CREAMY, dreamy, velvety and rich VEGAN Fettuccine Alfredo with flavorful undertones of garlic and onion roasted to perfection.
That’s right. This Fettuccine Alfredo is, believe it or not, completely, 100% dairy-free.
Do you luuuuuuuurve Fettuccine Alfredo?
It has always, always, always, hands-down been my favorite pasta – period. Thing is, as much as I loved Fettuccine Alfredo in my -pre-gan (ha!) days, the traditional dairy-filled Fettuccine Alfredo I sometimes had as a treat always left me feeling bloated with a painful stomach ache. Ouch.
This Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo will be sure to leave your tummy feeling happy AND the people you serve this pasta to will never guess that this luscious and rich Alfredo sauce is secretly vegan. Hehe, I love what that happens. #YoudNeverGuessItsVegan
Now that I’m living back in Toronto with my family it’s safe to say I have A LOT of happy taste testers around. The best taste tester at home being my very skeptical, little brother Denis. He was super excited the other night when I told him I was making one of his favorite meals – Fettuccine Alfredo for dinner. The look on his face was priceless when I told him I’d be making his favorite dish without ANY cream or milk. He asked what I was putting in the Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo instead of cream, butter and all that darn dairy. I told him the ‘secret’ ingredients…
PINE NUTS and POTATOES.
Say whaaaaaaaaat?!? Okay, stay with me here. Pine nuts blended up create the richest, creamiest and cheesiest sauce ever. I’ve used pine nuts in the past in both my Mac & Cheese and my Creamy Rose Tomato Sauce and nobody has ever been disappointed! The mashed potatoes take this Alfredo’s creamy and velvety factor to a whole ‘nother level. Roasting the garlic and onions is a must in this Alfredo sauce because it takes the “bite” out of the garlic and onions and makes this sauce out-of-this-world flavorful. After one bite, I promise, you will not miss the cheese or dairy in traditional recipes one bit.
My little brother‘s eyes almost popped out of his head when he reluctantly tried a bite of this Vegan Alfredo! After all his protesting he couldn’t believe that this Alfredo was well… vegan (lol!) and made with blended pine nuts and potatoes! He licked his plate clean and insisted on seconds! If you guys try this Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo at home, I LOVE seeing your creations. Leave your feedback below, on my Ceara’s Kitchen Facebook page or tag me #CearasKitchen on Instagram!
- 1 head garlic (8 - 12 roasted garlic cloves)
- 1 large white onion (or 2 small white onions)
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp pine nuts
- 1 medium russet potato (1/3 cup mashed potato)
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ¾ - 1 tsp sea salt
- pinch black pepper
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
- 1½ - 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 cup water
- 500 grams (17.6 oz) fettuccine pasta
- Pre-heat oven to 425F/220C. Line a pan with parchment or with non-stick spray. Cut the onion in half and remove the outer skin. Place the onion flat size down in the pan. Peel the outer layers of the garlic off. Cut ¼ inch (1/2 cm) off the top of the garlic head. Place the garlic, exposed head side up, in the pan. Roast for 25 - 35 minutes until the garlic and onions are both well roasted. The garlic clove should feel soft when pressed.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fettuccine pasta and cook according to the directions on the box until al dente.
- Peel the potato (or if you are lazy like me, leave the skin on if you have a very strong high-speed blender like a vitamix). Microwave for 2 - 4 minutes until it is warm and easily mashed with a fork. Measure out ⅓ heaping cup of mashed potato. Note: Do not boil the potato or it will make it too watery. If you do not have a microwave you could alternatively roast your potato with the garlic and onions.
- Once the roasted garlic and onions have cooled to the touch, remove any dark parts (you don't want these parts in your light and creamy sauce!). Add 8 cloves of garlic, the roasted white onion, pine nuts, mashed potato, nutritional yeast, ¾ tsp sea salt, pinch black pepper, nutmeg and 1½ tbsp of lemon juice and water to the sauce. Blend until creamy.
- Taste test and add a couple more cloves of roasted garlic, a pinch more sea salt and lemon juice to taste. I like to add the full amount of each ingredient (i.e. 12 cloves roasted garlic, 1 tsp sea salt and 2 tbsps of lemon juice) but adjust to your particular taste.
