This one-pot vegan Alfredo pasta is easy to make and incredibly delicious!

This dish is a favorite of mine! Not only because I love pasta but because it’s budget-friendly, easy to make, and tastes incredibly good.

The highlight of this dish - other than its amazing flavor and ingredients - is that you can make this recipe using only one pot, limiting the amount of dishes that have to be washed. Traditional Alfredo sauces use dairy products but this vegan-friendly recipe uses lighter and healthier ingredients that taste just as amazing.

One of these main ingredients are cashews, which serve as a staple in vegan cuisine. Blending soaked cashews with liquid creates a creamy sauce and adds a buttery taste to a variety of dishes. Cashews have a great nutritional profile as well. They provide monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids which are best known as “good” fats. They also offer about 5 grams of plant-protein per 1 ounce (1/4 cup) and are a good source of magnesium. The other ingredient is nutritional yeast, which gives this creamy sauce that “cheesy” flavor we all crave.

This dish is so comforting and indulging, I’m certain you’ll add it to your weekly menu.

One Pot Vegan Alfredo Pasta

Serves: 5 -6 portions
Total Time: 25 - 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups raw unsalted cashews, soaked
• 1 - 16oz bag of dry linguine or fettuccine pasta
• 2 ½ tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 ½ cups water or low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon chili flakes
• 1 bunch of Tuscan kale, chopped
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Soak raw cashews for about 2 – 4 hours by placing them in a container and covering them with water (or soak in hot water for about 20 minutes).
2. In a large pot, bring water to boil and cook pasta for about 6-8 minutes or according to package directions.
3. While the pasta is cooking, drain the soaked cashews and place in a high speed blender. Add nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and water or vegetable broth. Blend until smooth.
4. Once pasta is fully cooked, drain and set aside (you may drizzle a little bit of olive oil to prevent pasta from sticking).
5. In the same pot the pasta cooked, heat olive oil and cook shallot, garlic, and chili flakes for about 2 minutes. Add the Tuscan kale and cook for another 2 minutes.
6. Add the pasta back to the pot and pour the cashew cream. Stir until well combined (taste-test pasta mixture and season with salt and/or pepper to taste).
7. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

*If reheating the following day, add about 1 - 2 tablespoons of liquid to your bowl to re-hydrate the pasta should it be dry. This is common with refrigeration.

*This pasta pairs well with this Vegan 'Parmesan Cheese' made out of nutritional yeast, cashews, and walnuts.