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 was really good. I had a gigantic head of cauliflower, so I made a triple batch with plenty to freeze for later. Mine turned out a little thin, so I might boil it down, or eat some as soup! ?
Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
You can freeze it???? How is it when I thaw it?????
I have made this over and over (made it last night, as a matter of fact) and it is the ONLY vegan sauce I have made that actually tastes like alfredo sauce. I leave out the nutritional yeast because I don’t care for it, and it is still outstanding! I don’t even bother trying anymore creamy sauce type vegan recipes because I know they cannot top this. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
I love it! That makes me so happy to hear!
It’s from the 2 teaspoons of salt and some from the stock. 🙂
This was so amazing, I don’t stomach onion or garlic, so I used ginger instead ?? Thankyou!
What a good idea for a substitute!
This is delicious and meets my husband’s paleo and my vegetarian needs. I added a bit of almond milk and some garlic powder in the last stages of blending in the vitamix. Thank you!
Isn’t it great to have recipes that fit everyone’s needs? So happy to hear that this one works for both of you!
So I turned this recipe into a soup and it was great! All I did was leave out the lemon, add more nutritional yeast, and garnish with black pepper, nutritional yeast, and parsley! Honestly, the best soup I’ve ever made! Thank you! ?
What a great idea!
This recipe was no doubt delicious, but for some reason the consistency was more like mashed cauliflower instead of sauce. I think I may have used too much cauliflower or maybe it’s because our food processor is a standing one rather than an “upside down” one, like a nutri-bullet.
That can happen if your cauliflower is on the bigger side. To make it more sauce-like, simply add some extra water or broth next time. 🙂
Super yummy and kid approved – thanks!
Hooray!!
Loved this! It was so hard to not eat the whole lot out of the Vitamix!
Haha I feel the same way when I make this!
Thanks for this recipe, I am trying to avoid nuts and this is just the ideal recipe I like to make my Alfredo sauce. I will be having this Alfredo sauce for my dinner.
I hope you love it as much as I do!
I made this last night and it was a hit! The sauce is wickedly delicious and so easy to throw together. My kids devoured it and my meat-eating boyfriend loved to, too. I added cashews after reading one of the comments, but will try without next time. Thanks for this recipe:)
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for coming back to let us know!!
I haven’t tried it yet but am excited to especially with all of the positive comments. I am not vegan but am trying to cut meat and dairy out of my diet. My question is can I put the sauce in the fridge for the next day will it still be creamy?
While I find it is best the first day, it will still be nice and creamy the next day. What you may find is it may taste more cauliflower-y. 🙂
Delicious and so easy!
So happy you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for stopping by to comment!
Love it, added some cashews and it tasted wonderfully rich and creamy, delicious!! Thank you!!
Good call on the cashews!
I used this recipe to mix with tomato sauce for a creamy tomato sauce like I used to eat as a vegetarian! This sauce was absolutely perfect for me except it took a solid 30 minutes to get the lid off my NutriBullet after I blended the hot ingredients ? that’s beside the point but even my non veg boyfriend loved this sauce. also wanted to mention that this recipe makes A LOT
That must have been a frustrating 30 mins! So happy to hear you liked the recipe once you got the lid off your blender!
Uhhh, this didn’t make it to the alfredo part. It was so crazy-good, it was lapped up as creamy, delicious cauliflower soup. Try this recipe, people. I made it exactly as written and tonight will be my third time to make it. One of these days, I’ll use as alfredo sauce.
Hahaha I love it!!