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.
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?
This came out a little thin for my taste, so I added about 1/4 block firm tofu. It came out thick and creamy, and it reheated just fine.
If you use other gluten free pasta, quinoa with corn, rice with some other grain, you will not have the reheat issue. Only with brown rice pasta will that happen. To combat that, add fresh sauce to the existing left-over and the added moisture will fix the pasta.
I tried the Alfredo sauce recipe for my broccoli mushroom Alfredo. I didn’t have cashews on hand and almost fainted when I saw the price of raw cashews, but I have lots of raw sunflower seeds and used them instead. Amazing flavor! I’ve made the cashew based sauce before. I think I like the sunflower seed base just as well! The cashew has a sweetness about it that the sunflower seed does not, but if that bothers you just add a touch of honey. It works!
Broccoli, onions, garlic, crimini mushrooms, cooked pasta! Add that sauce! Yummy!
I really enjoyed this. I added some chipotle pepper to the sauce and also tossed the pasta with some roasted asparagus and mushrooms. It even reheated well! I will definitely make this again.
Hello, this sauce tastes very nice. But everytime I make it, when I pour the sauce over the pasta, the sauce is not creamy anymore, it seems to be absorbed by the pasta. No matter how much sauce I add, the problem still persists. What am I doing wrong?
I have made this millions of times now and its really good and really easy and since I have been using this website and these recipes I found that these ingredients would be pretty typical to find in my kitchen at any time. Even vegan staples. I just thought I would put a comment from someone who knows this recipes is really good rather than thinks it could be. It really is. And hopefully will help me become a recipe trier. Im crossing my fingers. I make OSG recipes every day. Every one is really great.
Thank you for all your hard work in making these recipes for us.
This is such an amazing recipe you have come up with! The texture is one of the things most people seem to look for when trying vegan versions to the non-vegan meals some may be used to eating. I see many people make their “Alfredo” by using the cauliflower approach. Personally I have yet to find one I enjoy. The tahini and milk is the way to go for me. I have even taking the base of this recipe and added a few other ingredients to make cheese fries! Yayy lol.. Thanks for the recipe and keep them coming!
Hi! I’m planning to make this for a vegan houseguest this weekend. We aren’t vegan but I really enjoy cooking new things. This looks awesome. I was wondering if I could skip the nutritional yeast? Could you tell me how it would affect the recipe? I have everything but that and I don’t think I’ll have time to get it!! Thanks
For me this came out soupy and with kind of a weird flavor profile. Then I added 1 quarter of a block of high protein super firm tofu, and it was about perfect. Dunno how that makes sense, but I’ll take it!
I followed the recipe exactly except I did not have tahini or lemon juice. Without those two things it tasted good. It’s not Alfredo sauce but tasted slightly similar. It was my first time using nutritional yeast and I was pleased with the “cheesy” nuttiness. After tasting it I decided to add sautéed minced onions and mushrooms. I recommend this recipe to those who want a nonstick Alfredo sauce.