This vegan creamy cauliflower Alfredo is perfect comfort food, and healthy to boot! With it only taking 30 minutes to make, it will become a weekly staple before you know it.
We really love Brussels sprouts (yes, it is 'Brussels' sprouts, not 'Brussel', who knew? Although this may be a British thing?) so we wanted to create a new dish that featured them.
We also love the versatility of cauliflower, so after a bit of experimenting and testing it out on our friend Daisy (she runs awesome vegan events in the UK!), we created have our creamy vegan Alfredo tagliatelle!
Cauliflower is great, isn't it?
Cauliflower is the hero vegans deserve – rice, steaks, sauces – it does it all! A truly versatile ingredient, it easily takes on the flavour of marinades and sauces, and adds a certain 'bite' to dishes when cooked correctly.
So, what is vegan cauliflower alfredo?
Absolutely delicious, that's what! But traditionally, the dish is made with butter and parmesan – two ingredients that aren't very vegan-friendly! Back in 1941, Alfredo di Lelio, a Roman restaurateur created the dish for his pregnant wife, who was struggling with her appetite.
It became famous when two American tourists tried his 'simple pasta' when on holiday in Rome and they ate in Alfredo's restaurant. They took the recipe back to the US, and the rest – as they say – is history.
The dish isn't as well-known here in the UK, so here's hoping our UK readers will love our creamy vegan Alfredo as much as it's loved in the US.
To our American readers – how does it compare? We'd love to know!
Creamy Vegan Cauliflower Alfredo
Ingredients
- 1 large cauliflower – trimmed into florets, keep the core and leaves for roasting – they're delicious
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 6 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 cup unsweetened oat milk
- 300 g Brussels sprouts – halved
- 3 cloves garlic
- 400 g tagliatelle
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- Salt & pepper – to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to gas mark 5/190c and put a pan of water on to boil.
- Add the cauliflower, reduce to a simmer and cook for 5-7 minutes until it starts to soften.1 large cauliflower
- While the cauliflower is cooking, toss the sprouts in a splash of olive oil, salt and pepper. Place them face-down on a roasting tray along with the garlic cloves and cook for 10 minutes. You could roast the cauliflower leaves and core at the same time!300 g Brussels sprouts, 1 tbsp Olive oil, 3 cloves garlic
- Once the cauliflower is cooked, drain it but reserve the water it was cooked in – this will be used to water down the sauce, and cook the pasta in – to save water and washing up!
- Set aside a cup (or so) of the cauliflower cooking water just in case you need it for the sauce, then bring the rest back up to a boil and cook the tagliatelle – follow the instructions on the packet for how long to cook it for. It's usually around 10 minutes.400 g tagliatelle
- Put the cauliflower, Dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, milk and a good helping of salt and black pepper in a blender.1 large cauliflower, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 6 tbsp nutritional yeast, 1 cup unsweetened oat milk, Salt & pepper
- Peel the roasted garlic and chuck it in the blender too, then blend everything until smooth – if it's looking a bit thick, add some of the water that the cauliflower was cooked in a little bit at a time. The sauce should be pretty thick so that it clings to the pasta, but still be somewhat runny.3 cloves garlic
- When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add it back to the empty pan.
- Add the sprouts, then pour the sauce over and give everything a good stir so that everything is coated in the sauce.
- That's it – get stuck in to your vegan Alfredo and let us know what you think!
Notes
- You could also add other vegetables to this like broccoli, spinach or kale, depending on what's available.
Lydia
We made this for dinner on the weekend and oh my gosh - I think it will be the go-to pasta dish for a long while. Such a great creamy sauce and the brussel sprout combo was delicious. Great recipe!
Jess Saunders
Great to hear this Lydia! Thanks so much for trying it and leaving such wonderful feedback. We love Brussels sprouts too!
Chelsie
Definitely one of my favourite dishes now! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Jess Saunders
That is high praise! So glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for the review 😊 Jess x