This Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo recipe is bright, zesty, and flavorful and the perfect meal for date night! It makes two perfect, hearty portions. Made with a creamy delcious Vegan Alfredo Sauce tossed with sauteed mushrooms, peas, Meyer lemon zest, and a secret ingredient that gives this dish extra complexity and depth. Watch the Video!
Hello friends! I’m so excited to share this Vegan Fettuccini Alfredo with you! Honestly, the vegan Alfredo Sauce has been a complete lifesaver in our catering business through the years. It’s a versatile sauce with something a little unusual to give it incredible depth. Our clients have begged for the recipe through the years, and we kept it a secret… until now!
Why you’ll love it!
- It’s fast! The sauce can be made in 15 minutes while the pasta boils.
- Adaptable! Have a nut allergy? Swap out cashews for Hemp Hearts!
- Many Uses! Here, we’re serving the Vegan Afredo sauce with a simple, quick pasta, but its uses are endless. I use it interchangeably as a vegan “bechamel” – to use in vegan lasagnas, mousaka, as a sauce for baked shells or baked pasta, you get the idea.
- It has depth! The secret ingredient in the Alfredo Sauce is … White miso paste!
How to Make Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
Start the pasta to boil, and at the same time, make the vegan alfredo sauce.
This vegan version of fettuccine alfredo is made even more flavorful with the addition of onion and garlic.
But what gives this flavorful Vegan Alfredo Sauce its “depth” is a little white miso paste—the chef’s secret!
It’s so subtle that you can’t point it out in the finished dish, but it just adds that little something that elevates it up a few notches!
After the garlic and onions are tender and golden, just blend them up with raw cashews, veggie broth, miso, nutritional yeast, salt and a pinch of nutmeg.
Blend until creamy and smooth. Here, I’m using a high-powered blender, so there’s no need to soak the cashews.
To save time, if adding other veggies like peas, asparagus, or even broccoli – just toss them in the pasta water for the last minute or two of cooking to quickly blanch.
Here we’ve also sauteed some mushrooms to add to the mix. Add the drained pasta and Vegan Alfredo Sauce to a saute pan and gently warm. Toss in half the mushrooms and leave a few for garnishing the top.
Sprinkle with a little cracked pepper, chili flakes lemon zest and truffle oil!
Chef Tips
- Add depth with white miso paste.
- Elevate the dish with a drizzle of truffle oil and Meyer lemon zest.
- Always generously salt the pasta water.
- Save some hot pasta water to loosen the pasta, if need be.
- If you feel fancy, try this with our Smoked Mushrooms! Easy and delicious!
Divide among two bowls and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions and Storage
- Leftover pasta can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days, gently reheating on the stove.
- You can absolutely make the sauce ahead and reheat it.
- Serve the Vegan Fettucine Alfredo with a leafy green salad.
I hope you enjoy this one-let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to rate it for us!
xoxo
More vegan pasta recipes you may like!
- Roasted Cauliflower Pasta with Toasted Walnuts, Parsley, Garlic & Lemon zest
- Orecchiette with Creamy Carrot Miso Sauce
- Charred Asparagus Kale Pasta with Lemony Cannellini Beans
- Garlicky Chard Pasta with Lemon and Toasted Bread Crumbs
- Vegan Mushroom Artichoke Pasta with Roasted Sunchokes
Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo Video
Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: vegan, pasta,
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: italian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Date night Vegan Alfredo for two, tossed in a delicious cashew (or hemp) cream, with sauteed mushrooms, Meyer lemon zest and a secret ingredient that gives this extra complexity, flavor and depth. Can be made in under 30 minutes! Try this with Smoked Mushrooms for extra WOW factor!
Ingredients
- 5 ounces dry pasta, cooked to package direction
- 1 cup fresh peas (or frozen, or sub snow peas or steamed broccoli)
- optional: 8 ounces mushrooms, sauteed, or try smoked mushrooms!
Vegan Alfredo Sauce:
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 white onion
- 4 fat garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked or simmered see notes; or sub-hemp hearts
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon white miso paste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Garnish: pepper, chili flakes, lemon zest ( Meyer lemons are especially nice), Italian parsley or Vegan cheesy sprinkle
Instructions
- Cook Pasta: Set salted water to boil in a large pot and cook pasta according to directions. If using fresh or frozen peas, feel free to add to the pasta water, during the last minute of cooking.
- Make Alfredo Sauce: Heat oil over med low heat, and saute onion and garlic until tender and golden. Place it in a blender along with cashews, veggie broth, nutritional yeast, miso, salt, nutmeg. Blend until creamy and smooth.
- Saute or smoke the mushrooms. If sauteeing, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and saute 6-7 minutes, until golden and tender, seasoniong with salt.
- Combine: Drain the pasta, add to a large pan along with the alfredo sauce, toss, and gently warm over low heat. Add the mushrooms and toss to coat (leaving a few for the top for garnish if you like).
- Divide among two bowls.
- Garnish with lemon zest, pepper, chili flakes and chopped parsley.
Notes
Cashews– need to be soaked 4-8 hours in water (and drained) or use a high-powered blender. Or alternatively, simmer the cashews in water boiling water for 15 minutes until tender. For nut allergies, hemp seeds are a good substitution (and no need to soak).
Here is “How to Smoke Mushrooms” on your stovetop in a few days!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: with peas and mushrooms
- Calories: 504
- Sugar: 11.9 g
- Sodium: 675.9 mg
- Fat: 21.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 63.9 g
- Fiber: 11.4 g
- Protein: 21.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This was great but I used the hempseed and the sauce looked like it broke. What can I do to get the creamy consistency?
Hmmmmmm, shoot! Im so sorry. That has never happened to me, I’m kind of surprised. Are you using a high-speed blender?
it was ok but I wouldn’t recommend
Sorry about that, what happened?
