Cashew Tofu Alfredo Pasta
Cashew and silken tofu provide insane creaminess - my family had no idea that this didn’t have any cream or dairy in it. You can make this totally vegan, but you don’t have to! Try this fun twist on the Alfredo for tonight’s pasta dinner.
Tofu and cashew - a match made in heaven
I’m no stranger to using cashew as the ingredient to really thicken and emulsify a dish, like my creamy soup or my super simple curry sauce. And I love using tofu - but up until recently tofu pretty much had one role in this house, and that was as fried chunks in a stir fry (which I still do often, and love it every time).
I’d never really made friends with softer, more liquid silken tofu types, and I had bought a packet that turned out to be less firm than what I like to use for my stir fries, and decided to do something different with it. Then I was reminded of the videos I’ve seen (mainly from the amazing Plant You, one of my absolute favourite Instagram food accounts!) of using tofu in creative ways, like blending it in sauces and even blending it into desserts. The result seemed to come out so smoothly and almost dairy like, so I thought: it’s time for a pasta sauce.
I am certainly not the first to do an Alfredo type sauce like this using cashews, and probably not the first using tofu either, but this particular combination of ingredients is what I experimented with in the kitchen and though many of my recipes are tried, failed, tried and then succeeded, this one was a “got it in one”. So so delicious, incredibly easy and my husband had absolutely no idea that this wasn’t a dairy/egg based Alfredo sauce when I served it up.
So why on earth have I put chicken in my vegan Alfredo sauce and sprinkled parmesan on top?!
I’m not vegan, neither is anyone in my house. I am constantly trying to be more plant based and not think “well, we’re not vegan so why do a vegan sauce”, and rather think “this is tasty, and gives us a more varied diet”. It’s as simple as that! I don’t subscribe to an “all or nothing” approach, and I think if I can get super iron rich tofu and protein packed cashew into a sauce rather than just some egg and cheese (which we have quite a lot of in our diet already), then that’s fantastic for both our bodies and the planet.
You can OF COURSE take the chicken and parmesan out of this completely, choose a vegetable to add in for texture instead, use vegan parmesan or just nooch… or just keep it to a super simple pasta and sauce for a quick dinner - and boom, you’ve got a proper, tasty, vegan dish. Do whatever you like and just take some inspiration from this. I’m just sharing exactly what I did!
Cashew Tofu Alfredo Pasta
2-4 servings
One packet of silken tofu
1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked in water
1/2 onion
1 garlic clove
A splash of olive oil
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
300g pasta (I used spaghetti)
Salt and pepper to taste
The non-vegan bit (choose differently if you want it to be vegan/veggie!):
300g chicken breast, diced
A handful of parmesan
Recommended: a food processor or strong blender. If you are looking for a new food processor or blender, you can have a look at Magimix’s range (affiliate link which helps the channel at no added cost for you, you can also use the code SCRATCH24 for 10% off!).
Soak the cashews in water, ideally for a few hours but even just an hour will soften them quite well.
In a pan, gently fry the onion and garlic with olive oil and some water to keep them soft. Let them cool down.
In a blender, add the onion, garlic, tofu, cashews and nutritional yeast and blend until you have a smooth sauce.
Cook the pasta and save a bit of the pasta water.
In the same pan as you fried your onion and garlic, fry your chicken with some more olive oil - start on high heat to keep them nice and tender and bring the heat down a bit once they are golden on the outside. Once the chicken is done, add the spaghetti into the pan, mix in the sauce and warm up on a gentle heat.
Top with parmesan if you wish, and salt and pepper to taste. This is just so super creamy and tasty and an absolute new go-to for me! I hope it will be for you too!
Do let me know if you tried the cashew and tofu Alfredo pasta and share a photo on social media - don’t forget to tag me!
