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!
This recipe did not work. I was so disappointed in the result! I followed the recipe exactly and it looked nothing like the pictures! It was not creamy or dreamy. It was nothing like the texture that’s in the pictures.
I’m sorry to hear that. If you let me how the texture turned out for you I can help you to troubleshoot. 🙂
Hi 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
Is there any other alternative for the nutritional yeast?
Something that is low of protein? Butter maybe?
Thanks!
If you eat butter, do you eat cheese, too? That would definitely work. I don’t know of a vegan replacement for nutritional yeast. Maybe a vegan cheese? Although I’m not familiar with how they melt and if they would melt into the sauce or not.
maybe try some Miso paste or a yeast spread like Marmite (NZ)
Good ideas!
Do you think this will freeze well? It’s amazing but I have a ton of it!
I find that cauliflower takes on an extra strong flavor if it’s frozen. So while technically you can freeze this, the cauliflower taste might end up being too strong. 🙂
Can the sauce be frozen?
I haven’t tried it but I know that cauliflower can get pretty strong tasting when it’s frozen.
What’s the nutritional yeast for? Can I omit it?
Making it for my 10m old baby so not sure if I can add yeast to her cooking? Thanks!
The nutritional yeast is what gives it a cheesy flavor. Nutritional yeast is deactivated yeast and is totally safe for little ones! My daughter loves it sprinkled on top of rice. 🙂
Kristen, thanks for sharing this delicious recipe! We love it! I had a whole bag of fresh spinach to use up so I threw several handfuls in as I was blending the sauce. It turned very green but was very delicious and hidden veggies are always a plus when you have a picky toddler! Thanks again 🙂
What a great idea to turn it into a green sauce!!
Omg thank you yessss we just had to go dairy free and me and my kids have been cravinggg Alfredo! So excited for this recipe
You’re so welcome!
Wow. This was to die for. I added Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes tripled the garlic hehe and OH MY GOD. thank you. I love this.
I’m so happy you liked it!!
Absolutely delicious!!! I used as a white sauce om a sprouted whole grain pizza crust and topped with sauteed spinach and vegan parm! Love Love Love! Will make again and again. Thank you!
I think I saw your post on Instagram! I’m so happy it was such a hit!
This recipe made me really happy! I just got a spiralizer and was looking for a vegan alfredo sauce recipe…was gonna use cashews until I found this one and ~ EUREKA!
I slurped, and slurped and slurped my zoodles with this…super satisfying.
I used lactic acid instead of because I have a lot of it…also going to experiment with using miso instead of veggie broth…I used Better Than Boullion veggie base but it has a bit too much depth…it was still great, though 🙂
That makes me so happy to hear! Hooray!
Yummy! This is so delicious – thank you for such an amazing recipe
You are so welcome!
Hi I tried this and it’s really yummy!! However I think I might have done something wrong because the sauce came out more of a tan/greyish color rather than more cream/white like in your pictures. Do you know what this could be?? Thanks!!
That can happen if the onion and garlic get a little too brown or if your vegetable stock is darker in color. I’m happy to hear you liked the taste of it!
I’ve been trying to find a good replacement alfredo sauce for ages. I first started with cashew but that was just a lot of calories and was really heavy on my stomach. But this was great! I actually added some Italian seasoning as well and didn’t put in nutritional yeast and it tastes the same!
So happy to hear you like the recipe!
Hello, the cauliflower has to be really tiny like rice? Or works just with small pieces when you put it in to the pan?
Just small pieces. 🙂
When you say to add cauliflower to blender, does that mean the contents of the pot or just the cauliflower?
The contents of the pot! You’ll need the liquid in order for the sauce to blend properly. 🙂
I have recently committed to eating a ton of veggies and this sauce was surprisingly delicious! I ended up steaming mine longer because I don’t have a fancy blender and I wanted it to be really smooth.
How long would you say this keeps?
Congrats on your commitment! I’ve kept it for several days in the fridge. 🙂
I was planning on cooking a day before does this refrigerate and reheat well?
It does!