- Serve the Alfredo sauce over the warm fettuccine pasta. Season with additional salt and pepper, parsley and pine nuts.
29 comments
What are the nutritional values?
Hi Ceara…..love your recipes! Would sunflower seeds work in place of the pine nuts?
I used tahini and it still tastes WONDERFUL!!! My boyfriend is picky and so am I but this sauce was wonderful with tahini and I’m sure it’s just as delicious with pine nuts
I found this recipe on Pinterest when searching for a vegan white sauce and it did not disappoint! For the onions, I used one shallot and 1/2 of a large sweet onion. I was afraid the onion was going to overpower the sauce, but it doesn’t at all. It’s perfectly balanced and should work awesome as an all-purpose white sauce for pasta, pizza, and veggies. Thank you!!
So happy you enjoyed the recipe, Cathy! 🙂 Thank you!
Hello! I’m just wondering if it makes any difference if i replace the russet potato with the white type. I’m afraid I won’t find anywhere the russet potato where I live (I’ve never even heard of this, so…). Hope it’s not gonna change the outcome, cause i can’t wait to try this recipe out! :))
Any starchy or “all purpose” potato will work well in this recipe. You want to avoid “waxier” potatoes like red-skinned potatoes. Enjoy the Alfredo and can’t wait to hear how you like it! 🙂
Just wanted to drop a note:
My girlfriend found out a few months ago that she’s allergic to dairy and eggs and this week she was craving an Alfredo dish, so I went scouring the internet for a solid vegan Alfredo recipe. I happened across this recipe, which looked very promising. We made it together this evening, and I have to say that as a person who isn’t restricted because of allergies nor vegan, I was both happy and impressed with your recipe. Not to ruin the spirit of the vegan dish, but I will admit that we did bring chicken into the recipe because neither of us are currently vegan, but this base was incredible and I will be recommending this to people going forward. Definitely did not require our meat addition.
We did make one substitution that I think I will revert the next time we make the recipe – we didn’t have pine nuts, so I used cashews. I found that they overpowered the dish slightly and I don’t know if it was 100% the correct flavour that your recipe was going for. Going forward, I’ll be using the pine nuts, as described in the recipe, because I get the feeling that’s where a significant portion of the flavour should come from.
The only other adjustment we made was to try to make the sauce more creamy / liquidy by adding a little water after we got the Alfredo into the pan. My plan next time is actually to try simmering some white wine before adding the base, using it both the flavour and try to bring the viscosity of the mixture down.
Regardless, I still think this is an incredible recipe. I have your site bookmarked now and will be regularly using it for my allergy-friendly needs. Thank you so much!
I am so glad that you and your girlfriend enjoyed the Alfredo! 🙂 The pine nuts do give that “cheesy” and “nutty” flavor – I’d love to know how you like the sauce with the pine nuts next time. White wine reduction sounds like a wonderful addition too! 🙂
Tastes amazing! Thank you😀
Happy you enjoyed!! 🙂
Hello! I’m from argentina, and we don’t have pine nuts here. We have pistachios, cashew, pecan nuts, almonds. What can I replace it with?
Cashews make a great sub! Enjoy 🙂
Thank you Ceara for this awesome sounding recipe. I’ve been vegetarian for about 3 years now but oddly enough, when i gave up meat, I went total ‘cold turkey’ and went vegan… for a while… felt infinitely better but soooooo missed dairy and especially cheese. I have asthma and dairy just kills me.. i love it but it hates me.. my lover is my nemesis.I wantb to go vegan again but finding easy quick recipes with alll the cheesy taste but non of the harm seems nigh impossible. Apart from this recipe.. any quick tips/.pointers to adapt cheese recipes?
Joe 🙂
Hi Joe!
Thanks for sharing your story! I hear you – dairy was one of the last things I gave up. I can now honestly say I do not miss it one bit. Do you ever use nutritional yeast? It is amazing and really brings out that cheesy taste in dairy-free dishes. Your taste buds will adjust, I found for me it took a few weeks, but they truly do! Keep me posted on your vegan journey.
All the best,
Ceara
I’ve had a long, long love affair with Fettuccine Alfredo, which is sadly marred by the fact that I never really eat it, since it’s so notoriously bad for you. I’m always thrilled to see new, healthier takes on it, and yours is absolutely brilliant! I’m dying to try this! Looks like I might be rekindling my love … 😀
What do Pine Nuts taste like????
