Nut-free Vegan Garlic Alfredo Sauce. It’s low-fat, oil-free, it is creamy and satisfying, thanks to rich tahini, potatoes and brown rice flour!
Thank you so much to Kitchen Supreme for sponsoring this post and giveaway.
Finally, I’m finally sharing my nut-free vegan alfredo sauce. And for a fun twist, over zoodles (zucchini noodles). You will understand why later in the post. Ever since I posted my 20 Minute Alfredo 3 months ago, it has become one of the most, if not the most, popular recipe on my blog. It seems that it is constantly between that one and my original Vegan Garlic Alfredo Sauce that is from over 2 years ago. However, so many have been begging for a nut-free version.
So, how did I create a creamy alfredo without the usual cashews and excess fat? Well, I did a combo of both of my alfredo recipes, why of course! Then instead of cashews, I used a combo of tahini, yukon gold potato and brown rice flour. The tahini, potato and brown rice flour all combined, make the sauce rich, creamy and thick. I am not new to using potatoes in my sauce recipes. I use them in my Fat-Free Vegan Cheese Sauce and my Nut-Free Garlic Parsley Sauce. Remember, I love potatoes. I only used a small amount of tahini. I also feel that tahini is VERY strong and too much in a recipe can overpower it.
Since tahini can be rather bitter, I added a good amount of cooked onions, taking a cue from my original alfredo sauce. The sweetness of the onions helps to balance out the tahini taste. And one other unexpected ingredient to help with that tahini….applesauce! Just that slight extra sweetness and acidity fits so well.
Would you believe that my hubby said he likes this one better? I don’t see how, but it just proves that we are so different.
And instead of traditional pasta, I served it over zoodles, aka zucchini noodles. I was recently given the opportunity to review a few products from Kitchen Supreme and this nifty little hand Spiralizer was one of the products. While healthier, I’m sorry, but zoodles don’t really qualify as pasta to me, lol. I’m a carb girl.
But they sure are pretty to look at. This little gadget is excellent because not only does it give you beautiful noodles, it’s a much more affordable spiralizer than the larger ones on the market. It’s incredibly easy to use. You literally just hold it in your hand and twist the zucchini around and voila, noodles. I did find that it didn’t work very well on carrots because most of them are so thin, so make sure you use really large carrots.
They also sent me a couple of other products to try, this French press, which is awesome. When I drink coffee, this is the exact way I make mine, with a french press…so serious.
Lastly, they sent me these chalkboard labels to try out. I’m an organized, clean freak so these help to organize my nuts and flours easily. One note, the white marker is not smudge-proof. It never dried and smears off quite easily. Kitchen Supreme stated they do this so a customer can easily rewrite titles on the labels, as they wish. I didn’t care for this feature and prefer a more permanent marker.
The nice people over at Kitchen Supreme are generously giving away ALL 3 of these products to one lucky reader. Details below!
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Nut-Free Vegan Garlic Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (60g) cooked/mashed yukon gold potato
- 1 packed cup (160g) finely chopped white/yellow onion
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 extra large garlic cloves, minced (12g)
ADD TO BLENDER
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3 tablespoons (42g) tahini (use cashew butter if you don't like tahini)
- 2 tablespoons (16g) nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons (20g) brown rice flour
- 2 tablespoons (30g) applesauce
- 2 teaspoons (10g) apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Optional: any extra veggies to eat with the sauce
Instructions
- First, cook your potato your preferred method. I used the microwave. I then let it cool and peeled the skin off. Set aside.
- Start boiling a large pot of water now if using traditional pasta (14 oz bag) to serve with the sauce. Add 12 cups of very hot water to a large pot and put the lid on (it will come to a boil faster). Turn to high heat and let it come to a boil. Mine took about 10 minutes before it was boiling (yours may be faster). Once it's boiling add the pasta and a heaping 1/2 Tbsp salt and quickly stir it around to loosen it up. The salt is important because it flavors the pasta and you won't end up with bland pasta. Keep on high heat and cook for 9 minutes or until al dente. Yours may vary depending on the pasta you use.
- Meanwhile, finely chop your onion and garlic. Add the onion and 1/2 cup water to a large sauce pan. Turn the heat to high, once sizzling, turn to medium-low and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a few minutes more, stirring very often and keeping an eye so the garlic doesn't burn. If necessary, add more water to keep it cooking, but just a little at a time. You want the onion very tender so it becomes sweeter. Once it's cooked and all the water is gone, add to a blender.
- Add the remaining ingredients, 1 1/2 cups water, cooked potato, tahini, nutritional yeast, rice flour, applesauce, vinegar, salt and pepper. Blend on high until completely smooth. Taste and adjust spices if necessary, but keep in mind the taste will become more rich after you cook it, so I like to wait.
