I woke up this morning and I had no idea what day it was!
The holidays will do that to a person I guess. I also forgot that today is a day off work for many people because Jan 1st fell on the weekend. I guess I don’t really keep up with these things being self-employed, but perhaps I should start!
Also, I can’t believe we don’t have a lick of snow left…
On New Year’s Day, it was a warm 10C and all of our snow melted. I don’t think I can ever remember a Jan 1st when we didn’t have snow. It is so weird.
Yesterday, I felt quite run down and I started to feel like I was getting sick, but after a good 8 hours of sleep, I am feeling much better today.
In the past week, I have amped up the following:
- Get enough sleep– I am often guilty of not getting enough sleep, but I have been making an effort to get 7.5-8.5 hours.
- Fluids– I have been drinking a lot of Hot lemon water, Echinacea tea, wheatgrass juice, and Sencha tea.
- Moderate exercise– I’ve been keeping my workouts to about 30 minutes- just enough to reap the benefits of exercise, but not wear my body down or compromise my immune system.
- Think Positive– I always tell myself that I will not get sick. I learned in my psychology courses that a positive disposition reduces the chances of catching colds.
- Healthy Fuel– I have been fueling my body with a wide variety of healthy foods. This ensures that my body has the right fuel to do the job and fight off any illness.
- Washing Hands Frequently– I cranked my hand-washing into overdrive. They say it is the #1 best thing you can do to prevent a cold!
Because there is no ice on the roads (huge benefit of no snow!), I braved the chilly air this morning and had a beautiful + sunny 3 mile outdoor run followed by 5 minutes of plank exercises. After showering and eating breakfast, I set into the kitchen to cook.
I also used something I have never used before…
Brown Rice Pasta!
The thought of having pasta made from brown rice appeals to me, so I thought I would check it out. I wasn’t sure how it was going to cook or taste, but I was so surprised to find that it tasted just like whole wheat pasta! The texture was even the same too. If you are looking for an alternative to wheat based flour, I highly recommend it.
This recipe is so easy to make. I think I was done in 20 minutes.
Note: I only used 1 garlic clove, not 4!
You take all of the ingredients and dump them into a blender.
Then, blend until smooth!
It makes a heaping cup’s worth of the Alfredo Sauce.
I adapted the recipe ingredients and I found my sauce was a bit thin, so next time I would probably use 1 cup Almond milk minus 2 tablespoons to thicken it up a bit more.
Drain and rinse the pasta and then add it to the pot.
Pour on your desired amount of cheese sauce and heat over medium heat, stirring frequently to thicken.
Mmmmmm. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Garnish with herbs and additional paprika and serve.
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Quick & Easy Vegan Alfredo
Adapted from Vegan Yum Yum Cookbook.
Yield: 1 heaping cup of sauce (enough for about 4 servings)
Ingredients:
- Pasta, of your choice (I used brown rice shells)
- 1/3 heaping cup raw cashews
- 1 garlic clove
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp almond milk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp non-dairy butter (I used Soy-free Earth Balance)
- 2 tsp organic Tamari soy sauce, or to taste
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp Tahini (sesame seed paste)
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Kosher salt, to taste (I used 1/4-1/2 tsp I think)
- 1/2 tsp Paprika, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Herbs or veggies to add into Alfredo, if desired (I used Broccoli, Peas, and Spinach)
Directions: Cook your pasta until al dente (about 7-8 minutes) and then drain, and rinse with cold water.
While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce: Add all ingredients except pasta into a blender and blend until smooth.
Add the drained pasta back into the pot and pour on your desired amount of sauce into the pot. Heat over medium stirring frequently. Add in vegetables if you desire and cook until heated through.
Makes ~1 heaping cup of sauce, or enough for about 4 portions.
Note: Pasta (mixed with the Alfredo sauce) does not reheat in the microwave very well. It dries out a bit, even when mixing with a bit of milk before heating. My suggestion is to serve the mixed portion fully & immediately after heating and then reserve the leftover sauce in a separate container and make a fresh batch of pasta if you will have it on another occasion. The sauce should keep in the fridge for a few days.
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This vegan Alfredo is absolutely delicious and very similar to the Vegan Mac ‘n Cheese sauce, but a bit more Alfredo-like in taste.
If you really want to pump up this dish, add some GREEN POWER!
I added some sautéed broccoli, spinach, and frozen peas into the pot and heated it all together for about 5 extra minutes.
It was awesome both ways and I am sure you could get really creative with your mix-ins.
