Review: Victoria Vegan Alfredo Sauce

I was walking through EarthFare shopping for vegan cheeses to use in a vegan lasagne and as I was perusing the sauce isle, I came across this jar of VEGAN ALFREDO SAUCE! Super stoked, I purchased the $7.98, 18 oz jar of sauce, much to the chagrin of my wallet. 

We had lasagne that night but the next night I was planning a great meal of steamed asparagus, spinach salad, and penne pasta with Alfredo sauce. As I was pouring the sauce into the pot to heat, I noticed chunkules and a certain grittiness to the sauce. I thought it was just how the sauce consisted when it was cold. 

Putting the sauce on warm-low heat, I started gathering the supplies to cook the penne and construct the salad. It could not have been more than 3 minutes later that I got out a spoon to stir the sauce and on the bottom of the pan, a thin, filmy layer of brown goop had formed in the alfredo sauce. Hmm... this was unusual. I did not have the sauce on a high temperature and it has already started burning? Weird. 

I tried to stir the sauce lightly so as to not stir up the burnt bits. When the salad was complete, I looked at the ingredients of the sauce; surprisingly, it was exceedingly similar to a sauce that I make every so often! 

Victoria uses cashew cream as the base of her alfredo with garlic and rosemary to flavor it. My mind put two and two together. The grittiness was little bits of cashews that were not completely blended up into the sauce! 

When the noodles were finished, I leerily poured the sauce over the penne and served our dinner. We took bites. OH! At first taste, I liked it. The tanginess of the sauce complimented the creamy aspect. A distinguished after taste set in. It was sour, almost like lemon juice. Jonathan thought so too. I noticed the grittiness I noticed when starting the sauce remained in the cooked sauce. There were little tiny pieces of cashew that remained rigid against the tongue. 

We both switched over to finishing the salad and asparagus without another word about the alfredo sauce. When we finished eating the pasta, I asked what he thought of it. I could tell he did not want to insult the dinner but we both agreed that the sauce was subpar. 

Unfortunately, the sauce does not reflect alfredo at all; even as a standalone pasta sauce, the flavor is not that great and the texture is even weirder. It was not a horrible experience, but this vegan alfredo sauce was vastly different than what I expected. 

I am sure different taste buds have different sensors and such so I suggest you at least give it a try! As for us, we will not be purchasing this product again. Sorry Victoria, but this just is not for us. We do certainly appreciate the attempt concern for creating vegan food items. 

The Verdict:

Taste:         6/10

Texture:      4/10

Price:         4/10

Value:         3/10

Score:        45%  

                    F

Roasted Red Pepper Mac & Cheese

Mmm*Mac & Cheese! Everybody loves it. It seems everyone I talk to says, "Yeah, I could not be a vegan because I would miss cheese too much!" Let me be the first to say I thought the same thing! I loved eating cheese. I had cheese with every meal. Cheese was a meal. Mac & Cheese was my favorite meal to eat when it was cold outside. My mother would always make me homemade cheese sauce over spaghetti noodles. I would request it every morning and it was my absolute favorite breakfast. Vegan cheese recipes can be super simple simulations of ooey-gooey cheese. 

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup raw cashews (soaked)              ($0.95)
• 2 tsp. olive oil                                           ($0.01)
• 1 onion, diced                                          ($0.18)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced                           ($0.38)
• 2 cups vegetable broth                           ($0.65)
• 1 1/2 tbsp. corn starch                            ($0.05)
• 1 1/2 tbsp. nutritional yeast                    ($0.18)
• 1 roasted red pepper                              ($0.45)
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste                              ($0.12)
• 1 tsp. salt                                                 ($0.01)
• 1 tsp. ground mustard                            ($0.03)
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric                                      ($0.03)
• 1 box of pasta                                         ($0.99)

Preparation:

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Sauté the onions in olive oil until they become translucent. It should not take more than 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté 30 seconds. You do not want to overcook the garlic and lose the flavor. Add this mixture to a blender or food processor. Add the drained cashews, vegetable broth, corn starch, nutritional yeast, red pepper, tomato paste, salt, ground mustard, and turmeric. Blend until smooth. Smoothness is important. If you have read my previous blogs involving cashews, you will understand that it is very important to have a smooth sauce. The texture is gritty, rough, and crunchy. Transfer the sauce to the pan used to sauté the onions. Heat on medium-low for 10 minutes or until it starts to thicken. Once thick, add the pasta until the whole mixture is warmed through. SERVE and MUNCH! 

Sautéing the garlic for only 30 seconds will keep the flavor
of the garlic at the optimal level 

At first it was weird to add hot onions and garlic to a blender
but the flavors of these are key to creating a cheesy flavor!

The sauce will slowly thicken. KEEP STIRRING!
The first time I made this, I slightly burned the bottom
of the cheese sauce; it burns very easily so keep stirring

I used Lumaconi pasta instead of shell pasta or macaroni
because they look way cooler and they were
significantly less expensive at Aldi

There you have it. Delicious mac and cheese! 

Since it has been so long since I have had actual dairy cheese, the vegan mind will almost forget what actual cheese tastes like and this faux cheese will totally satisfy all of your cheese cravings! I will challenge any cheese-eater to try this cheese sauce and tell me that it does not imitate mac and cheese extremely closely. I am still working on a few more cheese blogs so get hype! I hope to publish them very soon! For now, enjoy this delightful take on the American staple using cashews instead of dairy! 

This is a modification of Isa Chandra's Pizza Mac & Cheese recipe from Post Punk Kitchen. I love her work and she is the most exceptional vegan chef! Check out her blog at the Post Punk Kitchen!