If you love a nice creamy Alfredo sauce, this is the recipe for you! I didn't always eat dairy free. If you've been following the blog for a while you know all about my son and his severe food allergies. It has been life changing for my entire family. We now eat virtually dairy, egg, and peanut free to keep him safe.

I have spent the last 10 years working on creating and adapting recipes to make them safe for our home. This recipe is one that I make over and over again. One of the best things about it, is that you can change it up and add or subtract ingredients that you do or don't like. It's awesome! 



I want to share with you the basics of a cream sauce and then give you some optional add-ins to make it what you want it to be for your family (or your menu).

The first step is to make a roux. It's a fancy french word that basically means flour and fat mixed together to thicken sauces. In our case, I use a vegan butter (Earth Balance) and plain old all purpose flour. Generally a roux is equal parts fat and flour by weight... which is different than measuring them by volume. I find that a 1:2 ratio works really well. 1 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp flour.

Melt the butter over medium-low heat in a saucepan. Once it's melted whisk in your flour. You want to continually whisk so that it doesn't burn. I like to keep my Alfredo roux on the light side. If you like a deeper, nuttier flavor you can let your darken to a light golden color.

Next, you add in your milk. For a rich, creamy sauce I like to use coconut cream. If you like a lighter sauce, reach for a rice or soy milk (original -- not vanilla flavored). You will use roughly 2 cups - give or take - of the milk. This part really depends on how thick or thin you like your sauce. I like a thicker sauce because I want it to really stay on my pasta. (Scroll down for the printable recipe.)

Here's where you can get creative. If you want a spicy sauce, add some chipotle peppers. If you want a creamy pesto sauce, stir in a spoonful or two of your favorite pesto. Looking to make the perfect pink sauce? Simply add in some of your favorite tomato based pasts sauce (store bought or not ... I won't judge). You can control how pink it gets.

You can add any dairy-free cheese you want. When we make nachos I add Daiya Cheddar Cheese. When I make Alfredo, I add Follow Your Heart Parmesan. Sometimes I use whatever flavor dairy free cheese I have on hand that needs to be used... and I don't tell my kids which kind it is so they won't complain... hehehe....

If you want an added boost of nutrients (and a cheesier flavor), you can add in 2 tsp of nutritional yeast. I do this a lot when I'm making a nacho cheese sauce so that I can get the cheesy flavor without adding so much of the dairy free cheese (which can be pricey).

Okay, back to my Alfredo sauce. I like to add about 1/2 cup of shredded dairy-free Parmesan. Our family favorite is the Follow Your Heart brand that we can buy at Sprouts. Using the whisk, continue stirring the sauce until all the cheese is melted. I also like to add about 1 tsp of garlic powder, s pinch of salt, and some pepper to taste.


Pour it all over your pasta, add a little bit more Parmesan, some pepper, and garnish with some fresh parsley for a classy look.