A fun way to sneak in some vegetables.
I learned this trick from my mom…she used to always mix in some frozen vegetables into our Mac ‘n Cheese when we were kids.
She made it much more difficult for me to feed our dog vegetables under the table…!
You may be surprised to know that as a child, I was really not a big vegetable fan at ALL and I would sit at the table forever in a Vegetable Show Down with my parents. Broccoli was one of my most despised vegetables of all. Oh how things have changed!
Look at me now mom, there was hope all along.
MMMM… looks so good! I’m thinking of cutting down on gluten for the next month, but I’m thinking this would work awesome with brown rice instead right?!
Positive thinking is SO the key too. It even works with weight management I swear! ‘ I did not gain weight over this holiday period. I did not gain weight over this holiday period’ – and then magically I didn’t. :)
Keep that cold at bay! xox
Glad you are feeling better. This recipe looks great, I love the idea of tahini in there. I’d never have thought to add it in! Have a great day!
Wow, this looks amazing and like Alfredo I can actually handle. I bet I could get my non-vegan hubby to eat this too – thanks!
This looks really yummy. I always use brown rice pasta because I like the texture much better than whole wheat – it is softer and less flavoured, but it doesn’t always reheat well so it’s not the best for leftovers. I have tried spelt and kamut pasta as well and they are nice, but brown rice is my fav.
Wow! I’m far from vegan but respect those that are. However, as an Orthodox Christian we have strict fasting periods like now, the 40 days before Christmas which is Jan. 7th for us Orthodox who follow the Julian calendar. Anyway, vegan recipes are how many of us enjoy our normal love of foods without breaking our fasting rules. This is one of the first vegan recipes that I have found in which I can get most of the ingredients here in Serbia. I do not have the luxury of actual vegan brands, like in the US, here in Serbia as I always see in recipes. However, you list things in which might possible for me to obtain! Thank you! However, almond milk is a no-go here. Would the recipe work with soy? Just curious! Thank you again! Will definitely be bookmarking your site to have on hand for all fasting periods!!
Yes I think you could use any type of non dairy unsweetened milk :)
That looks delicious. And good for you for rockin such an awesome routine!:)
This looks so yummy! I haven’t every cooked with nutritional yeast and decided to do some background reading on it first. One site says “Do not take brewers or nutritional yeast if you have gout, high levels of uric acid, kidney stones, Candida, yeast infections or an allergy to mold or penicillin.” As I am allergic to Penicillin and mold (who isn’t allergic to mold?!) I am thinking I should stay away from this product…
The site:http://factoidz.com/the-differences-between-brewers-yeast-and-nutritional-yeast/
i’ve tried that same brown rice pasta. Its so good, you can’t even tell its gluten free
Made this for dinner last night. It was amazing! Even the picky hubby loved it. Thanks a bunch!
glad you enjoyed it Melissa!
I made this last night. Twas wonderful. All the comfort I was looking for. My non-vegan hubby loved it too. Thanks for the detailed recipe.
Thank you, this was wonderful! Non-vegan roommate said it was better than alfredo, and is planning on making it himself soon!!
Yum…just finished a bowl for dinner with brocolli and peas. DELISH!
Thanks for this recipe – I made it tonight and it was great!
Great recipe! We had it tonight, and just loved it. :)
Hi Angela, I’m making this recipe tonight and I can’t wait. I have a quick question though, I prefer using my food processor over my blender.. would I be able to do that w the sauce, or is there a reason to use a blender instead? Thanks!
OMG. My new fave. I am in the middle of a big bowl of this and am already wondering if I will be able to fit in another. It is full of flavor and thick and creamy, even better than I imagined. I thought the sauce smelled a bit strong when it was in the blender but it was delicious and only left me wanting more! I used kamut spirals and cashew milk, and added lots of veggies – broc, zucc, baby spinach, peas and corn and a chopped tomato. This will be a regular on the menu for sure, thanks Angela!
Great recipe…I’ve tried others and this is now my ‘go-to’ alfredo sauce mixed with capers and fresh parsley! Thanks!
works great with sunflower seeds as well! i had no cashews. so i used 1 1/4 cup sunflower seeds blended in the vitamix….awesome. thanks for the recipe.
Great tip about using sunflower seeds! I will keep that in mind.
Sooo…the first time I made this I put 3/4 cup yeast powder :/ yuckkkkkkk lol I read directions wrong….. But finally I got it right and it was AMAZING!!!!!
haha ouch, I could see that! Glad you enjoyed it the second time around. Take care!
