Plant Based Juniors

Two Registered Dietitian Nutritionist helping you raise your plant-based babies, toddlers, children and teens.

White Bean Alfredo Pasta

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White bean alfredo pasta! Easy and tasty vegan alfredo sauce using cashews and beans. Our kids love this cashew alfredo sauce over shells and elbows.

Alfredo sauce is a beloved go-to pasta sauce for many families – because it’s delicious!

But with traditional alfredo ingredients being butter and heavy cream, you may be wondering how to make a comparable plant-based substitute.

We’ve been working on this one and are excited to share a recipe for alfredo sauce using a white bean and cashew base. Kid-tested, dietitian mama approved!

Why We Love Beans

Beans are often hit or miss with kids, which is one reason we like to present them in a variety of ways.

However you use beans in your household, they’re a great source of protein and fiber.

Beans are also a versatile way to provide micronutrients like calcium, folate, and potassium.

Just a half-cup serving contains around 25% of your child’s daily needs for iron, too!

In this recipe, we chose to use canned white beans because of their neutral flavor and color, and smooth, creamy consistency when blended.

Benefits of Cashews

The other main ingredient in this alfredo sauce is cashews.

By soaking and blending them with liquid, cashews make the perfect plant-based cream for soups, sauces, and cheezy dips.

They’re also a good source of protein and fiber, as well as an array of micronutrients like copper, magnesium, manganese, iron, and zinc.

We’ve used soaked, blended cashews in this recipe to make the creamiest plant-based alfredo sauce you’ve ever tasted.

How to Make It

All you need is a saucepan and a blender to make your sauce, which you’ll then pour over your cooked pasta (we recommend small noodles like elbows or shells).

First, we suggest soaking your raw cashews in hot water for 20-30 minutes (you could also soak them overnight if you have time) to help soften them for this recipe.

If you don’t have time to soak them, that’s okay – you might just need to blend your sauce a bit longer.

This is also a good time to cook your pasta.

Make a note that once your pasta is done cooking, don’t discard the water. You’ll use some of this in your sauce, so you can drain the liquid into another container for later use.

While your cashews finish soaking, you’ll cook some thinly sliced garlic cloves in a sauce pan in a little bit of olive oil. You only need to cook this for about 30 seconds to make it deliciously fragrant and soft.

Then, you’re going to combine dried oregano, salt, cashews, white beans, nutritional yeast and the cooked garlic with oil you just prepared in a blender. Pulse about 10 times until just broken down.

Add in 1/3 cup of the reserved pasta water and puree until creamy and smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add in more pasta water, a tablespoon at a time.

Next, it’s time to toss your sauce with lemon juice and your prepared pasta.

Season with salt and pepper per your preferences.

Note that this dish tends to thicken the longer it sits. You might want to add a little more reserve pasta liquid to thin it out as needed.

Find the full printable recipe below.

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White Bean Alfredo Pasta

A simple, tasty plant-based take on classic alfredo pasta using cashews and white beans.
Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
  • 1/4 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews, preferably soaked for 30 minutes
  • 1 15 oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 tsp nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 cup reserved pasta water, or vegetable broth
  • 12 oz cooked small pasta, like elbows or shells
  • 1/2 small lemon, juiced

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan and add the garlic. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring the entire time, taking care not to burn. Remove and set aside.
  • Add the oregano, salt, cashews, white beans, nutritional yeast and cooked garlic with oil into a blender and pulse 10 times until just broken down. Add in 1/3 cup of the reserved pasta water and puree until creamy and smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add in more pasta water, a tablespoon at a time.
  • Add the bean sauce to the cooked pasta along with the lemon juice and toss to combine. Season to taste, adding more salt/pepper as desired. Thin as needed with reserved pasta water, this pasta will thicken as it sits!

We hope you love this white bean alfredo pasta! It’s an easy and tasty vegan alfredo sauce using cashews and beans that you can serve for any meal. Try this cashew alfredo sauce next time you need a quick, healthy pasta dish.

Chime In: Have you ever used white beans and/or cashews in this way before? If you make this recipe, tag us on IG @plantbasedjuniors – we love seeing your plates!

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Saving to my tried and true! I used pasta water not broth and will try one whole lemon next time! Delish!

  2. 5 stars
    We loved it! And so did our picky 1 year old😂
    We added 1/4 of a medium onion + about 4 tablepoons of nutritional yeast!

  3. 5 stars
    When I initially saw this recipe, I figured I would enjoy it, but never imagined how delicious it really would be. I’m honestly shocked it is so good. My 4.5 year old has consistently refused to try any sauce that isn’t marinara and typically prefers pasta plain. Imagine my surprise when she gobbled the first serving AND second and kept telling me how yummy and ‘licious’ it was. Thank you for a great recipe the whole family enjoyed!!!

  4. Was so excited to see this recipe, but then saw the cashews ingredient. What would you recommend as a cashew substitute for those allergic to tree nuts?

  5. I loved this! I used an Italian blend seasoning instead of oregano, so good! I also forgot to add the lemon so I’ll try that when I reheat my leftovers. Would it be creamier if I warmed the beans first?

    • Hi Sarah, I don’t know how it would work frozen– beans can change texture once frozen. If you try it, come back and let us know how it worked out.

  10. Do chickpeas work in this recipe? Not sure if they’re considered a “white bean” or not.

  13. 5 stars
    I couldn’t believe it — my 4yr old had 3 helpings of this, which is unheard of in our house. I added lots more nutritional yeast and extra salt and some fresh chopped basil and it was delicious!

    Thank you as always for the creative ways to add beans to our dishes!

  14. 5 stars
    Big hit with my 12 month old! I misread the recipe and added 2 tbsp of nooch not 2 tsp, but it was still very tasty. I think next time I’ll add in some spinach or mock chicken to boost it further!

4.67 from 21 votes (13 ratings without comment)

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