Vegan Alfredo Sauce

One of the Christmas gifts I received was an Almond Cow machine. As someone who tries to stay away from dairy as much as possible – it has definitely been used a lot! What I love about it the most, however, is actually not the milk (it’s delicious but let me finish) but the pulp! The filter basket on the machine retains the pulp from almonds, cashews, pecans, etc. and you can use that as a primary ingredient in tons of other dishes. I had already made cornbread using the pulp from almond milk I made but I had always read about using cashews as a vegan substitute for alfredo sauce. I figured, hey, why not and went to Whole Foods to purchase ALL the cashews and get to work. While Almond Cow does provide their own recipe for this, I modified it a bit.

Ingredients:
3/4 stick vegan butter (I used Country Crock plant butter made with olive oil)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 cups full-fat coconut milk
1/2 cup cashew pulp (from cashew milk made in your Almond Cow or however you usually make cashew milk for yourself)
2.5 tablespoons nutritional yeast (add more or less depending on how much you like a cheesy flavor in your sauce)
salt & pepper, to taste

Melt vegan butter and garlic in a saucepan on medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes (don’t let your butter burn!).
Add coconut milk to the butter/garlic mixture and cook until it starts to thicken (5-7 minutes).
Add mixture to blender with the cashew pulp, nutritional yeast, and salt & pepper. Blend until smooth and creamy (2-3 minutes).
Taste and adjust s&p as you see fit. You can also add more nutritional yeast if you would like.
If the sauce tastes the way you like it, toss it with some pasta. I used Banza pasta because it’s chickpea based and way healthier all-around.

This came out just as creamy as real deal alfredo sauce. It’s a very yummy alternative if you want to cut back on dairy or if you don’t consume dairy whatsoever. I’m not a vegan by any means (I get a monthly meat delivery, for context) but I also don’t consume cow’s milk, ice cream, etc. so this was a great alternative for me. Super easy to make and allows you more room to customize the flavor profile of your sauce.