserole, a mouth-watering Vegan Bechamel or this lovely Creamy Tomato Pasta.
Our Alfredo Fettuccine recipe is:
- Vegan
- Made with cashew cream
- A quick meal (30 minutes)
- Made using simple ingredients
- Creamy
- Nutty
- Family-friendly
- Absolutely delicious
How to make the best Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
Ingredients
Our recipe uses mostly pantry ingredients, which is perfect when you don't have loads of fresh ingredients waiting for you in the fridge!
Dried Fettuccine Pasta. Fettuccine is the perfect pasta to capture the creaminess of the sauce. When you finish your plate, no sauce should be left on it. If your sauce is sleeping down your pasta, that could mean that you chose the wrong type of pasta. Make sure to choose a vegan fettuccine if you want to make the dish 100% vegan, as some fettuccine pasta may contain eggs.
Cashews. We use pre-soaked cashews to make the cream of our plant-based Alfredo sauce. Leave the cashews soaking overnight in room temperature water or you can leave the cashews soaking the same day for at least 20 minutes in hot water.
Yeast flakes or nutritional yeast. To give our sauce a light cheesy flavor, 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.
Sun-Dried Tomatoes. We use Oil-Packed Sun-Dried tomatoes. They can be added to the sauce straight from the jar as they don't need to be rehydrated. If you are using dry sun-dried tomatoes, you'll need to rehydrate them before adding them to the sauce. Simply leave the tomatoes in warm water for a couple of minutes before using them. If you don't have sun-dried tomatoes, you can add a tablespoon of tomato paste while cooking the onion and garlic.
Onion and garlic. To add flavour to our sauce, we use yellow onion and garlic as in most of our recipes.
Fresh basil. To finish the dish, we add some fresh basil. Pasta and pizza are just better with a bit of fresh basil or other aromatic herbs as garnish.
Step-by-Step Method
Cashew Cream
Before you start cooking the alfredo sauce, you want to prepare the cashew cream.
- Leave the cashews soaking in boiling hot water for 20 minutes or in room temperature water overnight.
- Then drain and rinse the cashews.
- Add the soaked cashews to a blender jug with water and nutritional yeast. Blend until you have a smooth cream. To avoid the cashew milk from being grainy, use a high speed blender such as Ninja Bullet or an immersion blender. As well, the longer you soak the cashews, the easier they blend.
Cook the Fettuccine Pasta al dente
To cook your Fettuccine Pasta, simply cook your pasta in salted boiling water following the package instructions as they may have different cooking times depending on the brand.
Check the cooking time for al dente, as Italian pasta should always be cooked al dente.
Before you drain the pasta, save a little pasta water to add later to the sauce, to make it creamier.
Vegan Alfredo Sauce
- Finely chop the onion and crush or finely chop the garlic. Heat some oil or vegan butter in a pan or pot to medium heat and add the onion. When starts to soften, add the garlic and stir to combine the ingredients.
- After 3-4 minutes, slice and add the sun-dried tomatoes. Keep cooking for about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the cashew cream. Turn the heat down to low and let the sauce reduce for a couple of minutes. The sauce will thicken fast, so remove it from the heat when it reduces to the perfect consistency.
- Add cooked pasta to the sauce and adjust by adding a little bit of pasta water to get the perfect creaminess.
Sprinkle some finely chopped fresh basil on the top, and serve.
Serving Suggestions
Our Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo with Sun-Dried Tomatoes can be served as a main dish for lunch or dinner or even served in smaller portions as a first course.
Garnish with fresh herbs such as basil, fresh parsley sage or oregano. Add extra nutritional yeast flakes to taste, black pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Other great garnish ingredients are lemon juice, vegan parmesan cheese, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, toasted cashews, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, or a drizzle of truffle oil.
We like serving this creamy dish with a green leafy salad to add freshness to the meal and some crusty bread or vegan garlic bread to enjoy those last bits of sauce.
If you want to add some more ingredients to the dish, we strongly recommend adding pine nuts and nice black olives such as Kalamata olives. Add some chilli oil or chilli on top if you enjoy spicy food.
Keep any leftovers in the fridge for 1-2 days. Reheat in a pan or using a microwave.
FAQ and Tips
How to make our Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo Nut-free
We use cashew cream for our recipe, but we know that nuts represent an allergen problem for many people. As well, many schools won’t allow packed lunches containing nuts.
To make this Alfredo pasta nut-free, substitute the cashew cream for oat cream, coconut milk, or soy cream. We use it in many of our recipes and it works really well when making this alfredo sauce too.