So, I was out of cashews and too cold to run out for some so I took the chance at trying this recipe with walnuts. I make a walnut parmesan so I figured it would be fine – and it was! Really delicious. Now I can’t wait to make it with the cashews.
Thanks Angela!
good to know, thanks!
I made this sauce on top of some sweet potato fettuccine with tempeh bacon, peas and broccoli for dinner last night. It was so easy and so DELICIOUS! Thank you so much for this recipe! I omitted the Tahini simply because I couldn’t find it in the store and my stomach was grumbling, but it didn’t seem to ruin the texture or flavor without it in there.
Best vegan alfredo sauce recipe I’ve found!
Oh so good, even my very picky 8 year old loves it! Next time I think I am adding strawberries for a berries and cream kind of pasta instead of greens. I also used quinoa pasta which worked well. Many thanks for the great recipes!
Okay sooo i was super excited for this recipe. I have been vegan for 5.5 months (give or take a hidden dairy ingredient here and there). Since converting I have been craving an alfredo recipe. I was happy when I saw you hve one, as I have tried a fee other recipes of yours and was very pleased. So here I am making this delicious sauce while we eat lunch. I think I was too excited to wait for dinner time to make it and well the blender was already out since we had one ingrediant banana icecream with lunch. I put all the ingredients we had into the blender. I was again pleased to know we were only missing one (tahini). So, anyway I put them all in there and blend it up. It looks a little different than the last time I made alfredo. Which of course back then involved an entire block of cream cheese. Alright so it looked a little yellower than I imagined but whatever. I opened the blender and it smelled really weird and I immediately panicked a bit in my head. (Its not every day you can spend 8.00 on a bag of cashews, right?) however, I opted to taste it on a whim and oh my goodness! That is what I said “oh my goodness, thats some good alfredo sauce!” Which my toddler so eagerly repeated “its good?!!” I smiled and said “yep!” Then decided to share my experoence with you since you shared this delicious (and nutrious) recipe! I can not wait to try it tonight with some noodles and broccoli! Im sure it will be exactly what I have been longing for! Heh. Thanks again! :D
Hi Angela,
Thanks for this alfredo sauce recipe! One question – have you ever tried using this sauce with Ezekiel brand spaghetti? If so, how did it turn out? I’ve personally found that type of noodle is a little challenging to cook.
Nina
Hi Nina, No I’m sorry I have not. Please let me know how it goes if you try it!
Made it. Loved it!!
Ho.ly.cow!!! RIDICULOUSLY DELICIOUS!! Bravo.
Vanilla Almonds milk in Alfredo? hmmm…..
oops – my bad!! Luckily I dont buy vanilla anymore to prevent accidentally using it in my savory recipes!
Can you sub coconut oil for the vegan butter? And can I serve this as a cold pasta dish? I really want to make this recipe today but I don’t want to eat something incredibly hot in this heat :)
Hi Kira, I’m sorry, but I’m not sure on either questions! I’ve only made it a couple times and that was a while back. Please let me know if you try it out!
hi again! i did try putting it in the fridge for about 20 mins and it worked out great! i subbed coconut oil and it was fine. i also subbed the almond milk for unsweetened coconut milk (not the one that comes in a can) because i realized a little too late that i only had unsweetened vanilla. when i put it in the fridge though the flavors kind of melded a bit too much together< but i put some extra paprika, nutritional yeast, and salt on top and it was as good as new!
This recipe looks SO amazing! My husband is deathly allergic to nuts though; do you know of any substitutions i could try? We love cheese and i’m trying to replace it in our meals but every “cheese” recipe i come across has cashews or almonds..I’d appreciate any i deas you or anyone else might have!
So I’m not the recipe guru but have you tried tofu? I’ve done some lovely “cheesey” things with tofu, especially as ricotta in lasagna. You could definitely do it in pasta like this but I have no idea how the texture would be. Might turn out with little tofu curds in it. You could try making a thicker sauce and just expect a ricotta-esque texture though.
I loved this sauce! I used half the mustard and tamari it called for and added extra garlic to better meet my husband’s tastes. Served it over butternut squash ravioli, and it was DELICIOUS! My husband is a meat-eater, but he enjoyed it as much as I did!
I finally tried this sauce and loved it. I didn’t use the tamari/soy sauce because I was out and only had regular Almond Milk so it tasted a little sweet-it was still amazing! But I think next time I will be sure to have unsweetened almond milk on hand for this.
