How to Make a Lighter Vegan Mushroom Cream Sauce

Hey, the '90s called.

My mom was born in Milan, but I've never been a big fan of rich, creamy dishes like mushroom Alfredo—the kind of cream-heavy pasta I associate with northern Italian cooking.

Despite her Milanese roots, cream and butter weren't staples at our table. Healthy eating was always a big deal in our house.

Still, as a kid growing up in Herzliya (a city on Israel's Mediterranean coast) in the '90s, I couldn't miss the new dishes popping up during those years of economic growth and a booming food scene.

Suddenly, people were vacationing in Italy and coming home with a taste for dishes like fettuccine Alfredo. Cafés and restaurants started serving this exciting new arrival, too.

I remember how heavy and stuffed I felt after finishing a plate. Maybe that works in northern Italy, especially if you've got an afternoon nap scheduled. Hot, always-on-the-go Israel? Not so much.

So here's my vegan mushroom cream sauce: 9% fat, with no cashews, no coconut cream, and no cream of any kind.

It's even rich in high-quality protein. Most importantly, it tastes good. Really, really good.

A Few Recipe Notes

• The base of this sauce is silken tofu, a very soft tofu with a texture similar to panna cotta.

No, you can't swap in firm tofu, or even a softer-textured firm tofu like Kadita (an Israeli tofu brand). It just won't turn out the same.

• For that cheesy flavor, I use nutritional yeast flakes, an umami-packed seasoning. You can substitute the same amount of white miso or leave it out altogether—but tracking some down is well worth the effort.
• I blend the silken tofu until it has the consistency of cream. No blender? Whisk it vigorously by hand. You'll have a few little lumps, but that's not the end of the world.
• My attempt to freeze and thaw this sauce didn't go well; the creamy texture suffered. If you want to get a head start, I'd freeze the sautéed onions and mushrooms on their own, then blend the silken tofu and combine the two just before your meal.

Vegan Mushroom Cream Sauce Nutrition

One 140 g (about 5 oz) serving of sauce, without pasta, is one-third of this recipe and contains:

• 170 calories
• 11.5 g protein
• 8.3 g carbohydrates
• 9% fat (of which 0.3 is saturated fat)

Add a 150 g (5.3 oz) serving of cooked fettuccine for approximately 200 calories.

That brings a plate of fettuccine with plenty of sauce to a total of 370 calories, with a respectable amount of protein.

Want another creamy recipe made with silken tofu?

Vegan Mushroom Cream Sauce

Prep Time 1 minute

Cook Time 10 minutes

Yield 3 servings

Calories 170 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 package silken tofu 340 g (12 oz), red or blue package (I don't know what the difference is between them)
• 1 basket white button mushrooms, washed and sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 20 ml (about 4 US teaspoons)
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast 20 g (0.7 oz)
• 1 level teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over low heat.

2. Add the onion, nutmeg, and salt. Sauté until the onion turns translucent, and don't forget to stir occasionally.

3. Add the sliced mushrooms, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of nutritional yeast. Cook, stirring, until the mushrooms shrink down, about 4–5 minutes.

4. Remove from the heat and set aside.

5. Open the silken tofu package and drain off any excess liquid.

6. Transfer the tofu to a blender, add 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast, and blend thoroughly until smooth and creamy.

7. Add the blended silken tofu to the mushroom and onion mixture and stir well.

8. Toss with cooked pasta and dig in!