I've only had real fettuccine alfredo once. I went through a phase about 10 years ago where I used to eat fettuccine alfredo Lean Cuisines a few times a week. (Don't judge me!) And then I thought, "Hey, this stuff is pretty good! Fettuccine alfredo is my thing now!" So when Chris and I went on vacation to Michigan (which, by the way, is what people from Chicago do--they go on vacation to Michigan) and got dinner at an Italian restaurant, I thought I'd order their fettuccine alfredo. The waiter brought it out and I swear there had to be two pounds of pasta in that bowl. Two pounds of pasta bathed in super rich alfredo sauce. And cheese! Lots of cheese. I don't think I've ever felt so sick after eating a meal in my life and I barely even put a dent in that pasta. Real fettuccine alfredo--never again!
But I still love a good creamy pasta sauce. Just not so heavy. Cashew cream is perfect for this. It's creamy and rich, but it doesn't make you feel sick after eating it. If you're skeptical about the whole cashews-as-dairy-sub thing, give it a try. I was a skeptic too, but it really works. This alfredo sauce is vegan and soy-free; I like to use a little homemade veggie broth in mine for a boost of flavor, but if you want to make a raw version of the sauce to serve over zucchini noodles, it's easy to do by substituting the broth with filtered water and using dehydrated tomatoes instead of oven-dried ones.
How To Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes
No, I'm not going to tell you to leave your tomatoes out in the sun! Even the store-bought ones that say they're sun-dried usually aren't. If you've got more cherry or grape tomatoes than you know what to do with, you can use them to make your own dried tomatoes in the oven. They are the best sun-dried tomatoes you'll ever taste--you can bake them until they're still tender if you want softer tomatoes or leave them in the oven until they're completely dried out. All you have to do to make them is:
1. Cut the tomatoes in half.
2. Put them on a baking sheet, cut side up, and drizzle or spray them with a little olive oil.
3. Sprinkle the tops of the tomatoes with salt and pepper.
4. Bake the tomatoes at 225ºF for 2-4 hours, until they're as dry as you want them to be.
Easy! You can either put the tomatoes in a jar, cover them with olive oil, and refrigerate them or you can pop them in a freezer bag and freeze them until you need them. I love adding them to pasta, pizzas, and salads.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews soaked in water for at least 30 minutes
- ¾ cup vegetable broth
- ½ cup oven-dried tomatoes see recipe in post
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced basil leaves
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 8 ounces whole-wheat fettuccine cooked according to package instructions
Instructions
- Combine the cashews, broth, tomatoes, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend on high until the sauce is completely smooth. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Transfer the pasta to a large bowl and toss it with the alfredo sauce. If the sauce is too thick, add a tablespoon or two of cooking water from the pasta.
Natalie @ Once Upon a Cutting Board says
I love fettucine alfredo but eating a whole bowl of it is too much of the same thing for me and the last time I ordered it at a restaurant it was way too rich and I also couldn't finish it. I love lighter homemade versions and love the idea of adding sundried tomatoes for more flavour (and excitement!)
Kiersten says
I won't lie, part of the reason I added tomatoes was because I thought it would photograph better too. 🙂
Ash-foodfashionparty says
This looks so tasty Kiersten. I in fact enjoy a good creamy sauce and this packs a punch with the sundried tomatoes, nice touch. Pinning this.
Kiersten says
Thanks for the pin! 🙂
Hannah says
It sounds like you just had a bad experience with "real" fettucine alfredo! I'm Italian and we never serve that much in my family, and usually (since it is of course pretty rich) we eat it with vegetables likes peas, broccoli, artichokes, tomatoes...never just a big bowl. This sounds delicious, but maybe give the real thing another go sometime 😉
Kiersten says
Yeah, I don't think the fettuccine alfredo I had was terribly authentic. 🙂
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
I love sun dried tomatoes, what a tasty pasta!
VENKATESHAMURTHY T S says
To-day received your mail "recipe | (vegan!) sun-dried tomato fettuccine alfredo + how to make your own sun-dried tomatoes". noted the contents. I would like to know how you make vegetable broth. so that I would like to try in your method. and come up with my variations,Expecting your earliest reply. THANKING YOU !!!!!
Kiersten says
Any vegetable broth recipe will work, but this is the one I like to use: https://ohmyveggies.com/how-to-make-vegetable-broth-with-kitchen-scraps/
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
I absolutely love sun dried tomatoes. Never thought to try to prepare them myself though!
