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
Do I have to use nutritional yeast? Is there a substitute for it?
No Kasey, just leave it out if you like!
Absolutely love this recipe. How long can your store the sauce in the refrigerator? I made extra and didn’t want to throw it away
Hi Dawna! I think it should be fine up to 4 days. You could also freeze it if need be!
I wanted to see how well this recipe mimicked a real Alfredo sauce,and it did not disappoint. My vegan daughter had seconds and thought it was really good. I am an omnivore and felt it had the depth and flavor to satisfy my appetite for Alfredo while offering a much healthier alternative. And very easy to put together! I will definitely make this again.
So happy you enjoyed this!
My daughter and I recently started eating vegan, so we tried this recipe. My daughter loved it! My husband who doesn’t eat vegan didn’t care for it. I liked it but didn’t love it. The second time I made this we added lemon zest and liked it more. I think the flavors in the veggie broth might be overpowering the garlic as I don’t taste much garlic in the final sauce. Wondering if it would work with water instead or cashew milk??
Yes water or cashew milk would work here, but you may need to up the salt.
Can this sauce be made ahead of time?
Yes, should be fine to make ahead Nikki!
I’ve made this a few times now because it’s very good. I boiled the cashews for 15 minutes, then let them sit in the hot water while I prepared the rest, and the sauce came out very creamy. In side pans I fried some tofu for my vegetarian son, and then fried chicken in the other pan for my meat eaters. Everyone was happy. Delicious.
Perfect Debbie- glad this worked for you!
Best ever vegan website I have ever visited!
Thanks, the whole site is not vegan- but many of the recipes are. 🙂
I felt like I was dining in a 5 star restaurant when I made the date night Alfredo. Absolutely delicious!!
Yay Sharon- glad this worked well for you!
This was surprisingly well received by my boyfriend who is an omnivore and cringes at the word “vegan.” I think it helped that I didn’t tell him there was no dairy until after he ate it 😉 My sauce came up a bit chunkier but I did the fast soak with the cashews. Next time I’ll try the longer soak to see if that helps.
That should help Alison! Even still, I’m glad he liked it!
You may have saved me. A friend and his family are going to visit. They will be on a Nativity Fast. That means Vegan. I am not Vegan but I know that it means no animal meat or animal by-products. Well, I am sorry I suggested a restaurant before I knew they would be Vegan. I will make a meal for all of us at our house. Your recipes sound good. Question, though. Don’t noodles use eggs? Are noodles acceptable or is there a particular kind of noodles I should buy or make? Thank you very much.
Hi Cheryl, glad we can help. 😉 Yes, it is easy to find egg-free pasta. 🙂
“Would eat everyday” -bodybuilding meat loving boyfriend. Haha we also added some vegan Italian sausages. Delectable. Heart healthy. and Easy !
Awesome Danielle, love hearing this! 😉
Just constructive criticism, maybe it would be better to have the amount of ingredients at before the method.
Hi Jackie- thanks for pointing this out- I found the error. 😉
Do you have a recipe for sautéed mushrooms to use in this recipe? Thank you so much, love your recipes!
I would use the recipe from Creamy Polenta with Mushrooms- just type it in the search bar. And thanks Barbara, we need a simple recipe for that, so will work on it!
I make so many of your recipes and they are simply the best, this one is another hit and I love the smoked mushrooms and they were very easy to make! Thank you🙏🏻
Thanks Cristina!
Just awesome.so much flavour and creamy.Will put more mushrooms next time.
Great to hear David!
This looks really good, although my family doesn’t care for the taste of nutritional yeast. Does it come through at all? Or should I use parmesan instead? Thank you.
It’s mild here- and you can leave it out if you prefer, or even cut in half. 🙂
Make this frequently. We love it kids included. So easy and tasty.
I made this last week and I can’t believe how good it is. I’m making it again tonight because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. All the flavors are amazing and I can’t even begin to describe how creamy the sauce is. I’m not necessarily vegan, but I have been making more plant based meals since I found out my cholesterol was high. My husband and son loved this recipe too. Sending you a great big Thank You!
Thanks Sue- glad you all enjoyed this!
Can you make the sauce ahead of time (the day before) and reheat the next day with pasta?
Thatnk should work fine Lindsay!
THIS. IS. THE. BEST.
My husband and I started eating completely plant-based at home in March of this year, for health purposes. But when we are out to eat or having dinner at someone’s house, we still eat whatever, which means I haven’t forgotten the taste of delicious, creamy dairy alfredo sauce. HOWEVER, I’m going to forget it by choice after this recipe, because *why* would I ever choose any other alfredo sauce but this one?? My husband immediately said “I like this way better than regular alfredo sauce” and I concur. It’s incredible – earthy, rich… I can’t stop thinking about it.
As neither of us love the texture of mushrooms, I roughly blended them into the sauce after it was nice and creamy. I also can’t stand peas, so I subbed steamed broccoli instead. Other than that, we made this as written!
My next step is to try and turn this into a broccoli alfredo soup to serve in bread bowls for an upcoming party. Mmmm.
Thank you Sylvia, for another incredible recipe! Your site has all of our favorite plant-based recipes and is where I turn first for something new to try, as we haven’t found one yet that we don’t like. No bland “this is good…for being plant-based” recipes here! Keep up the amazing work.
Awwwwww, thanks so much Rachel! Glad you both enjoyed this one!
I was not convinced that this would taste like an alfredo sauce (how could it, really, without butter and cream and with hemp hearts instead???) We were soooo impressed. We had a scrumptious dinner, and we could not get over the fact that it was vegan. I just had no idea. Even though I wasn’t opposed to eating vegan meals, as a foodie, I thought that eating vegan would mean eating substitutes that were just ok (“Meh. It’s good…for vegan food…”). This was just delicious. Thank you for opening my eyes to new possibilities!
Love it Susan! So happy you enjoyed this!
A-mazibg. Simply extraordinary, yet simple. Making my newly vegan-ish lifestyle a pleasure. Thank you so much!
P.s.Mushrooms don’t sit too well with me, so I sub blanched broccoli with it. De-lish, and causing me to get my veggies!
Perfect substituion Robin!
What an awesome and delicious recipe, and even better when topped with the Vegan Cheesy Sprinkle (which is now a staple in our house for topping pasta and vegan cheese toast). Thanks for sharing!
So glad you tried this and the sprinkle too!
Wow! So easy to make and it was amazing! Thank you!! Made exactly to recipe and it was delicious!
Awesome Beckie!
I love this!! The sauce taste so freakin fresh! My boyfriend who eats meat, loved it very much.🥰🥰 I added fresh artichoke to mine (jus cause I love em) and I had leftovers for the next day. 💛
thanks so much Sasha!
Excellent!