This vegan pasta Carbonara is ridiculously easy to make and has a similar texture to the original. I didn’t use cashews because they give the sauce an overly creamy consistency. Since the original Carbonara doesn’t have any cream in it, I used chickpea flour and Kala Namak to make it super eggy!
I once tried vegan Carbonara in Italy but couldn’t ask for the recipe because nobody spoke English there. The only ingredient I could distinguish was smoked tofu. And it works perfectly.
Start to cook your pasta.
Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Dice tofu into bacon-bit-shaped pieces. Add garlic to the pan and stir until fragrant. Add the tofu and cook until it starts browning.
Meanwhile, blend soya milk, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder, vinegar and salt until combined.
Add chickpea mixture into the pan and stir until the sauce thickens. I suggest adding a little bit of pasta water because it thickens too fast.
Add cooked pasta and stir well.
Serve and garnish with freshly ground black pepper and fresh or dried oregano.
Vegan pasta Carbonara
Vegan pasta Carbonara with smoked tofu.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Main course
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 200g dry pasta
- 1 cup soya milk
- 3 tbsp chickpea flour
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp Kala Namak or to taste
- 100g smoked Tofu
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- olive oil for cooking
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Start to cook your pasta.
- Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Dice tofu into bacon-bit-shaped pieces. Add garlic to the pan and stir until fragrant. Add the tofu and cook until it starts browning.
- Meanwhile, blend soya milk, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder, vinegar and salt until combined.
- Add the chickpea mixture to the pan and stir until the sauce thickens. I suggest adding a little bit of pasta water because it thickens too fast.
- Add cooked pasta and stir well.
- Serve and garnish with freshly ground black pepper and fresh or dried oregano.
Nutrition
- Calories: 587
- Sugar: 8.2g
- Sodium: 659mg
- Fat: 14.1g
- Saturated Fat: 1.7g
- Carbohydrates: 92g
- Fiber: 7.8g
- Protein: 27.2g
- Cholesterol: 0g
Is smoked tofu a method of preparing, or a product you purchase? I’ve not seen/heard of this before, and I’m wondering what might be a reasonable substitute. Sadly, I do not have access to a smoker but would love to give this recipe a try!
Yes, I find the smoked tofu in stores. You can add few drops of liquid smoke or smoked paprika when you fry tofu, I do that as well sometimes.
Wow I am so impressed with this recipe, honestly this is exactly what I remember carbonara tasting like! I also love that it doesn’t use cashews because they are pretty expensive where I live.
Thank you so much!
Thank you for your feedback, Sofia! I’m glad you liked it 🙂
I was looking for a carbonara with chickpea flour and this did NOT disappoint! I upped the flour and nutritional yeast to 4 tablespoons, and a full teaspoon of black salt. I will definitely make this again. Thank you!
Thank you for your feedback, Kezia! 🙂