Thick, creamy vegan garlic pasta sauce – ready in under 5 minutes!
Trust me, you will dream about this impossibly creamy garlic sauce.
One taste, and you’ll find yourself running back to check the ingredients, because it’s almost unbelievable…
How can a sauce this rich and thick and creamy have no heavy cream?
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It’s totally vegan, and you’re going to want to put it on pretty much everything.
Pasta, rice, veggies, french fries, Buffalo Cauliflower Wings, nachos, chocolate bars…
Maybe not that last one. Please don’t mix chocolate bars and garlic sauce. Honestly, it’s probably not a good idea.
Then again, you never know.
(Seriously though, don’t do it.)
A Month Of Healthy Meals
Every January, I like to shift the focus of Chocolate Covered Katie away from dessert and turn it instead toward healthy plant-based meals.
Healthy vegan recipes such as this Lentil Soup or my favorite Veggie Burger Recipe…
Readers often email me to say that they’d love to eat healthier or try more meatless recipes, but they just don’t have time to cook elaborate from-scratch healthy food every night.
Last month, I found myself in the same boat – craving healthy food, but with very little time to prepare it.
From Thanksgiving until the end of the year was kind of crazy for me. I started December still barely able to walk, with a broken nose and black eye from a running injury.
At the same time, I’d decided to move to a new city and had two weeks to find a new place and pack everything up.
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There was also closing on a big business deal, as well as filming for an upcoming feature.
(More on both of those soon!)
It’s no secret I’ve always been a fan of easy meals that take longer to eat than to cook; and with everything going on last month, this was even more true.
I relied on simple recipes like this pasta with garlic sauce – recipes that could be prepared in 10 minutes or less, from start to finish.
For dessert, try these Vegan Brownies!
Serve with a side salad, or stir in some veggies for a healthy and filling one-bowl meal.
*For a keto version, use macadamia nuts and serve the garlic sauce over steamed broccoli, roasted vegetables, or spaghetti squash (see How To Cook Spaghetti Squash).
Creamy Vegan Garlic Pasta
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw cashews or macadamias
- 1/2 cup milk of choice
- 1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp oil or butter spread, optional
- pasta, rice, or veggies of choice
Instructions
- Simply combine all sauce ingredients in a high speed blender until completely smooth. (I like to add the optional oil for richness and to help sauce adhere better to pasta.) Add more seasonings if you wish – I add a little more garlic and 1/4 tsp more salt. Sometimes I’ll also add a tbsp of nutritional yeast or some lemon juice to change up the flavor. Heat to desired serving temperature on the stovetop or in the microwave, then pour over pasta or veggies.View Nutrition Facts
Notes
Have you made this recipe?
Tag @chocolatecoveredkatie on Instagram
More Healthy Recipes For The New Year:
Flourless Pancakes – 3 Ingredients
Jess says
Oh my gosh I am so excited to hear all about those two exciting news! Btw you look so pretty!
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Thank you so much ❤?
Kate says
I’m glad you’re feeling better–excited for your 2019 plans! Can you share what city you’ve moved to??
Chocolate Covered Katie says
DC 🙂
Stephanie says
You’re in my town?! I feel so privileged. 😉 Welcome!
Lauren says
Wow so many things for you, how exciting! I can’t wait to hear about this netflix thing!!!!!
Heather says
Congratulations on your move and the project with Netflix!!! I can’t wait to hear more about both and I can’t wait to check out the documentary once it’s available 🙂 I’m so excited that you’re focusing on healthy meals again this January–thank you! I LOVE chocolate, but always feel a little sick after so many sweets over the holidays. I’m hoping to try this sauce tonight–I think it will be a hit with my 2 toddlers.
Chocolate Covered Katie says
❤
Elizabeth Vanstone says
I can not wait to hear about the upcoming Netflix documentary. That was I big tease!! lol
Thank you for sharing so much of yourself to help better each and everyone one of us!!
Chocolate Covered Katie says
❤
Cindy says
I am very excited about the upcoming Netflix documentary but I have been anxiously awaiting your new cookbook, any word on when that will be released?
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Thank you so much! The new cookbook’s been put on hold, and I’m not sure when it will happen (but it WILL happen!). The publisher wanted another dessert book while I am set on one that includes all meals. So I need to find another fit and haven’t really been looking again yet because of other projects… hopefully soon!
Pixie @ Cheerfully Vegan says
Oh, boy! So much exciting stuff going on for you – and not so much with your running accident. This recipe is coming at a perfect time. I just caught my right foot this noon, twisting it horribly, causing me to fall on my left knee so that it needed bandaging. I won’t be doing any long-term cooking tonight! I do believe this is the perfect recipe for this evening.
Can’t wait to hear about your new opportunities and where you moved this time!
Pixie @ Cheerfully Vegan says
I am eating this right now!! It is delicious. I added the extra salt, but think I would leave it out next time. It would be good if it was over veggies with that much salt. I also sauteed a few portabella mushrooms and added them and used a little raw onion instead of the onion powder, because I’m almost out of onion powder! I doubled the recipe and used 2 1/2 c. uncooked farfalle and it was just the right amount, imo.
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Thank you so much for making it! And I’m so sorry about your injury too… sending good thoughts for a speedy recovery 🙂
Pat Thomas says
just made up a double batch of the creamy vegan garlic pasta and i LOVE it.
i added more garlic, included the olive oil and also the nutritional yeast.
we’re having this tonight for dinner
thank you!