I really liked that I could throw it together without having to soak the cashews beforehand.
Cashews make for great cheese, and this sounds like a great sauce. Like how the broccoli looks paired with the pasta.
I used this recipe the other night but instead of blending the veggies I just steamed them and added it to the dish with the pasta. It was delicious and I definitely plan on using it again. In case anyone is wondering I used Ancient Grain pasta made with Quinoa, Amaranth and Brown Rice. I bought it at Whole Foods and I use it all the time, amazing. Thanks again for the great recipe :)
My husband asked for Mac n chez for dinner tonight so I made this with the addition of broccoli and pearl onions. This is incredibly delicious!!! Oh my oh my! thank you. I didn’t change a thing.
WOW!! I haven’t had alfredo in probably 5+ years and I had a random craving. Google brought me to this recipe. I just took my first bite and I am blown away. Great texture, amazing flavor. It was a tad soupy in the blender and I was a bit skeptical but once I heated it up with the pasta it was great. Also I didn’t have cashews on hand so I used blanched raw almonds. YUMMMMMMMMM
I have to say I tried making 4 cups of this recipe today and I was surprised. I made one cup to start off and gauge the flavors. It was sour and tasted way too much of nutritional yeast. I reduced the yeast to one third of the measure, and the lemon and Dijon mustard by a half. Everything else remained the same. I also followed the suggestion of only using 3/4 cup of milk per serving so it wouldn’t be so watery. The consistency was just perfect. I liked the final taste after adjustments. I guess my advice would be to work your way up to some ingredients until you find your balance. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi, do you think you could use coconut oil as a substitute for the non-dairy butter?
thank you! can’t wait to try this :) I’m going to add broccoli and sun dried tomatoes! :))
if you don’t mind the coconut flavour, I can’t see why not. enjoy!
Made this tonight with broccoli and beyond meat chicken added.. It was really delicious but definitely does not really taste like alfredo sauce. Still yummy and very creamy though.
I made this tonight and it was just the best. I wanted to say thank you for the recipe, because before I saw it I was feeling way down about some veg ricotta I bought. It kinda tastes like plastic… until I realized it is perfect for this recipe. Now I am happy and full of delicious healthy Alfredo.
thank you!!!
I made this dinner in honor of my nana who passed away four years ago because alfredo was one of our favorite dishes to make together. I wasn’t vegan back then, but I have been for over a year now. I feel like she would have tried all the dishes my fiance and I make. I added a bit more garlic because we love it in my household and it was the best alfredo I have ever had. It really is amazing. Thank you for making me think of her on her birthday. Your recipes are amazing.
I made this tonight, and it was a big hit with my non vegan boyfriend! I added sauteed mushrooms, purple onion, spinach, and broccoli to the pasta. I also added fresh parsley to the alfredo mix. It was soo good, definitely gonna put this in my meal rotation!
Made this tonight for dinner and LOVED everything about it. I roasted some mushrooms and broccoli to toss on top with a bit of chili flakes. Fast, healthy and delicious = perfect.
Absolutely incredible! This was my first time making vegan Alfredo sauce and I can’t see myself ever using a recipe other than this one. I followed it exactly but I did soak the cashews beforehand to make sure they blended up well. Oh and I used homemade almond milk. We served it with spaghetti squash pasta and sautéed shallots, mushroom, asparagus, and cherry tomatoes. Also had roasted Brussels sprouts on the side. I can’t wait to try it with different pastas like shells and different veggies like broccoli and sun dried tomato. So impressed, thanks!
I make this at least once a week, we love it.. even my 4 year old son! Thank you so much for bringing alfredo back to our household!
I absolutely love this recipe. I’m not really vegan, but my husband and I are lactose intolerant and I always welcome any recipes that substitudes lactose. My husband didn’t even realize it was vegan. Fettuccine Alfredo used to be our guilty-pleasure-once-a-year type of food. Now I can have it anytime and feel great! Thank you so much for sharing.
This recipe looks great and I am definitely going to try making it over the weekend. Just one question – did you soak the cashews prior to blending?
Made this tonight. It was disgusting. I have made other vegan cheese pasta dishes and enjoyed this but this one. Yuck. The mustard and tamari was an unsavory combo.
I just made this for lunch! Yum. I used coconut milk, because I had a partial can left over in the fridge, and I threw in broccoli with the pasta for the last 3 minutes of cooking because I am super lazy. This was awesome!
Loved this recipe. Thank you! Can the sauce be frozen, thawed, and heated? Or not such a good idea?