Creamy Velvety Tofu Pasta Sauce Recipe

Tofu Pasta Sauce is a super easy way to get more plant-based protein in your meals! This creamy sauce comes together in just 5 minutes. Just cook some pasta up, blend the sauce, and you're good to go!

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Hey Internet, we're back with another amazing pasta sauce recipe! A good sauce can take any plain pasta and make it into a meal! And with this creamy tofu pasta sauce, you can have everything ready in minutes.

Tofu is such as useful ingredient. It easily takes on whatever flavors you add to it and can either be blended into a creamy texture or turned into tender morsels. It can be used to make sauces, smoothies, vegan cheeses, meat replacements, and so much more... check out our Tofu Recipes compilation! 

In fact, we have a whole article on how to make Tofu into Vegan Cheese if want an easy way to make your own vegan cheeses! Not to mention, tofu is packed with protein! When paired with some carbs and a fat sources, it's easy to make a super filling meal with it.

The key to tofu is buying the right type for your project. Silken tofu is so soft that it's almost a liquid. Meanwhile, super firm tofu has so much of the water pressed out that it easily keeps its shape when sliced. For this recipe we'll be using silken tofu with some great ingredients to make the perfect dinner for busy weeknights.

We've used tofu to make a lot of great sauces! Our Spicy Harissa Whipped Tofu Dip is easily made into a silken tofu sauce with some extra liquids. We've used it on pasta a ton of times. Our Tofu Sour Cream and Vegan Tofu Mayo are great bases for many sauces. You can also use silken tofu to some amazing vegan cheese sauces, like our Soy-Free Nut-Free Vegan Cheese Sauce.

Also we really love making creamy vegan pasta recipes, such as our Vegan Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta, One Pot Vegan Chickpea Florentine, One Pot Vegan Mushroom Pasta, Vegan Creamy Pasta, Vegan Tahini Pasta... ooh, now we're getting hungry. Luckily this recipe only takes a couple of minutes to throw together!

 Alright, enough salivating over our previous recipes. Let's get to blending.

Why You'll Love This Creamy Silken Tofu Pasta Sauce

• Easy Recipe: It only takes 5 minutes to make this recipe. You'll have to wait longer on your favorite pasta to cook!
• 9 Ingredients: You only need a few simple ingredients, many of them are likely already in your pantry.
• Extra Protein: Not only do you get protein from your pasta (yes, even regular white pasta, or any pasta you like!), but an average package of tofu has about an additional 20 grams of protein! That protein really helps make your meal feel satisfying.

Ingredients

Pick up the following basic ingredients for this creamy pasta sauce recipe the next time you're at your local grocery store. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredients, instructions, and accurate nutrition information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs or need to meet certain daily values of any nutrient). I give substitutions for the ingredients in the section below this one, so most people can still make this recipe!

• 1 Package of Silken Tofu (454 g): Unlike other tofu, silken tofu only needs to be slightly drained on opening to remove the excess water. It is soft, almost like liquid. You'll want to grab a small spatula and scrape it out into your blender. 
• 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 
• 1-2 Fire Roasted Red Pepper Slices From a Jar (optional, for flavor!)
• ½ to 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
• 3 Tablespoon Nutritional Yeast
• 2 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• Black Pepper to Taste
• 16 oz Pasta of Choice: Both long and short pastas work great with this sauce!

Substitutions

Note that with each substitution may alter the thickness or thinness of the sauce. You may have to make adjustments with the other ingredients to get the consistence right. It's always easier to make a thick sauce thinner, so add your changes in slowly to be safe! 

• Silken Tofu: You can use regular tofu for this recipe, but you'll likely have to add some more liquids. The less soft tofu is, the less water content it has. So firm tofu is a better choice as a replacement compared to extra firm tofu.
• Olive Oil: You could make this oil-free, though you may miss an element of richness. Tahini is a replacement that should pair well with the rest of the ingredients. A cashew cream or sunflower seed cream works great too! If you just want to use a different type of oil, then avocado oil or canola oil can work in a pinch.
• Roasted Red Pepper: You can skip the pepper if you want. But if you want that smokey sweet flavor that the pepper provides there are other options. You could add sun-dried tomatoes or half a can of roasted diced tomatoes in place of the pepper. You could also add a little agave and liquid smoke.
• Lemon Juice: White wine vinegar or a splash of apple cider vinegar are great alternative ways to add some brightness to your sauce.
• Pasta: It's easy to use different pastas! If you're avoiding gluten, chickpea pasta or another type of bean pasta should work great with this sauce.

How to Make This Creamy Tofu Sauce

1. Boil Water: Start a pot of water for your pasta on high heat and then let it come to a boil. Add you pasta and stir occasionally, cooking according to package directions (all pasta is different). NOTE: if you are making any adjustments to the recipe, you may wish to reserve some of your pasta water to add to the blender.
2. Add to Blender: Take all of your ingredients and add then to a high-speed blender. Blend for about 30 to 45 seconds. Make adjustments as needed... such as extra salt, lemon, etc. Is your sauce too thick? Add a splash of water (bonus points for using pasta water/water ladled from the cooking pot of pasta. This starchy water will help the sauce adhere to your pasta better!). Sauce too thin? Well, that's a little harder to fix, but you can add more tofu, some strained canned white beans, nutritional yeast, instant potato flakes, or raw nuts/seeds to make it thicker!
3. Add to Finished Pasta: Once cooked pasta is tender, strain it and then add the sauce to the emptied pot. Then add back the pasta and combine. Then plate and enjoy! Feel free to garnish with a few herbs, a little sprinkle of vegan parmesan cheese, or a dusting of nutritional yeast for some inexpensive cheesy flavor.

Storage Instructions

Store leftovers immediately. Add remaining pasta to an airtight container and store in a refrigerator. The pasta should last about 3 days. For long term storage, it's better to make this silken tofu pasta sauce recipe and store it on it's own. That way you can freeze it and the pasta will not absorb the sauce if you store it in the fridge.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I add to this pasta to take it to the next level?

Fresh parsley, fresh basil, or even a little fresh spinach are easy additions that you can sprinkle onto your pasta. If you like things a bit more spicy, some red pepper flakes are great. You could also add a protein, like our Crispy Tofu or some of this Vegan Seitan Chicken.

Could I use a food processor?

You can but we find high speed blenders work better at creating sauces. Sometimes food processors struggle to get sauces smooth enough for our liking. But for silken tofu and olive oil? It should work fine, you just might need to process for 1-2 minutes, then scrape it down and process again.

Could I make this recipe more creamy?

A splash of plant-based milk or non-dairy heavy cream should help! Coconut milk is a great way to make this sauce even richer.

More Vegan Pasta Sauces

• Broccoli Pasta Sauce
• Vegan Protein Pasta
• Green Pea Pasta
• Vegan Sun-dried Tomato Pasta
• Easy Vegan Meat Sauce for Pasta
• Saucy Tahini Pasta with Crispy Tofu

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