Eric is in love with this creamy cauliflower pasta dish. I mean, in love. In fact, he asked if we could make it together on Valentine’s Day. Who am I to deny a grown man cauliflower? Plus, creamy pasta and Valentine’s Day go hand and hand. Chocolate too, of course. I’d say it’s a win-win.
Traditional Alfredo sauce is mostly made up of butter, cheese, and often, cream. Decadent? You betcha. Hiding a super healthy vegetable? Not so much. I’m happy to say this cauli-power sauce brings us both decadence and nutrition. To be honest, I was super skeptical to try the blended-cauliflower-as-pasta-sauce trend and I wasn’t rushing to try it out. But after whipping up a version in my kitchen, I went crazy for this stuff. And by crazy, I mean standing over the pot of pasta and spooning it into my mouth uncontrollably. Yea that happened. It’s downright irresistible just like you’d hope a creamy pasta to be. Of course, soaked cashews can create a fine alfredo sauce too, but it’s great to have a change from nuts. All you have to do to make this sauce nut-free is swap the almond milk for a nut-free non-dairy milk of your choice. Fun, right?
This sauce makes a lot (3 cups!) which means you can happily drown the pasta with the sauce. No skimping here! It is cauliflower after all. I stirred the sauce into whole grain spelt ribbon pasta which was quite tasty. I gravitate toward meals that leave me feeling good and this certainly made the cut. Not bad for a decadent-tasting pasta, I say.
Cauli-power "Alfredo"
Yield
4 servings (makes 3 cups sauce)
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This vegan “alfredo” sauce tastes decadent, yet is super light and energizing thanks to the sneaky cauliflower base! The nutritional yeast lends this sauce a rich "cheesy" flavour, while the blended cauliflower creates a creamy, luxurious base. This alfredo sauce is lovely served with pasta, but you can also enjoy it stirred into your favourite roasted or sautéed veggies. I love sautéing seasonal vegetables to serve along with the sauce over pasta. In the photo, I topped my bowl with a lovely spring veggie trifecta of leeks, asparagus, and peas. Thanks to Pinch of Yum for inspiring this tasty recipe!
Ingredients
- 4 heaping cups (460 g) cauliflower florets (1 small/medium cauliflower)
- 1/2 tablespoon (7.5 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) unsweetened and unflavoured almond milk*
- 1/4 cup (20 g) nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) fresh lemon juice, plus more for serving
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, to taste
- 3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, or to taste
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, to taste
- 1 package (350 g/12 ounces) fettuccine or rotini pasta**
- Fresh minced parsley, for garnish
Directions
- Place cauliflower florets in a steamer basket and steam, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes until fork tender. (Alternatively, you can boil the cauliflower in a pot of water for 8 to 15 minutes until fork tender. Drain well before proceeding.)
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain well and add it back to the pot. Set aside.
- Add the oil and minced garlic to a small skillet and sauté over low heat for 4 to 5 minutes until softened and fragrant. Be careful not to burn.
- Add the cooked cauliflower, sautéed garlic, milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to a high-speed blender. Blend until a very smooth sauce forms. Adjust seasonings to taste.
- Add the cauliflower sauce to the pot with the pasta and stir well. Heat over low-medium until heated through. The pasta will tone down the flavours of the sauce so it’s important to taste the mixture and add more seasonings (salt, pepper, lemon, etc.) to taste before serving.
- For serving: Divide the warm pasta into bowls and top with more salt and pepper (to taste), along with a squeeze of lemon and some fresh minced parsley. Feel free to add your favourite cooked veggies such as broccoli, peas, leeks, asparagus, butternut squash, etc.
Tip:
* It’s very important that you use an unsweetened and unflavoured non-dairy milk in this recipe (nothing with vanilla or added sugar, please!).
** If you’re only preparing a couple servings, feel free to cook less pasta and save leftover sauce for another time. The alfredo sauce will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for at least a few days.
To make the alfredo taste extra decadent, add a tablespoon or two of vegan butter to the sauce.
Make it gluten-free: Use gluten-free pasta.
Boost the protein: Use a legume-based pasta such as chickpea pasta.
Make it nut-free: Use a nut-free non-dairy milk (such as soy milk) instead of almond milk. Be sure to use unsweetened and unflavoured milk.
Nutrition Information
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Hi Angela, thanks for this recipe. I made it a couple of nights ago, and then enjoyed the sauce leftovers as a soup the next night. The sauce actually makes a really good soup! As I am not vegan I substituted the almond milk for regular milk and left out the nutritional yeast because I don’t have any and it still tasted really good. I’ve purchased your book and can’t wait for it to arrive. Greetings from New Zealand!
Dude. You are my hero. I made this last night and was blown away. The taste is as good, if not better, than the real cheese version. I added roasted broccoli and it was absolutely amazing. Thank you so much.
