This is the best easy vegan Alfredo sauce recipe you’ll ever try, with no dairy, no eggs, no tofu, and no cashews required!
Creamy vegan Alfredo sauce
Imagine a classic vegan Alfredo recipe so luxuriously rich and smooth, you will want to pour it over absolutely everything.
I’ve served the recipe to both vegetarians and omnivores, always with rave reviews and expressions of complete disbelief that something this deliciously creamy could possibly be made without any heavy cream at all.
My Italian family absolutely loves it!
Also be sure to try this Vegan Cheesecake
Dairy free Alfredo recipe video
Above, watch the step by step recipe video.
The best vegan Alfredo recipe
If you are looking for a extra thick cream sauce to serve over your favorite pasta or ravioli, look no further.
This recipe is perfect for topping fettuccine, linguine, tortellini, spaghetti, rigatoni, penne, rotini, or macaroni.
It also includes gluten free, nut free, soy free options.
Or if you want to try something other than pastas, the dairy free Alfredo is also great with broccoli or roasted vegetables, gnocchi, rice, stuffed shells, lasagna, low carb zucchini noodles (zoodles), baked potatoes, or spaghetti squash.
You can even use it as a vegan white sauce for an Alfredo style Cauliflower Pizza Crust!
More vegan pasta recipes
I’ve also included my cauliflower Alfredo recipe below, or if you’re looking for a homemade Alfredo sauce with cashews, try this Cashew Alfredo Sauce.
Healthy Alfredo ingredients
Nondairy Milk: Feel free to use whatever milk you have on hand. I recommend choosing an unsweetened variety, such as almond milk, oat milk, or soy milk. Or the sauce is especially rich and creamy if you use nondairy creamer or canned coconut milk.
Vegan Cheese: The recipe works with either Parmesan cheese (such as dairy free Violife or Follow Your Heart) or vitamin packed nutritional yeast. The two ingredients have different flavors, but are both good here in their own right.
Or you can sub your favorite shredded vegan cheddar, pepper jack, or mozzarella cheese. Add this in at the very end when you turn off the heat, then stir until the dairy free cheese melts.
Cornstarch Or Flour: This ingredient adds thickness to the creamy pasta sauce without heavy cream. All purpose flour or cornstarch work best for dissolving smoothly.
Salt: Do not omit the salt. The results will lack depth of flavor. Some people also like to add a pinch of ground black pepper, spicy crushed red pepper, or ground nutmeg to their homemade Alfredo sauces.
Oil: The recipe below does call for oil or a plant based butter spread. Try Earth Balance or Miyokos vegan butter, coconut oil, or Smart Balance Light for low calorie Alfredo sauce. To make an oil free Alfredo, I substituted an equal amount of tahini once with great results.
Katie’s favorite variations
Garlic Alfredo: Add a tablespoon of minced garlic to the saucepan at the same time as the salt, before bringing the mixture to a boil.
Spinach Alfredo: Stir in a handful of raw spinach at the very end of the cooking process. This option works well with kale too.
High Protein: Make it a meal by throwing in a cup of cooked chickpeas, roasted mushrooms, green peas, vegan bacon for carbonara, or a meatless protein like baked tofu or tempeh.
This vegan pasta sauce is super quick and easy to make! But if you are looking for something even easier and faster, there are a bunch of boxed or jarred Alfredo brands on the market, including Primal Kitchen, Daiya Cheeze Sauce, Victoria Vegan, and Simple Truth Plant Based Alfredo (one of my personal favorites).
For dessert, try these Homemade Chocolate Bars
How to make vegan Alfredo pasta sauce
- To prepare the recipe in your kitchen, start by gathering all of your ingredients and reading through the instructions.
- In a medium saucepan, whisk the cornstarch or flour into the milk or creamer until it’s completely dissolved, with no lumps.
- Whisk in the salt and oil or vegan butter spread. If desired, also add two to three teaspoons of minced garlic.
- Over low medium heat, slowly bring this mixture to a boil. Stir occasionally at first with a wire whisk, then stir constantly once it begins to thicken. The whole process should take under ten minutes.
- Once your vegan sauce is thick, turn off the heat and stir in the nutritional yeast or vegan Parmesan cheese until it melts. Taste the sauce, and season with salt and pepper or other spices and seasonings as desired.
Vegan Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups nondairy milk or creamer (480g)
- 3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch (28g) or 5 tbsp flour (or try this Cauliflower Alfredo Recipe)
- 6 tbsp nutritional yeast or vegan Parmesan cheese (30g)
- 2 tbsp minced garlic (30g) (optional)
- 2 tbsp coconut oil or vegan butter (24g) (for oil free, see note above)
- 1/2 tsp salt (plus salt and pepper to taste)
- 8 oz pasta or noodles of choice (optional)
Instructions
- 1. In a saucepan, whisk cornstarch or flour into milk until completely dissolved.
- 2. Stir in the salt, oil, and optional garlic.
- 3. Slowly bring the vegan Alfredo sauce to a boil over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally at first and then constantly once it starts to thicken.
- 4. Once thick, turn off heat and stir in the dairy free cheese until it melts.
- 5. Taste, and season with salt and pepper as desired.
Video
Notes
Vegan recipes from scratch
Oh my gosh, Bree! This separates on us all the time, too! We have to put it in the blender with some pasta water to get it to come together. I don’t know what we’re doing wrong, but we LOVE the flavor and make it often. Any idea any one?
Great!
This Alfredo sauce is so good and so quick to make!! I LOVE it! Will definitely be making this again soon! Thanks for sharing!!
I love this recipe! I subbed arrowroot powder for cornstarch but followed it for everything else and it was easy to make and delicious to eat! I see many possibilities for this recipe (nachos, liquid pizza cheese, Mac & cheese, etc.) Thanks so much!
Loved it! I added some sauteed veggies and veg cheese and mixed them in. Topped with Fried onions.
Delicious!
Really good vegan Alfredo recipe. I added garlic and Italian seasoning to the recipe. Very creamy texture. My vegan and non-vegan family members really enjoyed this one!
This is hands down the best vegan Alfredo sauce I have ever made. It isn’t heavy at all, and my family of non-vegans ate it happily and wanted to know when we can have it again! It kind of reminds me of Panera’s Mac and cheese. This is definitely going to be a frequent weeknight dinner recipe in our house. Thank you so much Katie!
Thank you all so much for trying it!
Hey! I have some dairy issues but love this recipe. However, I can’t do nut subs either, and don’t know what to do for all these dairy options. What do you suggest?
Hi Katie if I’m serving a family of 6 what would the measurements be for the recipe!?
Made this for dinner tonight! It was a huge hit! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much. I have a son with food allergies and this was a perfect vegan “alfredo” sauce. It is so hard to come by recipes that taste good while using alternate ingredients. I used extra creamy oat milk, 6 tbsp vegan mozzarella cheese(all I had on hand) and additional 2 tbsp nutritional yeast to boost nutritional values. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!
Excellent recipe, perfect creamy texture, thanks so much. In my recipe book now as a keeper. I used just nutritional yeast and felt like I needed just slightly more cheese flavor so next time I will use some vegan parmesan too!
This was Excellent! And Easy. Thankyou 🙏