This healthier Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce is a delicious way to add extra servings of vegetable to many meals. It is made from cauliflower with caramelized onion and garlic give the sauce a heavenly flavor. The recipe includes vegan and dairy-free options.
Let me tell you about this heavenly, creamy sauce that I have been making for a while. It is secretly healthy – made from cauliflower and only a little butter and milk (or coconut oil and almond milk for a vegan version).
Who knew that vegetables could makes such a fantastic, creamy sauce (all without actual cream) to enhance pasta dishes and casseroles?
I started making this sauce 3 years ago around Mother’s Day, when I revamped my mom’s Cauliflower and Broccoli Casserole.
Instead of making a white sauce from heavy cream and butter, the creaminess of this white sauce comes from blended cauliflower.
To give this mainly vegetable sauce more flavor, there are caramelized onions and garlic pureed into it as well.
The sliced onion and garlic are cooked in butter (or coconut oil) on low heat for a whooping 20! minutes (minimum), until they are all golden and their sweet-savory fragrance is intoxicating everyone in the house.
You can use the cauliflower sauce right away in a ton of dishes that call for a white or Alfredo sauce. Even a healthier mac ‘n cheese is possible!
You can also replace the canned cream soup with it that many casseroles call for.
The sauce (or any leftovers) will store great in the fridge for about a week. You can prepare more in advance and freeze it for when you need it.
Here are some delicious recipes that use this Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce:
 TORTELLINI & BROCCOLI BAKE |  HEALTHIER CARBONARA PASTA |  CAULIFLOWER BROCCOLI CASSEROLE |
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VIDEO: How to Make Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce
Healthier Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 medium head of cauliflower ~ 1 lb/450 g
- 1 large yellow onion
- 3-5 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil for vegan/dairy free
- 3/4 cup 175 ml (dairy-free) milk of choice
- 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast optional, but highly recommended especially for vegan version
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Cut the onion and garlic into thin slices. Melt the butter/coconut oil in a skillet on low heat, add onion slices and garlic and sauté covered on low until the onions are golden and caramelized (minimum 20 minutes).
- Bring a pot of well salted water to a boil. Cut the cauliflower into florets and cook until tender (7-10 minutes).
- Place the tender cauliflower florets into a blender or food processor together with the caramelized onions, garlic, 1/2 cup of broth, milk and salt. Puree until smooth.
- Store the sauce in a container with a lid (like a mason jar) and place in the fridge, if not using right away.
- Depending on the size of your blender, you can also double the recipe.
Recipe Notes
To make this sauce entirely dairy-free coconut oil can be used in place of butter and almond milk instead of dairy milk. I have tried this dairy-free version with good results.
Disclosure: Blendtec was generous enough to send me the blender you see in the video.
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Sandra Watts
Wow, I would totally try that! Thanks for sharing!
JLA
Made this tonight! Mine had a bite to it BC of the garlic and onion. I am thinking I didn’t caramelize them very well. Had the pan covered for 20 mins on low setting. Is the sauce suppose to have a sweeter type savory taste? I mean the bite was there for sure and I’m trying to figure out how to fix that with the leftover sauce. My consistency was also not as liquidy, more like mashed potatoes (didn’t mind this so much, I just tried adding more milk to get it more to that liquid state in the photos. Maybe the cauliflower was too big).
Regina
Yes, it sounds like your garlic and onion may not have been caramelized enough. 20 minutes is really the minimum time needed to achieve that. My sauce never had any bite to it.
And yes, a really big head of cauliflower could be the reason for mashed potato consistency. More liquid should resolve that.
Joni Lynn
Thanks for the reply! I will try again!
Jamie
Can you use frozen cauliflower? I sometimes have a hard time getting fresh cauliflower.
Regina
Yes, since the cauliflower gets cooked anyway I think frozen will work just fine.
Niki
I haven’t tried it yet, I have one question. Doesn’t it smell bad because of the cauliflower?
