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!
We tried this tonight. It was very good, and easy. I did notice the garlic flavor really mellowed after the sauce sat. I finished it before getting the noodles started, so it sat about 15 minutes. Next time I will have better time management!
can you make this without garlic? as my mum is on a low FOD MAP diet and can’t eat garlic
I think you could! It might not be as flavorful, but you could add a little extra nutritional yeast or a squeeze of lemon!
I was blown away by this Dairy Free Alfredo sauce. Way better than the 2 others I’ve tried. Can’t wait to eat it again! Delicious!
Hi there Heather,
I want to tackle this recipe tonight, but I need help understanding.. When you say to blend in the 1 cup of nut milk with the cashews to blend, are we talking an additional cup nut milk cup on top of the 3/4 Coconut milk?
I was just trying to understand my recipe list too!
Thank you!
It’s in addition to the coconut milk that you use later. It’s used in the blender or food processor to blend the cashews. It’s just to help the blending process and make the cashew cream smooth. You can also use water if you don’t want to use nut milk. I just usually use almond milk since we have it on hand and it adds the tiniest bit of extra creaminess over water. I hope that helps!
Could we use the water that the nuts were boiled in?
Yes. I think you could. I haven’t tried it but I don’t see why that wouldn’t work.
Ok this was a very easy recipe to follow and made such a creamy sauce.. I LOVED THAT! My only issue was it was bland for our tastes. I ended up doubled the yeast and added some garlic powder to add more flavor since I couldn’t add more minced garlic cuz the sauce was already put together. Next time I’ll double the minced garlic right off the bat. But that’s more of a personal preference. Thank you for this recipe! I will definitely be making this again.
I haven’t tried this yet but glad I came upon this recipe as I’m trying to find more dairy free recipes. I see people keep commenting about it being to sweet. If you are using almond or cashew milk, use unsweetened. I’ve also seen unsweetened canned coconut milk as well.
Does this sauce cover 1 lb of noodles? I didn’t see how many servings this makes. I’m wondering if I need to double it for my family?
Yes! That’s what we normally use it with!
I followed this recipe exactly! It was the best Alfredo EVER! I made it for my family and my dad (who is very attached to cheese and pasta) said it was amazing and even went back for seconds! He said it was better than Carrabba’s fettuccine Alfredo! I will definitely be making this again! Thank you Melissa!
I made this recipie, but I substituted the cashew cream for coconut cream, which I bought canned at my local grocery store, and then used almond milk instead of coconut milk. It turned out great and my family loved it. For those of you who have nut allergies, I recommend this as an alternative.
Just tried this tonight and it was delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe. Another reviewer noted that it tasted sweet (of course then I couldn’t get that idea out of my head when I tasted it). I followed the recipe as written, but added juice from half a lemon, and that balanced the “sweetness” for me.
Thanks again!