Vegan Cacio e Pepe: Quick and Tasty (No Blender Required!)

This rich, creamy, and satisfying vegan cacio e pepe recipe comes together in just a few minutes for an easy, one pot meal!

Packed with B vitamins and protein, this dish is perfect for busy nights when you need something hearty without spending all evening cooking.

This recipe is also great for non-vegans who adore cheese-inspired dishes, but have a sensitivity to lactose and want to give dairy cheese a break now and then.

Inspired by one of the oldest dishes in Italian cuisine, this dish proves that simple doesn’t have to mean boring!

What is cacio e pepe?

Cacio e pepe is an Italian pasta dish seasoned with Pecorino Romano cheese and black pepper mixed into the pasta water, but if you can read Italian, you already knew that, since cacio e pepe literally means cheese and pepper.

People traditionally use tonnarelli for the noodles. However, since they can be hard to find, the similar looking (but smoother and vegan) spaghetti often takes their place.

This simple dish dates back to the Roman Empire. Shepherds could carry these long-lasting ingredients with them wherever their flocks took them.

As BBC.com reports, the black pepper helped shepherds feel warmer when sleeping outside in the cold to guard their sheep.

The inexpensive ingredients also made it a staple food for the working class.

To read more about black pepper throughout history, and to learn more about the benefits of cooking with pasta water, you can see my lemon pepper pasta article.

Pin it for later!

Modern adaptations of cacio e pepe – from natural disasters to social media fundraising

Now, you can often find cacio e pepe made with some or all Parmesan cheese, which is sweeter and nuttier than the original pecorino Romano.

(Note: our vegan cashew e pepe is much more reminiscent of these new versions!)

Natural disasters followed by human ingenuity contributed greatly to this shift.

Two earthquakes struck the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy in 2012.

In addition to destroying people’s homes and historic buildings, these earthquakes also threatened the region’s main industry: Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

(This is authentic Parmesan cheese, from its place of origin. Just like with champagne, anything made elsewhere has to be called something else.)

The earthquakes damaged the humidity-controlled warehouses where huge quantities of this world-renowned cheese sit and age.

Over $200 million worth of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese were damaged (360,000 wheels of cheese).

Something had to be done quickly to avoid a total loss.

Enter Chef Massimo Bottura, a native of the city of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region and Chef at the Osteria Francescana (voted the best restaurant in the world in 2016).

First, he created his risotto cacio e pepe, made with rice (also greatly and negatively impacted by the earthquakes) and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Then, he debuted his new dish on Parmigiano-Reggiano Night, an online fundraiser where people all over the world cooked and ate his dish at the same time.

In the weeks leading up to the fundraiser, the recipe spread like wildfire via social media.

By the end, all 360,000 wheels of cheese were sold, which meant that no one lost their job and no cheese maker had to go out of business.

What a success!

Although I’m sure the delicious, cheesy goodness of the risotto cacio e pepe had a little to do with it as well!

You can read the full, dramatic, and cheesy story here.

Does this vegan cacio e pepe taste like the real thing?

Honestly, I would argue no, although it is definitely reminiscent of traditional dairy cacio e pepe.

But is it still a rich, creamy, and sophisticated pasta dish that is absolutely worth making anyway and will impress your dinner guests?

Yes it is!

While foodnetwork.com describes pecorino Romano cheese as nutty, this dish is significantly nuttier, since, well, it’s literally made with nuts.

That being said, the nutritional yeast does make it taste fairly “cheesy,” especially for a vegan dish, and almost smoky.

What should I serve this with?

Asparagus, spring peas, mushrooms, or even red bell peppers would all make a nice addition to this meal.

You could also serve vegan garlic bread on the side.

Variations on this recipe

Feel free to add in whatever fresh ingredients you have lying around:

• fresh garlic
• basil
• parsley
• pine nuts
• shallots
• peas, etc.

For toppings, you could buy or make vegan parmesan, sprinkle more nutritional yeast on top, or even add grated macadamia nuts for added flavor.

Crushed red pepper flakes, truffles, or truffle salt would also be good as a garnish, although they would change the flavor fairly dramatically.

For an extra rich dish, you could drizzle a bit of olive oil on top. Traditional cacio e pepe sauce only uses the starchy pasta water, cheese, and pepper, but some modern versions do use butter or oil to help emulsify the sauce.

This is a very saucy dish, so if you want a baked mac and “cheese” dish, you could certainly bake it as well. Try adding vegan parmesan on top before baking for a “cheesy” crust.

Some people don’t care for the slight sweetness from the cashews. You could substitute sunflower seeds, white beans, silken tofu, or even steamed cauliflower in place of the cashew butter if preferred.

If you found this article helpful, please consider joining my email newsletter community for new recipes delivered straight to your inbox!

Why use these ingredients for vegan cacio e pepe?

