The inspiration for this Sweet Potato Vegan Alfredo was my desire to make a vegan alfredo with cashews. I have had a distaste for nuts all my life. Now, I will admit it is totally mental. My father has a very strong allergy to tree nuts. Accordingly, we never had nuts in my house when I was growing up. No nuts. No peanut butter. That is why I say my aversion was mental. If I ever tasted a nut – I did not know it was in a cookie – I had to spit it out.
It is now some 50 years later. I have been drinking almond milk with my morning smoothie for a couple of years. So I decided I would give it a try. I had made a vegan alfredo sauce before but no nuts. I made a VEGAN GLUTEN FREE SPAGHETTI ALFREDO by cooking the gluten free pasta in the same pan of water. I have also made it combining milk and marscapone and cheese in this SMOKED SALMON ALFREDO. Each of these two tries at an alfredo created a somewhat milky sauce but not creamy. Using nuts really thickens the sauce much more reminiscent of the consistency you expect from an alfredo. I grabbed the base of this recipe from the MINIMALIST BAKER.
What I learned in make this alfredo sauce is that you needn’t be shy with the additional flavor you add to the sauce. Using the nuts creates the consistency but not a lot of flavor. So depending on what you want from your sauce, add away. For me, I will add even more garlic next time. I would also try to add a little honey to get some sweetness in there. So if you are vegan but want a cream sauce, this is a must try recipe.
The cast of characters.
Spiralizing and softening the spiralized sweet potato noodles.
The creating of the vegan alfredo sauce.
Adding the alfredo sauce to a skillet followed by adding the zoodles.
The Sweet Potato Vegan Alfredo plated.
The Recipe
Sweet Potato Vegan Alfredo
Ingredients
Vegan Alfredo Sauce
- 1 Cup Raw Cashews, soaked in water
- 1 Head Garlic
- 2 Cloves Raw Garlic, minced
- 4 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 2 Tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Arrowroot Starch
- 1 1/2 Cups Coconut Milk
Pasta
- 3 Whole Sweet Potatoes, spiralized
- 4 Ounces Kale, rough chopped
Instructions
Spiralizing Vegetables
- Begin by peeling the sweet potatoes and spiralize using a veggie spiralizer. Set aside.
Before combining the dish, the sweet potatoes noodles needs to be cooked for 2 – 3 minutes in a skillet with water to soften.
Vegan Alfredo Sauce
- Add cashews to a small mixing bowl and cover with very hot water and soak overnight or at least for a few hours.At the same time, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice off the very top of head of garlic drizzle with olive oil and salt. Place on a piece of tin foil. Wrap up loosely like a tent. Cook in the oven for 45 minutes – 1 hour. Once tender and slightly golden brown it is done. Remove from oven and let cool.Add the cashews the squeezed out roasted garlic and the rest of the alfredo ingredients to a high-speed blender. Blend until creamy. Add to a skillet and simmer for a few minutes bringing to a bubbling point. Reduce heat to low and simmer. The sauce will thicken. Taste for seasoning.
Finish for Serving
- Take a ladle full of the alfredo sauce and add to a small skillet. Add in a handful of the sweet potato noodles and some zoodles. Also add in the kale. Mix well and cook for 2 minutes until everything is combined and warm.Serve and enjoy!
Responses
comments – I answer every one.
First, this recipe looks heavenly! Can’t wait to give it a go.
Second, what blender do you use? I have tried a few different recipes in the past that involve cashews in this way and have struggled with matching the consistency seen in the recipes. I use a food processor, but have been considering getting a high-speed blender for this purpose.
So glad you like the recipe. Let me know how it turns out. I used my kitchen aid blender. Nothing fancier than that. I do know that soaking the cashews first, helps a lot.