I know what you mean about the heaviness of real alfredo sauce. That's why I still eat that Lean Cuisine kind lol!
Kiersten says
The Lean Cuisine kind is definitely preferable to the real stuff!
cassie says
This is both brilliant and gorgeous. I can't wait to try this one!
Veganmonologue says
Hi there! I was wondering if I decided to use store-bought sun-dried tomatoes in this, should I use the dry ones or the oil-packed ones? And should I use the same quantity?
Thanks! I am enjoying your blog, which I just discovered today.
Kiersten says
You could use either! The quantity would be the same for the oil-packed ones; for the dried ones, I'd put them in a bowl, cover them with hot water, and let them plump up for maybe 5-10 minutes, THEN measure them.
Genevieve says
I agree with you on rich, creamy pasta sauces! I don't usually like sun-dried tomatoes all that much, but I think it's mostly a texture thing so I'm sure I would love this sauce since they're pureed! It looks so creamy but healthy too 🙂
Kiersten says
If you make the sun-dried tomatoes yourself, you can avoid that texture--if you bake them for a shorter amount of time, the flavor gets concentrated and sweeter, and the tomatoes get tender without being chewy. 🙂
Shirley says
This looks incredible! I love fettucine alfredo but have only had it a handful of times, because I don't want to know what the cals and fat grams are like. I'm also wondering, what does nutritional yeast do for the recipe? Is it just for the health benefits, or does it act like some kind of binder or emulsifier also?
Kiersten says
Nutritional yeast tastes like cheese; you can leave it out if you make this and the sauce will still be creamy and delicious, but it's the nutritional yeast that gives it a mildly cheesy flavor. 🙂
Arthur in the Garden! says
Yummy!
Kelly @ A Girl Worth Saving says
This recipe makes me want to eat fettuccine! I love that you made a cream sauce with cashews 🙂
mjskit says
Now that's a great way to make a fake, but effective sun-dried tomato. Thanks! Your pasta is also quite delicious and one of those dishes that I save for a rainy day.
Kiersten says
Rainy days are good days for carby foods, right? 🙂
Kelly says
Can I ask a dumb question? What does the nutritional yeast do in this recipe? I've seen it in a lot of vegetarian/vegan recipes, but I don't know what it does. Flavor? Texture? Thought? 🙂
Kiersten says
Not a dumb question! I think I should put together some sort of ingredient primer page with info like this. 🙂 Anyway, the reason a lot of vegan recipes call for nutritional yeast is because it adds a cheesy flavor without actually adding cheese (or cheese substitutes) to a recipe. A lot of grocery stores (especially natural ones) will sell it in their bulk section.
Kelly says
Ah-ha, good to know. I was debating whether I could leave it out or not. Saw your comment above.
And a primer like that would be so helpful!!
Thank you!
shipmate13 says
Aside from the cheesy delisciousness of nutritional yeast, it helps provide essential nutrients (including B-12) that are generally only found in meat products. Oh, and it is a complete protein. IMHO, if a recipe calls for it, DON'T leave it out. You'll be missing out on taste and essential nutrients.
Kiersten says
My understanding is that not all nutritional yeast contains B12; it needs to be fortified nutritional yeast. So if you don't eat any animal products and you're looking to use NY as a source of B12, make sure you're buying a brand that adds it in! 🙂
Daniela @ FoodrecipesHQ says
I tried fettuccine Alfredo first time in my life last month. We do not have this recipe in Italy. I found it delicious for a few forkfuls, soon it became overwhelming. I think this is a more balanced and "digestible" recipe. I'd love to try it out.
Kiersten says
Aha, I knew it probably wasn't a real Italian recipe! 🙂 It's definitely one of those things that's delicious in very small doses.
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
I love alfredo but in small quantity. Can't wait to try your lighter, vegan and delicious recipe 🙂
Robin says
I am so in love with this sauce! This was my first time making a cashew based sauce and it was quite successful. I didn't have tomatoes so I settled on julienne cut sun dried tomatoes from Trader Joe's and plopped about 1/4c in warm water to make 'em softer. I also didn't have fresh basil so I used dried. Plus a bit more veggie broth for a thinner consistency, and the whole thing came out great! I used my julienne peeler to make zucchini pasta, tossed in some red onion, and topped it off with some of this sauce and a generous shake of red pepper flakes. You are the best!
