A secretly healthy recipe for alfredo sauce made with cauliflower and nutritional yeast. This easy pasta dish is dairy-free and vegan friendly.
I know I say this about every recipe, but I think this Cauliflower Alfredo may be my new favourite thing on the blog. It’s creamy, it’s cheesy, it’s quick, and best of all, it’s secretly healthy! This dish proves that comfort food can be veganised to be healthier and tastier, and for that I am incredibly happy.
I used to think the vegan diet was either “salads and smoothies” or “unhealthy processed vegan foods”. If there was one dish to prove myself wrong, it would be this creamy alfredo Pasta. This comforting Italian recipe has been recreated with healthy wholefoods plant-based ingredients! Say a hearty goodbye to the cream and butter and a welcoming hello to the cauliflower and nutritional yeast.
How do you make Cauliflower Alfredo sauce so creamy?
Good question! Here a few tips to get your alfredo sauce perfectly smooth and creamy.
Steam the cauliflower until tender. I like to do this in the microwave (hello, reduced washing up load) but the stove top method works well too. The trick is for the cauliflower to be perfectly tender and soft, so there are no lumps after blending the sauce.
Use a good blender/food processor. I used my trusty Vitamix. You want to blend really well at quite a high speed to ensure the sauce is perfectly smooth.
Don’t add too much liquid. The more liquid you add, the thinner your sauce will be. You know that satisfying squelchy sound that you hear when you stir sauce into pasta? Well, this pasta sauce is extra squelchy.
To make the cauliflower sauce extra cheesy, I add 3 tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast. You may have heard me talk about this amazing ingredient in some of my other posts, but I’m going to talk nooch again. Because it’s just too good to ignore. Nutritional Yeast is a yeast which has been deactivated by heat treatment. This means that unlike baker’s yeast, nutritional yeast cannot respire producing the carbon dioxide which normally makes bread rise (excuse my inner scientist going rogue). Nutritional yeast has a characteristic nutty, cheesy taste, and is hence a perfect addition to popcorn, tofu scramble, and pasta dishes like this one.
This dish is deliciously creamy and comforting. It is the perfect cosy, healthy Autumn dish which I have been enjoying on repeat this week, and I sincerely hope you like it just as much as I do Make sure you tag me on Instagram @shivanilf #shivanilovesfood so I can see your creations!
From Shivani, with love x
Cauliflower Alfredo Pasta
A secretly healthy recipe for alfredo sauce made with cauliflower and nutritional yeast. This easy pasta dish is dairy-free and vegan friendly.
- 1/2 head Cauliflower
- 100 ml Soy Milk (or dairy-free milk of choice)
- 3 tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
- 1/3 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Fresh Lemon Juice
- pinch Nutmeg
- pinch Black Pepper
- 150 grams Pasta (I used tagliatelle)
- Fresh Herbs (optional, to serve)
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Break the cauliflower into small florets. Add to a bowl with a little water and steam in the microwave for about 7 mins until tender. The softer the cauliflower, the easier it is to blend.
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Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
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Add the cauliflower, soy milk, nutritional yeast, salt, lemon juice, nutmeg and black pepper to a blender. Blend the sauce until smooth and creamy.
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Drain the pasta and stir in the sauce. Serve hot, topped with fresh herbs.
- You could use Almond Milk instead of soy.
- If reheating the pasta, add a little water as the sauce naturally thickens over time.
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