Fast and Easy Vegan Carbonara
This 20-minute pasta recipe is so easy to whip together. A simple creamy sauce coats the noodles with chewy, salty, smoky bites of sun-dried tomato. Perfect for a busy weeknight meal, made from ingredients you probably already have in the pantry.
This 20-minute pasta recipe is so easy to whip together. A simple creamy sauce coats the noodles with chewy, salty, smoky bites of sun-dried tomato. Perfect for a busy weeknight meal, made from ingredients you probably already have in the pantry.
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 yellow onion (chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 400 g pasta of choice ((spaghetti, fettucini, bucantini
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (the dry kind, not in oil), (s
- 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour ((gluten-free if preferred))
- 2 1/2 cups non-dairy milk ((such as soy or almond))
- 1 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 3/4 teaspoon black salt ((also called kala namak) use regular salt if preferred)
- Carbohydrate 7.3492025 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 1.13589000036183 g
- Fiber 1.91825000954233 g
- Protein 2.956475 g
- Saturated Fat 0.163382500049962 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (178g)
- Sodium 20.4091250000072 mg
- Sugar 5.43095249045767 g
- Trans Fat 0.125536250009799 g
- Calories 46 calories
Step-by-step
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package directions.
- Mix together the sun-dried tomatoes, soy sauce, and liquid smoke in a small bowl and set aside to absorb the flavours while you prepare the rest of the dish.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. When hot add the onions and garlic and sauté until the onion turns translucent and begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle over the flour and stir to coat the onions, let cook for about 60 seconds, then whisk in all of the remaining ingredients. Cook the sauce for about 5 minutes until thickened, whisking as needed. If the sauce gets too thick, add a splash more non-dairy milk, and if the sauce is too thin, simply cook it longer.
- Add the cooked pasta and the marinated sun-dried tomatoes to the sauce and toss well to combine. Serve hot. Garnish with parsley and parmegan if desired.
Why does flour thicken this plant-based sauce so quickly while other thickeners fail? Constructing a dairy-free carbonara requires understanding how starch interacts with liquid under direct heat. Without traditional eggs and cheese to build emulsion, this recipe relies on a cooked flour roux to bind the non-dairy milk into a cohesive coating.
Mastering the Stovetop Emulsion
Begin by boiling the pasta in a large pot with ample salted water to ensure even starch hydration. While the noodles soften, marinate the dry sun-dried tomatoes in soy sauce and liquid smoke. This step rehydrates the fruit while driving umami and smoky compounds deep into the tissue before they hit the pan. Heat olive oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the chopped onions and minced garlic until the onions turn translucent and develop light brown edges, roughly five minutes. Sprinkle all-purpose flour directly over the aromatics. Stir constantly for sixty seconds to cook out the raw flour taste. Whisking continuously while pouring in the non-dairy milk prevents lumps from forming in the developing starch matrix. Simmer the mixture for five minutes until the liquid coats the back of a spoon. If the viscosity becomes too heavy, loosen the sauce with reserved pasta water.
- Sauce too thick? Splash additional non-dairy milk into the skillet one tablespoon at a time while whisking vigorously over low heat.
- Sauce too thin? Extend the simmering time by two minutes to allow excess moisture to evaporate from the pan.
- Lumps forming in the roux? Remove the skillet from the heat momentarily and use a wire whisk to break apart flour pockets against the side of the pan.
