Vegan Cream Sauce

I recently came home late one night to find a familiar aroma in the air, radiating from the kitchen. Waiting on the stovetop was a huge pan of penne in a rich cream sauce. I lack self control and manners so I eagerly grabbed a fork and took a bite. Applauding my brother for his work, I was surprised when he told me that not only was this sauce entirely vegan, but he made it up on the spot. Sometimes it just happens that way. Emulating the rich, fatty flavor and texture of traditional cream sauces has remained a challenge for the vegan food-world, often only overcome by time-intensive processes or hard-to-find ingredients. This sauce uses only a few ingredients, comes together in minutes, and is sure to surprise the palate. Check it out below!

---

Ingredients

Serves 2-3

• ½ large shallot: diced

• 2 cloves of garlic: finely minced

• 6 tbsp vegan cream cheese: we love miyokos for this!

• 2 tbsp vegan butter: we love earth balance for this!
  2 tsp tomato paste

• 1 tbsp sundried tomatoes: finely minced

• Pasta water: this sauce relies on the starch dissolved in pasta water to thicken and homogenize, so making this cream sauce at the same time as the pasta you plan to dress with it is ideal! If you’d like to make this sauce without pasta, you can mix corn starch or potato starch into some water to make a “slurry” that looks like pasta water instead.

Preparation

1. Bring your pasta water to a boil.

2. Dice/mince your shallot, garlic, and sundried tomatoes (make sure to keep them all separate).

3. Add your butter to a medium saucepan on medium heat and add in your shallots once it’s warm.

4. While your shallot is sauteing, warm your cream cheese in a microwave or toaster oven (or oven on low heat) for 15 seconds. 

5. Add your pasta to the water.

6. Once your shallots are translucent, add in the tomato paste and garlic, lower the heat, and stir well (we recommend using a whisk).

7. Once the tomato paste and garlic are fragrant, add a generous ladle of pasta water to the pan and whisk vigorously until combined.

8. Then add your cream cheese, break up with the whisk, and continue stirring. Whisking continuously is important here, if you let it sit it may separate (also called “breaking”) the fats from the solids. 

9. Once the sauce is smooth, salt to taste and take it off the heat until you're ready to add in your pasta. When you’re ready to do so, return the sauce to low heat and stir the pasta in until fully combined and the consistency is thickened to your liking.

10. Enjoy!

---

Best Practices:

As always:

This recipe relies heavily on packaged goods. That said, not all packaging is made equal! Opt for food packaged in recyclable containers! Plastic varies in recyclability so be sure to check labels!

Try to bring your own reusable bags when you go shopping for these ingredients, and choose grocery store chains that are engaged in their community. 

These ingredients have been chosen with several things in mind:

We are posting this recipe in winter because nearly all of these ingredients are available year-round or commonly in a shelf-stable form. As always, we encourage you to shop as locally and seasonally as possible. Shelf stable ingredients also take longer to go bad and can be a way to reduce food waste.

This recipe is a vegan alternative to more traditional italian cream sauces. Opting for plant-based foods whenever possible reduces your carbon footprint significantly. Even if you are not vegan full-time, going plant-based for as many meals as possible can have a large impact. 

Did you enjoy this recipe? Let us know! If you really loved it, share it on social media and tag us (@groundedgrub), or, better yet, share it with your friends and family!