Vegan Butternut Squash Carbonara – Vegan Richa

This Vegan Butternut Squash Carbonara is a dairy-free spin on the traditional Italian Carbonara recipe with a creamy cashew cheese butternut squash carbonara sauce! Serve with crispy roasted smoky bacon-ish tofu.

This easy vegan Butternut Squash Carbonara is the perfect fall and winter dinner. It’s a creamy spin on my popular Pumpkin Sage pasta and trust me, it will likely become a staple you will make again and again. Traditional Italian Carbonara Sauce is made from parmesan cheese and egg yolks.  This vegan version is just as deliciously rich and creamy (even without egg or dairy), thanks to cashew cream, and even quite cheesy thanks to nutritional yeast, and a hearty thanks to miso paste and fresh sage!

While traditional Carbonara is often topped with bacon or pancetta, I wanted that smoky “chew” on top and went with oven-roasted tofu. Before roasting the tofu, we coat it in a whole bunch of spices to bring on the smoky-sweet notes.

Let me tell you this dish has a perfect balance and blend of cozy fall flavors (butternut squash + sage = fall central)! A simple plant-based pasta dinner or plant-based lunch your whole family will love. Even your kids will give this a big thumbs up!

MORE VEGAN FALL RECIPES

Let’s make this gorgeous fall meal.

Butternut Squash Carbonara Ingredients:

• Like with any Italian-inspired pasta sauce, we start this off with olive oil, onions, and garlic. 
• Butternut squash – you can use any other squash or pumpkin puree for this recipe.
• Nutritional yeast – can be omitted, – just add 1 tsp miso for a similar flavor
• Miso Paste – skip or add more nutritional yeast
• Sage – if you’re using dried, use a mix of rubbed and ground. Dried ground sage is pretty potent so add less in the beginning and add more to taste as you go.
• Cashew nuts make this pasta sauce extra creamy and smooth without having to add egg yolks or dairy. For Nutfree, use silken tofu
• My pasta of choice here is fettuccine. 

Tips

• You can actually use canned butternut squash puree, which cuts the prep time down by an hour at least!
• Add some coconut bacon For additional texture
• Serve this sprinkled with some chopped sage or grate some almonds on top.
• additional flavors you can add: cinnamon, freshly ground nutmeg, or a pinch of cayenne pepper

How to make Butternut Squash Carbonara

Add oil to a skillet over medium heat, add in the onion and garlic and cook until translucent.

Add in the sage and pepper flakes and mix in. Add in the butternut squash and cook until the butternut squash starts to get golden on the edges. This may not happen if you’re using frozen butternut squash.

Add in the rest of the ingredients listed under ‘sauce’, and mix well. Cover and cook for 10-12 minutes or until the butternut squash is tender to preference. Take the pan off the heat and let the mixture cool a bit before adding to a blender and blending until smooth.

Meanwhile, make your fettuccine and cook until al dente, then combine the sauce to the fettuccine in a bowl, or you can also add it to a skillet to reheat, and cook it a little bit more.

Meanwhile, make the tofu by combining the cubed tofu with the oil, soy sauce, smoked paprika, garlic, and maple syrup in a bowl to coat really well.

Spread out the tofu on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spread it out so that most of the cubes are not touching each other. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, then add the baking sheet to the oven when it’s heated up.

Bake for 10 minutes, then move it around, and then bake for another few minutes, and then keep an eye on the tofu. Take it out once the pieces start to get dry-ish and crunchy. The tofu can burn easily, so keep an eye out after the 14-15 minute mark. Serve the tofu on top of the butternut squash fettuccine.

Can I make this Butternut Squash Carbonara without Cashews?

To make this recipe without cashews, omit them and use a 1/3 cup of pumpkin seeds, or while blending the sauce, add in a 1/3 cup of silken tofu. This tofu-based sauce will have to be reheated to thicken again.