Add to: Recipe Box | Grocery List | Meal PlannerRecipe submitted by Annie
Rich and Creamy Lowfat Vegan Alfredo Ingredients (use vegan versions): 1 pkg. lowfat silken tofu
3 tablespoon vegan butter-flavored powder
1/4 cup vegan soy parmesan
2T nutritional yeast
veggie broth
salt and pepper to taste
cooked rotini, or your favorite
Directions:Blend all sauce ingredients, adding enough broth to make a smooth and creamy consistency and heat gently. Serve over pasta one scan't quarter-cup per person.
Variations:
Spinach Alfredo - add one 10 oz. package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained, after blending. Adding it before blending makes it look rather disgusting, like green slime. It still tastes good if you can get past the color.
Tomato Alfredo - substitute low-sodium V8 for broth, add tomato paste to taste. My vitamin-hating, junk-food-loving son pronounced this a keeper.
Serves: 4 or more
Preparation time: 5 mins.
This is an unbelievable recipe - the ingredients don'tgive you the right impression. NO ONE will know this isn't crem and butter.
Archived comment by: a.
I added a little nutmeg and it tasted even better!
Archived comment by: kristen
OH MY GOSH!!! This is the greatest thing that has happened to me since I became a vegan! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I also cheated and added 1/2 stick of lowfat margarine (its vegan) (hydrogenated but vegan) and it made the sauce richer! Yum! I added sun dried tomatoes and minced garlic-lazy me bought it preminced!!- it turned out great! The V-8 is so thick and saucy, it makes the meal!
Archived comment by: brandi
hey..i have had a big problem finding soy parmesean without casein in it. any suggestions??
Archived comment by: elizabeth
Where would one get the butter-flavored powder, any brand names? And if it is truely butter-flavored then is it not really vegan? And if it is not butter than what do they use, does any know? just a curious individual, can't wait to try the recipe. Thanks.
Archived comment by: kathleen
Tried this recipe tonight--it was great! A new family favorite. Thanks!
Archived comment by: lou
I recently went to a gathering where I was responsible for the pasta sauce... I didn't tell anyone that this was made from tofu until afterwards- one heavy meat-eater thanked me for not saying anything earlier or he would have never tried it!
Archived comment by: jim
I tried adding a little pasta sauce and some broccoli and my seven year old loved it!
Archived comment by: nicole
I tried the vegan Alfredo on my picky family and they loved it! This truly rich and creamy meal will definately be around often.
Archived comment by: marcia
Soy Mage makes a soy parmesian cheese without caesin
Archived comment by: jennifer
I'm going to try this recipe tonight. Just by reading it, my mouth is watering! I love tofu, and love nutritional yeast flakes! will post tomorrow with results.
Archived comment by: olga
What a hit! This was great. I modified it a bit though in the following way and it turned out absolutely delicious. I didn't add any butter flavoring, nor soy parmesan (I didn't have any left), I used 2 cups of vegetable broth, and I mixed in about 6 pieces of sundried tomatos. (I first soaked them in warm water, then put in blender with tofu mixture (nutritional yeast flakes, tofu, salt, broth). I can't even begin to describe how much I loved the flavor. It was so simple too! Thank you.
Archived comment by: olga
I think it never ceases to amaze me the way I still crave old tastes from the past. My 8 year old vegan-since birth son doesn't enjoy this recipe because it is rich, creamy, and cheesy. He can't fathom the cheese taste, when I realized that I was really craving a blast from the past, I suddenly found this recipe to not be too enjoyable. I think the Soyco parmesan was what did it for us, I am going to try this recipe without and the cheese and instead will use a more tomato base and I think it might be more enjoyable.
Archived comment by: gina
My partner (who is not a vegetarian) and I tried this recipe last night. His suggestion, while I was making the sauce, was to add a couple of cloves of garlic. It was absolutely delicious. We both agreed, its a keeper.
Archived comment by: carol
Thanks for this recipe. My husband, who THOUGHT he hated tofu in any incarnation, really liked it, so that was quite a coup for me!