Regina
Overcooked cauliflower can have an off-putting smell. Since in this recipe cauliflower is only cooked until tender, I’ve never had any problem with a bad smell.
Melissa burks
This is amazing! It fits into my clean eating diet. And pairs well with bean pasta made from pea and black bean flour, cutting even more fast carbs! Thank u for the recipe!
Regina
That is wonderful to hear, Melissa! I’ve been meaning to try black bean pasta
Heather
I finally got around to making this recipe, and I’m so glad I did. I absolutely love cauliflower, but my husband turns his nose up when I make it too often. I added parmesan cheese for more of a faux alfredo, and this sauce is a great alternative to rich calorie-rific alfredo. It definitely satisfied the same cravings, but was much much healthier. I already have plans with the leftover sauce to re-create my homemade cajun pasta dish later this week! Thanks for posting such beautiful pictures and encouraging me to try this after having it pinned for so long!
Regina
I am so happy to hear you got around to making the recipe and enjoyed it so much. Love that you added Parmesan (I’ve been meaning to do that) and that cajun pasta sounds delicious!
Debora
I thought this was amazing, I did not use broth at all. What I did do was use salted water which I used to boil my almond flour homemade pasta. Which is what I also used to cook the cauliflower. Then I also added some salt, peeper and nutritional yeast to the cauliflower and onions and just blended it all. I kept adding the cooking water and some homemade almond milky till I was able to get it to the consistency I wanted. But it was a hit. Thank you.
MARY S.
I am transitioning from vegetarian to vegan, I swapped out milk for almond milk, and opted out of butter and used olive oil. I am a lifelong cheese aholoic and needed something similar. This is definitely not traditional Alfredo, but it is hardy and satisfying substitute and at under 300 calories for the entire recipe I am hooked. Thanks!!
Regina
Thanks for your great comment Mary. We love this sauce and as mom I love that I can sneak in an extra serving of vegetables with it 🙂
Debora
Try adding nutritional yeast along with some extra salt. I find it gives a nice cheesy taste.
Heather
Hi,
I was so excited to make this sauce…my family enjoys the occasional alfredo pasta dish for dinner but who doesn’t want something healthier?!?! Yours looks so beautiful and delicious and while mine turned out pretty tasty, the consistency was not creamy or white. I assume my onions/garlic were a little too “carmalized” and turned the sauce more brown in color but even after a little more milk I couldn’t get it creamy. No fooling the hubby or kids that this wasn’t traditional alfredo;) Any suggestions?! Thanks so much!!
Regina
Hmm Heather, I am not sure why your sauce wouldn’t turn out creamy. Was it a very large head of broccoli maybe?
natalie teabo
Mine was the exact same way. My daughter even said why Is it brownish and not white like hers. ugh. what did I do wrong??
Regina
It seems like you must have browned the onions too much. They shouldn’t be too dark. Just a light golden color
Barb
I was introduced to your site by a friend who recommended your pumpkin breakfast bars. I’m anxious to try them and other recipes I’ve seen now after visiting your site. Cooking in a more healthy way is important to me, too. The cauliflower alfredo sauce sounds delicious. I was wondering why you use 5 cups of broth and discard 4 1/2 cups, only using 1/2 cup for the recipe. Why not use less broth to cook the cauliflower and still use only 1/2 cup in the recipe?
Regina
Hi Barb, many thanks to your friend for introducing you to my site. In regards to the cauliflower sauce – I cook the cauliflower in broth for the flavor it imparts on the vegetable. Nowadays, I don’t discard the broth anymore but save it for soup etc. (I guess I have learnt a lot in the last 2 years and should update the recipe). Anyway, as alternative I suppose you could cook the cauliflower in just salted water, if you don’t want to waste any broth.
Denise
I’m going to try this as a sauce on a white pizza. Will top with artichokes, sundried tomatoes, olives, and maybe a little arigula. Whatever I have on hand!