- Add the sauce back to the same pan you cooked the onions in. Turn the heat to high, as soon as it starts bubbling, immediately turn it all the way to low. Whisk continually, don't walk away, and it should thicken right up in about 3 minutes. Because of the potato and rice flour, it will get very thick quickly, so you don't want to overcook it. Taste and add any more salt or spices.
- Serve over zoodles or pasta of choice. To cook zoodles, I simply spiralized 2 zucchini and added them to a large sauce pan with about 1/2 cup water, salt and pepper. Cook them for a few minutes until they reach your desired tenderness. Drain and serve with sauce. I wasn't a huge fan of the zoodles with alfredo though, like I mentioned above in the note, so I'd suggest traditional pasta. Top with extra black pepper, nutritional yeast or red pepper flakes.
Thank you so much to Kitchen Supreme for sponsoring this post. Affiliate links are included in this post. They are also sponsoring the giveaway below. One reader will be chosen by random and will win all 3 prizes pictured above. You can enter by filling out the form. You also must be a subscriber of my blog to qualify to enter any and all giveaways. Only 1 winner will be chosen and must be a US resident. The contest will end next Friday, March 4, 2016, 12 pm central time.
CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!
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Ooh, this looks delicious! I’ve only tried zoodles with tomato sauces, this looks much more interesting..and delicious!
I haven’t spiraliZwd before!! Can’t wait
I havve wanted to try a spiralizer for some time, as I rarely eat wheat. This is a new one for me and I would love to try it!
Love spiralized zucchini! Yum!
Genius idea to use potatoes to make the sauce extra creamy!! 😀
Thanks so much Sarah! I use potatoes a lot in many of my sauce recipes, it’s one of my favorite ingredients!
I’m definitely in the nut camp when it comes to sauces, my absolute favorite. But that’s so great there’s an option for those that can’t have nuts! And we eat our alfredo cream sauce with veggie noodles all the time! I do a mix mostly, spaghetti with sweet potato noodles and zoodles. I have a recipe coming with them too. Alone without the spaghetti is awesome for a lighter meal but we throw the spaghetti in to mix for some oomph. It looks delicious!
I love them in there too, but the tahini has some fat in it too and with the potato and brown rice flour, it gets insanely creamy! Jay was shocked and liked it better than the cashew ones, I couldn’t believe it, lol!
My favorite is zucchini, with sweet potatoes as a close second
My favorite is your Vegan Garlic Alfredo Sauce but I may give this one a whirl too, it can’t hurt to have a nut-free recipe for guests. 🙂
Yes, definitely try it! My hubby loves all 3 but actually said he likes this one the best!!
This looks so perfectly creamy! Wish I could eat some right now.
oh man — you are a genius! i never would’ve thought to put potatoes in a sauce. this would be my first time spiraling and i’ve been wanting to own one for so long now! we eat a decent amount of pasta over here, and i’d love to make it more nutrient dense! p.s. i also make your smoky bbq sweet potato burgers WEEKLY. i cook all vegan meals for me and my hubby (who is *not* a vegan) and those are one of his top 3 favorite meals! 🙂
Hi Valerie! Thank you so much! I’m not the first to think of adding potatoes to a sauce, lol! I add them to a lot of my recipes and have for awhile but when I first started doing it, I wasn’t aware it had been done for, but apparently a lot of people do it!
That is so awesome to hear, so happy you loved the burgers, thank you so much!
I would love to win!!! My favourite vegetable to spiralize is zucchini!! Love your Alfredo definitely will need to try out this recipe!
YUM! This looks awesome – I love zoodles and I have always wanted to try a vegan alfredo but I’m not the biggest fan of cashew cream so this will be perfect for me!
i love to spiralize sweet potatoes when i visit home (TX, i’m in MA ;-))! i use my parents spiralizer but would def use one of my own all of the time if i had one. i’d love to experiment with different vegetables
I have only spiralized zucchini with a less-than-effective spiralizer. I LOVE the idea and look of spiralized veggies. AND..I truly LOVE your recipes!
I can’t wait to try this recipe, it looks so delish and I love spiralized veggies especially zucchini!
Yay I am so excited about this recipe. I am going to make this tomorrow. It looks amazing. I am glad it isn’t too fatty of a recipe. Because I do like to keep my fat intake low especially if I am going to have something on a regular basis. Since I am not afraid of big portions this still might be a little on the fatty side for me because I am sure I will eat it all in one go. Hahahahaha so this will definitely be something I enjoy on occasion but I am certainly looking forward to this. I have been waiting for a nut free version of your alfredo sauce. Looks like I have a few things to pick up at the store.
Thank you so much Christina! The only fat is really from the tahini with is just 3 tablespoons for the entire recipe and it makes a lot, so you should be good! But honestly, it is sooo creamy, it doesn’t taste low-fat at all! I still can’t believe my husband likes it the most! I cannot wait to hear what you think!
By the way, I wanted to let you know that I will have that oil-free bread you requested coming soon! After trialing so many different flours and combos, I finally found one that I love! I know it’s been a really long time, but that one was a harder one, haha!
