This Vegan Buffalo Alfredo Penne is the perfect fun weeknight dinner. Penne pasta tossed in a creamy, buttery hot Buffalo Alfredo sauce. The sauce is completely vegan and dairy-free, yet somehow has such a creamy, cheesy texture. I couldn’t get enough of this recipe! Such a delicious blend of a classic Alfredo cream sauce and a buffalo sauce! With just the right amount of heat, you’ll be grabbing seconds for sure.
How hot is it?
Buffalo sauce seems to be something people always use for dipping, tossing or drizzling. And given its heat, I was skeptical to stir it into a sauce where it would mix into the entire dish. I was worried it would be over powering but I promise this is the perfect blend of flavours! It has a bit of heat at first but it isn’t insanely spicy in the way that it burns your mouth and lingers.
The inspiration:
I am obsessed with anything buffalo, and not to brag but my buffalo sauce recipe from my second cookbook is truly the best I’ve had. Not only is it just 4 ingredients and about 5 minutes to make, it tastes better than anything you would buy in a bottle. I knew I wanted something buffalo this week (and if you’re a buffalo fan, check out this recipe and this recipe) and I also wanted a comforting pasta.
You all LOVED my lemon dill rigatoni recipe last week, and I also love how simple that recipe was. With super basic, easy to find ingredients, it was such a winner! So this Alfredo sauce is based on that recipe, which is great if you made it last week and still have more ingredients.
Start by boiling the pasta and while it cooks, you make the sauce. It’s basically throwing things into a large frying pan. The sauce is made in that one pan and then you add the pasta back in. That’s it! Seriously.
The key to this Buffalo Alfredo sauce:
The key to this pasta is using a mix of flour and tapioca starch to thicken the sauce. You can definitely use only flour or even corn starch (although see the notes below if you’re going to do that) but tapioca starch gives it that stretchy, cheesy look while the flour helps thicken the sauce. It looks and feels so much like a cheese-heavy, dairy pasta but it is in fact completely dairy-free! Perfect for anyone with dietary preferences, allergies or lactose intolerance!
You’ll love this Vegan Buffalo Alfredo Penne!
Make this pasta and you’ll be enjoying a restaurant-worthy meal right at home! This penne pasta tossed in a creamy, buttery hot Buffalo Alfredo sauce that is magically vegan and dairy-free! It’s comforting, cozy, creamy, spicy and most of all, delicious! Plus, you’ll have leftover buffalo sauce for making even more delicious buffalo recipes! My favs are buffalo whipped feta hummus and buffalo Mac and cheese!
This penne recipe isn’t traditional at all, but that’s what makes it so unique and fun! With a fun and delicious combination of two GREAT sauces, you will be reminiscing on this meal for a loooong time.
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Vegan Buffalo Alfredo Penne
Description
Penne pasta tossed in a creamy, buttery hot Buffalo Alfredo sauce and is vegan and dairy-free, yet has such a creamy, cheesy texture.
Ingredients
- 200g penne pasta
- 2 tbsp olive oil or vegan butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 400 mL can of coconut milk
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt (you can always add more at the end once you taste it)
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
- 1 tbsp tapioca starch (I really recommend using tapioca starch for that stretchy, cheesy look and feel, but you can sub corn starch or more flour, see notes below)
- 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
Buffalo Sauce:
- 2 tbsp melted vegan butter
- 1/4 cup Frank’s Red Hot sauce
- 1/2 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Boil pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Stir together buffalo sauce ingredients or shake in a jar with a lid until combined. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a deep frying pan on medium heat, add the olive oil, garlic, and shallots. Fry a few minutes, until starting to brown.
- Add the flour and stir to coat.
- Add the coconut milk, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and nutritional yeast and stir. Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently, about until sauce thickens slightly (about 2-3 minutes).
- Add half the buffalo sauce and stir to combine. Taste and add more if desired.
- Add drained pasta and tapioca starch, stirring to combine. Let simmer and the sauce will thicken quickly so remove from heat once it has thickened to your liking.
- Add the parsley and serve!
Notes
If subbing corn starch: mix 1 tbsp corn starch with 1 tbsp water. Add into the sauce before adding the pasta and let sauce start to thicken before adding in cooked pasta.
If subbing all flour: add 2 tbsp flour to the pan just before pouring in the coconut milk mixture in step and stir to coat the onion and garlic. Let cook a minute or two, then slowly add the coconut milk a bit at a time, mixing and letting it thicken as you go.
Just made this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely delicious! Great recipe Liv!
★★★★★
so happy you enjoyed!
So good, I got the Franks Hot Sauce via mail and it was so worth it. The texture of the sauce is really incredible, easy to make and really fast too. Will definitely make it again.
★★★★★
So happy you enjoyed 🙂
The mix of buffalo sauce with the alfredo is absolutely stunning! The flavour profile is definitely next level- just the right level of spice with a creamy texture from the alfredo!
★★★★★
So happy you enjoyed! 🙂
This is so good! I just made it for dinner tonight. I will definitely be making this again.
★★★★★
So happy you enjoyed 🙂
I made this tonight, wow, so delicious! I have a little stack of recipes that I print out that is only reserved for our special favourites, and this one joined the stack. My husband and I printed out this recipe before we finished eating, lol. I doubled the recipe but only had 1 can of coconut milk but it was full fat so I subbed 400ml of soy milk to mix with the coconut milk, still delicious! The tapioca starch is a must, it takes the gooeyness to the next level, yum. I can’t wait to try your spicy lemon dill rigatoni 😍
★★★★★
So happy you enjoyed 🙂
What a genius idea to combine buffalo and alfredo sauce together! This recipe is phenomenal. It’s hard to eat only one portion per meal-it’s just that delicious! Be warned, eat with caution as this pasta is truly addictive. Also, adding previously frozen tofu that’s been drained, pressed, ripped into pieces and lightly dredged in cornstarch before frying makes this more of a complete meal, and it gives the dish a chicken like spin. You can’t go wrong with this recipe. 🤤
★★★★★
Excellent and easy dinner! The sauce was so creamy and flavorful. Highly recommend! It was my first recipe of Liv’s and I can’t wait to make more.
★★★★★
Thanks so much for the review! 🙂
My meat and potato’s carnivore father got put on stirring duty while I did something. He decided to take a sip and said “hey that’s pretty good!”
We are talking about a man who puts Montreal steak spice in spaghetti sauce and thinks meat should be served at 3 meals.
This is the best vegan pasta recipe ever. Been vegetarian for 8 year and seriously missed the flavour profile of hot wings. This was comfort and heat I have missed for 8 years. (I obvi added the full Buffalo sauce to my Alfredo) I feel the Buffalo sauce could be added to box of Annie’s mac and cheese for a quick easy meal too.
★★★★★
haha I am taking that as a major compliment from your dad! So happy you enjoyed this 🙂
Amazing. I am a vegetarian but love eating vegan food. My meat-eating husband gobbled this up. I did cheat and put real parm on top but the creaminess of the sauce from the coconut milk is sublime!
★★★★★
so happy you both enjoyed it! 🙂
5 stars not 3! There is a glitch and if I leave more than 3 stars I can’t write a message. Absolutely amazing! So easy and I had all ingredients on hand. I added all the buffalo sauce and my nose is definitely running. Hah But I love it!
★★★