If you want a vegetarian option, you can use regular heavy cream.
What can I use if I don't have Sun-dried tomatoes?
You can find Sun-Dried tomatoes in many supermarkets or online, but if you want to make this recipe today and don't have them at home, you can use tomato paste to add that umami punch to the sauce.
Can I make this recipe oil-free?
Yes. We use oil to fry the onions and garlic but you can instead roast the garlic and sauté the onion with a little water. As well, instead of using sun-dried tomatoes in oil, you can use sun-dried tomatoes in water or cherry tomatoes.
Can I add vegetables to vegan fettuccine Alfredo?
Yes. Great additions to this meal are portobello mushrooms, spinach, green peas, zucchini, or roasted red peppers.
Can I make Fettuccine Alfredo gluten-free?
Sure! Simply use gluten-free pasta or zucchini noodles for a healthier option. Make sure the rest of the ingredients are tagged as gluten-free as well such as the nutritional flakes or the sun-dried tomatoes.
Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 400 g fettuccine
- 150 g cashews soaked overnight
- 400 ml water
- 2 tablespoon yeast flakes
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- ¾ cup sun-dried tomatoes thinly sliced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- A handful basil
Instructions
- Pre-soak the cashews by leaving them overnight in room temperature water or in warm water for at least 20 minutes.
- Cook the pasta following the packet instructions. Save some pasta water to add at the end.
- Prepare the cashew cream. Drain the water from the cashews and rinse with some cold water. Transfer them into a blender and add 400ml of water and the nutritional yeast. Blend for a couple of minutes until you have a smooth consistency.
- Heat some oil in a pan or pot to medium heat and add the onion. When it starts to soften, add the garlic and stir to combine the ingredients.
- After 2-3 minutes, add the sun-dried tomatoes. Keep cooking for another 2-3 minutes and then add the cashew cream. Turn the heat down to low and let the sauce reduce for a couple of minutes. The sauce will thicken fast, so remove it from the heat when it reduces to the perfect consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the cooked pasta into the sauce and adjust by adding a bit of pasta water to get the perfect creamy pasta.
- Garnish with some finely chopped fresh basil on the top, and serve.
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| If you tried our recipe, please leave a comment or tag us on Instagram @Sixhungryfeet. We are always happy to see your creations! |
Dave says
I love that it’s such a simple and delicious recipe. Best vegan alfredo sauce I’ve had!
Laura says
Thank you Dave! Lovely to hear that 🙂
Ella says
Loved this recipe! All of my family loved it as well, and it’s so easy to make!
Laura says
That's lovely to hear! Thank you Ella!
Debra Miller says
I am trying to cut out oil and salt from my diet. Any suggestions?
Laura says
Hello Debra, Sun-dried tomatoes contain salt so I would suggest using cherry tomatoes instead. About the oil, we just use a little bit to cook the onion and garlic but you can roast some garlic and add into the blender with the rest of the sauce ingredients and omit the onion. Please, let me know if you have any other questions 🙂
Colette Carroll says
I made this for dinner tonight for the kids and myself. Absolutely delicious and creamy. Thanks, so easy, so this will be a regular menu for us.
Laura says
Thank you Colette, happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Fernanda says
Absolutely delicious. I even added extra nutritional yeast, and it only made it richer.
Jason Moser-Wilcox says
This was tremendous, the kids loved it, and have already asked to have it again! Thanks very much!
Laura says
Thank you Jason, really happy to read your comment!
Coleen says
I just tried this with the oat creamer it worked great and I read the comment on low oil and low sodium ans took your advice the plum tomatoes were good and I just water sauté my garlic and onions but roasting the garlic and adding it was soooo good. Thank you! I just found your page! And it’s wonderful! The whole fam loves it!
Laura says
Thank you Coleen, so glad you liked the recipe. Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest recipes!
Kris says
I was excited to make this. But sauce was very bland and felt like missing something. I used sun dried tomatoes that I soaked in hot water to moisten. Felt not enough flavor. Perhaps need better quality tomatoes than I had and used? After tasting, I added fresh spinach to provide some green vegetable. That and a splash of tomato balsamic seemed to improve dish but still lacked the rich flavor I expected. I will try oil based sun dried tomatoes next time.
Laura says
Hi Kris, sorry to hear that. We cook the recipe with oil-based sun-dried tomatoes. They tend to be more flavourful and that could make a big difference. Thanks for your comment as it helps us to keep improving.
Andy says
Very good and easy and quick to make.
I added in 2 chopped up portabelo mushrooms and spinach at the end to make it more filling
Thanks
Astra says
Thank you Andy!