Archived comment by: patricia
This was absolutely FANTASTIC! With recipes like this I don't even miss my love for creamy cheese products...I have really missed fettucine alfredo. Thanks so much!
Archived comment by: c
Our family LOVES this! My kids would eat it every night if we let them! Fast, easy and wonderfully delicious! THANK YOU!
Archived comment by: c
I made a version of this recipe without the butter-flavored powder, soy parmesan, nutritional yeast and veggie broth. What I used instead was about 1/4 cup vegan sour cream and 1/4 cup vegan margarine. Oh! and 3 cloves of garlic. yum.
Archived comment by: veggie
So do I literally put this in a blender first, then heat? Thanks! gfunk
Archived comment by: gfunk
I made this last night but added 3 cloves of garlic to the cream sauce. Just before pooring over the noodles added vegan butter, rehydrated onions and mushrooms, slivered almonds and fresh chopped spinach. Served it with a fresh dark green salad and toasted Afghan vegan bread. My family loved it. This makes enough for about 6 adults.
Archived comment by: jeanie
This is excellent. I used Earth Balance butter instead of the powder and added a spoonful of sun dried tomatoes packed in oil. Even my husband, who is not vegetarian and LOVES alfredo sauce, said it was good!!!
Archived comment by: gargalis
This recipe is INCREDIBLE. I recently became vegan and fettuccine Alfredo has always been one of my familys favorite dishes. I can't believe this was tofu, it tasted so much like the real thing (you could fool anybody). Even the way it looked and coated the pasta was exact. And SO much healthier. I used white and spinach fettuccine, Mori Nu silken soft tofu, a little UnChicken broth, a tablespoon of Earth Balance vegan butter, garlic and herbs, and soy parmesan. Didnt miss the yeast. Thanks for a new favorite!
Archived comment by: marlaLP
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I found it here a few months ago and have made it about once a week since, I wasn't ever even a huge fan of alfredo sauce but I am now.Thanks!
Archived comment by: madeline
This dish has made it into our regular meal rotation. We have it at LEAST once a week. It is SOOOOO good!!! I've made it for (non-vegan) guests and they love it too!
Archived comment by: camark4177
I thought it was very good. The sun-dried tomatoes were such a perfect compliment, and made the dish. Try adding crushed red pepper, too! My husband thought it was great, and my nine year old son thought it was pretty good, but wanted less sauce, and it works best on those sprial noodles, because you can slurp it off. (but he really fought us on eating two pieces of the sun-dried tomatoes). too bad! =D
Archived comment by: llongto
this was delicious! it was a big hit when i made it for a potluck. tastes even better than real alfredo. although, i couldnt find totally vegan parmesan, so i substituted with garlic powder. :3
Archived comment by: kerosene
Best ever vegan alfredo recipe. Pretty much indistinguishable from the non-vegan thing.
Archived comment by: reedcharles
Kudos to Annie for a great recipe. This recipe is probably one of the best uses of silken tofu I have ever seen. I don't know if its indistinguishable from the real thing (and my non-vegan alfredo-loving boyfriend definitely doesn't think so), but we both agree its a super vegan alternative. My modifications: saute three cloves of minced garlic in 1 1/2 Tb. non-hydrogenated margarine and blend that in with the tofu. Omit the butter powder (I've never seen it for sale in my health food store, so I substituted). After you have blended everything, melt another 1/2 or 1 Tb. margarine, and cook the sauce in that for a few minutes to further mellow the garlic flavor. Add a little nutmeg and some sliced sundried tomatoes and you're all set. I found that 2 Tb. of nutritional yeast made it a little too yeasty, even for my taste, and I love nutritional yeast. I'd probably cut that down to 2 or 3 tsp. next time I make it.
Archived comment by: sharway
I was never a huge alfredo fan, but found this to be quite enjoyable over pasta and steamed broccoli. Satisfied my craving for something rich and cheesy. Following sharways modification, I added a few cloves of garlic sauteed in olive oil and omitted the butter powder. I mixed the leftover sauce with marinara from a jar and really really liked the resulting tomato cream sauce.
