The most delicious creamy vegan pasta on the internet starts with soaked cashews and then they’re blended with roasted tomatoes, garlic, and onion for one epic pasta.
This delicious meal is made with an incredible creamy vegan pasta sauce made from cashews, fresh tomatoes, garlic, and onion.
The Vegan Pasta is one of our most popular plant-based meals on Fit Foodie Finds. We hope you love this nutrient-packed pasta recipe!
Seriously the BEST Vegan Pasta Recipe
When we say this is one of the best vegan pasta recipes o the internet, WE MEAN IT. It’s saucy, filling, and so flavorful. So many of you have made this and given this recipe a 5-star review and rightfully so.
It’s our go-to when the garden is bursting with tomatoes because you can’t go wrong with these flavor combos.
this pasta is…
Made with simple ingredients: in addition to noodles, this vegan pasta is made with fresh ingredients such as tomatoes, onion, and garlic.
Protein-packed: per serving, this plant-based pasta has 9g protein/serving.
Nutrient-dense: this creamy pasta sauce is nutrient-dense made with a raw cashew base and olive oil.
Simple Ingredients
I love how simple the ingredients are in this recipe. They’re fresh, easy to find, and pair extraordinarily well together.
- Tomatoes: this recipe calls for roasting, so we recommending using medium/large tomatoes, but any kind will work.
- Yellow Onion: onion offers up an incredible flavor add. It’s savory, yet sweet at the same time.
- Garlic: roasted garlic is a dream. This vegan pasta recipe calls for 6 cloves, but heck, you could use an entire head if you wanted! Check out this quick tutorial for how to roast garlic.
- Olive Oil: olive oil is used to help break down the tomatoes and onions during roasting.
- Pasta: feel free to use any kind of pasta your heart desires.
- Raw Cashews: raw cashews are the basis of this vegan pasta sauce. We’ll give you the full run down below of whether to use raw or roasted cashews.
- Fresh Basil: fresh basil adds such a wonderful freshness to this sauce. Don’t skip it!
Do I have to use raw cashews?
We used to be sticklers about using only raw cashews when you make a creamy vegan pasta sauce. However, since we’ve made this so many times (and so have you), we thought we’d test both options.
Both raw and roasted cashews will work. It does depend on your personal preference for flavor.
We found that roasted cashews tend to leave a little bit of a smokier or sweeter flavor, but overall the texture of the vegan pasta sauce does not change. It comes out creamy and thick no matter what type of cashew you use.
Can I use a different kind of nut?
We haven’t tested this recipe with any other nut other than cashews and we don’t recommend swapping it.
Is this vegan pasta gluten-free?
If you serve this pasta with a gluten-free certified noodle, then this recipe is gluten-free.
How to Make the BEST Creamy Vegan Pasta
Lots of the pasta recipes on Fit Foodie Finds are naturally vegan (hello garden summer pasta and pesto pasta) and we’re upping the anty with this recipe by making a creamy pasta sauce!
Soak Cashews Until Squishy
In order to make this a *creamy* vegan pasta sauce, you need cashews. Cashews take the place of any kind of cream or dairy because when blended, they turn into a super creamy consistency.
Soaking the cashews before blending is a must. Soaking your cashews in water helps soften them to make them easier to blend up as the base of your sauce. There are two different ways you can soak cashews.
- Overnight. Place cashews in a glass bowl and cover them with water. Cover with plastic wrap and let them soak overnight or for at least 12-24 hours.
- Flash boil. Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil. Add cashews to the pot and remove from the heat. Let the cashews sit for at least 15 minutes.
No time? no problem!
You can always quick-boil your cashews instead of letting them sit overnight. This will speed up the soaking process.
Roast Veggies
Now it’s time to roast your veggies. The main components of this sauce are tomatoes, onion, and garlic. 3 of my favorite things.
Place veggies on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Roast at 400ºF for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, carefully remove the skins of the tomatoes. Trust us, you don’t want to skip this part. Pop the veggies back into the oven and roast for 10 more minutes.
