This dairy-free Alfredo sauce is a refrigerator staple! We keep a jar in the fridge at all times, and it makes for the quickest healthy dinners. Try this easy alfredo sauce recipe over your favorite pasta mixed with chicken or meatballs and a veggie, or spoon it over any protein: chicken, shrimp, or fish.
Easy Alfredo Sauce Recipe
My mom used to make the best quick and easy dinners, and the busier life gets – the more I find myself recreating them! A forever favorite of my brother and I was pasta mixed with a jarred Alfredo sauce, chopped chicken, and broccoli. So simple but so comforting and good!
Ultimate pasta hack I learned from my mom: add the broccoli to your boiling pasta for the last few minutes of cook time, and you’ve got perfectly cooked pasta AND broccoli ready to go. Mix in some cooked chicken and your Alfredo, dinner is done!
Since I’ve become more aware of ingredients in my food and realized which food groups I do best with and which I don’t (large quantities of dairy), I’ve axed many shelf-stable sauces from my diet.
Alfredo was one… until I created my own! I’ve been using this in dishes for years now and finally have it available in its very own recipe so you can bookmark it, Pin it, save it however you do and come back to it again & again like we do!
How to Make Dairy-Free Alfredo Sauce
We love this alfredo sauce so much, we now keep a jar (or two!) in our fridge at all times and it makes for the easiest weeknight meals. I can’t wait for this to become a staple in your home too!
Here’s what you need:
- Raw Cashews
- Coconut Milk
- Chicken Broth
- Nutritional Yeast
- Ghee or Olive Oil
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Italian Seasoning
- Salt & Pepper
Put all of the ingredients in your high-powered blender and let it do all the work. Add more seasonings if needed. Store in a glass jar in the fridge and heat up when ready to use.
Notes
- If you don’t have a high-speed blender or feel like cashews don’t blend smoothly for you, try soaking your cashews ahead of time. Cover the cashews with warm water and let them sit for about 1 hour (up to overnight) to soften them. Drain, rinse, and blend in with your sauce ingredients.
- No nutritional yeast? You can skip it! I like the slightly cheesy flavor it adds, but have made this sauce without it dozens of times and it’s just as great.
- Find the coconut milk I use on Amazon HERE. It doesn’t separate, has just two ingredients (coconut & water), and works in so many dishes.
- If you’re against coconut milk, substitute any creamy milk you like. Cashews, half & half, etc. I find I don’t taste the coconut milk at all if I season the sauce correctly (plenty of salt & pepper, and some extra garlic!)
Recipes with Creamy Sauces
Paleo Chicken and Alfredo Pasta
Sheet Pan Alfredo Chicken and Broccoli
Creamy Chicken, Spinach and Artichoke Pasta
What’s your favorite sauce for pasta? Let me know in the comments below. Remember to sign up for my newsletter so you never miss a new recipe. And follow me on Instagram to see how all the magic happens.
Dairy-Free Alfredo Sauce
Equipment
- High-Speed Blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup Raw Cashews
- 1 cup Coconut Milk
- 1 cup Chicken Broth
- 1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast
- 2 tbsp Ghee or Olive Oil
- 2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend until super smooth. Give it a taste, and add more seasonings as needed (I am generous with the salt, pepper, and garlic!)
- Transfer to a jar and store in the refrigerator.
- To serve, heat until warm and scoop over your favorite protein or stir into your favorite cooked pasta.
Notes
- If you don’t have a high-speed blender or feel like cashews don’t blend smoothly for you, try soaking your cashews ahead of time. Cover the cashews with warm water and let them sit for about 1 hour (up to overnight) to soften them. Drain, rinse, and blend in with your sauce ingredients.
- No nutritional yeast? You can skip it! I like the slightly cheesy flavor it adds, but have made this sauce without it dozens of times and it’s just as great.
- Find the coconut milk I use on Amazon HERE. It doesn’t separate, has just two ingredients (coconut & water), and works in so many dishes.
- If you’re against coconut milk, substitute any creamy milk you like. Cashews, half & half, etc. I find I don’t taste the coconut milk at all if I season the sauce correctly (plenty of salt & pepper, and some extra garlic!)
11 Comments
Jillian Ringwood
November 10, 2019 at 1:45 pmLove love love this sauce!!!!
Kristine
April 13, 2020 at 6:57 pmDelicious and easy!
Anyone ever freeze this? I doubled the recipe and now I’m thinking I didn’t need to! I’d hate for it to go to waste.
Jessie B
April 14, 2020 at 3:34 pmHi Kristine!! I’ve frozen it in mason jars (with some room to expand) with no problem! I also keep it in the fridge for at least a week and it’s been fine – so you can always keep it that way if you think you’ll use it up soon!
Stephanie
April 27, 2020 at 11:11 pmI love this sauce. I’ve made it twice. It stores well and is just great to have on hand for a quick and easy meal. I used oat milk this last time and it didn’t change the flavor.
Jessie B
April 28, 2020 at 1:47 amSo great to know with the oat milk! I’m so glad you’re loving it Stephanie!!
Sherry
February 5, 2021 at 1:38 amDo you know what the calorie, carb and protein breakdown is? I don’t see it listed. Thanks! Hoping to try this over the weekend.
Jessie B
February 5, 2021 at 11:39 pmYes! If you go to the bottom of the recipe box, under the “notes” section it’s listed there! 🙂
Allison
October 18, 2020 at 12:10 amThe best alfredo sauce!!!!!!
Rhiannon
March 7, 2021 at 8:21 pmI’ve tried a dairy-free alredo recipe from elsewhere twice now and haven’t been pleased, and after you posted on Instagram about this recipe I tried this one. Love at first bite! I have a new go-to!
Elise
March 12, 2021 at 4:34 amI’ve seen this posted on Jessie’s IG several times and randomly made it tonight when i realized I didn’t have any jarred pasta sauce in my pantry. Wow. Glad I did. It is very tasty. Far better than any jarred product and tastes just like dairy Alfredo. My husband didn’t even know it wasn’t dairy 😉
Jamie
March 17, 2021 at 6:05 pmSO GREAT!! This is probably the 3rd dairy free alfredo recipe I tried and this one blows all the others out of the water. The others went in the trash. Not only is it delicious but it could not be easier to make. I recently served it to my family – who are not necessarily health conscious/ paleo/ dairy free – and didn’t tell them that it was dairy free until after they told me how much they loved it. They couldn’t believe it 🙂 It’s become a regular staple in our house!