Kiersten says
I'm so glad it turned out well--thank you for your comment! 😀
Scotia says
I just can't eat the cashew cream...I just do not like the mouthfeel or taste. Is there something else I could use?
I thought maybe just making an olive oil dressing for the pasta with more nutritional yeast or I'm thinking adding more herbs...I have some lemon thyme or english thyme or marjoram or oregano in my herb garden and some of that may make the dish without the cashew cream. What do you think?
Kiersten says
Have you tried silken tofu? Before I discovered cashew cream, I used silken tofu to make cream sauces, puddings, etc. But of course, not everyone likes to use tofu either. If you bake the tomatoes until somewhat dried, but still plump and soft, you could pulse them in your food processor with some fresh herbs and olive oil to make a chunky tomato sauce. It wouldn't be an alfredo sauce, but I think it would be delicious!
Vicki says
I made this recipe today and it was so good! I used brown rice noodles and added some sauteed broccoli and mushrooms. I like this better than actual fettuccine alfredo. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Kiersten says
Ooh, yum! I love that you added more veggies to it. I am doing that next time!
NitNat says
I was very happy to find a creamy sauce that didn't use dairy or soy! WOW! I made this for the first time last night, my first time making a cashew-cream based sauce. I used store-bought sun-dried tomatoes, but followed the rest of the recipe spot-on. The flavour was right, it was just perfect for my liking! But the texture was REALLY thick, and the family thought I was nuts in putting this dish on the table! Next time, I will use a little less cashews, and a little more broth, and hope the texture is little more authentic.
Kiersten says
I've made this a few times and I've heard from other people who've made it and no one has had that issue! So I'm not sure what happened. Did you add the liquid from the pasta water to thin out the sauce a little after adding it to the pasta?
NitNat says
No Kiersten, I didn't do that step! I will keep that in mind next time too. Thank you
Brenda Williams says
Thank you for inventing a way to eat this and not have it be so heavy.
Julie @ Harvest Moon Kitchen says
Made this tonight - love it!! I'm still getting grape tomatoes (even though we've been very close to a frost a few times here in Maine already), so I made a batch of "sun-dried" per your instructions above. I've been using them in various things but I was really waiting to use them in this sauce and I was a little scared to dump out the rest of the precious batch into the processor... but I was NOT disappointed! While the water boiled I taste tested... and kept tasting, and tasting... and I ended up adding a little leftover pesto I had made earlier this week, but I think the sauce was BETTER before I did that. That's sounds like crazy talk to me because I love pesto. 🙂 I added steamed broccoli from my garden and zucchini, and I did have to add several tablespoons of liquid more than the original recipe to get it saucy enough to toss with the pasta. One thing - I used particularly sour lemon juice (apparently) so it was a little tart. This may be partly because I eyeballed (although I'm pretty good), but people may want to taste first, then add lemon. 🙂 Still absolutely delicious, though - thanks, Kiersten!
Kiersten says
My tomatoes are still going strong too! I'm pulling them this weekend before the frost gets them though. 🙂 Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe--thanks for your feedback!
Nicki says
If I leave the yeast out, will that mess with the recipe? I've never used yeast in my cooking before. I'm looking forward to trying this!
Kiersten says
The nutritional yeast gives the sauce a cheesy flavor. You can leave it out, but the flavor won't mimic alfredo quite as well.
Nicki says
thanks! Luckily, I was able to find some at my local grocery store 🙂
Nina Mosley says
Oh.em.gee! I always said I couldn't become a vegan because I love cheese too much! I no longer have a reason to continue to eat dairy. I made this and added one teaspoon of soy sauce and one teaspoon of Dijon...I died, went to heaven and came back long enough to write this post. Oh....and I love Sun Dried tomatoes...*happy dance*
Kiersten says
Woo hoo! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I only eat dairy a few times a week and cashew cream DEFINITELY helps. 🙂
Susan Benson says
Used all the ingredients and threw in a few more....vegan worcestershire (had to look that spelling up...), dried onion flakes, arrowheat, and steamed broccoli, cauliflower, red pepper, yellow pepper aldente, added pasta........yummy. Thank you so much! Delicious.
Kiersten says
I can never spell worcestershire sauce either! 🙂 Thanks for the feedback--I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe!