This vegan fettuccine alfredo is one of my favorite easy date night dinners. The sauce is smooth and creamy with flavors of parmesan, white wine, and garlic.
The oh so Romantic Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
This vegan fettuccine alfredo is such a classic, timeless dish. It’s comforting, romantic, and one of those miraculous dishes that tastes fancy (but was actually pretty easy to make).
It’s the perfect meal for a date night in with your favorite person, but it’s also great for the whole family after a busy day at work. My kid LOVES this stuff!
The vegan alfredo sauce in this recipe is actually creamy and smooth like traditional alfredo sauce. There’s nothing lumpy about it, and the mouthfeel is thick and velvety vs. watery or bland.
There’s a lot of variance in the vegan fettuccine recipes that are out there. I did a little research before writing this post to see how others make their vegan alfredo sauce, and I was pretty surprised by how broad the differences are.
You won’t find too many like this one. I don’t use cashews, and I don’t use nutritional yeast. In fact, I use some ingredients that I didn’t see in any other vegan fettuccine recipe at all.
So I urge you, even if you’ve made vegan fettuccine at home before, please give this one a try. The texture of the sauce is the best I’ve had yet, and the flavors are convincingly creamy.
I’m real excited about this one.
Key ingredients for flavor
A lot of what makes this vegan fettuccine so good is the ingredients.
Violife makes a parmesan cheese that has me very impressed. It looks like actual parmesan, and melts like it too! (Yay for good vegan cheese!)
I use a whole cup of it in this recipe, so obviously it plays a big roll in the overall flavor.
If you don’t have this particular cheese in your area, I’ve got you covered. You can order it online here! (it’s also cheaper online, BONUS!)
There are other brands of cheese, and even the possibilty of making your own vegan cheese from home. I’m not bashing any of those other options at all, I’m just saying, the results will vary.
I also use the “Better than Bouillon’s” vegan bouillon option for umami flavor, and boy does it make a difference.
I won’t rant about how great it is, AGAIN, don’t worry. Y’all already know I’m obsessed with this stuff.
But these are some of the ingredients where I feel like brand truly matters. Pick good stuff that you know tastes good on it’s own. If you don’t like how the ingredient tastes to begin with, it’s not going to magically change when you add it to the sauce.
So get the good stuff!
Miso paste again? What?
But truly: miso paste is the secret to that aged cheese flavor.
Even Miyoko’s uses it. So there, I’m not that crazy.
It’s probably because miso paste is actually aged and fermented similar to how you age and culture dairy to make cheese. It’s completely addicting, and is very multifaceted in it’s uses, especially in the vegan world.
For this particular recipe, I prefer using white miso paste. It has a lighter, sweeter flavor to it that mimics parmesan cheese very well.
You can order it online here, since I know not all of use live right next to a specialty Asian market (or even within 50 miles of one for that matter).
Also, white miso paste is NOT actually white looking. So don’t feel shocked when it comes in the mail looking orange.
You got the right stuff, I promise.
Good blenders make for good texture
Similar to my mac & cheese post from a couple weeks ago, I’m going to stress the importance of using a good blender.
You can’t get away with just using an immersion blender on this one. Trust me, I tried.
Vitamix makes the best blenders ever. Blendtec blenders are also great, and I’ve heard good things about Ninja blenders.
It’s worth it to make the investment and buy a good blender now that is within your budget.
You can use powerful blenders like this for more than just milkshakes and smoothies. They make sauces, cheeses, purees, flours, nut butters, curry pastes… The list goes on and on.
I just don’t want you to have lumpy or runny alfredo sauce is all. You deserve the best, creamiest stuff there is.
And you gotta have a good blender pal to do that.
Gluten free AND vegan fettuccine alfredo? It’s real
I’m actually experimenting right now with this recipe to see if I can eliminate the flour in it completely.
If you’re gluten free, you should totally recipe test this without the flour (no substitution) and let me know what you think. I feel like you could get away with leaving it off completely and not really notice much of a difference.
And of course, of course, of course, you gotta use good gluten free pasta.
I’ve actually heard that Barilla makes some pretty good gluten free pasta that’s also widely available. I found a link to some you can purchase online. I’ll go ahead and put that here for you.
Some gluten free pasta can be gummy, grainy, and oddly textured. So look for Barilla or buy some here now to avoid a weird pasta mishap, and a pile a stuck together gummy noodles later on.
For those of you with nut allergies, I did it! you don’t need cashews for this to taste creamy and satisfying. The recipe is already nut allergy safe the way it is.
Just make sure that whatever vegan butter, cheese, or bouillon you go with is also nut allergy safe.
Dressin’ up this fettuccine alfredo
Fettuccine alfredo is such a good dish on it’s own, you don’t really need to add anything to it to make it’s flavor shine. At the same time, it’s a very versatile dish that you can take in so many different directions.
I love to add capers, sundried tomatoes, and a little vegan chicken substitute from time to time if I’m feeling real fancy. Slow roasted garlic cloves are also amazing in this sauce.
What do you like to add into your fettuccine alfredo? I’m interested to know.
Hang out with me in the comments below and share away. You can reach me here too for a quicker response.
Share how your vegan fettuccine alfredo turns out using the #alderspirit or tagging me @alderspirit. I’d love to see what you do!
Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
Ingredients
- 16 oz fettuccine noodles (homemade is best)
- 2 medium potatoes (Yukon Gold)
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp vegan butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 3/4 cup white wine (good quality)
- 2 tsp white miso paste
- 2 tsp vegan bouillon paste (Better than Bouillon brand)
- 1 cup vegan parmesan, fresh grated (Violife brand)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice, fresh
- 1½ cup oat milk
- 1/2 tsp thyme, dried
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup parsley, fresh (garnish)
Instructions
- Prepare a large pot of salted water for cooking the pasta in. Set the pot over high heat to bring to a boil as you work. (We will use it later. If it comes to boil before you need it, turn the temperature down until it is time to cook the pasta.)
- Cut the onion into a small dice, and mince the garlic. Wash, peel, and cube the potatoes into 1" square chunks. Place the potato chunks in a strainer basket or colander and set aside. (choose a basket that will fit inside (set on top) the pot used in the next step.)
- In a separate medium pot, fill the pot with 2" deep of water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low to simmer. Place the colander/strainer basket full of potatoes over the pot of boiling water and the set the lid on over top. Allow the potatoes to steam for 20 -25 minutes, or until they are fork tender. (you may also use a steamer or steamer basket, whatever you have handy)
- While the potatoes are steaming, heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Once it has melted and started bubbling, add the flour, onions, and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes. (if needed, add water a tbsp at a time to prevent any burning on the bottom of the pan)
- Add the white wine to the sauce pan with the onion and garlic and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Next, add the miso paste, vegan bullion, vegan parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and oat milk to the sauce pan. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Add the thyme, salt, and pepper, and adjust to taste.
- Transfer the sauce from the saucepan into a high speed blender. Add the cooked potatoes to the blender. Blend on high for 30 – 60 seconds, or until the sauce is smooth, creamy, and lump free.
- Cook the fettuccine noodles in the pot of boiling salted water you set up earlier according to the package instructions. When they are finished cooking, strain them out of the boiling water. Do not rinse them. Immediately transfer the noodles to a bowl and pour the alfredo sauce from the blender over the noodles. Toss or fold the sauce in gently. (add the sauce gradually, you may not want to use all of it)
- Serve immediately with fresh parsley and extra grated vegan parmesan. Any leftovers will keep in the fridge for 5 days.
Notes
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One of my favorites for a family dinner. Always a plus with homemade pasta .
Homemade pasta is the best. Thanks!