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.
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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
(click to expand)
My stepdaughter and I are grain-free vegan, we tried this with Zucchini noodles. The sauce was very creamy (Vitamix); but we doubled the Nutritional Yeast and added a little more salt and pepper to help favor the zucchini better. Thanks for the recipe!
This is delicious, even though I had to make some substitutions based on what I had on hand (broth for almond milk, rice wine vinegar for lemon juice). The texture is velvety even though I used a food processor. Lovely!
So delicious! I absolutely LOVED this recipe. Even my meat eating, cheese loving mom devoured it. Thanks so much for posting it!
I’m a new vegan so loving it! And loving this fettucine it was so creamy and delicious! I never dreamed I’d be able to enjoy fettucine again in life after becoming a vegan, but thanks to you I can enjoy this dish once again , The sauce is so awesome, I can hardly believe it’s not the fat laden fettucine that I once ate, I ‘m in Heaven!!! Thank u for this recipe
Yum!
I had to make some alterations: e.g., cashew meal instead of nutritional yeast and soy mill instead of almond milk. It came out good and I topped it ip with fried zucchini! Thanks!
Could you be any more of a genius!!!!
300+ reviews don’t lie- this was excellent! I don’t know what happened, but I ended up needing about 2-3 c almond milk to thin it out. Maybe because I steamed the cauliflower instead of boiling it directly in water? In any case, it was absolutely delicious and my non-veg mom said she’d even eat it for dinner!
Also, does anyone know if the sauce freezes well?
Thanks for the great recipe Angela!
This was amazing. My daughter asked for seconds. I didn’t have nutritional yeast, so we used parmesan cheese instead. I came across your blog last week and made the banana bread bars, the almond joy bars, the carrot cake oatmeal, and now this over the last 3-4 days. And, the flavor profiles for these are delicious, vegan or not! Just ordered your cookbook today and it’s on its way for delivery this week. Thank you for sharing your delicious recipes.
I’m considering becoming vegan… and I must admit that one of my favorite meals is Alfredo fettuccine, so for my first official vegan recipe I went with this cauliflower version… Both my partner and I were completely in awe after our first bite… I added some spinach to it and the combination was perfection. I still have some sauce left which I’ll pour some of it over my broccoli tomorrow… I will try many more recipes… Great blog!
This… this is AMAZING. I haven’t eaten flower cabbage since I was a kid, but somehow your pictures made me try it today and I most certainly don’t regret it. And I have leftovers for tomorrow, which means tomorrow will be a good day ! Can’t wait to cook it for the boyfriend. Thanks so much for the recipe !
I just made this including real dairy products in place of the non-dairy. Using the same measurements of pecorino romano and 1% cow milk, I thought this tasted very creamy! I added a 1/2 cup of water to thin it out, but I also left out the lemon juice.
Overall I liked this a lot and am freezing the other half of my recipe for quick alfredo!
Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!! Have always hesitated to do the whole boiled cauliflower substitute thing but have so missed alfredo. Served this over the zucchini spirals and thought I was in heaven. This is such a versatile sauce, I can see putting it over so many things. I do eat fish and this was awesome over salmon (tasted like the caper sauce I had at a fancy French restaurant) but I imagine over seasoned tofu it would be just as amazing, which is what I am trying next. :)
I just made a batch of this and it was good!! I’m not expert, but I do think you’re right about adding some butter. I have a lot of food sensitivities and am working towards a not-so-bland diet that I can enjoy, but will also not wreak havoc on my stomach. I haven’t been able to have alfredo in years, so this is a great alternative! I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes. Thank you for a fabulous website with tons of new things to try! :)
Hi Angela,
I’m a huge fan of your blog and book and make something from your blog or book almost everyday. I just made this today with buckwheat noodles and used the Vitamix for the sauce – it came out a perfect creamy consistency. GREAT recipe! thanks for sharing!!
Rose
Hey Rose, So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for trying out so many recipes :)
Just made it and it was great. Added your coconut bacon as topping. Btw i love your book. I tried to go vegan so often, but with your book i made it (started april 2014)
I noticed most of the comments are about people saying they are going to try it.. so i made it! ! AND HOLY CRAP!!! It’s SOOOO good, thank you so much! Your recipes never cease to amaze me :) keep it up!
Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2014/01/20/cauli-power-fettuccine-alfredo-vegan/#ixzz3AamZe3gC
I made this recipe exactly the way you recommended and it was delicious. Thanks for sharing.
This was SO good. I put a bit more almond milk than it calls for so it would be extra creamy, and it turned out perfect!
When I first tried the recipe I immediately send a Message to two colleagues/friends, telling them to NOT bring lunch for the next day to work, because I just made THE MOST AMAZING Pastasauce in the universe.
And what can I say? They loved it as much as I did. I even spooned out every last drop of sauce out of the foodprocessor, because this is so amazingly good. and so easy to make as well, I just love it. (I think you get it now ;) )
Off to eat some more!
Love
Nadine
My husband and I both really enjoyed this. We served it with oven roasted broccoli and it was perfection. Making again this week. Thanks!