Creamy vegan carbonara? Yes please.
This creamy carbonara is completely vegan and made with really simple ingredients. The sauce is dairy-free and nut-free as well! Since traditional carbonara usually has some pancetta, I paired this Spaghetti Carbonara with some thick slices of vegan ham that I chopped into small pieces along with some sliced shiitake mushrooms.
This creation actually reminds me of my childhood. Growing up I’d always see my mom cooking up a creamy carbonara, which my sister really loved. I can’t say I was the biggest fan of this super creamy pasta dish but I do like having creamy pasta every now and then!
The best part? This creamy carbonara is completely vegan and made with a secret (well maybe not-so-secret) ingredient for the sauce to be able to make it creamy but still relatively low in fat and oil.
So get your pots ready and boil some water because it’s time to boil some spaghetti! Oh and get your blenders ready too because you’ll need them to create this creamy sauce!
For this plate vegan carbonara below, I topped it with rice paper "bacon", which i have a recipe for in my ebook.
THE CREAMY CARBONARA SAUCE
I simply blended together:
- silken tofu
- black salt or regular salt (see below)
- soy milk (or other plant based milk like oat)
- nutritional yeast
- lemon juice
The full recipe is down below!
SILKEN TOFU
Silken tofu here is a must since it's the base of the sauce and what gives it that nice consistency. I use silken tofu from a tube but those in trays are fine too!
BLACK SALT
Traditional Italian Carbonara is made with eggs for the sauce, so add an ‘egg’-like aroma and flavour, I used some black salt or kala namak for the sauce, since kala namak has sulphur, which eggs have.
I really recommend to use black salt if you have access to it. If not regular salt is fine!
HAM AND MUSHROOMS
Since traditional carbonara usually has some pancetta, I paired this Spaghetti Carbonara with some thick slices of vegan ham that I chopped into small cubes/pieces along with some sliced shiitake mushrooms.
I heated a large pan over medium high heat, add in the butter. Once melted, cook down the ham and sliced shiitake mushrooms. Leave these to pan-fry for 4-5 minutes untouched on each side or until lightly brown. Once nice and lightly browned throughout, remove the mushrooms and bacon from the pan. Set aside.
COOKING THE SPAGHETTI CARBONARA
- Meanwhile, heat your pot of water for the paste. Cook the spaghetti until al dente in salted water.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat the same pan over medium heat. Add in the began butter Sauté the garlic and onions until cooked. Pour in the carbonara sauce then heat over medium until it comes to a boil. Once it boils, lower the heat.
- Add in the cooked al dente spaghetti into the sauce. Mix to coat the spaghetti into the sauce well.
- Add back in the mushrooms and vegan ham. Leave to cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add freshly ground pepper. Season the pasta with salt to taste, if needed.
- Serve with vegan parmesan and some chopped parsley. Enjoy while hot!
You can find the full recipe below. Enjoy your carbonara!
OTHER RECIPES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
Creamy Vegan Spaghetti Carbonara
Ingredients
Ham and Mushrooms
- 1 tbsp vegan butter
- 100 g vegan ham or bacon diced
- 100 g shiitake mushrooms thinly sliced
Creamy Sauce
- 300 g silken tofu
- 1 tsp black salt or regular salt (see notes)
- 1/4 cup soy milk or oat milk
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1.5 tbsp lemon juice
Spaghetti
- 200 g dry spaghetti
- Salt for cooking
Cooking the Carbonara
- 1 tbsp vegan butter
- 1 small white onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic crushed and minced
- Freshly ground pepper
- Salt to taste if needed
To Serve
- Vegan Parmesan for topping
- Chopped parsley
Instructions
- In a blender, add in the tofu, salt, soy milk, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast. Blend until smooth.
- Heat a large pan over medium high heat, add in the butter. Once melted, cook down the ham and sliced shiitake mushrooms. Leave these to pan-fry for 4-5 minutes untouched on each side or until lightly brown. Once nice and lightly browned throughout, remove the mushrooms and bacon from the pan. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat your pot of water for the paste. Cook the spaghetti until al dente in salted water.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat the same pan over medium heat. Add in the began butter Sauté the garlic and onions until cooked. Pour in the carbonara sauce then heat over medium until it comes to a boil. Once it boils, lower the heat.
- Add in the cooked al dente spaghetti into the sauce. Mix to coat the spaghetti into the sauce well.
- Add back in the mushrooms and vegan ham. Leave to cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add freshly ground pepper. Season the pasta with salt to taste, if needed.
- Serve with vegan parmesan and some chopped parsley. Enjoy while hot!
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Notes
BLACK SALT
- Since traditional Italian Carbonara is made with eggs for the sauce, I wanted to add an ‘egg’-like aroma and flavour, so I used some black salt or kala namak for the sauce, since kala namak has sulphur, which eggs have.
- I really recommend to use black salt if you have access to it. If not regular salt is fine!
SILKEN TOFU
- Silken tofu here is a must since it's the base of the sauce and what gives it that nice consistency. I use silken tofu from a tube but those in trays are fine too!
NUTRITIONAL INFO
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This was delicious and easy to make for a weeknight dinner. I did use veggie spam but I think next time I would leave it out and just use more mushrooms. Will definitely make this again. Thanks
Thanks Pauline! Glad you liked it ◡̈