Archived comment by: smargot
I made this last night similar to the way Sharway made it. I added about a quarter of a jar of organic tomato sauce with fire roasted tomatoes after blending everything else in a food processor. It really is an amazing sauce. My 7 year old loved it, and my husband said it was sinful. Thanks for the recipe Annie, and thanks for the tips Sharway.
Archived comment by: mCBROCK70
This recipe is soooo goooood! I was shocked how perfectly thick and creamy it is! Real alfredo is so greasy and gross, but this is wonderfully silky-smooth, and doesn't separate into a congealed greasy mess like the fattening real alfredo. I've made it with and without the nutritional yeast, and both versions are good. I've also tried adding the sun-dried tomatoes... yummy! I like to make a primavera-type dish with this sauce by adding lots of veggies.
Archived comment by: veggeek
I love this creamy alfredo! I've made this a couple times now, and its wonderful. I add sauteed minced garlic, sundried tomatoes, and nutmeg to the tofu mixture in the food processor. I also use a little less nutritional yeast and soy parmesan than called for. I subbed Earth Balance margarine for the powder. I toss in some steamed vegetables when mixing the sauce with the pasta (tonight was carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower). I've used both fettucine and fusilli bucati (long spirals)--both were awesome with this sauce. This definitely tastes much richer than you might expect!
Archived comment by: willwolf
my friends and i couldnt love this recipe more.
Archived comment by: brea
My kids and husband really liked this; I didn't tell them that it contained tofu until they tried it. So much healthier that regular alfredo, added it to the list of family favorites.
Archived comment by: tripster
Question: I don't have any silken tofu on hand...could I make this with regular, soft tofu instead? Do you think the texture would be too grainy? I want to try it, but don't want to run out to the store. Thanks!
Archived comment by: kitreece22
this is fabulous...add sundried tomatoes, sauteed garlic, 1-2 chopped mushrooms and one half of a fresh tomato before you heat it up to make it extra fabulous. I also add an extra tablespoon or more nutritional yeast. this recipe is like eating all the alfredo you want minus the guilt of all the fat and cholesterol. thanx so much for this.
Archived comment by: secretgiri
can anyone pass on which company/brand they found the butter flavor from ?
Archived comment by: zani
Zani--I never found any vegan butter flavor. I just used a couple spoonfuls of Earth Balance vegan margarine, instead.
Archived comment by: willwolf
Natures Flavors has a vegan butter flavor powder. naturesflavors.com
Archived comment by: idcgirl
This is in response to Elizabeths question about vegan parm without casein--hard to find, I actually prefer to make it from scratch. Its super easy. 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds, 1/2 cup nutritional yeast, sea salt to taste--toss all that in a food processor or blender until the sesame seeds are completely ground up. Its delicious--guilt free. You can make a bunch up in advance and just keep it in the fridge so the oils in the sesame seeds don't get rancid.
Archived comment by: hannahMo
7/18/05 - Definitely a keeper. I used Soymage parmesan cheese. My nutritional yeast is powdered so I used a little less than 2 Tbls. I think the soymage cheese definitely added a nice flavor rather than just using more nutritional yeast. Garlic definitely rounds it out. I may try roasted garlic next time. Today I stretched it out the last of the sauce with a jar of marinara and of course it makes a wonderful creamy tomato sauce.
Archived comment by: pandorra
I really love this sauce!! I use it with many different dishes now. It tastes just like non-vegan alfredo but cruelty-free! Thanks for the recipe!!
Archived comment by: surfnsun
I thought that this was great! It looked a little like brown goop, when real alfredo is white, but I added spinach, and served over white rice and it was incredible. It was salty, howe'ver, because I didn't use low sodium soy sauce, didn't have any, but I tend to like my food salty anyway. It was great on rice. I had vegan parmesan but no vegan butter flavoring so I just bought butter flavoring from the grocery store. It wasn't vegan, but close and it turned out good anyway.
Archived comment by: snowQueen690
If anybody has a job finding vegan parmesan its easy to make your own with 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes, 1/4 cup sesame seeds and 1/4 tsp. salt all ground together in a food processor. You can store this for months in a fridge.
