These vegan creamy garlic noodles make a great side dish or a big event. This dish is quick and easy to throw together, and you can fill out the meal by grilling vegan sausage for protein and adding a side of veggie. My favorites are side salads or roasted vegetables (like broccoli or sweet potatoes).
I’m all about creamy pasta sauces, and nothing says nostalgic comfort food like a bowl full of little shells in a garlic sauce. It’s my version of a famous noodle sides brand (that rhymes with “ipton”) that I grew up eating.
This rich thick sauce is full of delicious garlicky flavor, and it sinks into the shells making every bite pure.
How to make vegan creamy garlic sauce:
Creamy sauces usually have few non-vegan ingredients. There is milk or cream, butter, and sometimes cheese.
It’s easy to swap those out and make this creamy garlic sauce. Instead of cow’s milk, I use cashew milk. For creamy foods I really like to make my own cashew milk by mixing coconut milk. This is easy to do if you have a high powered blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec, and requires some advance planning if you have a regular blender.
The reason I like to make my own cashew milk is that it can be a lot creamier than store bought options. Homemade has a higher nut to water ratio than the boxed variety.
Cashews are mixed so dark and smooth that you don’t need to use a bag of nuts to remove the pulp. This means that there are some naturally occurring compounds in cashews that thicken and improve the texture of the cream sauce.
Once we have the cashew milk prepared, it is a matter of thickening it in the form of a roux. A roux is when fat (usually butter) and flour are cooked together until slightly soft. It thickens any added water while providing a deliciously sweet flavor.
For a vegan roux, I like to use vegan butter. However, if you prefer, olive oil will work as well.
TIP: pour the cashew milk into the roux slowly while whisking. This will prevent the roux from curdling and will make a smoother sauce.
To add in some cheesiness to the sauce, you can use store bought vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast (aka nooch). Store bought vegan cheese tastes very “cheesy” but I’m an old school vegan who loves nooch too! Honestly I make it a different way, depending on what I have.
If you can’t find vegan parmesan, try using vegan mozzarella.
The sauce gets a double dose of garlic, with both a clove of fresh garlic and a mellowed flavor granulated garlic.
Because this recipe uses homemade cashew milk, I mix garlic and vegan parmesan (or nutritional yeast) into the milk! This makes it even more efficient.
Substitute homemade cashew milk:
While I like to use homemade cashew milk for this recipe, you can make it with store-bought milk as well. It will not be thick or rich in taste, but work well for easy change.
Store bought cashew milk is a good choice, choose the uncooked option.
If you want to avoid cashews or nuts, I recommend using either soy milk or oat milk (the “full fat” style Oatly is a good choice). Oats and soy are both naturally creamier and make great sauces. Again, be sure to use unsweetened plant milk as this is a delicious treat!
If you use store-bought plant milk instead of making cashew milk, you’ll need to make a few adjustments to how you prepare the dish. Use chopped or crushed garlic instead of mixing garlic in milk (which you can do but there’s no need to dirty your blender if you’re using store-bought milk). Add the chopped garlic together with the flour, and let it cook for a few minutes along with the roux.
And since we’re not mixing anything, you should add vegan parmesan (or yeast), granulated garlic, and salt when you add the milk to the pot.
The best type of pasta for creamy garlic noodles:
I love the unique mini shells shape of these noodles (shown in the photo below and the recipe video), and only partially because it’s a copy cat recipe! The small shells allow you to have a good sauce to noodle ratio and some of the sauce pools in the shells for a delicious bite.
Orecchiette pasta (which means little ears and is what I used in some photos) works similarly and is a great shape too.
This sauce also works well with long noodles like spaghetti, linguini, or fettuccini.
If you use a large noodle shape, like penne or rigatoni, then I recommend you only use 8oz of pasta, or double the amount of sauce you make!
Can I make ahead or freeze the sauce?
Yes. You can make the sauce 1-2 days before the pasta to have some on hand. Store them in a sealed jar or container in the refrigerator.
For long-term storage, you can freeze the juice. It may separate a little when lowering, but it should pull together well. If a whisk doesn’t do the trick, use a handheld immersion blender or throw it back into the blender.
Do you like this soup? Also check out my vegan garlic white pizza sauce!
If you make these vegan creamy garlic noodles, leave a comment below and rate the recipe on the recipe card. And please share your photos with me on Instagram, tag @thecuriouschickpea and #thecuriouschickpea. I want to see your relaxation!
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Ingredients
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1 lb small noodles or noodles of choice
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1 cup cashews*, soaked in water if not using a high powered blender
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3 cups of water
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1/4 cup vegan parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast
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3 garlic cloves, minced
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1/2 tsp granulated garlic
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3/4 tsp salt
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2 tbsp vegan butter (substitute olive oil)
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3 tbsp all purpose flour (substitute gluten free if needed)
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2-4 spoon minced parsley (optional, or substitute 1-2 tsp dried)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain and set aside.
- In a blender combine the cashews, water, vegan parmesan or baking powder, garlic cloves, granulated garlic, and salt. Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed.
- Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the vegan butter and when it melts put it on top of the all purpose flour. Whisk the flour into the butter and stir occasionally until slightly thickened, around 3-4 minutes.
- Gradually pour in the cashew milk while whisking, so that the cream remains smooth. Reduce the heat to medium, and let it come to a low simmer while stirring often. When the sauce is warm and thick, add the pasta. If needed, add some of the reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce.
- Add minced parsley if using, and add salt to taste if needed.
Notes
* If using a high powered blender, feel free to skip the soaking step. Soak the cashews covered in water and let them soak at room temperature for several hours. To speed up the absorption, boil cashews in water for 15 minutes. Drain the soaking water before use.
To replace homemade cashew milk, use 3 cups of store-bought unsweetened cashew milk, soy milk, or oat milk. Crush or chop the garlic, and add it to the flour. Add granulated garlic, salt, and vegan parmesan and milk. See blog post for details.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8
Serving Size: 1
Fees per Service:
Calories: 245Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0 gUnsaturated Fat: 9 gCholesterol: 0 mgSodium: 336 mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 3gSugar: 1gProteins: 8g
Nutritional values are calculated automatically and should only be used as an estimate.
