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!
I’ve had this recipe waiting to use it. Made this last night and my family agreed that was as good if not better than traditional Alfredo sauce! I followed the recipe closely till the end. I ended up using all my cashew cream and then adding a bit more salt, pepper and nutritional yeast. Tasting to make sure it was the taste we were looking for. It was a complete success! The leftovers for lunch are yummy too! Thank you for a great recipe! My DD who has a diary allergy doesn’t feel like she’s missing out on Alfredo any more. The rest of the fam was thinking of all the ways this sauce could be used.
I’m so excited to try this! Is it possible to make ahead? I am planning meals for our vacation, and am trying to make ahead as much as I possibly can the week before we go. Thanks in advance!
Yes. You can absolutely make it ahead of time, just wait to add it to the pasta until you’re ready to serve it so the pasta doesn’t absorb too much.
Since you used coconut milk, does it taste like coconut at all? I can tolerate a little coconut flavor but not too overpowering. I’ve heard mixed views on coconut milk to begin with so I’m always curious in recipes.
I need to make this gluten free as well as dairy free – is almond flour a reasonable substitute here?
I don’t think almond flour has the same thickening abilities. I would recommend using cornstarch (about 1/2 the amount listed for flour).
I wish I would of seen this. I subbed arrowroot flour,,,don’t anyone make the same mistake! Great flavor, but you have to get past the “snot” consistency first. 🤢
Where would be the best place to find cashew cream? It doesn’t appear to be available at any of my local groceries.
I think you just make the cashew cream as described in the recipe (boil a cup of cashews for 5-10 min, let cool with the water, then blend the cashews with 1 cup of almond milk until smooth and creamy)
What brand of canned coconut milk do you use?
Melissa!
This is a dream come true. My daughter was recently diagnosed with a milk allergy and Alfredo sauce was one of her favorite things on earth. We have tried several different recipes and this one is absolutely perfect. I did not use coconut milk, I doubled the cashew cream. And I also added a little bit of nutmeg at the end. Absolutely delicious thank you so much!
Made the recipe and if tasted great! I made it with almond milk instead of the cashew cream but may try that next time!
This was ok. My husband and I are stationed overseas and our commissary doesn’t have canned coconut milk so I had to use regular coconut milk. I would recommend using half or less of the minced garlic. To me it was wayy to garlicky
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What a wonderful vegan alfredo sauce recipe! I made it for my in-laws and they loved it! I didn’t tell them it was vegan till they were done shoveling it in! 😉 I will DEFINITELY keep this recipe to use again and again! The one thing I noticed is that I made double the recipe, and the portions of ingredients updated, but the sauce came out kind of thin. I just threw another tablespoon of flour into it and it turned out perfect 🙂 (I may like thicker than usual sauce XD) Overall I GIVE THIS RECIPE FIVE BIG ONES!
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