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Thank YOU for making it!
Ria says
I did the same and added some miso paste, celery salt instead of onion, doubled the soya milk and added a little oats to thicken.
Ria says
My comment was a reply to Pat Thomas 8 Jan, 2019 and a thank you to Katie for the basic recipe. Creamy and delicious served with wholewheat pasta, sauteed broccoli and onions.
Mati says
Just made this for lunch and it was delicious!! Thank you, so quick and easy I’m sure is going to be eaten pretty regularly in my house. Greetings from Valencia, Spain ?
Jennifer says
I made this and it was sooo good! I went ahead and soaked my Cashews while I was at work since i knew I was going to make it for dinner. The gluten free pasta I made to go with it turned out to be a bust so I used the rest of the sauce as a ‘cream’ in some quinoa soup I made. It really gave my soup some extra flavor and some wonderful creaminess! I will definitely make this again. I’ve been loving your savory recipes. I can’t wait for the next one! Thanks
Emma says
really quite simple and delicious….
Lola says
Any thoughts on how long this sauce would keep in the refrigerator once prepared?
Jason Sanford says
3-4 days!
Grace says
Can I use almonds instead?
Jason Sanford says
We haven’t tried so can’t say, but be sure to report back if you experiment!
Beata Piovesan says
Almond flour worked so almond should be great too.
Bianca Santos says
Do you think pecans would work to make the creamy sause? Would you recommend soaking them?
Thank you
Jason Sanford says
We haven’t tried so honestly can’t say, but it sounds like a fun experiment! Be sure to report back if you try!
Janet LaFara says
I had some delicious pasta and creamy garlic sauce tonight – thank you – just what I was in the mood for! I used four fresh green olives instead of oil and added in about six sprigs of thyme. Guess what color my sauce was? Served with diced onions, broccoli and sliced green olives over tri-color farfelle.
Nina Javez says
This is SOO delicious! And you’re absolutely GLOWING in your profile photo.
jamie says
Are the cashews suppose to soak or not?
Jason Sanford says
No need, but you can if you want.
Jason
Samantha says
This was seriously delicious. I added some nooch and white beans to add flavor and thicken. I also seasoned my cooked pasta with a generous amount of pepper and sun dried tomatoes to balance out the sweetness of the sauce. Amazing! Thanks so much for the recipe! I already know this is going to be my go to white sauce.
Samantha says
P.S. I am very excited to check out your other recipes!
Beata Piovesan says
Hi there. Thanks for an awesome and easy recipe. I made it with almond “flour” as I didn’t have cashews, and it was beautiful.
Avra says
Will this work in a regular immersion blender (not high speed) if I let the cashews soak in the milk?
Avra says
How many servings of pasta do you recommend using with one batch of this recipe?
Ellie says
Looks so creamy and delicious! Just to clarify about the garlic… did you use minced garlic in a jar? Raw garlic? Dried minced garlic? Thanks!
Jason Sanford says
The kind in a jar is good here!
Monrique Hennig says
Just wondering if you dont have cashews or macadamia nuts if macadamia nut butter would work as well? Tempted to try this weekend….
Tina says
Would this sauce work on a vegan white pizza?
Jason Sanford says
Oh yum that would be amazing!
Tins says
Thank you!! I’m going to give it a try and let you know how it turns out!!
Tina says
Just returning to let you know this sauce is absolutely incredible on a white pizza. My husband and I have been craving a white pizza from Screamers pizza in NYC and this fit the bill . My husband could not believe it .
Everyone should try this, it’s amazing!!!!
Thank you for sharing your talents!!!!
Tina
Jason Sanford says
Oh man now I absolutely have to try it too ?
Jamie L Fleetwood says
Could walnuts be used in place of the cashews/macadamia ?
Jason Sanford says
Hmm, might not be as creamy? But you never know unless you try! Be sure to report back for the rest of us if you try!
Gina says
This looks so good! If all I have is salted cashews, what would you recommend? I was thinking maybe should I soak them prior to get the salt off, or just omit the salt from the recipe?
Sharon says
This was so yummy! I put a couple of blocks of frozen spinach in to make it creamy garlic spinach sauce. I had a bit left over so popped it in the fridge and guess what? It tastes GREAT as a dip. Winning!
Jamie says
Really great recipe! I used an extra 1/2 tbsp of garlic and half a tablespoon of lemon juice. I also cooked the garlic beforehand and added onions and mushroom.
Dallas says
What could you use instead of nuts to make the garlic sauce for the pasta. My 2 yr old is allergic to everything other than oxygen I swear lol anyways she can’t do nuts of any sort or soy anything or anything with soy in it like oil or letting etc…. So feeding her has been a huge challenge. FINDING recipes & learning ways to tweak them has been a chore to say the least because rather than not being able to eat one ingredient she can’t have many no milk lactose dairy soy she is gluten intolerant can’t do eggs or nuts or corn syrup pineapple or oranges of any sort & sometimes I even wonder about coconut I still can’t tell oh & fish I’m sure I’m forgetting something but you catch my drift. So yea always looking for new recipes we can try she has been doing plant based/vegan for the most part since being able to eat solids at what 6 months.