Jess
I tried this and I was absolutely blown away! To me it actually tastes better than regular alfredo with the added bonus of hidden veggies! I topped mine with bacon, peas (from your carbonara recipe), fresh parsley, fresh parm and chili flakes! So impressed will be making over and over for sure!
Regina
Thanks for this awesome comment Jess! This totally made my week 😀
Marubi
This is an amazing sauce! It is of course not Alfredo, but I think it’s unfair to expect that. I love cauliflower and wanted a new way to use it, and I will definitely be making this often. I had it with bean pasta (to increase protein and decrease carb content) and after reading about it in some of the comments I also added finely chopped sundried tomatoes, which gave the sauce a really nice extra depth of flavour. Delicious, thanks for the recipe!
Regina
Thank you for this wonderful comment Marubi. Sun-dried tomatoes sound like an amazing addition!
A Mayo
I made this yesterday to use in pasta instead of the jarred alfredo sauce that I love so much. It turned out pretty good. Not exactly like alfredo sauce but that is to be expected. I added Italian Seasoning when cooking the onions and added parmesan cheese when blending it all together. It still had a slight cauliflower taste (which I liked) so if I were to make this for someone who doesn’t like cauliflower, I would just add more onion, garlic, italian seasoning, and cheese to try to mask the cauliflower flavor.
Jenna
I just made it last night and it was pretty good, but it was missing something. I used almond milk and coconut oil instead of the butter and regular milk, and it just kind of turned out bland. Any tips on how to make it more savory? We tried salt, but it needs something else too….maybe garlic salt???? Otherwise it was pretty good!
Regina
Hi Jenna, I agree the vegan option with coconut oil + almond milk is less flavorful. You can definitely try upping it with other seasonings like garlic salt. Another reader also mentioned they used nutritional yeast for more savory flavor pizzazz 🙂
Kaitlyn
We had a variation of this for dinner tonight with spinach noodles – totally tasted like a guilty meal but virtually guilt-free! We used half red onion and half yellow (my hubby LOVES red onion) and added cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes for a little kick. IT WAS SO GOOD – thank you for sharing this recipe!
Regina
Yumm! I love the way you used the sauce. Sounds delicious!
Lnurton
Made this last night, so yummy! I added some nutritional yeast and served it with sauteed veggies. Hubby loved it! Has anyone used this as a base for mushroom soup? Looking for a clean alternative to the canned version…
Regina
Yum, I’ve heard that nutritional yeast gives a delicious ‘cheesy’ flavor. I have used this sauce in casseroles that would usually call for canned mushroom soup. Hope this helps.
Aya Jade
I made a vegan version with margarine and almond milk, also added nutritonal yeast for that extra cheesey flavour. It was devine! Left with a huge bowl,even after going for seconds, but no complaints there! 🙂
Regina
Thanks for the great feedback, Aya! I’ve never had nutritional yeast, but have heard that it gives awesome flavour. I am all for more cheesiness 😉
Cynthia Holbert
making this now!
Cynthia Holbert
This turned out great!
Regina
That’s so wonderful to hear, Cynthia! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback.
Jennifer Lee
We are vegan and I was so happy to find an Alfredo sauce that isn’t cashew-based as my 15-yr old daughter is allergic to tree nuts and it’s probably her favorite food in the world. To my disappointment, she said it tasted “kinda like watery mashed potatoes” but then had an inspiration and suggested “put sun-dried tomatoes in it, mom!” I took the half-jar I had left in the fridge, dumped them in, oil and all, and blended away. The results were FABULOUS! After six months of being vegan, she declared that this was probably the best vegan thing I have ever made. Success! Thanks 🙂
Regina
I am so happy to hear you found a way to make this sauce work for you. Cauliflower sauce is definitely a little strange, I do love it most with butter and milk (opposed to the vegan version). But I am so glad you worked it out 🙂