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    Home » Vegan Pasta

    Vegan Carbonara

    Published: Jul 2, 2019 Updated: Nov 8, 2021 by Alison Andrews This post may contain affiliate links

    Jump to Recipe
    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 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. 

    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. 

    Vegan carbonara in a black bowl topped with chopped parsley.

    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! 

    Collage of two photos showing ingredients for carbonara sauce added to blender and blended.

    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. 

    Two photo collage showing sliced mushrooms, vegan butter, garlic and paprika added to frying pan and sautéed.

    Add in the cooked spaghetti and toss that in with the mushrooms. 

    Two photo collage showing cooked spaghetti added to mushrooms and tossed.

    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. 

    Two photo collage showing cabonara 'egg' sauce poured over pasta and mushrooms and tossed together.

    Serve with chopped parsley and a sprinkle of black pepper. 

    Vegan carbonara in a frying pan with a serving spoon.

    Ingredient Notes

    1. 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. 
    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 cremini mushrooms (also called portobellini or baby bella) would also work great here. 
    Vegan carbonara in a black bowl topped with chopped parsley.

    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.

    A fork twisting into a bowl of vegan carbonara.

    More 30 Minute Vegan Pasta Recipes

    1. Vegan Mushroom Pasta
    2. Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff
    3. Vegan Alfredo
    4. Vegan Pesto Pasta
    5. Hummus Pasta
    6. Vegetable Linguine

    Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!

    Vegan carbonara in a black bowl.

    Vegan Carbonara

    This super easy vegan carbonara is rich and creamy and ready in less than 30 minutes! It’s the perfect weeknight meal.
    5 from 54 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Entree, Savory
    Cuisine: Italian-Inspired, Vegan
    Diet: Vegan
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes
    Total Time: 30 minutes
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 459kcal
    Author: Alison Andrews

    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
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    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

    1. If you can’t get hold of black salt (kala namak) then you can just use regular salt. But black salt is highly recommended.
    2. 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.
    3. Keep leftovers stored in the fridge and enjoy within a few days. You can reheat it in the microwave.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Serve | Calories: 459kcal | Carbohydrates: 60.9g | Protein: 18.3g | Fat: 16.3g | Saturated Fat: 3.2g | Sodium: 560mg | Fiber: 4.6g | Sugar: 4.6g
    DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @lovingitvegan on Instagram and hashtag #lovingitvegan
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    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.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sheznic says

      August 02, 2022 at 5:33 pm

      After being disappointed with store bought vegan carbonara sauce, I decided to give this recipe a try.

      Luckily I already had all the ingredients (except onion powder which I replaced with diced onions). I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of flavour and how easy it was to make.

      It was also great to know exactly what I was putting in my body as the sauce is made with all natural ingredients.

      This is a great recipe and I recommend any vegan or non-vegan to whip up a batch for a quick healthy alternative to traditional carbonara.5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        August 03, 2022 at 12:03 pm

        So happy you liked it! Thanks for the great review!

        Reply
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