Cashew Cream Pasta
Raw cashews soaked and blended with garlic, lemon, and nutritional yeast into a thick, silky cream that coats pasta like a dairy-free alfredo. This is the recipe that converts people to nutritional yeast. The sauce itself takes about 5 minutes once the cashews are soaked, and it genuinely tastes like something made with cream and Parmesan — without either. Spinach and cherry tomatoes go in at the end for color and texture. The pasta water is the secret to making the sauce flow: add it a splash at a time until the sauce coats the pasta without pooling.
Ingredients
- 150 graw cashews
- 400 gpasta
- 4 tbspnutritional yeast
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tbspfresh lemon juice
- 1 tsplemon zest
- 120 mlwater or unsweetened plant milk
- 2 tbspolive oil
- 150 gcherry tomatoes
- 80 gfresh spinach or kale
- ½ tspfine salt
- ½ tspdried chilli flakes
Method
- Soak the cashews. If you haven't soaked them overnight, pour boiling water over the raw cashews and let them sit for 15 to 20 minutes. They should feel soft when pressed between your fingers before you drain them. This step is what determines whether the sauce is smooth or gritty — soft cashews blend into silk, hard cashews leave a sandy residue no amount of blending will fix. Drain and discard the soaking water.
- Blend the cashew cream. Add the drained cashews to a blender with 2 garlic cloves, the lemon juice, lemon zest, nutritional yeast, salt, and the water or plant milk. Blend on high for 60 to 90 seconds, stopping to scrape down the sides once. The sauce should be completely smooth — no visible cashew pieces. If it's too thick to move in the blender, add water one tablespoon at a time. Taste: it should be tangy, garlicky, slightly cheesy, and well-seasoned. Adjust with more lemon, nutritional yeast, or salt.
- Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until just shy of al dente — 1 minute less than the package says. Before draining, reserve at least 300 ml of pasta water. The starchy water is essential for getting the sauce to coat the pasta evenly rather than sitting in a pool at the bottom of the bowl.
- Sauté and build. While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Slice the remaining garlic clove and cook for 60 seconds until fragrant but not brown. Add the halved cherry tomatoes, a pinch of salt, and the chilli flakes if using. Cook 3 to 4 minutes until the tomatoes soften and start to release their juice.
- Combine and serve. Add the drained pasta directly to the skillet with the tomatoes. Pour in the cashew cream and toss everything together over medium-low heat. Add pasta water a splash at a time — the sauce will loosen and cling to the pasta. Add the spinach or kale and toss for another minute until just wilted. Taste one more time and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately in warmed bowls with extra nutritional yeast, black pepper, and a wedge of lemon.
FAQ
Soaking is important if you have a standard blender — without it, the sauce will have a sandy, gritty texture rather than a smooth one. Raw, hard cashews don't break down fully in a regular blender regardless of how long you run it. Two soaking methods work: overnight in cold water (4 to 8 hours), or a quick soak in freshly boiled water for 15 to 20 minutes. The cashew should feel soft and easily compressed before you drain it. If you have a high-powered blender (Vitamix or similar, 900+ watts), you can skip soaking — those machines break down hard nuts completely. Either way, drain and discard the soaking water and use fresh water for blending.
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Comments (1)
The first time I made this for non-vegan friends, someone genuinely asked what kind of cheese was in the sauce. The nutritional yeast is doing the heavy lifting — it adds that savoury umami quality that you miss when there is no Parmesan. My tip: soak the cashews in boiling water for 30 minutes if you do not have time for overnight soaking, then blend on the highest speed for a full two minutes. Any graininess in the sauce means you did not blend long enough. A high-powered blender makes this effortless, but even a regular one works with extra time.