Vegan Alfredo Sauce

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This vegan Alfredo sauce is the perfect cashew-based, dairy-free alternative to keep in your back pocket. It’s incredibly rich, super creamy, and tastes just like the real thing (if not better). Whether you’re vegan or not, you’re going to love it!

A jar of vegan alfredo sauce.
Photo: Gayle McLeod

Why You’ll Love This Vegan Alfredo Sauce

It’s safe to say this is the most delicious dairy-free Alfredo sauce dupe out there. And even though I’m not vegan or dairy-free, I find myself making this sauce often—tossed with zucchini noodles, drizzled over chicken, and so much more. It’s my favorite way to elevate a simple dinner without heavy dairy ingredients. Here’s what else you’ll love about it: 

  • The flavor is incredible. It’s rich, savory, tangy, and cheesy-tasting—everything alfredo sauce should be!
  • The texture is ultra-creamy. Blended cashews are a magical ingredient that create an irresistibly smooth base, whether it’s in vegan cheesecake, vegan tzatziki, vegan ricotta cheese, or this vegan Alfredo sauce. 
  • It’s easy and stores well. I’m all for easy recipes, and this sauce just needs a few pantry items and a blender. Plus, you can store it in the fridge or freezer for later use (I have notes in the recipe card).
Ingredients for vegan alfredo sauce.

Vegan Alfredo Sauce Ingredients

  • Raw Cashews: Make sure to use raw cashews and not salted or roasted as we’ll add flavors to this sauce. 
  • Fresh Aromatics: A mix of fresh garlic, lemon juice, and onion adds a fresh, savory, and tangy touch.
  • Seasonings: The nutritional yeast is my secret ingredient for that deliciously cheesy undertone, accompanied by dried rosemary, salt, and black pepper for depth of flavor.

How to Make Vegan Alfredo Sauce

Soak the cashews overnight and store them in the fridge or at room temperature. This breaks down the cashews’ structure, making them soft and easier to blend, while removing phytic acid, which can interfere with digestion and nutrient absorption.

Cashews soaking in a bowl.

Blend the sauce. Add the drained cashews to a high-powered blender along with garlic, lemon juice, onion, nutritional yeast, dried herbs, salt, and black pepper. Blend everything on high until creamy, and you’re done!

Blended vegan alfredo sauce.

How To Use This Sauce

A glass jar of vegan alfredo sauce.

More Vegan Sauces 

If you make this vegan alfredo sauce recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comment box below! Your review will help other readers in the community. And if you’re hungry for more healthy food inspiration and exclusive content, join my free newsletter here.

Vegan alfredo sauce in a glass jar.

Best Vegan Alfredo Sauce

4.94 from 166 votes
Prep: 10 minutes
Resting Time: 6 hours
Total: 10 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Lisa Bryan

Description

This vegan alfredo sauce is the perfect cashew-based, dairy-free alternative to use in a variety of meals. It's rich, creamy, and so delicious!

Video

Equipment

  • Vitamix Blender The one kitchen tool I can't live without for blended recipes!

Ingredients 
 

Instructions 

  • Soak the cashews. Add the cashews to a bowl and cover by about 2 inches of cold water. Soak overnight (or at least 6 hours), then drain and rinse them.
    Soaked cashews in a bowl.
  • Blend together. Add the cashews, fresh water, garlic, lemon juice, onion, nutritional yeast, salt, rosemary, and pepper to a high-powered blend, and blend until smooth.
    Blending vegan alfredo sauce in a Vitamix.
  • Use or store. Use this vegan Alfredo sauce immediately (see ideas in the post above!) or store in a sealed container in the fridge or freezer.
    A spoonful of vegan alfredo sauce.

Lisa’s Tips

  • The water used to soak the cashews is separate from the water used in blending. You’ll discard the water you use for soaking. 
  • The recipe makes approximately 1 cup of sauce
  • If you’ve never cooked with nutritional yeast before, it’s small little flakes (about the size of large sea salt flakes) of deactivated yeast that provide a nutty, cheese-like flavor. 
  • To store in the fridge: You can store this sauce in the fridge for up to 5 days in a sealed container. Just keep in mind that the sauce will thicken up as it sits in the fridge and sometimes while you’re cooking with it. If that happens and you want a thinner sauce, just add more water.
  • To freeze for later: I recommend freezing it in a silicone ice cube tray, so you can easily thaw individual portions as needed.

Nutrition

Calories: 203kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 589mg | Potassium: 327mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 2IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 2mg
Course: sauce
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Cashew Alfredo, Dairy free Alfredo Sauce, Vegan Alfredo Recipe, Vegan Alfredo Sauce
Did you make this recipe?Mention @downshiftology or tag #downshiftology!

This recipe was originally posted July 2017, but recently updated to include new photos and information for your benefit! 

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About the author

Lisa Bryan

Lisa is a bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, and YouTuber (with over 2.5 million subscribers) living in sunny Southern California. She started Downshiftology in 2014, and is passionate about making healthy food with fresh, simple and seasonal ingredients.

