Look at that picture and tell me how crazy it is that there’s no dairy in this entire creamy, dreamy, smooth situation happening up there. Whaaaaat? BUT – it’s true, no dairy!
What crazy magic is happening that created this insanely creamy FOUR INGREDIENT sauce without any cream? Two main things:
- Roasted Cauliflower
- Raw cashews
First things first – we roast the cauliflower (plus some garlic) for a delicious forty minutes in the oven until it’s nutty and a little bit caramelized and basically anything you could ever want in a vegetable (slow oven roast, you da real MVP, boo). Then we throw it the blender with some veggie broth and raw cashews, blend it until super smooth, and then bathe in it toss it with pasta, zoodles, spaghetti squash – you get the picture.
The pasta gives the sauce lots of flavor and substance, and the cashews are what give some heaviness that mimics a cream based sauce. Otherwise we basically just have blended cauliflower, which would probably also be delicious, but not really what we’re going for here!
A few great things to point out here:
- This is a super easy vegan dish for anyone trying to increase their level of meatless meals or want to cook for a vegan/vegetarian friend!
- It’s SO much more nutrient dense than a cream sauce – there’s lots of healthy fats and veggie sneakage that happens here, which brings me to point three 👇🏻
- This is a home run for people with picky eaters. Both of my boys are moderately picky, and this was a hit with them! Which makes me very happy, because it’s nearly impossible to get my two year old to consume a vegetable unless it’s hidden in some way like it is here!
- The leftovers keep great! We ate on this all week and it was just as good reheated. We added a splash of almond milk each time we reheated because the sauce soaks into the noodles a bit.
- It’s a 4 ingredient situation, 5 when you count the pasta. I love that for my grocery bill 😍
So good! Here’s the recipe for ya, friends 🥰.
PrintVegan Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Sauce
You would NEVER guess that this creamy, dreamy pasta sauce doesn’t actually have any cream. Absolute perfection tossed with noodles, zoodles, or spaghetti squash!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 7 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets
- 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 2 cups veggie broth
- 1/4 cup raw cashews
- 1 pound pasta, I used fettuccine, cooked according to package instructions (can easily be subbed or zoodles or spaghetti squash!)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees
- If you don’t have a high powered blender (like a Vitamix or Blendtec), boil your cashews for 10 minutes (or soak overnight) and then drain. If you have a high powered blender, don’t worry about this step.
- Meanwhile, on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, add your cauliflower + unpeeled garlic. Drizzle with olive oil until well coated, season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine
- Roast for 20 minutes, remove from the oven, toss, and roast for another 20 minutes
- Let the veggies cool a little bit so the garlic is easy to handle, and then squeeze the cloves out of their wrappers
- Add the cauliflower and garlic to a blender with your cashews and veggie broth and blend until very smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper and toss with your cooked pasta or pasta alternative!
Notes
Nutrition info is assuming you toss the veggies with 2 tablespoons of olive oil before roasting and that you serve the sauce with 1 pound of cooked pasta.
Nutrition
- Calories: 335
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 602 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 41 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and tag @thegarlicdiaries so I can see!
I made this last evening and it was amazing flavor. I cut up onions, red / Green / Yellow peppers and stir fried them to add to this and it moved to the top of my favorite list! Can’t stress that roasting Cauliflower in Olive oil for 40 minutes turns it into a flavorful hearty vegetable and blending it with the Chicken stock works perfectly! Thank you for the great recipe!
★★★★★
That’s awesome, Jason! I’m so glad you loved it. Thank you so much for the comment!