This Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce recipe turns cauliflower into a creamy and delicious sauce with the addition of roasted garlic and Parmesan! Skip the cheese for a vegan option.
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Why This Recipe Works
This sauce is a combination of two veggies I absolutely love: cauliflower and garlic. I grew up eating a lot of cauliflower. My Mom had a collection of recipes using this veggie and made them a lot. The smell of sauteed garlic is my childhood memory since my grandmother used it in almost every dish. I always have a jar of minced garlic in my fridge and now, roasted garlic cloves too. This healthy cauliflower pasta sauce is nut-free, gluten-free and if you skip the cheese, it is dairy-free.
Ingredients needed:
- cauliflower: medium size head, you will use it all;
- garlic: roasted, blended; adds delicious flavor;
- water from cooking: reserve it after cooking cauliflower; it will help achieve the desired consistency of the sauce without adding dairy;
- Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast: to add flavor.
How to make cauliflower Alfredo sauce?
- Start by cutting the cauliflower into florets. Place in a large pot and fill with water or broth or an equal mix of both. Cook the cauliflower until tender. In the meantime, roast garlic.
- Remove cauliflower from the water and place it on a large baking sheet. Let cool slightly before blending.
- Place cauliflower, roasted garlic cloves, half of a cup of the cooking water or broth, and cheese in a blender. Blend until smooth. Add more liquid if your sauce is too thick to your liking. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Use the sauce right away or pour it into a jar. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
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Helpful Tips!
- cauliflower: make sure not to undercook the cauliflower or your sauce won't be smooth. Test a piece with a fork. You should be able to easily smash it.
- garlic: roasting it makes it sweeter and deepens the flavor. Raw garlic will be too strong. I don't recommend garlic powder or salt.
- cheese: classic Alfredo is always made with Parmesan but you can skip it and use nutritional yeast for the same flavor and a dairy-free version.
Roasted garlic flavor
I love cauliflower. When I don't turn it into rice or roast the whole head or bake breaded florets - I cook it and blend it into a perfectly creamy sauce. Recently, I was planning on making it for our pasta and the roasted garlic for my focaccia. Then a light bulb went off in my head and a few cloves found their way into the blender with the cauliflower. Best decision ever. I add Parmesan cheese to my sauce because there is no Alfredo without it, but feel free to skip it for a vegan option.
Healthy and cheaper than store-bought sauce
This recipe makes 3 cups of sauce, but if you are lucky like me and get a large cauliflower head at Aldi's for $1.40 - you will end up with 7 cups f florets and make two jars of the sauce! Big score and so much cheaper than a store-bought sauce! Not to mention healthy. If you skip the Parmesan (use nutritional yeast to get the same flavor) is dairy-free and nut-free since there are no cashews needed.
Recipe FAQs:
I recommend storing the sauce in a jar with a lid, in the fridge, for up to 3 days.
You can pour the sauce into an ice cube tray and freeze them. Then pop them all into a freezer bag. The sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Yes! If you don't have fresh garlic on hand, use 6 to 7 teaspoons of minced garlic. You can heat up olive oil in a skillet and sautee until it's golden. Remove, cool, and use to make the sauce.
More healthy recipes:
If you like this recipe and make it, let me know in the comments below! Don't forget to rate it if you enjoyed it!
Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 medium cauliflower head 4 cups of florets
- 7 cloves roasted garlic (see my tutorial link in notes)
- ½ cup broth or water reserved from cooking the cauliflower
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (see note)
- dash of salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut cauliflower into florets. Place in a large pot and fill with water or broth or an equal mix of both. Cook the cauliflower until tender.
- Remove from water and place on a large baking sheet. Let cool slightly before blending.
- Place cauliflower, roasted garlic cloves, half of a cup of the cooking water or broth and cheese in a blender. Blend until smooth. Add more liquid if your sauce is too thick to your likings.
- Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Use the sauce right away or pour into a jar. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Video
Notes
- How to roast garlic: https://www.crunchycreamysweet.com/how-to-roast-garlic/
- Use nutritional yeast instead of Parmesan cheese for a vegan option.
- Please note, that the nutrition value can vary depending on what product you use. The information below is an estimate. Always use calorie counter you are familiar with.
cyndy says
Great! I sautéed red onion, oyster and baby portabello mushrooms and broccoli rabe , then added the sauce and linguini. It was delicious ! Even better the next day!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Cyndy! I absolutely love your additions to this sauce. Sounds delicious! Thank you for trying the recipe!
Mary Ellen says
Can I freeze the original recipe? Has anyone tried it?
Sunny says
looks absolutely wonderful....will be serving it over edamame pasta...my personal fav!...and a few grilled shrimp with seasonal veggies...be sure to grill the veggies, so much better..