4.94 from 166 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




553 Comments

  1. Outstanding! I used Vege-Sal, an organic shallot (instead of onion) and omitted the lemon juice. Truly amazing recipe! Many thanks!!5 stars

  2. Didn’t have the nutritional yeast but did have dried shiitake mushrooms! I added 4 to the 3/4 cup of water to soak. Overall, a pretty tasty sauce!5 stars

  3. Wow! Hubby and I were blown away! This sauce is incredible! Thanks so much! I have a helpful hint for those who suffer from mold allergies (as I do). I always soak my raw cashews in a teaspoon of powdered Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) for at least 30 minutes. This process kills the mold that unfortunately cashews and peanuts are loaded with. This does not change the flavor.5 stars

    1. Thanks for sharing your little trick for people who suffer from mold allergies, Victoria! Glad you were able to find a way to make this alfredo sauce work for you with great results.

  4. I made this sauce and some grain free gnocchi. After boiling the gnocchi, I added them to a saute pan with a little butter and fresh sage and when the butter started to brown, I turned off the heat and poured the Alfredo sauce over the top. It was amazing!! No one in my family knew the sauce was made from cashews and when I told them, no one believed me. LOL! I had to actually show them the recipe.5 stars

    1. Hi Sarina – Wow, the combination with butter and sage sounds delicious! Glad this dish was a hit with your family. And yes, cashew is such a sneaky ingredient that creates such tasty results!

  5. This recipe is really easy to make (as long as you remember to soak the cashews) and very good. The nutritional yeast gives it that nice, cheesy flavor. I added a little chile crisp to give it a kick. The most shocking thing is that my husband liked it a lot! He can usually taste “different” versions of old favorites at 100 paces away.
    Lisa comes through again!5 stars

  6. I found this recipe in November and I’ve made it multiple times since then. It’s by far the best vegan Alfredo sauce recipe out there. I especially love it with the parsnip noodles. Which I gotta say I never would have thought of.

    I’ve tried to love ‘zoodles’ and while they’re fine I can’t get past the texture. My husband loves them though.

    I was skeptical when I tried parsnip ‘noodles’ but oh man so delicious.

    This Alfredo sauce recipe is amazing!5 stars

    1. Parsnip noodles are such a secret winner for a gluten-free noodle option (and one that’s heartier than zoodles for this heavier alfredo sauce). So happy you loved that combo!

  7. The ingredients for homemade alfredo sauce were just too unhealthy for me. I have been searching for a vegan alfredo sauce as a healthy alternative. Found this recipe and it is perfect. My wife also loves it and she in not big into alfredo. So easy to make so there is definitely bang for the buck time wise.5 stars

    1. Hi Mark – I’m happy to hear you and your wife are both enjoying my twist on a vegan alfredo sauce! It’s definitely a lighter, healthier option, though still packed with flavor. Enjoy!

  8. I was so surprised how amazing this recipe is. I am a huge creamy pasta fan, but dairy doesn’t make me feel great, so this is such a great substitution. I am following Whole 30 at the moment, and I added some chicken and zucchini to this for a gluten free, dairy free chicken alfredo.
    I would love to make this for my family, and not tell them this is dairy free and see if they taste the difference… I don’t think they will.5 stars

    1. Hi Claire – I’m happy you loved this vegan alfredo sauce! And I’m sure if you didn’t tell your family they might not know the difference. ;)

  9. This was the most delicious vegan Alfredo sauce I’ve ever had! My vegan daughter and I loved it so much. I used it for angel hair pasta and vegetables for last night’s dinner.
    Thank you for such a fantastic recipe that we will use often!
    I poured boiling water over the frozen raw cashews that I had in the freezer and let them sit for 10 minutes. I have a fabulous Blendtec blender, and this recipe turned out perfect!5 stars

    1. Yum! Happy to hear you and your daughter loved this vegan alfredo sauce for a delicious pasta dinner, Judi.

  10. Hi there! I’ve made this many times and we love it with pasta or your Whole 30 Chicken and Broccoli casserole.
    Of all the things I miss, Alfredo sauce is one of the hardest to replicate.
    Do you think trying nutmeg instead of rosemary would give that traditional white or bechamel sauce flavor?5 stars

    1. Hi Amy – I’m happy to hear you love this vegan alfredo sauce! And yes, I think that’s a great idea with the nutmeg, it should give more of that Bechamel sauce vibe. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!

    1. Hi Natalie – you’d need to look for a different vegan alfredo sauce that doesn’t use cashews as the base, but instead uses something like coconut cream.

  11. Can this sauce be heated up? Some of the sauces I have tried like this are served cold and a cold meal in the winter isn’t appealing to me.

  12. Can’t show you a pic because it’s GONE!!! Delicious, all we added were some red pepper flakes and home made hot sauce. Yum!!! Will def make it again.5 stars

    1. Hi Dora – red pepper flakes are a great addition to this alfredo sauce for a little extra kick. Happy you loved it!

  13. I just made the Vegan Alfredo Sauce for the first time and WOW. The flavor is so vibrant, the sauce is so creamy and delicious I just want to eat it on its own with a spoon. If I didn’t already know how amazing the Whole30 Chicken Broccoli Casserole is with store-bought sauce, I might just do that, but now I need to know how it will be in this recipe.
    My cashews are about to expire, so I plan to make a couple more recipes of this sauce and freeze them for later! Thank you Lisa!5 stars

  14. Hi there! I have two questions:
    1. Can I use 1 cup of raw cashew butter instead of soaking a cup of cashews and then blending?
    2. Do I have to bake this, or could I heat it all up in a skillet like a one-pot meal?

    Thanks!

  15. I think this is the best imitation of real alfredo sauce I’ve had. Next time I make this, I plan to add fresh dill.5 stars