Creamy Vegan Garlic Sauce
This creamy vegan garlic sauce is completely dairy-free! It’s also nut-free, gluten-free, and includes an oil-free option. It takes 20 minutes to make: Just roast your garlic, blend the ingredients, and pour over pasta, pizza, or garlic bread!
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If you’re looking for a quick and easy dinner idea that is as comforting as it is delicious, look no further, my friend. This creamy vegan garlic sauce is here to save the day!
This is a super simple recipe that is something we use in a variety of ways in our kitchen.
We squeeze this creamy vegan roasted garlic sauce over pizzas, spread it on garlic toasts, and smother allllll our pasta dishes with it (like this vegan white mushroom lasagna!).
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Why we love this creamy garlic sauce:
- It requires ZERO cashew soaking time!
- All you need is a blender, and it doesn’t have to be a high-powered blender!
- The recipe takes 20 minutes from start to finish, and that includes roasting the garlic.
- It is creamy and comforting yet still light and low in fat, thanks to our friend silken tofu.
- It has a killer depth of flavor that will legit make your mouth sing!
- The sauce itself is naturally gluten-free.
- It only requires very basic knife skills. (chopping garlic cloves in half…you got this)
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What’s in creamy vegan garlic sauce?
- Silken tofu – Silken tofu is the star of the texture show in this creamy garlic sauce and the magic ingredient to making the most amazing and nut-free vegan cream sauces.
- Roasted Garlic – The flavor star of the show!
- Lemon Juice – This adds brightness and zest to the dish!
- Olive Oil – Since our base is silken tofu, the olive oil adds those luxurious fats and flavor! Use a good quality olive oil here for best results or skip it for oil-free.
- Vegan Cheese Seasoning – This is one of our favorite homemade spice blends and a total kitchen staple.
- Salt and onion powder – These round out all the flavors.
Can you taste the tofu?
We get this question a lot with our tofu-based sauces and at first, I was a little surprised! But when I think back to my early vegan days, it makes sense. And I probably would have asked it too!
So, here’s my answer: Tofu doesn’t really have a taste. But people sometimes think it does (usually based on some past bad experience with tofu).
The big thing with tofu is that it will soak up allllllll the flavor that surrounds it. That means you might have to season tofu a little more heavily than you would think, but as long as you’re following this recipe, you’ll be golden! At the risk of sounding braggy, tofu is kind of my thing. 😉
Substitution Options for Garlic Sauce (vegan)
For the silken tofu: You can make this creamy sauce with cashews or sunflower seeds but will have to add water. If you’re used to making your own nut-based sauces, go ahead. I’d say maybe 1.5 cup raw cashews or sunflower seeds (soaked) blended with 1.5 – 2 cups of water should do the trick. If it’s too thin, just add more nuts/seeds and blend again. If you are going the nut / seed route, you definitely do not need to add the olive oil!
For the roasted garlic: You can sub fresh garlic if you’d rather have that zingy taste. If you’re doing this, you may want to consider reducing the number of cloves you use.
For the lemon juice: If you don’t have lemon juice, you can try subbing something like apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar. Yellow mustard could work nicely too, but if you’re using that I’d cut the amount in half to avoid the sauce tasting overly mustardy.
For the olive oil: This adds fat to your sauce but is optional if you’re about that oil-free life. We made this creamy vegan garlic sauce without the oil for years, so it works either way. I do like the luxurious feel a little olive oil gives, but this is one of those recipes where it will be perfectly fine without it.
For the vegan cheese seasoning: You can sub your favorite store-bought vegan parmesan here if you’d like. We like the brand Go Veggie. You could also sub nutritional yeast, but you may need to add more seasoning if you do this (garlic/salt/etc). Once you blend everything together, taste it and see what it needs.
For the salt: I do not recommend skipping the salt entirely (unless you’re used to cooking / eating salt-free). If you’re sensitive to salt, you can try cutting it in half and then tasting before adding more. The reason I don’t recommend skipping it entirely is because silken tofu soaks up flavor like WOAH.
For the onion powder: If you don’t have this, feel free to skip it.
How to Make Creamy Vegan Garlic Sauce:
Step One: Roast your garlic.
You can buy garlic pre-roasted, but it’s expensive and unnecessary if you’re on a budget. Just slice your cloves in half, drizzle them with a little oil (or skip it for oil-free), and throw them in the oven at 400F for about 10 minutes or until they’re slightly golden brown. Soon, your whole home will fill with the glorious smell of roasted garlic!
Step Two: Blend your sauce ingredients.
Then, make the sauce! Throw all the ingredients in a blender on high for a minute or two until everything is creamy and combined. Then, blend it a minute or two longer to really emulsify that oil (if you’re using it)! You’ll know it’s ready when it’s all thick and shiny.
Can you make this sauce without a Vitamix?
Yes! Thanks to silken tofu, you don’t need a high-powered blender for this. Any old blender / food processor should do the trick. In fact, that was my secret hack for making creamy vegan sauces in the many years I spent as a vegan without a Vitamix.
How to Store Creamy Vegan Garlic Sauce
Another great thing about this creamy vegan garlic sauce is that it can be made in advance for the busy weeknights ahead.
We recommend storing this vegan garlic sauce in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week. We suggest storing the sauce separately from the pasta, but if you’re only storing it for a few nights, it should be fine combined.
Unfortunately, we do not recommend freezing this creamy vegan garlic sauce. Frankly, the one downside to silken tofu is that it freezes like shit. The texture gets super wonky.
4 Ways to Use Dairy-Free Garlic Sauce
1. Creamy Vegan Garlic Pasta – This is the most common way we use creamy vegan garlic sauce. I love it because it’s a great excuse to load your bowl up with all the leftovers in your fridge or veggies from your garden. Add zucchini, fresh herbs, diced tomatoes, maybe even some sundried tomatoes!
2. Vegan White Pizza Sauce – This sauce is an awesome base for a dairy-free white pizza! Mushrooms and spinach would be good on that too. Mmmm I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!
3.Sandwich Spread – This vegan garlic sauce would be the perfect sandwich spread and a lot less fat than traditional mayo without sacrificing flavor.
4.Drizzling on anything and everything – Fries, tofu scramble, straight from the spoon and into your mouth. No judgement.
More Silken Tofu Recipes:
Get this creamy vegan garlic sauce on your weekly meal plan ASAP.
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Enjoy!
Creamy Vegan Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
For the roasted garlic:
For the sauce:
- 1 16-oz package silken tofu
- 6 cloves roasted garlic
- 3 Tbsp vegan cheese seasoning or vegan parmesan
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp olive oil optional
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
Instructions
- ROAST THE GARLIC: Heat your oven to 400F and add your garlic to a small oven-safe dish or baking sheet. Drizzle it with the oil lightly (or skip for oil-free). Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and cook for about 10-12 minutes, flipping once. You want it to be slightly browned but not burnt, so keep an eye on it. Usually, when you smell it, it's almost there!
- TO USE: Pour this sauce over just-cooked pasta, use it on homemade pizzas, as a garlic bread spread, or to dip all the things!
- TO STORE: Store this sauce in an air-tight container in the fridge for 5-7 days. We do not recommend freezing the sauce.
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