The Ultimate Vegan “Cheesy” Pasta Sauce Recipe

Whether you’re vegan or just trying to cut down on your meat and dairy consumption— there’s one thing that’s hard to master and that’s a good vegan creamy cheesey sauce recipe.

Don’t get us wrong, vegan cheeses have come a long way (shout out to Pizza Express for their delicious vegan pizza) but it can be hard to find a good melty cheese substitute for at-home pasta dishes.

Enter: cashew cream. Your new dairy-free cheesy pasta substitute. It’s the easiest thing to whip up and creates the creamiest, cheesiest pasta sauce ever. Even if you’re a dairy lover— you’re going to want to try this.

Cashew Cream Sauce: aka vegan alfredo sauce

What you need:

• A handful of cashew nuts (the more you use, the thicker the sauce)
• A cup of water
• A nutribullet (or other blender)

Added optional extras:

• 1x tbsp of Engevita Yeast Flakes B12 (these give the sauce a cheesy/nutty taste)
• Half a clove of garlic
• 1x Vegetable stock cube
• A thumb sized piece of an onion (red or white)
• Half the zest of a lemon

Method:

Start by soaking your cashew nuts in warm water. Anything from 30mins+ is fine, but for best results try and leave them to soak overnight.

Once your cashews have been soaked in water, drain and re-fill with a fresh cup of water. (The soaking process draws out phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors, which tastes a bit funny if you leave it in— so is best to get rid and replace with fresh water.)

Next, blitz all your ingredients in a food processor or blender. For a basic cashew cream; water and cashew nuts is all that’s needed— but we like to add in the B12 flakes, half a clove of garlic, a cube of an onion, a veggie stock cube and some lemon zest to make it even tastier.

And that’s it. Add to your cooked pasta, and cook through for a couple of minutes to allow the onion and garlic to cook.

Of course you can add whatever veggies (or meat / fish if you’re not vegan) to your pasta too so the possibilities are endless! Cashew cream makes a great alfredo sauce alternative and is great with mushrooms and pancetta.