Oh my gosh I can’t tell you how excited I am to hear that. I can understand that was a tough request but I knew you could do it. My dad is gonna be excited too he misses bread. It’s impossible to find a decent gluten free bread with healthy ingredients and no oil. I haven’t had bread in ages either ☹️ So I am anxiously awaiting that post. ? You seriously are the best. Thanks so much ?
I like spiralizing carrots!
I like to spiralize zucchini. Thanks for a great giveaway.
I have never tried a spiralizer! I definitely would try the zucchini in the summertime. what about sweet potatoes? is it strong enough for that?
I’m always looking for vegan alfredo recipes, so I may have to try all three of the recipes you mentioned in your post.
I would spirals sweet potato! i have never had, nor used a spiralizer but they look so wonderful! 🙂
I made this last night and it is amazing. Its so creamy, yum. I am so happy you finally came out with a nut free version of your alfredo. It was so worth the wait. It was delicious, it was so flavorful but yet it wasn’t overpowering. Hard to explain what I mean by that but sometimes you have a pasta sauce and all you taste is overwhelming sauce it gets to be too much. But this was delicious and lent so much flavor to the pasta and veggies but it wasn’t overwhelming where other flavors couldn’t come through at all. So it was just seriously amazing and enjoyable to eat. Me personally I couldn’t detect tahini at all but perhaps my pallet isn’t that refined I don’t know. To me I wouldn’t change a thing, it was perfect.
Thank you so very much Christina for the amazing feedback! I’m so glad to hear this aflredo sauce was worth the wait! You sound like my hubby, he loves it just as much! Thank you very much for making it and letting me know!
I would try carrots first!
I like spiralized sweet potatoes.
Would like to spiralize summer squash!
This would be my first!
I’m not sure if I’ve already commented on this post or not, but I loved this one! I’m also always trying to come up with more nut-free sauces, especially pasta sauces. I’m fine with the nuts, but it does get heavy from time to time since I now use nuts constantly, so it’s nice to have the creamy version without nuts. I shared this post the second I saw it =)
Oh so awesome Anjali, thank you so much! I’m so glad you loved it, thank you!
So super yummy!!! Even better the next day for lunch!
SO glad to hear that, thank you so much Stephanie!!
I made it today! I didn’t have brown rice flour or nutritional yeast. I added some flaxseed meal and hemp seeds to the blender instead! It turned out great. I added sautéed mushrooms, peas and zucchini. Thanks for this recipe!
Good to know that it turned-out well without the nutritional yeast. I cannot use nutirional yeast because it is naturally occurring MSG.
Gorgeous. Do you think it could be altered to resemble blue cheese? Which spices do you think would work?
Hi Hannah! Turn the sauce into blue cheese? I honestly have no idea. I never liked blue cheese. I wouldn’t know how to turn this sauce into that. Are you wanting a creamy blue cheese flavored sauce or a hard cheese?
I found this online when googled “vegan blue cheese”. Maybe this would help?
https://snapguide.com/guides/make-vegan-spicy-buffalo-wings-vegan-blue-cheese/
I love your recipes! My problem is I am allergic to all nuts and sesame. Do you have any other option for the tahini in this? Could I Just leave it out?
We have the same issue as Moira, alas. My son is allergic to tree nuts and sesame. Any option to swap out the tahini? Thanks so much!
Hi Julie, hmmm, that’s a tough one because it adds creaminess and richness. You could try sunbutter I guess…not sure of the flavor result, but since it’s not a whole lot of tahini, it might work.
I am looking for a low-carb vegan alfredo sauce and was wondering if I could use cauliflower instead of a potato for the creaminess and almond flour instead of brown rice flour?
Thanks for the recipe!!!
Hi Thera! I have not tested it with either of those so it’s very hard to say how it will turn out. Cauliflower isn’t nearly as creamy as potatoes. If it is the carbs you are concerned about, then I would suggest making my other alfredo sauce that is a reader favorite. There is no potatoes in it. It only uses 2 tbsp brown rice flour but almond flour will not work as a sub for it because the brown rice flour is what helps the sauce to thicken over the stove. But it is only 2 tbsp for the entire recipe.
Here is the link: https://staging.thevegan8.com/2015/11/09/20-minute-vegan-alfredo/
Thanks for the quick response. I will use your suggestion and take a look at the other recipes. Have a Blessed day!
I know I’m late to the party here…I soooo want to figure this out. I’m allergic to potatoes!! ( 🙁 ) Do you think something like pureed chickpeas would work in place of the potatoes here?
What can I use instead of brown rice flour?
Regular flour should work!
Great. I didn’t add 1.5 cups of water and cook it because it was going to bake in the oven. Love the flavor.
Thank you Kate, so glad you loved the recipe!
Can i use sweet potato instead of yukon potato?
I wouldn’t, no. That will make the sauce sweet.