Blend Sauce
Once your veggies are done roasting, transfer them into a high-speed blender.
Drain the cashews from the water they were soaking in and place those in the blender too. Add olive oil and salt and blend until smooth.
Our Favorite
Blender
Looking to upgrade your blender? Check out our favorite Vitamix Blender. It’s our favorite high-speed blender perfect for making smoothies, soups, and nut butter.
Can I sauté the sauce instead?
Instead of baking, you are more than welcome to saute the veggies. A few readers have done so and had success (re: comments).
We suggest sauteeing in a large frying pan until the tomatoes have broken down. Make sure to still remove the skins of the tomatoes as the texture will be better.
Serve and Top
Serve your tomato basil pasta sauce on top of your favorite cooked pasta. Top with fresh basil and if you’re feeling fancy, you can make our homemade vegan parmesan cheese.
Creamy Tomato Vegan Pasta
This is the best creamy vegan pasta. It’s made with a delicious creamy tomato basil vegan pasta sauce made from cashews and served with your favorite noodle.
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked*
- 6 medium tomatoes, quartered
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 1/4 cup olive oil, separated
- 1 teaspoon salt, separated
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 6–8 servings of pasta (we used Whole Foods Organic Ziti)
- Fresh basil, for serving
Instructions
- First, prepare your cashews by placing them into a large bowl and covering them with water. Cover the bowl and let sit on the countertop overnight or for at least 12 hours.*
- When you’re ready to make this vegan pasta, preheat the oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with tin foil.
- Place tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper onto the baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Toss, making sure everything is coated.
- Roast veggies at 400ºF for around 20 minutes.
- While vegetables are roasting, prepare your pasta by following the direction on the back of the box.
- When the vegetables are done roasting, remove the baking sheet from the oven and carefully remove the skin from the tomatoes. The skins should come off pretty easily at this point. Then, roast for an additional 10 minutes.
- Now it’s time to make your creamy vegan pasta sauce. Strain the cashews from the water they were soaking in and then place them into a high-speed blender.
- Transfer all ingredients from the baking sheet (including the juices) into the blender along with the remaining olive oil and salt. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
- Toss pasta with sauce and top with fresh basil and cracked black pepper.
- Enjoy!
Tips & Notes
- Quick-boil cashews: bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil. Add cashews to the pot and remove them from the heat. Let the cashews sit for at least 15 minutes or until soft.
- Option to add fresh basil into the blender.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1/8 recipe Calories: 333 Sugar: 6 Fat: 10 Carbohydrates: 51 Fiber: 4 Protein: 9Keywords: vegan pasta
We Had lots of tomatoes that my in laws gave me and glad I came across this recipe it was delicious and easy. I also added a few pod of chipotle to blend with the rest of ingredients and it was yummy. Thank you for recipe.
★★★★★
The recipe is fine. But this website is a pile of ****. You fit 6 ads on one screen? Seriously,
★★★★★
Is it possible to substitute the cashews for unsweetened full fat coconut milk?
Hey Joy! We haven’t tried this swap, but coconut milk will definitely change the flavor. It’s also a liquid and cashews aren’t. Not sure this will work!
This has become one of my core go-to recipes in rotation at my house! I absolutely love it. It’s also amazing on toast for a fancy healthy breakfast toast 🙂
★★★★★
FANCY TOAST!!!
I sautéed the ingredients as opposed to roasting, and added fresh chilli to the mix, increasing the amount of tomato, and decreasing the amount of cashew. Then in a separate pan sautéed mushrooms and spinach with soy sauce and garlic. Added in the pasta, small bit of pasta water, and blended sauce to the pan and seasoned with salt, chilli flakes, and parmesan.
★★★★
OMG y’all make this ASAP! It’s really very simple and the timing of each element of the dish works out perfectly! It was so fantastic my picky husband ate tomatoes and onions!!! 🙌🏻 I added ground sausage to mine. I loved that the recipe was vegan since I’m dairy free. This will become a staple in our home 🖤
★★★★★
So glad you loved this pasta!!
