Dreamy Vegan Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce
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This rich, creamy, and totally dreamy cauliflower alfredo sauce recipe is 100% dairy-free. You’ll be amazed at how delicious vegan food can be!
This cauliflower alfredo sauce is EVERYTHING! Seriously, it’s a game-changer. With all its cream, butter, and cheese, regular alfredo sauce is pretty darn awesome, but my jeans are feeling a little tighter just thinking about it!
This Alfredo sauce is made from the highly skilled impersonator, cauliflower. It’s cooked with some onions and garlic, then blended into a smooth, creamy sauce with some veggie stock.
We’ve flavored it with a bit of nutritional yeast … that weirdly awesome flaky stuff that tastes a little like Parmesan cheese.
This sauce has been a lifesaver. Whip up a batch in 15 minutes, then slather it on everything from spaghetti squash to pumpkin alfredo noodles to casserole.
What does cauliflower alfredo sauce taste like?
Since we’re eat-everything-arians, we’re pretty picky about imitations of ‘real’ food. That’s why this sauce is such a dream; it’s the best knockoff Alfredo sauce ever.
Does it taste EXACTLY like cream and butter-loaded alfredo? No, but it’s unbelievably close.
It’s super creamy, even though there’s not a drop of cream in sight. The flavor is mild, with a touch of garlic and a little cheesiness, thanks to some nutritional yeast.
Troubleshooting cauliflower alfredo sauce
The sauce is too thick. This can occur if too much stock evaporates during cauliflower cooking. If needed, add a little extra stock or water to the blender.
The sauce isn’t smooth. This can happen if your blender isn’t powerful. In this case, pour the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any pieces that didn’t blend properly.
The sauce needs more flavor. When making the sauce, start with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast, then add more as needed
Ideas for serving cauliflower alfredo sauce
Pasta is the obvious choice here. Linguine, fettuccine, or even penne or fusilli all pair well with this sauce. And you can add extras like spinach, steamed broccoli, peppers, peas or any other veggie that you like. It’s also the base of my dairy-free chicken alfredo recipe.
This is also a great ‘base recipe”. You can use it to build a special dinner. Here are a few ideas:
- Add some roasted garlic.
- Pour it over steamed or roasted broccoli.
- Make some vegan mac and cheese pasta.
- Use it as a dip for nachos.
- Pizza sauce!
Dreamy Vegan Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ yellow onion (chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 3 cups (12 ounces) chopped cauliflower
- 1 cup vegetable stock or water
- 1-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (see notes)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1-2 teaspoons sea salt
- ½ teaspoon soy sauce
- Optional: 1 tablespoon butter (vegan or regular butter both work, use what you have on hand)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and let it cook for 3-4 minutes, or until it is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the cauliflower and the vegetable stock or water to the pot, cover with a lid and let the cauliflower steam for 5 minutes, or until it is soft.1 teaspoon olive oil, ½ yellow onion, 3 cloves garlic, 3 cups (12 ounces) chopped cauliflower, 1 cup vegetable stock or water
- Transfer everything in the pot to a blender (a high-powered blender will make the smoothest sauce, but any blender will work) and blend on high until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients (starting with 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast and 1 teaspoon of sea salt) and blend again. Taste and add more nutritional yeast and sea salt, if you'd like. If you are using the optional butter add it now and blend once more.1-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1-2 teaspoons sea salt, ½ teaspoon soy sauce, Optional: 1 tablespoon butter
- Either use the cauliflower alfredo right away or pour it into a pan to keep warm until you are ready to use it.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
This has become one of my go-to recipes over the last couple years. I make it so often and everyone I’ve made it for loves it! So so good, def recommend!
I made this with gluten free spaghetti and added a little bit of pepper to the sauce. It is absolutely delicious!! Thank you so much for sharing this!
You are so welcome!!
I am a celiac vegan so it gets hard…
This is wonderful. I added twice the nutritional yeast and it’s wonderful. I second and third on add some black fresh ground (coarse grind) black pepper.
Over a batch of chickpea pasta… I ate too much but this is a good way to die. Thank you.
That makes me so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
I am so happy to have an “alfredo” recipe that is not soy-based, nor relies on my soaking cashews overnight. I didn’t see anyone mention that this recipe also freezes really well. I froze it in muffin tins overnight, then moved the frozen portions to a freezer bag. After three weeks, I defrosted it and it still tasted delicious! I have recommended this to so many people. I love it over a baked sweet potato with white beans. Thank you!
Thank you so much for letting us know it freezes well! That is so helpful!!
