Today, we're making a vegan broccoli sauce. And that veggie is... *drumroll* broccoli! Now hold up. Before you call me crazy and abandon ship, hear me out. I haven't lost my mind (yet). We're transforming broccoli into something that you won't even recognize. Something that is creamy and smooth, with a cheesy, salty flavor that could deceive any veggie hater. Best of all – you'll still get to enjoy broccoli's good-for-you perks while eating shall we say... pasta? 😏😏😏 Do I have your attention?
I had the idea for this sauce months ago when I made a creamy cauliflower sauce for the blog. If you can make a sauce out of cauliflower, you could surely make a sauce out of broccoli, right? RIGHT. I love when my crazy ideas turn out to be not so crazy and actually really yummy and super easy.
Sometimes my outlandish ideas result in a crumbly, shapeless veggie burger or double chocolate cookies that look like something Scout digested. Not this time! In a nutshell, I was/am over the moon about this recipe. By the time we finished – shooting video, taking pictures, and cleaning up, it was pushing 11 o'clock. We were ready to Netflix and chill.
Which brings me to a funny story. We binge-watched Stranger Things. (Who's with me?!)
I will be the first to admit that I am a giant wimp when it comes to scary things. Anything paranormal. Spiders. Suspicious, creaky noises (Hello, hardwood floors! 👋🏼). Horror movies are an absolute nope for me – besides Halloween and Friday the 13th, because, come on... those are more funny than scary. For those reasons, it's surprising that we even considered watching Stranger Things. BUT – it was my idea.
Fast forward to a couple hours later. We had just finished watching the last (3) episode(s) of Stranger Things on Netflix. We turned out the lights and snuggled into our safe, cozy bed. Just as we started to drift off, we hear *WHOOSH!* *BOOM!* *Papers flying!* *Glasses clinking!* all happening in the kitchen. We sat up in bed and turned the lights on.
And I gave him the look that he hates. The look that I give him when I tell him I hear a bear outside of our tent. The look that I give him when I ask – for the 4th time every night – if he locked the door.
Me – "I hear footsteps."
Clark – "No, you don't."
Me – "Yes. I do. I have to know." *gets out of bed to investigate*
Clark – *Rolls eyes and comes with me.*
Kitchen – "Chill guys, it was just the wind."
So we closed the kitchen windows and went back to bed. 5 minutes later – *BOOM!* *CRASH!* One of our box fans toppled over in the hallway, scaring the absolute shit out of us again. Clark gets up, closes more windows, and comes back to bed.
At this point, I'm wide awake. I hear every. single. freaking. noise. It's 2:17am. I'm staring at the clock on Clark's side of the bed. Clark falls asleep, 45 minutes pass and I finally start to drift off again. You guessed it: *WHOOSH!* *BOOM!* *Papers flying!* This time, the other box fan blew out of our office window. So we got up and closed every damn window in the entire damn apartment and went back to bed. About an hour later, I finally fell asleep.
Cue this morning. 6am. We're startled awake by rattling ladders as a painting crew sets up next door. This, followed by an hour's worth of loud conversations and the clanging of buckets and tools.
Needless to say, I give up on the whole "sleeping" thing for today. I'll try again tonight.
I thought this time of year was supposed to be all "let's sleep with the windows open" "let's light a yummy-smelling candle" "let's get all cozy and warm in bed together." Nope. I'll just be over here sleeping with one eye open. Thank you, Stranger Things. 😒
Have you guys watched it yet?! What are your thoughts? Where is Eleven? What's going to happen to Mike? I can't handle the wait!
PS – Here's the video for this vegan broccoli sauce recipe, just in case you didn't believe me when I said it was easy. 😘 Scroll for the printable version!
Creamy Vegan Broccoli Sauce
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 10 oz. 1x
Description
This creamy, savory broccoli sauce is made with simple, wholesome ingredients. It takes 20 minutes to make and it's delicious over any kind of pasta!
Ingredients
- water for boiling
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 3 cups broccoli florets
- ⅓ cup whole coconut milk, canned
- 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast* (what's nutritional yeast? i'll explain! click here.)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring water to a boil. (Between 6-8 cups water.)
- Add broccoli, garlic cloves, and a pinch of salt.
- Boil until broccoli is tender, which should be about 15 minutes. Strain the broccoli and set aside to cool for a few minutes.
- In a blender or food processor, add cooked broccoli and garlic, coconut milk, white wine vinegar, nutritional yeast, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Blend until completely smooth.
- Serve over the pasta of your choice! We spiralized our leftover broccoli stems and a yellow squash. But this sauce is delicious over any kind of noodles. It's also a great sauce for chilled pasta salads!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Main
Nutrition
- Calories: 128
- Sugar: 0.3 g
- Sodium: 45.2 mg
- Fat: 10.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4.9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 6.7 g
- Fiber: 1.4 g
- Protein: 5.4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 g
The sauce was amazing!
★★★★★
I added some pesto - DELISH
Excellent thank you! I accidentlly over did with the vinegar. Any ideas how to tone it down?
If it's vinegar-heavy, I would suggest adding a bit more coconut milk to tone it down.
I made this last night. Did not had coconut milk so I sub with unsweetened soja milk (just water and beans).
It is delicious.
Thank you so much and keep sharing :)
Awesome! I'm so glad you enjoyed!
How many servings does 10 oz. make?
It's hard to quantify exactly how many servings this sauce makes – everyone uses it for different dishes! Whether for pasta, veggies, etc. Plus, everyone uses a different amount of sauce.
The nutrition infos are for which quantity?
It's for the entire recipe!
This was really good but I skip the yeast and added raw basil pesto to it plus a few more spices
Delicious!
Would make a great cream soup also and raw veggie dip
After i make this, do i have to refrigerate it to make it last for tomorrow ? Or do i just leave at room normally ?
Yes – refrigerate. It should stay good 5-7 days. :)
Trying this for tonight - but sauce will be cold - can it be reheated in the microwave? Thank you.
I have not tried reheating this sauce in the microwave. But it reheats just fine on the stovetop!
I have made this on 3 occasions, it's amazing! Thank you
Hi Liz! So glad you like this sauce – thanks for the feedback! :)
I am so happy you did this... I love broccoli and pasta but was getting bored with same old same old....also want to buy the spiralizer and try to do the sweet potato noodles! Keep up the good work!
Hi Lori –
Sounds like this recipe is perfect for you! I'm a huge fan of the sauce.... it's so versatile. (Also, I LOVE pasta and I'm always looking for light sauces.) If you're in the market for a spiralizer, I recommend the "Inspiralizer." It's the best one on the market. We used to have the Paderno but just recently upgraded to the Inspiralizer. <–– Click there to check it out. In my opinion, it's safer, more durable, sturdier, and worth a few extra bucks.