My daughter tried this and loved it, so she passed it onto me. Fabulous! Because I wanted to try it quickly and didn’t have any fresh tomatoes, I used a sautee pan, cooked the onions & garlic in a touch of broth (I am plant-based, no oil), added 2 cans of organic diced tomatoes and reduced a bit of the liquid. I did add fresh basil. Added that to my Vitamix; delicious! I used Jovial GF Farfalle. Great recipe! A keeper! Thank you!!!
★★★★★
Glad you guys loved this!!
Can you freeze this recipe?
This sauce is AMAZING, 100% would recommend!
★★★★★
Love your vegan recipes – this one is amazing!
★★★★★
YAY! Glad you love it!
Loved it! I also roasted capsicum along with the tomatoes, and added caramelized onions in butter and a stock cube to the blender. Definitely going to be a staple in my household!
★★★★★
This recipe is amazing! I definitely went a little too light on the salt but overall, the flavor and taste was amazing. I am not a vegetarian or vegan but have been looking for good recipes to sub out meat and this one is for sure a winner!
★★★★★
Glad you love it!!
Could you use cashew milk instead if you don’t have any raw cashews on hand?
Hi Margaret! Unfortunately, that is not an adequate sub. The cashews add so much substance and thickness to the sauce!
When I don’t have cashews or wish not to consume the fat and calories I sub with Great Northern White Beans.
So in this time of Covid my sister has been getting these $10 baskets of random veg from a local farmer and shares the haul. That has left me with a ton of beautiful fresh tomatoes and this recipe🙂this sauce is divine. I halved the recipe Cuz there’s just two of us but kept the amount of onion and garlic cuz it’s onion and garlic! I’m sure I left them in the oven longer that’s suggested as I was side tracked by a phone call. Didn’t matter, scooped up all the lovely caramelized bits which added another layer or Smokey roasted flavor . I saved some pasta water to help thin the sauce a bit and added some Parmesan. Final result , two bowls licked clean, just delicious and super easy. Great recipe!!!
★★★★★
Oh I love that! CSA-style!
Our new go-to meal! The family loved it!
Thank you for sharing
★★★★★
tastes great! I cut the serving size to 1/3 and used cherry tomatoes and everything worked out great. I reccomend using less cashews to start, because the flavor can be a bit too nutty. Does anyone have any recommendations for additional ingredients or spices? I’m trying to make a more dynamic sauce.
Great recipe, I added some broccoli to the roasting veggies as it needed using up changed the colour a little but not the flavour. Mary
★★★★★
This recipe was absolutely delicious!!! Omg! My mom and I LOVED it!!! Thank you so much!
★★★★★
This sounds so delicious but my husband is allergic to nuts. Any suggestions for some other type of sauce? I’m very new at this type of diet.
Unfortunately, this is a nut-based sauce, so there are no good swap options!
I’ve made this recipe 3 times (in large batch) in the last 2 weeks since I discovered it. It’s seriously so so mindblowing, amazing! I do have some tips:
– I don’t roast the veggies since I use canned whole tomatoes (that’s what I have on hand atm). Less cleaning and still amazing flavor
– Since I don’t roast the veggies, I sauteed the onion and garlic for around 7 minutes on medium-high heat before adding the tomato. It burned the garlic a bit too much but the flavor is so much more complex with this slight burn.
– I make a huge batch of cashew butter using slightly roasted, unsalted cashew for this recipe and other recipes requiring blended cashew. It’s so fast this way, and I don’t feel lazy anyhow whenever a recipe calls for blended cashew.
– Just properly salting the pasta water is fine. I don’t think we need salt in the veggies.
– I add some pasta water and tonato paste or ketchup after adding the tomato and cashew butter. Creamy and packs a more tomato-y punch.
– I made a large batch of the sauce for meal prep, and boil just enough pasta everytime I want a portion. The sauce heats up very well once I mix it with al-dente hot pasta.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I love it so so much, and will definitely try the roasted version as soon as I cure my laziness and get my hand on some fresh tomatoes 😅
Thank you for all your tips!!! We’d love it if you could rate it using the star rating <3
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