This 4-ingredients vegan white sauce is such a delicious basic creamy sauce for any simple pasta dish. The cashews make this sauce super rich and luscious, you won't believe it is dairy-free!
Having a basic creamy white sauce is a great addition to your recipe repertoire. I make this recipe often and it never stays in the fridge for very long. It has a rich & silky consistency with mild flavors that can be used in so many meals.
This creamy sauce is so delicious simply poured over cooked pasta, but it's also a perfect go-to replacement for heavy cream in savory meals.
It actually reminds me of a creamy Alfredo sauce. I prepare cauliflower Alfredo or a flour-based creamy pasta recipe regularly, but I keep this cashew sauce recipe for when I need something a little richer.
What's to love about this vegan white sauce
- Easy & quick to prepare
- Versatile
- Creamy and rich
- Only 4 ingredients
- No added butter or oil
It's a totally dairy-free vegan white sauce!
The secret to reaching such a creamy sauce without any dairy is the cashews!
Raw cashews become soft and plumped after soaking in water. This makes them more blend-able and can be used to create a uniformly smooth textured sauce. And depending on how much water you add to the blender, you can adjust how thick you want your sauce to be. I even use soaked cashews to make thick sweet cashew creams, just like in this vegan blueberry cheesecake.
Ingredients to make this vegan white sauce
- Raw Cashews
- Nutritional yeast ( I love this nutritional yeast from Bragg)
- Fresh Lemon
- Fresh garlic
- Water + Salt
How to make this vegan white sauce
First, soak the cashews in plenty of cold water for 8-12 hours. If in a pinch, then boil water, remove from the heat and add the cashews to let them soak in the hot water for about 30 minutes. (pssst, you can even boil the cashews for 10 minutes for an extra speedy version). Drain the cashews and rinse them.
Then, blend all the ingredients until very smooth. This could take 30-60 seconds. And that's it!
Then, add to your dish to warm the sauce up.
Watch how to make it
Tips when making this vegan white sauce
- I like this sauce quite thin, especially when I want to pour it over pasta. You can see the consistency easily if watching the video. If you want to use this sauce to stuff pasta shells or use as a white filling sauce for lasagna, then you could easily make this sauce thicker. To do this, use a little more cashews (about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cup). Or check out this cashew ricotta cheese for a perfect lasagna filling.
- Taste along the way as you blend the sauce and adjust how much salt, nutritional yeast and lemon juice you want. If you are new to nutritional yeast, then you can start with a little less first and taste.
- If making this sauce using a regular blender (opposed to a high-speed blender), then make sure you soaked your cashews long enough first and you might need to blend for a little longer. Also, stop the blender a few time to scrape the side of the blender to ensure all the cashews bits are crushed.
Serving suggestions
This basic vegan creamy white sauce is a great base for any pasta dishes and so flavorful on its own. My favorite way to enjoy it is to generously pour it over cooked pasta with veggies and sprinkled with vegan parmesan cheese or vegan TVP bacon bits for a carbonara style. I use this sauce whenever making a vegan white lasagna and also amazing with butternut squash ravioli! But here are other ideas for creamy pasta dishes:
- Make a herbed white sauce: combine this sauce with walnut pesto.
- Make a loaded white sauce: cook veggies like onion, mushroom, pepper, green peas and combine with this sauce.
- Make a rosé sauce (pink sauce): combine with prepared tomato or marinara sauce (or check out this creamy tomato pasta for the best pink pasta!)
Simply warm the sauce with the other ingredients of your dish.
You can use this sauce when making curry dishes (you can swap coconut milk and use this sauce instead), casseroles, vegetable gratins, and creamy soups. Also delicious simply poured over steamed cauliflower or broccoli.
How to store this vegan white sauce
Keep the sauce in a air-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
The sauce might thicken as it rest. If this happens, simply thin it out with a splash of water or vegan milk.
Other creamy pasta dishes you might like
- Vegan cajun pasta
- Hidden vegetable pasta sauce
- Butternut squash mac and cheese
- Cauliflower Alfredo
- Garlic cream Primavera pasta bake
- Vegan bechamel sauce
- Tahini pasta
- Pasta with hummus and roasted vegetables
- Vegan avocado pasta with broccoli
- Vegan powdered cheese
- Vegan green pasta sauce
- Gochujang pasta
- Oat milk Alfredo pasta sauce
I hope you will love this vegan creamy pasta sauce as much as we do! If you try it, please leave a comment below and rate the recipe to let us know how it was.
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Vegan white sauce
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
For the cream sauce
- 1 cup raw cashews - soaked or boiled, see note
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 small clove of garlic
- ½ tsp salt - or to taste
Instructions
- Blend all the ingredients in a blender on high speed for 30-60 seconds.
- Serve over warm pasta of your choice with vegetables. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- You can either soak the cashews in plenty of water for 8-12 hours, soak them in warm water for 30 minutes or boil them in water for about 10 minutes. This will help soften them and will be more blend-able. Drain and rinse before transferring to the blender.
- Store this sauce in a air-tight container for up to 4 days.
- To eat, simply reheat and combine to your dish.
Pin it for later!
Jess,
I love all the use of Nutritional yeast. I was introduced to it years ago when I began working for Outward Bound here in Maine. On courses, we would make a basic gravy for stir fries and it was often a big hit on popcorn. I started working for OB in the mid 80's and finding nutritional yeast was tricky. I would often stock up from the co-op in Rockland, Maine for when I was not working over the summer. It is such a savory flavor. Thank you for broadening my recipes so much.
I lived on Islesboro and worked at Heritage Savings in Rockland, Maine back in the late seventies. Makes me a little homesick to see it mentioned!
Délicieux !!!
Recette qui revient souvent chez moi ! Super versatile
Merci pour ton commentaire! Je suis contente que ce soit un hit! 🙂
My child have issues with dairy. Thank you for this vegan version
Hi there, thank you for the super fast and easy recipe. It was a little too bland for me, I think next time I will add more garlic and some parsley. I will definitely make this again. I doubled up the recipe and will use the remainder to pour over steamed broccoli
Hi Patricia! I'm glad this recipe worked out, thanks for taking the time to share your comment 🙂
This is a good recipe, easy and flavorful
Hi, great! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
Really good and easy to make. I had it over Butternut Squash Ravioli: https://plantbasedjess.com/homemade-vegan-butternut-squash-ravioli/
Also a great recipe (I did use sprouted spelt flour and no oil for the pasta)
Hi Charles! Thanks so much for sharing! I'm so glad you loved it, the ravioli with the white sauce sounds like such an amazing pairing. Yum 🙂