Quick and easy creamy vegan mushroom pasta that’s nut-free (no cashews!), dairy-free, and can be made oil-free, and gluten-free. The creamy mushroom pasta sauce comes together quickly so it’s a great vegan dinner to serve on busy evenings (you can have it ready in 30 minutes!).
Prepare pasta using the directions on the package. Drain and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook for another 2 minutes, until the onion begins to brown.
Remove the skillet from the heat and add onion and garlic mixture, tofu, broth, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper to a blender. Blend until mixture is smooth, set aside.
Place the same skillet over medium heat and add the water and mushrooms to the skillet. The mushrooms will start to release water, keep cooking and stirring until almost all the water has evaporated. When there is a little water left, continue cooking until the mushrooms start to brown a little, stirring occasionally. Remove the skillet from the heat once all of the water has evaporated.
Pour the tofu mixture into the skillet with the mushrooms, turn the heat down to low and return the pan to the heat. Heat and stir until the sauce is warm and slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
Add cooked pasta to the skillet and gently toss using tongs until all noodles are coated with the sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley (optional), and serve immediately.
Notes
Please read through all info and tips above before making this recipe.
This recipe makes 2 large servings or 4 smaller servings.
I recommend using long, flat pasta when making this recipe, either linguine, fettuccine, or tagliatelle. If you don't have any of these, use the type you have. If you need to make vegan gluten-free mushroom pasta, gluten-free pasta works great. Most dry pasta is vegan and fresh pasta is usually not, so make sure the type you are using is vegan.
To make this recipe without added oil, use water or broth to sauté the onions and garlic.
If you love garlic, you can bump up the amount called for in the recipe.
This recipe is best when served immediately after preparing but if you have leftovers, cool completely, place in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days. The sauce will thicken and stick to the pasta when it's refrigerated so to reheat, add the pasta to a skillet on low heat and add a small amount of broth, water, or dairy-free milk and stir until the pasta has fully reheated and everything has loosened up. You can also reheat it in the microwave.
To save time, the sauce can be pre-made and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. When ready to use, prepare pasta and start back at step 4 in the recipe. When the sauce is made ahead, it thickens when it's refrigerated, but when reheated, it will return to its original consistency. If you want to thin it out further when reheating, you can add a tablespoon or two of broth.
The sauce cannot be frozen because silken tofu does not freeze well. If you freeze it the texture of your sauce will no longer be smooth and creamy when thawed.
Nutrition info is based on 1 of 4 servings of the recipe prepared as written, using gluten-free linguine, low sodium vegetable broth, and no garnishes. Nutrition info is only to be used as a rough guide. Click to learn how nutrition info is calculated on this website.