This classic vegan cacio e pepe recipe is just as rich and cheesy as the original, with no cheese or dairy required!

Easy dairy free cacio e pepe

Traditional cacio e pepe hails from the Lazio region of Italy and is made up of just three ingredients: pecorino Romano cheese, freshly ground black pepper, and spaghetti or tonnarelli pasta.

The name literally translates to “cheese and pepper” in Italian.

For this nondairy and plant based cacio e pepe, we employ cheesy nutritional yeast or vegan Parmesan cheese and onion powder in place of the Romano. And we include cashew cream for extra richness.

With just a few minutes of work, you get a homemade and healthy vegan dinner reminiscent of something you might find at a fancy Italian restaurant.
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Vegan cacio e pepe pasta sauce recipe video

Above – watch the step by step recipe video

Ingredients for the vegan dinner recipe

Unlike many other vegan cacio e pepe recipes, this one calls for no cornstarch, cauliflower, miso paste, or silken tofu.

To make the dairy free cacio e pepe, you will need water, black pepper, onion powder, salt, nutritional yeast or vegan Parmesan cheese, and raw cashews or macadamia nuts.

Look for raw unsalted cashews, or choose salted nuts and decrease the salt in the recipe to taste. Or you may substitute half a cup of cashew butter.

You can save money by buying the nuts in the bulk bi...