Creamy Plant-based Alfredo Pasta
I’m sure most of you absolutely love creamy, cheesy, alfredo pasta. Growing up in an Asian household, my family rarely ate pasta. However, as I learned to cook, I found myself constantly experimenting in the kitchen to create quick and simple pasta recipes.
A few weeks ago, my sister asked me to make her a dairy-free pasta dish as she is a vegan. My first thought was to use cashews to make a creamy sauce. I went to my local supermarket to search for cashews but they were nowhere to be found. After that, I simply went home and decided to search up ‘How to make creamy vegan pasta without cashews’. I took a quick glance at the google search and I saw that many people used Tofu to make a high protein dairy-free sauce. Therefore, I decided to give it a try and experimented with my ingredients.
Essentially, this led to my creation of today’s recipe which is a creamy, dreamy, dairy-free alfredo pasta without cashews.
Ingredients:
*16 oz dry Spaghetti (or any pasta of choice)
*1 block tofu
*2 tbsp olive oil
*2 - 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
*Half an onion (chopped)
*1 cup plain vegetable broth (no salt added)
*1 - 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (depending on how much cheese flavor you like)
*1 cup pasta cooking water
*Salt & pepper to taste
Optional:
*2 tbsp cashews (to make an even creamier sauce)
*Any veggies you have on hand (I used mushrooms & lettuce)
Recipe
Bring a medium to large pot with water to boil on the stove. Place your desired pasta into pot and cook until al dente (according to package instructions)
Grab a blender and combine tofu, cashews (optional), olive oil, garlic, onion, vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, pasta water & salt and pepper. Blend ingredients until smooth.
Use your leftover pasta water to blanch your vegetables.
Bring a pan to low heat and place your vegan “alfredo sauce” onto the pan. Let the sauce heat up for 1 -2 minutes and mix in your spaghetti or pasta of choice.
Lastly, add more salt & pepper to taste if necessary, and add more pasta water to desired texture if necessary.
Serve on a plate or in a bowl and enjoy!
To see a video post of this recipe, check out the Instagram reel I made for it here!