Recipe: Creamy Vegan Butternut (Or Any Winter Squash) Alfredo

November 18th, 2014 - filed under: The Food » Recipes

creamy vegan squash sauce


Well, it’s official. Even here in the magical weather bubble that is southern California, autumn is upon us. And thus, I am flush with all my autumn favorites! Kale, rainbow chard, parsley and cilantro (those are maybe a “California autumn” thing), carrots, and onions are dominating my weekly CSA box these days. Oh, and squash. Lots and lots of winter squash.

Butternut, heirloom acorn, and even pumpkins are overflowing on my kitchen counter. And my oven had been in nonstop roasting mode.

A few weeks back I Instagrammed the following pic:


acorn squash alfredo

Rich and creamy heirloom squash “cheezy” pasta, with garlic roasted brussels sprouts. So quintessentially autumn, no? The pasta is made from red lentils and contains 21 grams of protein per serving, making this super comforting fall meal completely balanced and nutritious!


It was so delicious, and soooo easy, and of course I had tons of recipe requests. The pasta, by the way, is this one by Tolerance Foods, and it is AMAZING. A bit spendy, but when you consider that it’s a high protein, just-add-sauce sort of meal, it’s not so bad. Okay, still sort of bad, but what can I say? I really love this pasta (and I got a bunch of free boxes at Expo East . . . I honestly don’t know what I’ll do when they’re gone!)

But anyway, enough about pasta. Let’s talk about sauce! This is an incredibly easy, quick, and nutritious recipe that I’ve developed in the past few busy busy weeks. And I’ve made it a number of times, using a couple different kinds of squashes: butternut, acorn, pumpkin, and an unidentified heirloom variety. The recipe has worked beautifully with every squash, and we’ve happily spooned it onto our high-protein pasta, paired with something green on the side. Quick. Simple. PERFECT!

Here’s how it goes:

(Just a note, I roast the squash whenever I have a chance – when the oven is already on. It will keep for a week or so in the fridge, so roast ahead to have it on-hand!)

Ingredients
2 cups roasted winter squash, packed (butternut, acorn, kabocha, pumpkin, etc)
1 cup unsweetened plant milk (I use almond)
1/3 cup cashew butter (I use Trader Joe’s brand. If you have a Vitamix, Blendtec, or other high-speed blender, you can also throw in a heaping 1/2 cup of raw cashews. But the butter is better)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon agave or maple syrup
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 teaspoons of 3 “Italian” herbs (so 3 teaspoons total, 1 of each), such as oregano, basil, marjoram, savory, thyme, etc. I use whatever’s around.
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg


butternut alfredo

Instructions
Place all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Done!


This makes a big batch, and you’ll only need about half of it for a box of pasta. But save the rest! It’s epic on macro bowls, like greens-beans-grains bowls. We also love it on quinoa, and even thinned out as salad dressing! And Jeremy’s dying to try it biscuits-and-gravy style, mmmm.

I hope you enjoy this quick + easy autumn recipe as much as we have. I swear, I’ve been making it once a week and using the extra sauce in all my lunch leftovers. Paired with the high-protein pasta, it really is a perfectly delicious, perfectly nutritious, and perfectly balanced seasonal meal!


vegan pumpkin alfredo

Enjoy!
♥ ♥ ♥

  • Rebecca Carnes

    This looks delicious!! And super easy to put together – thank you for the recipe!

  • Deirdre

    Yes please! (also thank you ;)

  • Caitlin Browder

    Threw this together as soon as I saw your post because I had a butternut squash on the counter and no plans for it. I was kicking myself for forgetting to pick up cashews at Trader Joe’s yesterday, but I subbed soaked walnuts instead and it worked fine (in my Blendtec)! I am currently licking the blender with the same enthusiasm I generally reserve for brownie batter, if that gives you any indication of how much I LOVE this sauce. I served it over quinoa with roasted broccoli and cauliflower. It’s totally fine to eat the leftovers with a spoon because vegetables, right?

  • Bianca

    I am so making this!!!!! I just got a Vitamix, and I’ve been looking for every excuse to use it. IT LOOKS SOOOOO CREAMY!!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Thanks Becca, I hope you like it! Great way to get orange veggies into kiddos as well. ;-)

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Hope you like it Deirdre!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    YAY! I love hearing this! And damn girl, you fast! So so happy that you like it as much as we do. ♥

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Awesome Bianca, let me know how you like it! And wahoo, congrats on the VitaMix. Game changer for sure!

    Give Herman some love from me, I am sort of in love with him!

  • Sheena

    I made this last night – addictively delicious! So good with roasted cauliflower. I immediately put butternut squash and cauliflower on my grocery list so I can make it again as soon as possible.

  • Emily

    Cashew butter is on the grocery list. Can’t wait to make this! It looks so delicious!

  • Cara

    I just checked in (for some reason the RSS feed isn’t working) and was dismayed to see a photo of a dead turkey in a WF ad right under the photo of you!

    Recipe looks delicious.

  • G

    Oooooh, thanks for this recipe! I’ve been wanting to try this since I saw your IG post. Hopefully this will work with canned pumpkin, because I want this like, yesterday and can’t delay this any further to go buy and roast a winter squash. Lol but yay for cashew butter! :D

  • Kate

    OMG. OK. I made this, and it was so good…I used 2 butternut squash,and so had a LOT.
    So I experimented. ;o)
    I added some garlic, a couple tablespoons of tomato paste and a spoon of miso to about 1 and 1/2 C of squash and it is awesome over pasta with fried mushrooms. Then I thinned it down a lot with almond milk and added onions, garlic and cauliflower and broccoli, and it made a delicious soup.
    Last bit..added salsa, a dab of miso, liquid smoke, and cumin and made a yummy chip dip.
    (BTW, the miso cuts the sweetness a bit)

    Sayward, this is amazingly versatile….kudos to you for a great recipe. I’ll be making this again and again!

  • Elizabeth

    I am going to try these additions, as I don’t think I would want this to be very sweet. Thanks!

  • Kylie @ FotV

    oh YUM! I’m so making this!

  • veggiesara

    YUM! I made this recipe a few weeks ago. I used a small regular pumpkin and served it for myself, my husband and a friend with whole wheat penne. We all loved it. Next time I would add a few cloves of garlic though and maybe some miso, ’cause I love garlic and miso :-)
    Thanks for sharing the recipe!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Ooh I agree, garlic makes everything better. Well, everything except my tummy these days. =(

    I’m omitting it where I can, but yes – definitely a good addition to this recipe!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Aww, thank you Kate! SO glad you like it. =)

  • Ese

    I want to make this but we have tree nut allergy…what do you reccomend?

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Sunflower seed butter!!