This fresh and zesty creamy lemon pasta is the perfect summer dish!  With a creamy cashew sauce, garlic butter and fresh lemon.

With just a few simple ingredients you can make the most delicious creamy lemon pasta sauce.

We start by frying some garlic in butter until lightly golden. Next comes the zest and juice of lemon and a super simple cashew cream!

Ingredients for vegan creamy lemon pasta:

• Vegan butter – go for the block type vegan butter like Flora plant, it adds richness and flavour but you can sub for a good quality olive oil
• Garlic – for flavour, we are using a good amount of garlic so don’t skimp on it
• Lemons – the zest and juice, use unwaxed lemons for this
• Cashews – our base for the cream, a high speed blender will blitz them easily but if you don’t have one soak them in some boiled water for 30 minutes to soften
• Plant milk – to combine with the cashews to make cashew cream. You can sub for water but I find milk gives it a creamier texture. Any unsweetened plant milk works – soya, oat, almond.
• Pasta – any pasta shape works, I used linguine
• Optional toppings – vegan parmesan, fresh parsley, chili flakes

What is cashew cream?

Cashew cream is simply cashews blended up with water until it resembles cream. If you don’t have a high speed blender, soak the cashews in boiled water for 30 minutes until softened.

It’s a much lighter and healthier option to dairy or non dairy creams and is packed with healthy fats.

If you can’t eat cashews then by all means you can sub the cashew cream for a non dairy cream, you will need less pasta water or none at all though as it is thinner than this cashew cream.

To make this cashew cream extra creamy we are blending it with vegan milk instead of water.

How to make vegan creamy lemon pasta:

If you don’t have a high speed blender start by soaking your cashews in hot water. Pop them in a pyrex jug and top with boiled water and leave to soften for around 30 minutes.

Put the pasta on to boil, according to packet instructions. Make sure to add a decent amount of water as we need some of pasta water for the sauce.

Finely chop or mince the garlic cloves. Heat the vegan butter in a heavy bottom skillet on medium heat. Add the garlic and fry for a few minutes and lightly golden, watch they don’t burn, turn down the heat if you need.

Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and slices of lemon and turn down the heat to low. Make the cashew cream by adding the cashews and vegan milk to a high speed blender (or soaked cashews in a food processor).

Blend until completely smooth and add to the pan. The sauce will look quite thick. When the pasta is done, scoop out 1 cup/250ml pasta water.

Add this to the cream sauce and mix well, it should now resemble a silky creamy sauce. Remove the slices of lemon.

Add the pasta to the sauce and mix well until the pasta is all coated. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

I love topping it with some vegan parmesan and cracked black pepper. You can top with some fresh parsley and chili if you want some spice.

What is the best way to reheat a cream based pasta dish?

Creamy sauces typically don’t reheat well and therefore are always better eaten fresh. If you do need to reheat, put it in a pan over a low heat. Add a little water to loosen if needed. Don’t microwave it.

What to serve with creamy lemon pasta:

• Simple salad with leafy greens
• Sauteed greens like spinach or kale
• Garlic bread

For more pasta recipes you may enjoy these:

• Cheesy broccoli pasta
• Brazil nut pesto pasta
• Creamy cauliflower alfredo pasta
• Roasted courgette pesto pasta
• Sun dried tomato and roasted red pepper pasta

As always if you make this vegan creamy lemon pasta be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

Don’t forget to follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram – I’d love to see you all there!

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