Graham is a big fan of fettuccine alfredo and is always tempted to order it when we go out for Italian food. While this creamy, buttery, and cheesy dish is delicious, its ingredients pack a fatty punch—which has no doubt led to its notorious nickname: “heart attack on a plate!”
Given the unhealthy nature of fettuccine alfredo, I was excited when I came across a healthier vegan version in one of my cookbooks. The base of this creamy dish is actually four bulbs of braised garlic (!). It sounds like this would be enough garlic to ward off vampires for life, but surprisingly the flavor of this dish is not overwhelmingly of garlic. While the flavor is a little different than traditional fettuccine alfredo, give it a try if you want a healthier but still very tasty alternative!
Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
Adapted from The Millennium Cookbook
I found that this recipe makes enough sauce for two batches of noodles. You could double the amount of noodles if you have a crowd to feed, or save half of the sauce for another night. Leave out some of the almond milk if you’d like a thicker sauce.
- 1 lb of fettuccine noodles
- 3 cups almond milk or soy milk
- 4 bulbs of braised garlic (see recipe below)
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons white miso
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
Cook the fettuccine according to the directions on the package.
In a blender, combine the almond milk, braised garlic, nutritional yeast, miso, and nutmeg. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat the sauce in a large pot over low heat. After the pasta has been cooked and drained, add it to the sauce in the large pot and stir to combine. Garnish the pasta with minced parsley before serving.
Braised Garlic
- 4 large bulbs of garlic
- 1 cup vegetable broth or white wine
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
Preheat the oven to 350°. Cut off the very top of the garlic, so that the cloves are exposed. Place the garlic bulbs on a small baking dish lined with foil, and add the stock or wine and fresh herbs. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 1½ hours, or until the garlic is soft and is starting to brown. Once the garlic is cool, squeeze it out of the peels.
Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:
Recipe Report Card | Notes About Recipe Ratings |
Tasty Rating
Four Chefs (Delicious!) |
While it is not traditional fettuccine alfredo, this dish is surprisingly creamy and has its own unique and delicious flavor. |
Easy Rating Four Easy Chairs (“ABC, Easy as 123…”!) |
Braising the garlic does take a while, but if you have a blender it is a very quick sauce to make. |
Healthy Rating Four Apples (Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise) |
I’d probably rate this dish between a 3 and a 4 for healthy. If you use whole-wheat pasta it would probably be a 4 and regular pasta would be a 3. I also added some roasted butternut squash to the dish the second time I made it, which added some healthy veggies to the mix. |
Green Rating Four Leaves (Mother Earth Approved) |
Most of the ingredients were organic, but not local. |
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A healthy twist of a classic alfredo! I would love it too. The side salad looks fantastic too.
Now this is a healthy version of a favorite classic. So glad that you posted this and I am definitley going to try it out. I like the addition of the white miso too. Very cool recipe.
With the 4 bulbs of garlic I would call this “heaven on a plate”! You don’t know how happy I am right now! I love alfredo sauce but I just can’t afford to eat the traditional sauce because of the tremendous amount of fat and dairy. So this recipe is perfect! Love it!!!
This pasta sounds very tasty with braised garlic and miso…like the healthy version
Thanks for this recipe Sally and hope you are having a great week!
Thank you! I’m on a vegan cleanse right now!
Can’t wait to try this, my husband can’t handle red pasta sauce any more. I will try using this sauce as a base for other things. Thanks