Why you need this dairy free Alfredo sauce in your life
I think creamy pastas might be one of the first things you miss when you switch to a dairy free diet. Personally, the only thing I miss more is cheese itself.
For a while, we were making lactose free Alfredo sauce – which is really just a creamy, garlic sauce – using lactose-free milk. When we went fully dairy free, I just tried not to think about it, but, eventually, I found myself craving creamy, garlicky pasta.
I made a few different versions with store-bought vegan cream cheese. They were definitely good, but since I try really hard not to rely solely on those kinds of products, I didn’t want to make it very often.
It wasn’t until I started experimenting with cashew cream and my dairy free queso, that I realized the creamy base I was developing would work equally well as a pasta sauce. And, now I have a million different creamy pasta recipe ideas floating around in my head.
More dairy free pasta recipes: butternut squash pasta sauce / pasta carbonara / BLT pasta salad / vegan vodka sauce / penne bolognese
my favorite blender
You’ll need a quality blender or food processor to make the cashew cream for this recipe. If you’re in the market for a new one, I really recommend a high speed blender like this Vitamix for the smoothest results.
Ingredient notes:
- All-purpose flour – This helps thicken the sauce. If you want to make the sauce gluten free, you’ll need to swap it for cornstarch or a GF flour blend. If you go with cornstarch, reduce the amount to 1 tablespoon.
- Olive oil – You can swap this for melted dairy free butter or another type of fat, like coconut oil.
- Coconut milk – You want full-fat canned coconut milk for added creaminess.
- Cashew cream – We use homemade cashew cream for this, but you can also make it with blanched almonds if needed. Learn more about cashew cream here.
- Nutritional yeast – Nooch adds lots of great cheesy flavor to this recipe, but if you don’t have it, you can leave it out or swap it for vegan parmesan cheese.
- Pasta – I like to serve this over fettuccine, but any pasta you like will work. You can also make gluten free pasta if that’s what you need.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Frequently asked questions
You can simply swap the cashews for almonds and make almond cream. For a nut free version, try my cauliflower alfredo sauce, instead!
Traditional Alfredo sauce is made with heavy cream and/or grated pecorino cheese. Luckily, with a few simple ingredient swaps, you can make Alfredo sauce without any milk products. It just takes a little know-how and the perfect combination of substitutes.
For this recipe, I’ve used my favorite combination of dairy free milks: cashew cream and canned coconut milk. Normally I find the coconut milk to sweet, and the cashew cream a little nutty, but paired together, they mask each others non-dairy flavor. They also make the creamiest base for dairy free alfredo. With just a little garlic and some nutritional yeast, you won’t believe there isn’t cheese (or dairy cream) in this Alfredo sauce.
More dairy free recipe favorites: dairy free pizza / dairy free brownies / dairy free mashed potatoes / dairy free cheesecake / dairy free ranch dressing
This recipe would be great with: microwave steamed broccoli / pan seared chicken / kale caesar salad
Dairy Free Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
- 3/4 cup cashew cream, see instructions below or almond milk
- 3/4 cup full-fat canned coconut milk
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions for al dente. Before draining, reserve about 1/2 cup of pasta water.
- Make the roux. In a large skillet or saucepan, heat olive oil to medium. Once it's hot, add the minced garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds, until fragrant.Then, add the flour and whisk until the olive oil has been absorbed and a paste has formed.
- Whisk in the liquids. Slowly whisk in the broth, followed by the coconut milk and cashew cream. Continue to whisk until smooth.
- Let it simmer. Whisk in the nutritional yeast, salt & pepper, and simmer until sauce has thickened. Adjust seasoning with salt & pepper, to taste.If you're using nut milk instead of cashew cream, allow it to simmer for a few minutes to thicken.
- Toss the pasta. When pasta is cooked, drain and add the cooked pasta, with about 1/4 cup of pasta water, to the sauce and stir to coat. Stir in additional pasta water, if needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Hi Melissa,
Would this be coconut milk in the can or from the dairy refridgerated case? Thank you so much, can’t wait to make this!
It would be canned coconut milk. I apologize for not specifying! I will edit the recipe to reflect it. Thank you. I hope you love it!
Hi I have a question do I have to use the nutritional yeast or can I leave it out Thank You
You can leave it out if you don’t have it. It adds a little bit of a cheesier flavor, but will be totally fine without it!
Can u give the macros on this recipe????? and how many macros per serving size for us non-diary keto people.
I’m sorry. I don’t have the information for that. I know very little about the keto diet, but there I’m working on getting nutritional information for my recipes as soon as possible. Can you calculate it with that?
nutritional yeast Is a bit confusing. What brand do u use?
I think the brand we have right now is Bragg’s, but I’ve also used Red Star!
Turned Out Great But Had A Sweet Taste . How Can I Make It A Little Less Sweet ?
Honestly, there is always going to be a sweeter flavor when you’re making something dairy free like this. It could be the coconut cream that is giving the sauce a sweeter flavor, so you could potentially replace with a more cashew cream, but I personally think the texture is better with the coconut. You could also add a bit more nutritional yeast and maybe even an extra pinch of salt. I would just add a tiny bit at a time and taste as you go until it’s to your liking!
So i found you can also subsitute cashew cream with non dairy cream cheese.. I use almond milk.. 1 – 8 oz container of non dairy cream cheese per every 2 cups of almond milk.. We have someone who has alergies to cashews.
Oh thank you! That’s a great tip! I have use the cream cheese for pasta sauce before but not for this recipe. I will have to give it a try sometime!
I usually add a little lemon juice and garlic powder. Thats helps a ton!
Can you freeze this sauce?
I don’t recommend freezing it, unless you substitute the coconut milk for more cashew cream. Coconut milk does not freeze well.
We made this tonight and followed the recipe to a T. The texture was PERFECT, but the flavor was just too much coconut. I won’t make it again with the coconut milk, but on the other hand, we both had seconds 🙂
Thanks for the feedback! You’re so right about the texture, but if the coconut milk is too much for you, try swapping it out for extra cashew cream. It should be an even swap!
Can I use any type of flour ? I only have coconut flower right now :/
I’m honestly not sure how coconut flour works as a thickening agent. You could try it, but I can’t guarantee it will work.
This sounds amazing, As a dairy free/eats dairy and then regrets it person I definitely miss creamy pastas. I am having a Galentine’s day dinner this is perfect for – but I am going to add mushrooms grilled in port like I used to make in the old days.I usually blog about the recipes I try so I will let you know how it goes!
That sounds great!! I can’t wait to hear!
Made this last night and it was absolutely wonderful. I have been gluten and dairy free for 5 years and fettuccine alfredo was always a favorite of mine. I used gluten free fettuccine from Trader Joe’s and added in a bag of frozen broccoli. The cashew cream was lovely and I will be using that in a lot of other dishes. Thank you so much for sharing this!
This recipe was absolutely bty far the best alfredo sauce I have ever had and still can not believe it is dairy free. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!! I thought I would never get to have alfredo again..
Can I use just cashew milk instead of almond milk?
Yes! You definitely can!
Hi Melissa, I have not yet tried this but I was wondering about the flour. Would gluten free flour change anything taste or consistency wise? Also, when you said nut milk with the blended cashews, is that the coconut milk or a different nut milk? I saw another recipe that suggested water when making cashew cream but that’s seems like it would be bland. I’m planning on trying to tomorrow so I’ll probably just wing it but I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thank you for giving me an alternative to cheese!