Dairy-Free Alfredo Sauce (Gluten-Free)

This dairy-free Alfredo sauce is perfectly creamy and cheesy without the dairy. Serve with your favorite pasta! Gluten-free.

If you’ve recently established a new relationship with pasta, you are not alone. 

Figuring out new and creative ways to serve it up from week to week can be a challenge. This dairy-free Alfredo sauce recipe works as great with fettuccine as it does in a grown-up mac and cheese.

Vegan Alfredo Sauce Ingredients

It’s rich and creamy with that cheesy flavor you love without any of the cheese. Traditionally, Alfredo sauce is made by the combination of Parmesan and butter. 

Neither are used here to make for a healthier Alfredo sauce that whips up in the blender. Here are the major ingredients you’ll need:

• Raw cashews
• Unsweetened almond milk
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Nutritional yeast
• Cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper

Making Dairy-Free Alfredo Sauce

Raw cashews 

For the base of this creamy sauce, soak the cashews in hot water for at least 5 minutes before adding the other ingredients. This allows the cashews to soften, creating that smooth sauce texture.

Unsweetened almond milk

Almond milk adds the rich flavor. No butter or cream needed. You’ll want to use the unsweetened variety for the best flavor. 

Nutritional yeast

A couple tablespoons of nutritional yeast gives this dairy-free sauce its cheesy tang. You can certainly make this recipe without it, but it will alter the sauce’s flavor. 

The best part of this recipe is how easily it all comes together. Once your cashews have soaked and drained, the other ingredients are added and blended until smooth. 

It doesn’t get much more simple than that. 

Stir the Alfredo sauce into your strained pasta and heat on low until warmed. 

More Dairy-Free Entrees

Vegan Gluten-Free Mushroom Étouffée 

Curried Coconut Quinoa Bake

Creamy Vegan Sweet Potato Soup

Salsa Verde Quinoa Chili

5 from 1 vote

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Dairy-Free Alfredo Sauce

This vegan Alfredo sauce is perfectly creamy and cheesy without the dairy. Serve with your favorite pasta! Gluten-free.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword dairy-free Alfredo sauce

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Author Tessa Fisher

Ingredients

• 1 cup (140g) raw cashews
• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• couple pinches cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Place your raw cashews in a high powered blender. Cover with boiling water. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes. Drain and return cashews to blender.
2. Add almond milk, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, nutritional yeast, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper to the blender. Blend on high, until mixture is smooth.

3. If adding to pasta, transfer to pot with drained pasta and stir over low heat until warmed. This Alfredo sauce recipe works well with 8-10oz package of pasta.

   If using with other proteins, heat Alfredo sauce in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until warm.