I’ve made this a few times so far and keep tweaking it slightly for my tastes. I typically add a bit of honey and cayenne, and a little more lemon than the recipe calls for. Last night, though, I roasted the cauliflower and garlic instead of boiling it and it gave it an awesome flavor! I serve mine with pasta, roasted broccoli, sweet peas, and salmon (not vegan, I know). But it gets rave reviews and is officially in my regular recipe rotation.
I barely was able to get the sauce onto the noodles as it kept going straight from blender to my mouth! SO GOOD!
I didn’t have any garlic powder (random necessities are in storage while we move…), forgot the lemon juice (now that I think about it!), and didn’t have anything but vanilla almond milk so I just used water.
AMAZING! Thank you so much, Angela!
This was amazing! Just brought a jar of the sauce to my parents house, the sauce is pretty amazing with baked potatoes, bake cod for non vegans and steamed veggies …. ommyomm!
This recipe is sooooo delicious! I’ve tried it twice now and both trys have been divine! I’m going to experiment with it next time by adding roasted red pepper or pesto to the sauce. Its a great base for any creamy sauce! Thanks!
Made this tonight. Super fast and I couldn’t stop eating! I’m not vegan but am looking for recipes that will help me get more servings of veggies… Never liked cauliflower but I after this recipe… I’ve changed my mind! Love your site and am so excited that I got the book! Also tried the high protein pesto… Absolutely delicious!
Hi Angela, Firstly i just want to say WOW this sauce was freakin unbelievably tasty… I used white miso instead of nutritional yeast and added some umeboshi plum seasoning to give it extra tang. I also served it with mung bean fettuchinie and it was divine so thank you for the inspirational recipe :-)
I have really fallen in love with your Blog :-) I’m in the process of setting up my own food Blog specialising in Vegan food with macrobiotic & raw influences and seeing how great all your posts are makes me feel really positive and inspired on my journey.
thanks again, Francesca :-) x
I made this last night! I don’t usually do fake meat, but had a vegan sausage in my fridge that needed to be used, so I crumbled it, sauted it and added it to this sauce. It was a pretty amazing sausage gravy if you ask me. Then I put the sauce over brown rice penne pasta with loooooots of peas. My one year old, three year old and I all thought it was delicious! (Husband was out watching basket ball–I think he would have liked it too.) Thank you! I often avoid creamy sauces with pasta, but I felt really good about it with this recipe!
Just made this. Delicious!! So so tasty. Made it just as you said and so creamy. My husband had no idea. Toss some shrimps or scallops for the non-vegan. I used my regular blender and had no issues. Wow so happy I stumbled upon this :)
Great results from this recipe! The sauce does feel decadent–so smooth, creamy, and luscious.
Just tried the cauliflower sauce on a noodle-less lasagna, it was delicious! I think I needed to add a bit more soy milk to mine though, because it was more of a mashed potato consistency.
oh my!! I am delightful with this recipe!! I just made it for lunch for my boyfriend and I. He can be picky sometimes and he loooved the recipe!! It’s so tasteful!! Thank you for this recipe! it is the first one I am trying from the blog and I think I found a new recipe “book”!
What a marvelous recipe! I teamed it with a zucchini dish and it was just perfect. Thank you so much for this great pasta dish with a vegan twist.
taste.com.au/recipes/19903/baked+zucchini+with+lemon+and+mint
Just wanted to let you know that you could label this as kid-friendly. I made the recipe as shown (although I was a little short on the 4 cups of cauliflower) and added peas at the end. My 5 and 7 year old kids gobbled it up and asked to have the leftovers packed in their lunches the next day. Definitely a hit! Thank you! (Actually, a lot of your recipes are hits in my family.)
What is the purpose of step 5:
Add cauliflower sauce into the pot (you can use the same pot!) and add the drained pasta. Heat over low-medium until heated enough to your liking. Salt again to taste (the pasta dilutes the flavour).
Why not just cook the cauliflower sauce separately and dump it on the pasta like with most pasta sauces? Wouldn’t this risk the al dente of the pasta and make it more soft?
This is such a delicious recipe! Instead of using onion powder and garlic powder, I substituted the fresh stuff. Tasted great!
This was SUPERTASTY and I want to eat it all the time Even my boyfriend who “doesn’t eat cauliflower” swallowed two big plates of this! Thumbs up! :-)
Thank you :-)
I just want to say: I love your recipes… :)
Maybe I order your cookbook as an Easter present for
myself!
Greetings from Berlin ;)
I was making kale chips while making this sauce and added some kale that didn’t fit on the pan and it made the sauce really bitter. Do you have any suggestions for how I could remedy the sauce. I’d hate to waste it.