Archived comment by: kay9bee
what has everyone been using for the butter flavored powder?
Archived comment by: razelimitations
They have butter-flavor powder at Whole Foods, but I decided to just use Soy Garden Margarine. It came out great, just like everyone said!
Archived comment by: veganlauren
SnowQueen690, I think the reason why it came out brown for you is that you added soy sauce (which I don't believe was in the recipe). I love this sauce. I made it twice - the first time it came out great and the second time I made it I did not put enough soy parmesan in (I didn't have enough left) and it was weak flavored.) I can't wait to try it again. Delia ecodel22
Archived comment by: ecodel22
This was an awesome recipe. Even my tofu is evil and must die fiance loved it. I did add a little bit of minced garlic, some broccoli and some extra nutritional yeast.
Archived comment by: arilark
I had a dinner party for my friends last night and made this sauce. I added nutmeg and lemon, and sauteed a little garlic in the pan before heating the sauce. It was so creamy and wonderful! My friends thought it was a little plain, but I thought it was delicious. I will definitely be making this again!
Archived comment by: ameliajoy
I really want to make this sauce the first time exactly like the recipe. So I just went to Whole Foods to find soy parmesan and they didn't have it (those jerks)! So, has anyone made it the way someone described with the homemade soy parmesan? Is it the same? Thanks
Archived comment by: sarchan
I'm sorry to disagree with everyone, but i hated this recipe. i don't know what vegan buttery flavored powder is, or if it exists, whether or not anyone would want to use it, but i tried using 1/2 a stick of vegan margarine instead. I think the real problem was 1/4 cup of vegan soy parmesan. That stuff tastes okay in small-to-moderate amounts, but i think 1/4 cup ruined the recipe. (my roommate didn't mind the recipe (but there are few vegan recipes that he minds)).
Archived comment by: socialistmath
hmmm. Definitely good, but needs to be tweaked. My kids (14 and 12) like it okay, but think it needs to be worked on. I used 1 cup vegetable broth and Earth Balance instead of butter powder. Next time I think I'll definitely try the garlic and maybe add the dried tomatoes. Oh, and I got to use my new immersion blender from Christmas! It made things so easy; I just plunked all the ingredients down in the pot, turned on the burner and used the immersion blender right in the pot!
Archived comment by: hbuckman
So, I made this the other night (as part of a vegan feast for my roommate and a few friends . . . so much food), and could not find soy parmesan, so I just upped the nutritional yeast flakes to 1/4 cup. I also substituted a few spoonfuls of Earth Balance for the butter flavor. It was good, but I don't know how well it would stand on its own. I put some sauteed garlic, red bell pepper, zucchini, and broccoli in with it and the pasta. Everyone liked it (everyone else being non-vegetarian) but we all agreed it wasn't alfredo sauce, but maybe more of a white sauce. I think adding flavourful vegetables really helped.
Archived comment by: sarchan
100% delicious! I added 4 tablespoons of Earth Balance Sundried Tomatoes Red Pepper Flakes Garlic This was great! Thanks
Archived comment by: spinner939
Use Soymilk (or water, or pretty much anything else) in place of vegetable broth--it doesn't matter how low-fat the recipe is if it is filled with sodium.
Archived comment by: kyle Key
eh.. this isn't too bad, but the raw tofu tastes overwhelms the recipe. it tastes like blended tofu, with hints of cheese and spices. not that good. i added garlic, red pepper flakes, sauteed spinach, peas, and carrots. itd be great if the tofu taste wasn't so dominant.
Archived comment by: tgarcia
tgarcia, if you see my comments way above, you'll see that I cooked the sauce after I blended it. I agree that it just tasted raw, so I put it back in the pan (a deep fry pan or non-stick is good) and cooked it for a few minutes. I think it helped a lot, because we loved this sauce.
Archived comment by: sharway
ahh.. i take back my above comment! i wrote that when id just tasted the sauce cold.. but warm and with spinach its very good!
Archived comment by: tgarcia