This was delicious! I found a crock pot recipe for chicken alfredo sandwiches, but my son is allergic to dairy, so we always have to find substitutes. I subbed this recipe for the jarred alfredo sauce and it was awesome. I made this meal on a day when I don’t get home until my son is in bed. In the morning, he woke up and told me how much he loved it and that he wanted it in his lunch! Thanks so much!
That’s such a great idea to serve this with chicken! I’m going to have to try that myself!
WOW !! I am an Instant Pot kinda cook, so I sauteed the onions and garlic on the saute function using some broth to prevent sticking. Then I put everything in the pot – pressure cooked on Manual for 10 minutes and blended. OUTSTANDING !! As one reviewer mentioned, I added a bit of miso and mustard. Served over whole wheat penne pasta with sauteed mushrooms.
Perfection ~ and thankfully leftovers for my lunch tomorrow at the office.
Many thanks.
I recently got an Instant Pot so will have to try using it to make this recipe!!
I admit I am not anywhere near vegan. I am more like a cheese-a-tarian… so, as you said, I can’t exactly call this “alfredo” since I eat dairy every day and know exactly what it tastes like. BUT, that said, this “cream sauce” is really yummy. I did use a tiny bit of real cheese instead of the nutritional yeast because I can’t find that in the developing country where I am living, and i highly recommend topping with some fresh cracked black pepper. I love, love, love this and enjoyed plain, on top of penne pasta. It didn’t need anything else.. And I just realized that I forgot the soy sauce, so maybe it will be even better on round 2. Thanks for this alternative!
I’m so happy to hear you like the recipe! Hooray!
I was disappointed in this. It was very creamy but I found it quite bland even after I added more spices. It kind of had a stroganoff sauce taste to me. I wanted to love it but this didn’t quite work for me.
I’m sorry you’re not a big fan of this!
This recipe just wasted everything I bought to prepare for what I thought would be a smooth creamy Alfredo sauce. I don’t want to complain but you should of mentioned this cannot be made without an outrageously expensive blender before anything else, I have been toiling over the stove trying to get the cauliflower to soften so there’s no chunks for 2 hours. I apologize for this bad review but at least make it clear more you need that blender. Have a beautiful day
You don’t need an expensive blender! I’ve made this many times in my very cheap food processor and it works well. Just cook the cauliflower until it is soft and use your regular blender or food processor to blend it. FYI you will need a blender of some sort, simply cooking it on your stovetop for hours will not work to make it creamy.
Hello, I was just wondering if subbing veggie stock for water makes a huge difference in the taste. Looks delicious and so easy, too! Thanks!
Use stock if you have it on hand. If you don’t, it’s still delicious with the water. You may find you need an extra pinch of salt if you’re using water.
I cannot tell you how many “creamy” and “cheesy” vegan recipes I have made that ended up in the bin. And I hate nutritional yeast. So I made this sauce, omitted the nutritional yeast and used the full 2 teaspoons salt and vegan butter. I tasted it and the skies parted, the sun came out and I heard angels singing. This is THE BEST vegan sauce ever! I don’t even need to try any others. THIS is perfection!!!!! Thank you so much!
Awwww thank you so much!!!!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It is super yummy, and I love that it is veggie based.
You are so welcome!
Wow, this is amazing! I have tried many vegan alfredo sauces and this is the best! No “cauliflowery” taste even and not at all bland. Plus quite easy to make. Thanks, this is a new favorite! (I added portabello mushrooms and a tiny bit extra garlic)
I’m so happy you like it!!
All I can say is sooooo goood! Thanks for the recipe.
You are so welcome!!
It is truly delicious. The only quibble is it takes longer to get the cauliflower soft – closer to 15 minutes – and if you don’t cook it long enough it’s kinda crunchy/mealy and not smooth.
I’m happy you like the recipe! I usually chop my cauliflower on the small side which is prob why it cooks faster. I always seem to be in a hurry so want things to cook as fast as possible lol.
This was INCREDIBLE!! An absolute must-make. I added an extra clove or 2 of garlic, 2 TBSP cashew butter (although it doesn’t really need it) and used vegan “better than chicken” bullion as the stock. Thank you for this amazing recipe! It’s a new staple for sure.
Awww thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear you like the recipe!!
Thank you for this recipe!
I did modify slightly – added a couple sun-dried tomatoes and soaked cashews. It was superb and I felt clean and light after eating it (unlike real alfredo sauce!)
Keep it up!
Such great additions! I love that you created a sun dried tomato version. I’ll have to try that!