Cashew butter

Cashews are the quintessential vegan cheese replacement.

Browse the vegan refrigerated section of your local grocery store, and you are very likely to find cashew-based “queso”, vegan “butter” made from cashews and coconut oil, and cashew-based vegan parmesan “cheese”, among other sneaky faux dairy products.

Many people soak and blend raw cashews, and that is certainly a more economical option, especially if you don’t think you will finish a jar of cashew butter while it is still fresh.

However, for simplicity (and to not have to wash my blender), I chose to use cashew butter instead.

While cashews do make a great substitute, some people don’t care for the slight sweetness they bring to homemade recipes where we typically use less flavor additives.

You could try sunflower seeds, white beans, silken tofu, or steamed cauliflower instead, but of course they would also change the flavor in their own way.

Nutritional yeast

Nutritional yeast is a beloved vegan staple for cheesy, nutty, umami flavor!

It doesn’t hurt that it also is a great source of B vitamins, protein, as well as some iron.

This food contains complete protein, containing all nine of the amino acids our bodies can’t naturally produce.

Make sure to check whether you are buying fortified (much more common) or unfortified nutritional yeast before getting too excited about the health benefits, though.

While unfortified is still very healthy, it has about a quarter of the iron and generally does not contain vitamin B12, although it still contains B1 and B2.

You can read more about the health benefits of nutritional yeast here.

Miso Paste

Miso paste takes the place of salt in this recipe. White or yellow miso works best here due to their more mild, salty, and umami flavor.

Miso paste is a fermented food made from soybeans, salt, and koji starter. It is rich in:

• probiotics
• complete protein
• manganese
• vitamin K
• copper
• zinc,

and also has some B vitamins and iron as well.

Probiotics can help improve your gut health, and fermented foods make it easier for your body to absorb nutrients from the food you eat.

That said, it is fairly salty, so as with most foods, it is best eaten in moderation. Try mixing it with hot water for a vegetarian broth for soups!

You can read more about miso’s health benefits here.

If you can’t find miso, you can just use salt. Make sure to salt the water before cooking your pasta. You may want to add 1/2 tsp of table salt (1 tsp of sea salt) to the sauce in place of the miso, or just add it to taste over each serving.

Make it gluten-free!

This recipe can easily transform into a gluten-free meal by swapping out traditional pasta for a gluten-free pasta, such as chickpea pasta.

What if I have raw cashews but no cashew butter?

You can certainly make this dish with raw cashews instead! There are just a few additional steps.

First, if you didn’t soak the cashews overnight, you can flash soak them (about 1/2 cup) in hot water for 10 minutes, as I showed in my spicy cashew dressing recipe.

Then, drain the cashews, put them in a blender with about 1 cup of pasta water and blend! You may want to add a bit more pasta water, 1 Tbsp at a time, until it reaches the consistency you would like.

After that, add the rest of the ingredients and continue as written!

Related Vegan Pasta Recipes

• Lemon pepper pasta
• Pomodorini penne
• Hearty marinara sauce for your pasta

Not vegan pasta, but if you have leftover cashew butter, consider making these cashew butter cookies!

Vegan Cacio e Pepe Ingredients

Before you begin, you will need:

Edible Ingredients

• One pound of pasta – spaghetti is commonly used but I used fusilli to scoop up more sauce
• 1/2 cup cashew butter
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp white miso (yellow is fine too)
• 1/2 cup pasta water, reserved from cooking
• 1 tsp ground black pepper, plus fresh cracked pepper to garnish
• Salt, to taste (optional – the miso provides enough salt, so I didn’t add any)
• Fresh parsley or basil, to garnish (optional but tasty)

Tools and Equipment

• Large pot
• Stirring utensil for pasta
• Whisk
• Spatula
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Colander
• Mixing bowl (optional – you can make this a one pot dinner and just mix the sauce in the pot while the pasta is draining in a colander, and the hot pan will melt the cashew butter faster)

How to make vegan cacio e pepe

1. First, cook your pasta to your preference. Reserve at least 1/2 cup of the pasta water before draining. While the pasta is cooking, stir the cashew butter so the oil is evenly incorporated.
2. Then, either in the same pot (preferred so the heat softens the cashew butter faster) or in a separate mixing bowl while the pasta cooks, whisk together all the ingredients – cashew butter, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, miso, pepper, and 1/2 cup pasta water until fully blended.
3. Once the sauce is smooth, add the pasta back in and combine thoroughly.
4. After that, serve, garnish with fresh cracked black pepper, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, and a sprig of parsley if desired, and enjoy!

Important: This post is for informational and educational purposes only. This post should not be taken as medical or nutritional advice or used as a substitute for such. You should always speak to your own doctor or nutritionist before implementing this information on your own. Thank you!

I hope you loved this simple vegan Cacio e Pepe recipe!