A very good question…. but so hard to answer… so you know the obvious answer. lol… try em and see. But trust me.. they really are moreish.. not sure if it’s a good thing or bad thing they’re so expensive. The good news is, the flavour is so pronounced, you only need a little. 🙂
This looks so creamy! I can’t eat pine nuts though. I get what they call “pine mouth.” It’s a thing, I swear. The taste of pine is left in my mouth for literally 3-5 days after eating them. Not good. I have made your Rose sauce in the past and I can’t for the life of me remember what I replaced them with. Love the other ingredients here though. Will definitely try with something else in place of the pine nuts. Yummy!
This looks so insane and creamy Ceara! I love it so much! I love that you used potatoes! That is one of my favorite ways to use it too, in sauces to give that extra creaminess. I can’t wait to try this! I love that you used pine nuts too. They give such a buttery flavor! I can totally see why everybody loved this so much, I bet I would too!
<3 Thank you SO much girl!! The potatoes make this Alfredo SO creamy!!
HISTORY OF ALFREDO DI LELIO CREATOR IN 1908 OF “FETTUCCINE ALL’ALFREDO” (“FETTUCCINE ALFREDO”), NOW SERVED BY HIS NEPHEW INES DI LELIO, AT THE RESTAURANT “IL VERO ALFREDO” – “ALFREDO DI ROMA” IN ROME, PIAZZA AUGUSTO IMPERATORE 30
With reference of your article I have the pleasure to tell you the history of my grandfather Alfredo Di Lelio, who is the creator of “Fettuccine all’Alfredo” (“Fettuccine Alfredo”) in 1908 in the “trattoria” run by his mother Angelina in Rome, Piazza Rosa (Piazza disappeared in 1910 following the construction of the Galleria Colonna / Sordi). This “trattoria” of Piazza Rosa has become the “birthplace of fettuccine all’Alfredo”.
More specifically, as is well known to many people who love the “fettuccine all’Alfredo”, this famous dish in the world was invented by Alfredo Di Lelio concerned about the lack of appetite of his wife Ines, who was pregnant with my father Armando (born February 26, 1908).
Alfredo di Lelio opened his restaurant “Alfredo” in 1914 in Rome and in 1943, during the war, he sold the restaurant to others outside his family.
In 1950 Alfredo Di Lelio decided to reopen with his son Armando his restaurant in Piazza Augusto Imperatore n.30 “Il Vero Alfredo” (“Alfredo di Roma”), whose fame in the world has been strengthened by his nephew Alfredo and that now managed by me, with the famous “gold cutlery” (fork and spoon gold) donated in 1927 by two well-known American actors Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks (in gratitude for the hospitality).
See also the website of “Il Vero Alfredo”.
I must clarify that other restaurants “Alfredo” in Rome (as Alfredo alla scrofa or Alfredo’s gallery) do not belong to my brand “Il Vero Alfredo – Alfredo di Roma”.
I inform you that the restaurant “Il Vero Alfredo –Alfredo di Roma” is in the registry of “Historic Shops of Excellence” of the City of Rome Capitale.
Best regards Ines Di Lelio
Wow! Thank you for the lovely comment! How cool that your grandfather invented Alfredo!! What a legacy 😀
I have been vegan for three years now and this is the BEST vegan Alfredo recipe I have ever eaten!! It’s ridiculously creamy, flavorful and delicious AND its low fat and healthy! SO glad I found this I’ll definitely be making it for myself, my non vegan and vegan family and friends over and over again💜
Thank you SO much for your lovely feedback!! I am SO happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe!! <3
I have no clue how you came up with the secretly healthy combo of pine nuts and potatoes, but the sauce they make together looks insanely creamy!!! And how wonderful that you have so many taste testers now to blow the minds of with your wonderful vegan food 🙂
<3 Thank you so much my friend!! It's a recipe I've been experimenting with for awhile! I love how darn creamy potatoes are in sauces!
I made my first vegan alfredo 2 weeks ago and it was so good!!!! Brought back childhood memories 🙂
That’s awesome!!! I know, alfredo always brings back childhood memories for me too 🙂