Samantha says
HIIIII!
So I have celiac disease and this looks like an amazing alternative for me! I am wondering...I love pizza and thinking of starting to make my own, but I LOVE garlic part pizza sauce instead of marinara! Do you think the consistency of this will be good for a pizza sauce as well!?! Can not wait to try it! Thanks so much!!!
Kathy says
I made this last night and was pretty surprised. I knew it obviously wouldn't taste like my homemade Alfredo sauce made with a whole stick of butter and 2 cups of heavy cream and 5 ounces of shredded Parmesan.... but since I'm dieting I thought I would give it a try.
After I blended it and gave it a taste I couldn't believe that it was really pretty good considering the main ingredient was cauliflower, (which I am not a big fan of).
I spooned it over spaghetti squash. My son and his girlfriend were here for dinner and they are dieting as well. I just told them that it was a low calorie version of Alfredo sauce.
They thought it was good, but couldn't guess the ingredients. They guessed half and half. They were pretty surprised when I told them the ingredients. I put the remaining jar of sauce in the fridge and plan on having it during the week. I would guess one week is probably as long as it keeps?
So thanks for a great recipe. I do have one question...... you stated that fitness pal says one serving is only 118 calories, but you didn't mention how much one serving is.
Is it a half of cup? One cup?
Emma says
Made this sauce tonight for dinner and it was DELICIOUS! I must say I was hesitant at first, as I find cauliflower doesn't have much of a taste. The garlic and parmesan cheese gave it so much flavor --- wonderful recipe and will be using this again!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Emma! THANK YOU so much for letting me know! I am so happy that you enjoyed this recipe. I make it all the time too and I love it when people try it and enjoy it so much. Have a beautiful week! -Anna
Kristina says
Just pinned this and absolutely cannot WAIT to try it! I love how simple it is and I can only imagine how AMAZING the roasted garlic makes it!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
That's fantastic! Thank you so much, Kristina! I love roasted garlic and this sauce is just perfect for it! 😀
Jamie says
This looks amazing! Can't wait to try this out. Thanks of sharing!
Janice says
Just finished making this...FABULOUS!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Yay!! Thank you, Janice!! 😀
Jackie says
Hi Anna
How long did you cook the cauliflower.
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Jackie! I cooked mine for about 12 to 15 minutes, until soft. If your cauliflower is not soft, you will end up with cauliflower "rice". Hope this helps! Let me know! Thank you!
Sarah says
I tried it tonight but it didn't work out anywhere near as sauce-like as yours. Any advice or tips? Maybe I didn't cook the cauliflower for long enough ? There was no guide so I boiled it for about 10mins. Honestly I don't know what I did wrong but the "sauce" was grainy like mashed cauliflower and not a smooth sauce even though I blended it for ages.
The taste was perfect - simply sublime! I added a pinch of nutmeg and fresh parsley on top which complimented it perfectly 🙂
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Sarah! Thank you for the comment! Yes, definitely the cauliflower was undercooked. It has to be very soft to turn into a smooth sauce. I am so glad you loved the flavor! I swear, I could add roasted garlic to everything! Love the touch of nutmeg and parsley. 🙂 Thank you for stopping by! I hope you will make the sauce again.
Linda says
Just made this. It was really good. Needed more liquid to thin it down but over all a success. Definitely will make it again.
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Linda! Thank you so much for letting me know and for making this recipe!
Marc says
For vegan replacement to the parmesan, use nutritional yeast!
Kathy says
How much nutritional yeast would you add to this recipe?
Jamie says
Is it possible to can this sauce?
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Jamie! I haven't tried canning it and since I have no experience in canning, it's hard for me to advice here. So sorry..
lindsey says
Made this tonight. I had a pretty large head of cauliflower so needed A LOT more liquid to thin it out, probably around 1.5 cups worth. I also added 1/4 cup half and half and a dash of nutmeg. Pureed it with an immersion blender which worked great. Not only is it a sauce, I may eat a bowl of as soup, as its still pretty thick!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
I've made it into a soup before by adding more liquid. We love it! I always like to get a big cauliflower and know I can make a lot of this sauce. It's so good! Thanks for the comment, Lindsey!
Jazmin says
This looks so incredibly delicious. I am wondering though how close it is to the original alfredo sauce?!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Jazmin! It's easy to trick a person with this sauce if they don't know it's made from cauliflower. It doesn't have a strong cauliflower taste. The roasted garlic and Parmesan give it the Alfredo sauce flavor. You can always adjust the amount of these ingredients to make it perfect. Hope this helps!
Megan says
How nifty!! I will definitely have to give this a try!!