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.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
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)
Just tried this recipe and it was great! I couldn’t believe how creamy and satisfying it is, and it will definitely be in my repertoire now. Thank you! Five stars
This sauce is AMAY-ZING! I made it tonight, and added my own little touches—a sprinkling of garlic and a splash of vodka—and it was wonderful. I never would have believed it was possible to make such a rich tasting, creamy textured sauce out of cauliflower! You are a genius! I made enough for a few more days too. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!
Simply genius. My husband and I were licking it straight out of the blender!
I just made this and it was overall kind of boring.. mainly tasted of garlic. I have a severe dairy allergy so I was really looking forward to something that tasted more creamy. This has the right texture but is lacking a lot on flavor. I found it a little too garlicky and not cheesy enough… made it a second time using less garlic and more nutritional yeast but it was still kind of missing something. My family WOULD NOT eat it and they eat practically EVERYTHING.
Wow! This recipe is fantastic! Even better than I expected! I made this for dinner tonight and followed the recipes exactly (except maybe I sauteed a little extra garlic :) I also threw in some sauteed mushrooms at the end. It’s a keeper as usual with your recipes!
Nearly forgot the rating!! 5 stars for sure!
I’m newly vegan and still have the excitement of getting to try out new recipes. I’ve tried a couple of the recipes on here and they’ve all been so amazing! Thank you so much for all of these inspiring ideas. My partner has been trying to eat healthier (struggling a little) but he loves the yummy dinners I’ve been making off here. Huge thumbs up!
Just made it in my Oster Fusion blender. Floored at how creamy it is! It smelled all buttery in the blender. I boiled some fresh broccoli in the cauliflower water after removing it for more veggies, didnt add any butter/butter sub, used fresh grapfruit juice (out of lemon), did grind some nutmeg. I will eat this WEEKLY!!!!!
Thank you! Thank you!! We love this recipe! We are plant based eaters and found we prefer the flavor using cooked cauliflower water for liquid and we leave the oil out. I can not stop eating it straight with a spoon, alas if I am ever alone it probably will not make it to the pasta. A very decadent awesome recipe loved by our Standard american diet eating daughters. Thank you!!!!
Oops. Forgot to add that we left out the vegan butter. We eat this recipe at least once a week. Awesome!!!
Sounds great. What does the nutritional yeast do? Would the recipe work without it?
Thanks!
Lisa
I can’t even begin to say how much I love this sauce. I made it yesterday to use up the cauli I had left from xmas. I had the second portion today and it is even better after a day. I made it as per the recipe, except I used smoked garlic because it needed to be used up (put quite a lot in ;) ), and I didn’t have any onion powder so I left it out. Yesterday I had it with conchiglie pasta and small button mushrooms (just cooked in a bit of water) and a handful of fresh spinach. Today I had bits of left over veg stirred in with the same conchiglie pasta…. avocado, spinach, tomato, sweetcorn, green beans. Just amazingly delicious. Thank you :D xx
To Lisa – the nutritional yeast makes it really cheesy and yummy – try it, even if you hate the smell or taste of nutritional yeast. My husband tasted it and thought it was actual cheese….and he is a committed carnivore who will only try ‘my’ food if I don’t tell him what it is…
I think it could work as a parsley sauce, or as a plain ‘not bechamel’ sauce, but it wouldn’t be as nice… I just re-read the text above and it really is DECADENT!!! :D
I just made this and am in LOVE! Seriously, one of my all time favorite vegan recipes since I went vegan one year ago. Thanks soo soo much for this. Cauliflower is one of my all time favorite veggies. I posted a pic on my instagram @jennipherhulse . I added garlic sauteed button mushrooms and chopped bock choy. The bock choy added a great little crunch. I just used my fatsecret app to find out what the calorie count was as you wrote your recipe and I got 307 calories! That is so fantastic compared to typical fettuccine alfredo.
I made this tonight for my family and they loved it! I didn’t tell them it was cauliflower until dinner was over (lots of shocked faces). They knew something was a bit different but still thought it was made with cream etc.. (I swear by my Vitamix- really does help get the right consistency)
I made a few modifications but the original is just as delicious. I made the “base sauce” in advance. I then sauteed some sliced pear in a little bit of coconut oil and cinnamon. I added the sauce to reheat and added a bit of ginger to taste. Delish!
Can’t wait to try more recipes. In fact, I asked each family member to pick out a recipe that they’d like to try. My 11 year old daughter has requested the “Festive Kale Salad with Sweet Apple-Cinnamon Vinaigrette & Pecan Parmesan”. Yay!
Tracy
Hi Angela,
Loved this recipe – didn’t have onion & garlic powder so just chopped 2 onions and fried that with the garlic and the cauliflower (adding 2tbs of water and covering so the cauliflower steam fried) added it to the blender with the almond milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, 1/4 tsp salt & pepper. Added 1/2 tsp vegan chicken stock and extra almond milk as the sauce was super thick. Served over pasta with green peas. Everyone loved it. Thanks for another super easy and tasty recipe.
This is delicious. Very easy to make. My husband said he couldn’t tell there was cauliflower in the sauce. My 3 year old grandson shoveled it in. Very good. Thank you for the recipe.
I make this once a month or so. I have fallen in love with the sauce! I have recommended it to countless people as well. I add a variety of mix-ins, whatever sounds good that night. Thanks for a winner of a recipe.
Shame on me and my skepticism for waiting nearly a year before trying this recipe! How could I ever doubt you when every recipe of yours I have tried has been nothing short of wonderful? What I mean to say is – THIS WAS AWESOME! Who would have thought cauliflower could make such a delicious, creamy sauce? I tossed it with roasted broccoli and GF quinoa pasta. I totally would have added mushrooms as well if I had any on hand. I have at least 1.5 cups of sauce left and I cannot wait to have leftovers!
I tried this last night and was amazed at how tasty and filling it was! I added a bit more unsweetened coconut but still had a really think sauce so perhaps I had too much cauliflower. I toasted a couple of teaspoons of pine nuts in the same pan from the garlic and these were a really tasty add on! Tonight I had leftovers with veggie meatballs and was again impressed at how great the flavour was! Great recipe!