This super easy vegan carbonara is rich and creamy and ready in less than 30 minutes! It’s the perfect weeknight meal.
This vegan carbonara is on the money!
I asked Jaye to take the lead on this recipe and he created something really fantastic.
A classic carbonara recipe usually has bacon or pancetta in it, and an egg sauce that is poured over the top.
So we decided to use mushrooms to replace the bacon and to use the ‘eggy’ sauce from our vegan tofu scramble along with some cashews (for thickening) to create the egg effect for the sauce.
And it worked so well. This is seriously delicious and has heaps of flavor as well as being really easy and quick to make.
And if you love super quick and easy vegan pasta recipes like this one then you’ll also love our hummus pasta and our vegan vodka pasta.
How To Make Vegan Carbonara Pasta
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
The vegan carbonara sauce is made in the blender, and it’s a mix of raw cashews, nutritional yeast, turmeric, dijon mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, black salt aka kala namak and non dairy milk.
Blend until smooth and you have your ‘egg’ sauce!
Set that aside until you need it later.
Get some spaghetti on the boil and cook it up according to the package instructions.
Then melt some vegan butter in a pan. Add sliced mushrooms, crushed garlic and smoked paprika and fry until the mushrooms are softened.
Add in the cooked spaghetti and toss that in with the mushrooms.
Pour in the blended sauce and then add in some sea salt and black pepper and toss together until everything is coated and heated together.
Serve with chopped parsley and a sprinkle of black pepper.
Ingredient Notes
- Black salt, also called Kala Namak (and not actually black in color at all) creates the ‘egg’ flavor in the sauce. It’s a salt that tastes just like eggs. It’s pretty crazy! You don’t need to use a lot to get a lot of flavor. We used half a teaspoon and got heaps of flavor. If you don’t have it you can use regular salt instead, but it is definitely recommended.
- Turmeric is used just for color, so if you don’t like it for any reason, you can easily omit it.
- You can use any non-dairy milk you like, we used soy milk, but any milk will work great.
- The mushrooms we used are the large flat brown mushrooms. But button mushrooms or cremini mushrooms (also called portobellini or baby bella) would also work great here.
Make It Gluten-Free
If you want to make this meal gluten-free, just use a gluten-free spaghetti and that’s all there is to it.
Storing Tips
Keep leftovers stored in the fridge and enjoy within a few days. You can reheat it in the microwave.
More 30 Minute Vegan Pasta Recipes
- Vegan Mushroom Pasta
- Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff
- Vegan Alfredo
- Vegan Pesto Pasta
- Hummus Pasta
- Vegetable Linguine
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Carbonara
Ingredients
For the ‘Egg’ Sauce:
- ⅔ cup Raw Cashews (100g)
- ¼ cup Nutritional Yeast (15g)
- ½ tsp Turmeric
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ tsp Onion Powder
- ½ tsp Black Salt Kala Namak*
- 1 cup Soy Milk (240ml) or other non-dairy milk*
For the Pasta:
- 8 ounces Spaghetti (226g) Dry Weight
For the Mushrooms:
- 1 Tbsp Vegan Butter
- 2 ½ cups Mushrooms (240g) Sliced
- 2 tsp Crushed Garlic
- ½ tsp Smoked Paprika
- ¼ tsp Sea Salt
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper
For Serving:
- Fresh Chopped Parsley
Instructions
- Add the ingredients for the ‘egg’ sauce to the blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Put the spaghetti on to cook and cook it according to the package instructions.
- Add the vegan butter to a pan and heat until melted. Add the sliced mushrooms, crushed garlic and smoked paprika and fry until the mushrooms are softened.
- Add the cooked spaghetti into the pan with the mushrooms and toss them together.
- Pour the blended sauce over the top of the spaghetti and mushrooms and toss together. Add the sea salt and black pepper and toss together until everything is coated and heated together in the pan.
- Serve with chopped parsley and a sprinkle of black pepper.
Video
Notes
- If you can’t get hold of black salt (kala namak) then you can just use regular salt. But black salt is highly recommended.
- We used large flat brown mushrooms, but you can switch this for cremini mushrooms (also called portobellini mushrooms, baby bella) or even white button mushrooms.
- Keep leftovers stored in the fridge and enjoy within a few days. You can reheat it in the microwave.
Wow, I am so impressed with how this turned out! I didn’t have black salt but I am sure it would be even better with it. I always struggle with vegan recipes that resemble cheese because the nutritional yeast flavor overpowers it and does not taste cheesy at all, but this recipe really impressed me.
I used spinach and sundried tomatoes instead of mushrooms and it was amazing! Thanks for this!!
So happy you enjoyed it Laurel!
Yum!
This is the best!! And the black salt makes it so interesting.
You rock Alison! I”m a fan hehe 🙂
Thanks so much Gil! 🙂
was excellent…. i added roasted tomatoes and roasted zucchini which made it even better 😉
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing Beth!
Delicious! I did a quick soak on the cashews and added vegan Parmesan….definitely will be making this more!
Awesome! Thanks Ashley!
This was really delicious and a big hit with the family. Very quick and easy too!
I made it using tagliatelle and the increased surface area of the pasta meant that I should have probably used more liquid to make the dish more “saucy”. Didn’t detract from the flavours or enjoyment of the meal though.
I also added, like Jennifer S did above, a dash of liquid smoke to give the mushrooms more of a smoked flavour, which worked a treat.
Thanks so much for sharing Nick!
We love this recipe and make it regularly. I often use some ‘facon’ as well as mushrooms, it’s also very forgiving when I’m out of black salt and smoked paprika, simply delicious!!
Fantastic! Thanks so much Belinda!
Do the cashews need to be soaked first?
Hi Rose, we didn’t soak them first. They blend with a fair bit of liquid so it’s usually an easy blend.
Deeeelish! I threw in some vegan ‘bacon’ lardons with the mushrooms and a handful of peas in with the pasta at the end and it was absolutely gorgeous. Defo making again. Thank you x
Sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing and the great review Elisa!
I picked up some “fancy” mushrooms just for this! Used penne pasta instead. This allowed the sauce to seep inside the noodles…what a delicious recipe. I also tossed in some green onions from our garden! I may try peas next time…that idea sounds wonderful!
So glad you enjoyed it Bradley! Thanks for the great review.
I didn’t have mushrooms, so I substituted zucchini, peas and a little kale. Easy and tasty!
Wonderful! So glad it worked out great, thanks for sharing!
Made this for dinner last night it was soooo good will definitely be adding this to my rotation. I used almond milk and Portobello mushrooms. It was quick and easy my kind of recipe. Thank you for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed it Estella! Thanks so much for the great review.
Just made this tonight. It was absolutely beautiful. Many thanks for sharing.