This deliciously thick and creamy vegetarian red pepper Alfredo recipe is surprisingly simple to make!
Red pepper Alfredo sauce recipe
We cook a variation of this creamy pasta dish at least once a month.
The homemade red pepper sauce is a wonderful addition to pretty much everything, including penne, fettuccine, spaghetti, linguine, roasted vegetables, garlic bread, or served in a bowl as a thick and comforting soup.
It is also great over spaghetti squash if you want to save calories.
The quick and easy dinner recipe calls for just eight ingredients, and it can be oil free, egg free, gluten free, keto, paleo, Whole30, sugar free, low carb, and vegan.
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Healthy dairy free pasta sauce
This magically thick Alfredo sauce requires no heavy cream.
Instead, the richness comes from heart healthy cashews, one of my favorite versatile plant based ingredients.
Cashews or macadamia nuts can be used in both sweet and savory recipes to produce incredible creaminess even without any heavy cream or dairy.
The nondairy and vegan sauce comes together really easily.
Just throw your ingredients into a blender and process until smooth.
You can heat the sauce while boiling the pasta or veggie noodles, so everything is ready to eat at the same time.
Prefer a nut free pasta recipe? Try Lemon Pasta or Vegan Alfredo Sauce
Vegetarian red pepper Alfredo recipe video
Above – watch the step by step recipe video
Roasted red pepper Alfredo ingredients
To make the recipe, you need one pepper, onion powder, ground turmeric, nutritional yeast or Parmesan cheese, salt, water, cashews, and an optional pinch of nutmeg.
The Alfredo is equally tasty with a roasted or raw bell pepper. And feel free to swap red for a yellow or orange pepper instead.
We like to use unsalted raw cashews. For a low carb option, macadamia nuts are a great choice. If you can only find roasted salted nuts, decrease the salt in the recipe.
The onion powder adds depth of flavor and should not be omitted. However you may replace it with one or two sautéed shallots or half a cup of diced roasted onion.
For a vegan red pepper sauce, use nutritional yeast or vegan Parmesan.
The sauce needs no eggs, butter, coconut milk, goat cheese, or heavy cream. It therefore is naturally cholesterol free and low in saturated fat.
Use leftover peppers in this Vegan Ramen Recipe
How to make red pepper pasta
If you have extra time, start by soaking the nuts in a bowl of water for at least an hour. drain and pat fully dry. While this step is not required, it will yield the creamiest texture.
Slice the bell pepper, and discard the stem and seeds.
Add all ingredients to a high speed blender. Process until thick and completely smooth.
*If you do not own a high speed blender like a Vitamix, omit the nuts and use half a cup of raw or roasted cashew butter instead. Process the red pepper and water first, then blend with all remaining ingredients in any blender or food processor.
Taste the sauce, then add more salt, black pepper, or other seasonings if you wish.
The red pepper sauce will look somewhat thin, but it thickens considerably when refrigerated or heated on the stove top.
The recipe was adapted from my Cashew Alfredo Sauce
Serving suggestions
This recipe makes enough sauce to cover ten ounces of pasta or vegetables.
Just before plating, try stirring in steamed broccoli, spinach, roasted mushrooms, zucchini, or sundried tomatoes.
Or add a protein source such as cooked chickpeas, baked tofu, green peas, or vegetarian Italian sausage or chicken.
Serve the Alfredo for dinner with a side of garlic toast or Kale Chips.
Store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Reheat in a pot on the stove or in the microwave.
We do not recommend freezing this sauce because the texture after thawing will be more watery than creamy.
Red Pepper Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 red bell pepper (raw or roasted)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup raw cashews or macadamia nuts
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast or Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
- 10 oz pasta or spaghetti squash or vegetables
- optional grilled or roasted veggies, beans, etc.
Instructions
- Place the nuts in a cereal bowl, cover with water, and let sit 6-8 hours. Drain fully, and pat dry. Blend all ingredients (including the half cup water) except pasta and optional veggies in a food processor or high speed blender until completely smooth. Heat sauce in a pot until desired temperature is reached while cooking pasta in salted water according to package directions in a separate pot. Drain pasta fully, but do not rinse. Pour the sauce over the pasta, season with salt and pepper as desired, and stir in cooked vegetables, beans, or other add-ins if desired. View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
Easy Vegetarian Dinner Ideas
Thanks Katie for the recipe! Can’t wait to prepare it!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. Everyone enjoyed it.
Is there a faster way for the cashews! Wanted to make this tonight but didn’t read through the entire recipe early enough!
YES! You can grind the raw cashews in a spice mill (not previously used for coffee) until they are a fine powder, then add to the rest of the ingredients as usual. https://theveganword.com/cashew-hack-never-waste-time-soaking-your-cashews-again/
You can also cut the soaking time from six hours down to one if you use boiling water to soak the cashews; you don’t need to boil the cashews themselves, just put them in a heat-safe bowl, put on a tea kettle, and pour the water over the nuts when it starts boiling.
Sara, Consider using Silk unsweetened cashew milk, instead. It’s pre-prepared and would cut the prep time considerably.
How much of the cashew milk would you use in this recipe? I have cashew milf nut no cashews so thought I would use it but no idea how much! Thanks
I don’t know that it would work. Cashewmilk has much less fat and would therefore be much less rich and creamy. But if you try it, be sure to report back with results!
The whole cashews are used as a thickening agent. Cashew milk is way too thin to make this a creamy sauce. 🙂
Tried this recipe tonight but used cream cheeses instead of cashew nuts. I am not a vegetarian but follow your blog as a coeliac with a sweet tooth! Had it with thick rice noodles plus a few large prawns. Lovely??
How much cream cheese did you use, Donna? That sounds really good too. I have some spaghetti squash to use up and was looking for a good sauce recipe.
Hi Katie,
These treats look so tantilizing, especially the Red Pepper Alfredo dish and the Cocoanut Chocolate Brownies.
I will definitely enjoy and share with family & friends.
Thank you!!
I loved this sauce too when I made it for the first time. I used roasted red peppers from my pantry because I didn’t have fresh. It was great!!!
I didn’t notice if anyone has tried making a bigger batch and freezing it.
I’ve been wondering the same re freezing. I did reach out to Katie on Twitter and received no response. I’m going to make a batch tomorrow to test it out. I’ll be sure to come back and let you know how it went.
This turned out so well, Katie! I threw in a couple of cups of chopped kale with the pasta for the last few minutes of cooking time. It was delicious and easy. Thanks for the recipe!
Does this taste nutty?
Do you know if this recipe freezes well?
The sauce might. Be sure to report back if you try it!
Can you use almond meal instead of nut powders?
This is just simply amazing. So pleased with the results of this dish!!
Looks delicious! Do you put the red pepper in raw? Thank you
You do, and it’s great that way. However, some readers say they have also roasted it first and it’s really great like that too!
This is very similar to a recipe I used to make a cream to pour over leaves of kale and then put it in the dehydrator for kale chips. It’s delicious.
That sounds really interesting and delicious!
I made this last night!! So good and “hit the spot”.
This sounds amazing. I’m going to try subbing sunflower seeds in place of the nuts, due to severe allergies. I’m also wondering if white beans would do the trick.
This was delish!! Next time will make it with spaghetti squash because I ended up eating way too much pasta! Made it in my vitamix and it came out perfectly.
I forgot to mention that I used roasted red peppers and minced garlic in place of the other spices.