This Vegan Creamy Tomato Pasta is ready in under 30 minutes, and the tomato cream sauce is velvety smooth and full of flavor. You will make this dinner time and time again.
Aren’t we all in the market for more 30 minute dinners? After a long day at work, coming home to cook an elaborate dinner is not even close to being on my to-do list. And Vegan Creamy Tomato Pasta is both quick and delicious.
This pasta is super creamy and has a velvety smooth tomato cream sauce. The sauce comes together right in your blender with under 10 ingredients and is sure to become a weeknight favorite.
Ingredients and Substitutions for Vegan Creamy Tomato Pasta
Raw Unsalted Cashews: The creaminess in this creamy vegan tomato sauce comes from soaked raw unsalted tomatoes. Its important to soak these in hot water as the first step in this recipe. This allows the cashews time to soften so they can be blended completely smooth. And, don’t substitute for roasted cashews!
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Use the good stuff here. The oil adds to the richness of this creamy pasta.
Onion and Garlic: These provide so much flavor to this sauce. And the best thing about blending a sauce is you don’t need to worry too much about your cuts.
Whole Peeled Tomatoes: Use San Marzano Tomatoes, please. San Marzano are the sweetest and highest quality canned tomatoes. And since this vegan tomato cream sauce has so few ingredients it matters here. And PLEASE don’t substitute crushed, puréed or diced. My favorite easily accessible brand of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes Cento.
Nutritional Yeast: This just gives a little nutty depth of flavor.
Salt and Pepper: Use plenty of salt and pepper here. A pinch when sautéing the onions and garlic and a pinch while blending. And then, taste the sauce before the pasta goes in and adjust the seasoning there.
Crushed Red Pepper Flake: I like a little spice in all of my tomato sauces. If you dont like a little heat, leave this out!
Pasta of Choice: I used spaghetti, but any pasta will do here.
Important Recipe Notes
First you will need a high speed blender for this Vegan Creamy Tomato Pasta recipe. I have a refurbished Vitamix that I got from the Vitamix website. These are a significant investment- even the refurbished ones. But, they are SO worth it.
Vitamix did also just release a less expensive blender called Vitamix One.
Soaking the cashews is very important. Soaking cashews makes them plump and soft and easier to blend.
You can make the vegan tomato cream sauce separate and simply top a plate of pasta with it.
But, I like to cook the pasta until just before al dente, then finish cooking the pasta in the sauce. The pasta will both soak up some of the sauce and thicken the sauce.
Looking for More Pasta Recipes?
Burst Cherry Tomato and Basil Pasta
Rigatoni with Sausage and Broccolini
Vegan Creamy Tomato Pasta
Equipment
- High Speed Blender
- Large Skillet
- Pasta Pot
- Cutting Board
- Chefs Knife
Ingredients
- 1/3 Cup Raw Unsalted Cashews
- 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion, small dice
- 3 Cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 28oz Can of Whole Peeled Tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- pinch Crushed Red Pepper
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 Pound Pasta of Choice
- 1/4 Cup Chopped Basil to Garnish Optional
Instructions
- First, pour hot water over cashews. Set aside to soak.
- Next, boil water for pasta.
- Meanwhile, heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and onion along with a pinch of salt. Sauté onion until soft. About 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for one minute longer.
- Scoop the onion and garlic mixture into a high speed blender. Next add the tomatoes, nutritional yeast. Then drain the cashews and add them to the blender.
- Blend on high until the mixture is completely smooth and creamy, about one minute.
- Add the pasta to the pasta water and cook until just BEFORE al dente as we will finish cooking in the sauce.
- Pour the sauce back into the large, deep skillet. Turn heat to low. Add a pinch of salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes while the pasta cooks.
- Drain pasta and add it into the skillet with the sauce. Cook the pasta in the sauce for about 5 minutes, or until the pasta has finished cooking and has absorbed some of the sauce.
- Garnish with basil, if desired and serve.
