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.
Sweet Potato Vegan Alfredo
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.
Ingredients
Spiralizing and softening the spiralized sweet potato noodles.
Spiralized Sweet Potato Noodles
The creating of the vegan alfredo sauce.
Developing the Vegan Alfredo Sauce
Adding the alfredo sauce to a skillet followed by adding the zoodles.
Vegan Sauce Added to Pan for Serving
Adding Sweet Potato and Zoodles to Alfredo
The Sweet Potato Vegan Alfredo plated.
Sweet Potato Vegan Alfredo Plated
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
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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
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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
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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!
Recipe Notes
https://minimalistbaker.com/garlicky-sweet-potato-noodle-pasta-8-ingredients/
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.