This healthy grain and dairy free spin on pasta with alfredo sauce is so comforting. Butternut squash noodles are used in place of pasta and smothered in a creamy 3-ingredient cashew alfredo sauce that’s vegan and dairy free. This 30 minute pasta dish is perfect for a quick and easy weeknight meal.
I have died and gone to pasta heaven. This recipe is SO GOOD!
I have been really hesitant to make a cashew based cream sauce for pasta due to the number of overly thick and heavy ones I have tried. I decided to finally bite the bullet and try and make an alfredo sauce that is both creamy and light.
This sauce completely blows my mind! I had a list of about 8 ingredients I was planning on adding in to get the flavour and consistency right, but had to stop after 3, because it was absolutely perfect! That’s right, just 3 ingredients!!!
This is one of those recipes that I would happily serve to a less health conscious eater and be confident that they would enjoy it. It really closely resembles all of the delicious flavours of a traditional alfredo, but is so much healthier!
Butternut squash pasta is the perfect base for this cashew alfredo sauce. The noodles are tender but not mushy and add a delicious richness in flavour to the dish. When buying butternut squash for pasta, look for one with a long straight top half as this is the only part that you can spiralize.
If you can find already spiralized raw butternut squash noodles in the grocery store then I would recommend using them to make life a whole lot easier. I love the rich flavour of butternut squash and use them regularly in my cooking, but if you are not on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet the sweet potato noodles would also work well in this recipe.
Although the butternut squash pasta and Cashew Alfredo Sauce are wonderful on their own, the peas and crisp prosciutto are icing on the cake. The peas add a delicious burst of freshness to each bite while the prosciutto adds a crisp saltiness that makes this dish even more addicting. Pancetta or bacon would also work well in place of the prosciutto, or can be replaced with a pinch of salt for a vegetarian/vegan option.
Here are a few other veggie noodle recipes that you might enjoy!
- Butternut Squash Noodles with Tahini Lemon Sauce
- Thai Curry Noodle Soup
- Asian Chicken & Noodle Soup
- Creamy Tomato Sauce with Zucchini Noodles
- Zucchini Noodles with Pesto, Prosciutto & Pine Nuts
If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”1QlI7Bbw” upload-date=”2018-10-26T11:44:22.000Z” name=”Butternut Squash Alfredo ” description=”An easy to make Whole30 and Paleo pasta dish made with Butternut Squash Noodles and a simple 3 ingredient afredo sauce. You won’t believe how easy and delicious this dish is, it tastes just like normal alfredo! Skip the bacon to make this vegan.”]
Butternut Squash Pasta with Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 Butternut Squash or you can buy pre cut noodles (approx 5 cups noodles)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped bacon
- 2/3 cup cashews, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/3 cup almond milk
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 cup frozen peas or 1 cup spinach
- 1 tbsp parsley chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (395 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Peel the butternut squash and spiralize into noodles or use a julienne peeler to cut thin noodles
- Place the butternut squash pasta on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes until al dent.
- Combine the cashews, garlic, almond milk, salt and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. Add a splash of water if the sauce is too thick.
- Fry the bacon in a skillet until crisp.
- Pour the sauce into the skillet along with the frozen peas or spinach and heat until warm. Add in the butternut squash pasta and toss to coat in the sauce. Top with chopped parsley before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried This Recipe?
Leave a comment below and let us know how it was!
Peas are not whole30 approved.
If you look at the details of the recipe above it says to substitute the peas for spinach to make this Whole30. I’m sure you are only trying to be helpful but next time please check the details first 😄
Is there a substitute for cashews? My daughter has an allergy.
Macadamia nuts or blanched almonds would also work
Wow! Delicious! Just made this for the first time and it is quick and easy to make and very tasty! I subbed coconut milk because I didn’t have any almond and it worked well! Thank you for this delicious recipe!
So happy to hear that! Coconut milk must have made it so creamy!
Do you drain the bacon grease before you add the sauce and the peas/spinach to the skillet?
It depends on how healthy you want to be 🙂 I would suggest draining out most of the fat so that its not too greasy but you still leave a bit of the flavour.
Wow! Made this tonight after seeing your post on Instagram. The sauce was so good paired with the butternut squash noodles! I was skeptical at first after tasting the sauce on its own, but once I added it to the noodles, I couldn’t stop eating it! It took quite a bit of added water to get it to a creamy consistency. Besides that, I followed the recipe and it was superb. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so happy to hear that! Haha I will admit even I was skeptical when I was creating the recipe, but it all just seems to come together in the end 🙂
After several rounds of whole 30 this year, I have steered clear of any “cashew cheese” type recipes because I was so skeptical. I cannot believe how delicious this is!!! Even my husband, who is a steadfast carbonara and pasta guy thought it was incredible.
I doubled the sauce, which we didn’t end up using it all. The sauce was very thick, so I added water and then almond milk until it was the right consistency. We used spinach and thick cut bacon.
Thanks for introducing us to such a great recipe!
First time substituting cashews for cheese, I’m impressed! I reserved the cashew water and added that to the “cheese” as it was a bit too thick at first. I’m doing Whole30 so substituted the peas with asparagus, and I used pancetta. Yum!
Yummy! I found your site yesterday and so far have made two dishes and have loved them both. I didn’t have butternut squash so I used zucchini and I loved it. Soooo creamy. Thank you for these wonderful recipes.
Wow you are a machine in the kitchen!:) Oohh I bet it tasted great with zucchini noodles!
I just made this alfredo and it was ridiculously good! I bought the butternut squash noodles precut which made it super easy. I’m definitely making this one again and again.
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it! I make this at least once a week, its one of my favourites.
Making this, this weekend!