They probably found it sweet. I found adding way more salt made it taste like salty parmesan which makes alfredo what it is. i thought this dish was absolute PERFECTION <3 it's now officially in my recipe book.
This was delish!
Followed this to the letter and it was perfect –
This recipe was delicious! Thank you!
I’ve been following so many of your recipes for cooking for my fam during quarantine! Super fun, easy to follow, and delicious!
Could I substitute roasted salted cashews for raw?
It might not get as creamy if they are roasted?
So delicious! Thank you!
Thanks!
Hello! I want to make this and am new to the word of miso. Would red miso work instead of white? Thanks!
Yes as far as flavor it would be fine- but the sauce might get slightly off colored.
Here we go again – another perfect recipe! I am so thankful for your gift and your desire to share it with us. Most people with recipes this great keep them a secret.
I followed the recipe exactly as written, no substitutions. I did sprinkle lemon zest and parsley over my finished dish, which was heavenly.
This dish is an absolute hit with my family. You’ve done it again…and again…and again.
Awwwwww, thanks Nic, so glad you liked it!
Wow, this was so good, hard to believe that it doesn’t contain butter and cream. I followed the recipe to the letter, smoking my shiitake mushrooms and adding peas. It was excellent, I wouldn’t change a thing. My husband said that we could serve this to anyone and they’d never know it was vegan. I’m already thinking of many uses for this very creamy and flavorful sauce. Thanks for yet again another delicious, totally vegan recipe. Who would’ve known!
Hi Sylvia!
Thank you for an amazing recipe. Just made this last night and it was delicious. Had to tweak it a bit since I didn’t have any miso or veggie broth. Just added some extra garlic and it turned out great.
Love your blog!
Nat
Perfect Nat! Thanks for sharing!
Sylvia – This looks so good and I can’t wait to try it. Looking for help with substitutions, I have a nut and legume allergy so no cashews or peas. If making the Alfredo sauce out of Hemp seeds, do I need to soak the Hemp seeds as the recipe calls for with cashews? Also, I plan on substituting the peas with asparagus.
The hemp seeds do not need soaking. 🙂 Sub any veggie you like for the peas.
Hi there!
I have made this recipe twice so far and am in LOVE! So much flavor and creaminess, it’s perfect! I wanted to see what do you usually do with leftovers? Have you ever tried to bake it into a casserole of some sort and added breadcrumbs on top? Any suggestions? 🙂
I haven’t but worth a try. Hopefully it wouldn’t get dried out?
will try this recipe tomorrow 🙂
Made this with farfalle and it was very tasty! The whole family loved it!
Great to hear Kate!
Thanks Sylvia! The Vegan Alfredo is DELISH!! Since we’re all quarantined these days we’ve been experimenting with different recipes. My high school and college aged daughter are home and the new rule in the house is everyone has to cook dinner once a week. I showed them your website and tonight’s dinner was the Alfredo. They loved it, it’s so creamy and rich and pretty easy to make. We had it with the sautéed mushrooms and grilled broccoli, soooo good! Thanks
Love it, so glad you enjoyed!
Sooo good and refreshing!
I could not put miso in this dish due to an allergy, but holy cow, the rest of the ingredients came together so wonderfully. I will now be blending cashews all of the time! Thank you.
Great to hear!
I made this tonight, and I can’t say enough good about it! The only modification I made was to soak the cashews overnight. I think the key to the richness of flavor is the large amount of garlic and the fact that the garlic is cooked. The flavors blended perfectly! I served it over cavatappi pasta and peas, with bowls of sauteed mushrooms, artichoke hearts and roasted asparagus to add as desired. I have a dairy intolerant husband and vegan daughter, so plant-based creamy deliciousness is always welcome here!
Thanks- so happy you enjoyed this!
This recipe looks delish and I’ve gotten all of the ingredients to make it but I couldn’t find the White Miso Paste in my local stores, is there a substitute that could be used or if just left out would it make a big difference in the sauce? Thanks in advance!!!
just regular miso! or leave it out…
It makes a great family meal
Thanks Janet!
This recipe looks great! I really want to try it, but just a quick question. Does it make a different in taste if I don’t use the nutritional yeast? I don’t have it available where I am.
Really appreciate the recipe. Can’t wait to try it out! 🙂
I think it tastes fine without. It does give a cheesy flavor but not imperative.
Hello Sylvia:
This was so so good, but my sauce separated a bit. Any advice? Thank you!!
That is strange. Did you use hemp or cashews?
Hello There: I used cashews. In addition, I used a cuisinart to blend, perhaps I should have blended longer? love your blog and it was still delish. Best,
Do you mean a food processor? You need to do this in a blender. That could have been it. Was it smooth? or Granular?
The Nutritional yeast really does give it a rich “cheesy” flavor. That being said, you can leave it out. Add the miso though!
Made this last night and loved it! We love hemp hearts so I used those instead of the cashews and the sauce blended up perfectly. My husband likes it much better than traditional alfredo. So good with the sauteed mushrooms and peas! Next time I might add broccolini or spinach.
Great to hear Lisa!
This sounds incredible! I can’t wait to try it! Do you have a good gluten free pasta dough recipe? I’d like to try to make ravioli to go with this.
Thanks so much for all of your recipes. I cook almost exclusively from your posts these days, because I know the results will be fantastic. Whenever we try a new recipe (which is usually at least once per week) my husband asks if it’s one of yours, and he gets way more excited if it is. 🙂
You have a real gift. Thank you so much for sharing it with the rest of us.
Awww, thanks Laura, appreciate this so much! I haven’t tried making GF pasta yet! Let me know if you do.
HEAVENLY. Absolutely devine!