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    Home » Entrees » Vegan Carbonara

    Vegan Carbonara

    Published: Jul 2, 2019 Modified: Aug 14, 2019 by Alison Andrews This post may contain affiliate links

    Jump to Recipe
    17.2Kshares
    Vegan Carbonara

    This super easy vegan carbonara is rich and creamy and ready in less than 30 minutes! It’s the perfect weeknight meal.

    Vegan carbonara topped with chopped parsley in black bowls.

    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. 

    Vegan carbonara in a black bowl topped with chopped parsley. Vegan carbonara in a black bowl topped with chopped parsley.

    How to make Vegan Carbonara

    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. 

    Step by step process photo collage of making vegan carbonara.

    Pro tips for Vegan Carbonara Pasta

    1. Black salt, also called Kala Namak (and not actually black in color at all) creates the ‘egg’ flavor in the sauce. It is 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. 
    2. Turmeric is used just for color, so if you don’t like it for any reason, you can easily omit it. 
    3. You can use any non-dairy milk you like, we used soy milk, but any milk will work great. 
    4. The mushrooms we used are the large flat brown mushrooms. But button mushrooms or sliced portobellini (also called cremini or baby bella) would also work great here. 
    5. If you want to make this gluten-free, just use gluten-free spaghetti and there you have it!

    Vegan carbonara in a frying pan with a serving spoon. Vegan carbonara topped with fresh parsley in a black bowl.

    You will love this vegan carbonara recipe! It is:

    • Super easy
    • Ready in 30 minutes or less!
    • Creamy
    • Rich
    • A perfect weeknight meal

    Keep leftovers stored in the fridge and enjoy within a few days. 

    Vegan carbonara in a black bowl with a fork.

    More vegan pasta recipes!

    1. Vegan Mushroom Pasta
    2. Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff
    3. Vegan Pasta Bake
    4. Vegan Alfredo
    5. Classic Baked Vegan Mac and Cheese
    6. Vegan Pesto Pasta
    7. The Best Vegan Lasagna Recipe
    8. Vegan Stuffed Shells

    So let us know what you think of this vegan carbonara in the comments and please rate the recipe too, thanks!

    Sign up to our email list and we’ll send you a gorgeous (and free!) recipe ebook containing 10 delicious vegan dinner recipes. You’ll also be the first to know when new recipes are posted to the blog. 

    A fork twisting into a bowl of vegan carbonara.

     

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    Vegan carbonara

    Vegan Carbonara


    ★★★★★

    5 from 25 reviews

    • Author: Alison Andrews
    • Prep Time: 10 mins
    • Cook Time: 20 mins
    • Total Time: 30 minutes
    • Yield: 4
    Print Recipe
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    Description

    This super easy vegan carbonara is rich and creamy and ready in less than 30 minutes! It’s the perfect weeknight meal.


    Ingredients

    For the ‘Egg’ Sauce:

    • 2/3 cup (100g) Raw Cashews
    • 1/4 cup (15g) Nutritional Yeast
    • 1/2 tsp Turmeric
    • 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
    • 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
    • 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
    • 1/2 tsp Black Salt (Kala Namak)*
    • 1 cup (240ml) Non Dairy Milk*

    For the Pasta:

    • 1/2 Pack (~9oz/250g) Spaghetti (Dry Weight)*

    For the Mushrooms:

    • 1 Tbsp Vegan Butter
    • 9oz (250g) Mushrooms (Sliced)*
    • 2 tsp Crushed Garlic
    • 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
    • 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
    • 1/4 tsp Black Pepper

    For Serving:

    • Fresh Chopped Parsley

    Instructions

    1. Add the ingredients for the ‘egg’ sauce to the blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.
    2. Put the spaghetti on to cook and cook it according to the package instructions.
    3. 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.
    4. Add the cooked spaghetti into the pan with the mushrooms and toss them together.
    5. 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.
    6. Serve with chopped parsley and a sprinkle of black pepper.

    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 soy milk but you can use any non-dairy milk.

    *We used large flat brown mushrooms, but you can switch this for brown button mushrooms (also called portobellini mushrooms, cremini, baby bella).

    • Category: Entree, Savory
    • Method: Stovetop
    • Cuisine: Vegan, Italian

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size: 1 Serve (of 4)
    • Calories: 459
    • Sugar: 4.6g
    • Sodium: 560mg
    • Fat: 16.3g
    • Saturated Fat: 3.2g
    • Carbohydrates: 60.9g
    • Fiber: 4.6g
    • Protein: 18.3g

    Keywords: vegan carbonara

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    17.2Kshares
    Alison Andrews

    About the Author

    Hi I'm Alison Andrews, I'm the voice and cook behind Loving It Vegan. I love making delicious vegan food and creating vegan versions of all your old favorites, so that you’ll never feel like you’re missing out. Find out more about me here.

    Loving It Vegan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This site may contain some of these links to Amazon.com. If you make a purchase through one of those links, Loving It Vegan will receive a small commission from the purchase at no additional cost to you.
    Previous Post: « Vegetable Skewers (Oven or Grill!)
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Avatarbradley stoll says

      April 11, 2021 at 2:46 am

      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!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Alison AndrewsAlison Andrews says

        April 12, 2021 at 11:43 am

        So glad you enjoyed it Bradley! Thanks for the great review.

        Reply
    2. AvatarClaire Baiz says

      February 17, 2021 at 8:13 pm

      I didn’t have mushrooms, so I substituted zucchini, peas and a little kale. Easy and tasty!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Alison AndrewsAlison Andrews says

        February 18, 2021 at 10:28 am

        Wonderful! So glad it worked out great, thanks for sharing!

        Reply
    3. AvatarEstella says

      November 25, 2020 at 3:08 am

      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.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Alison AndrewsAlison Andrews says

        November 25, 2020 at 11:22 am

        So glad you enjoyed it Estella! Thanks so much for the great review.

        Reply
        • AvatarGayle Ryan says

          March 16, 2021 at 7:10 pm

          Just made this tonight. It was absolutely beautiful. Many thanks for sharing.

          Reply
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    Hi I’m Alison Andrews! I love making delicious vegan food and creating delicious vegan versions of all your old favorite dishes, so you can have your vegan cake and eat it too!

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