Vegan Garlic Mushroom Alfredo Recipe

When we were vegetarian we often talked about going vegan. We knew it would eventually happen but we prolonged it because we didn't want to let go of certain foods. We both assumed that with committing to an entirely plant based diet came the fact that there were food items and certain meals we were committing to never eating again. What we have found however, since going vegan six months ago, is that those fluffy textures and savory flavors we thought we were going to miss out on- cheese, cream, egg- are all available to us in different non-animal derived forms. We just needed to figure out how to put them together.

Last night we had a little thrift store expedition with a few friends followed by a small dinner party. Don't get the wrong idea here. This was nothing too fancy. We didn't break out the fine dishes and dress in ball gowns. In reality, our dining room table remains covered in craft supplies, as usual, and we sat in the living room with our food watching reruns of Rupauls' Drag Race together. Yeah, we're that kind of glamorous. Looking back we probably should have worn ball gowns.


We've made this meal before for just ourselves and made a lighter version with slightly different ingredients, but tonight since we were making it for 5 people we changed it up a bit and made a full flavor version. Let me tell you we got some great reviews! This is the sort of meal you serve your non-veg friends so you can see their carnivorous eyes light up and watch them speak the words "THIS is VEGAN?"

 So without further ado we present to you another original recipe.

 The Two Vegan Ladies:

Vegan Garlic Mushroom Alfredo

Time to cook: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate (it only looks hard, we promise)

Calories Per Serving: About 200 (excluding noodles) less than 100 if you're doing the lite version

Serves: 6-8

You will need:

4 tablespoons Earth Balace (we use soy-free, it seems to have the most natural "butteryish" flavor)

6 cloves of fresh garlic

3/4 cup of fresh basil

2 shallots

1 large package of white or baby bella mushrooms
1 cup fresh kale (optional)

2 cans of coconut milk (lite coconut milk if you're going for the lite version of this recipe- you may want to up your corn starch and nutritional yeast if you are using the lite coconut milk or else your sauce will come out on the thin side. *Note: If you sampled this dish at the potluck we made the full-flavor version with the regular coconut milk.)

1/2 cup nutritional yeast 

2 tablespoons corn starch

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 packages of noodles (we went with Barilla Penne noodles for this meal)

The way to make this sauce come out thick and smooth is to add everything together slowly and give the flavors time to meld. It will be a process but it will be worth it!

1. Heat a large sauce pan/skillet to medium heat. 

2. Add 2 tablespoons of Earth Balance to pan.

3. Chop all your garlic and shallots then add to pan. 

4. Chop half of your basil into medium pieces and add to pan.

5. Stir everything and let simmer for 2 minutes.

6. Then chop all mushrooms and add to pan.

7. If you are adding in kale (not shown in pictures but highly suggested for flavor!) chop and add in now. You want them to be bite sized when they cook.

8. When the mushrooms and kale are coated in the Earth Balance, shake the coconut milk cans. Especially on the full flavor coconut milk it can get very thick and chunky. It may even need to be stirred once opened. Add both cans into the pan. This is going to seem very runny. Let it simmer for a few minutes.

9. Now add the another 1/4 of chopped basil along with your nutritional yeast, salt, pepper and garlic powder. You can go a little liberal with the spices here. I like mine a little more peppery so I probably end up adding a lot more. Just do it to you personal taste.

10. Add the remainder of your Earth Balance and let melt in while stirring. 

11. Time to start thickening your sauce! Grab a whisk and add in the corn starch. (Add more if you're using the lite coconut milk and you feel like it needs to be thicker.) With this ingredient you really need to make sure to mix it well or you could end up with little chunks of raw corn starch in the final product... and no one wants that.

12. You should have half of your basil left now. Add 1/4 of it in and leave the rest chopped to the side.

*Super secret ingredient tip: taste your sauce. If at this point you feel that the mix needs a little something to even out the zip of the garlic add a pinch or two of raw cane sugar. That will do it!

At this point your alfredo sauce should look something like this:

Yeah, it's sort of a gray. Don't worry that's natural coloring from the mushrooms. (Note: If you added in the kale it will a lot more green and leafy!)

13. Turn heat down to low and let simmer while you boil the water for your noodles. Keep stirring the sauce every so often for a few minutes then remove from heat. It's ready to use!

14. Once cooked, drain your noodles then set to the side. 

15. In a large bowl layer your sauce and noodles so that every bit is well coated. 

16. Mix pasta and sauce well then garnish with your remaining fresh chopped basil.

As Rupaul would say:


"It's an eleganza extravaganza!"


But really it's more of a basil alfredo garlic and mushroom (and kale!) extravaganza.






Serve with a big scoopy spoon or tongs and don't be surprised when your friends go for seconds.

With love, peace, and compassion-

The Two Vegan Ladies