This Vegan Mushroom Sauce is incredibly rich and creamy. You simply won’t believe it’s made without cream. Delectable, dairy-free and made with cashew cream, it's an amazing pasta sauce!
Vegan or not, assuming we all like mushrooms, I promise you, you’ll really love this sauce.
To say it’s rich and creamy is an understatement. We’re talking over-the-top rich and creamy!
The flavor of this hearty mushroom sauce is deep, earthy and subtly sweet. It will enhance all sorts of dishes and it makes for an incredible vegan mushroom pasta.
The magic ingredient is cashew cream. (Link to the super easy recipe is below.)
The Ingredients
- extra virgin olive oil - I like this one.
- onion - Try to choose onions that are firm, heavy for their size and without bruises.
- mushrooms - I like to make this mushroom sauce with a few different varieties - Crimini, Shiitake, Button, Oyster, or any combination thereof. Look for mushrooms with the thick caps and avoid those that look wet, slimy, or shriveled.
- fresh thyme - Choose perky bunches of fresh thyme with a deep green color.
- cashew cream - Here's the link for How to Make Cashew Cream - it's easy!)
- dry sherry - The sherry is used to deglaze the pan after the mushrooms have caramelized, and it also adds a wonderful nut-like sweet flavor.
- vegetable stock - Preferably low sodium.
- black pepper - Preferably freshly ground.
- salt
(See recipe card below for quantities.)
Substitutions and Variations
- Fresh thyme. If you want to use dried thyme instead of fresh, use about 1 ½ teaspoons.
- Dry sherry. With a slightly sweeter flavor, medium and cream sherry are also okay. Vermouth is a good substitute, and if you want to omit alcohol all together, make up the difference with additional vegetable stock.
- If you love garlic, add minced garlic with the onions — about a teaspoon.
- Other herbs are delicious too — try oregano, rosemary or tarragon. Or any combination thereof.
- Please note that the cashew cream should be made ahead of time. It only takes about 5 minutes.
Recipe Tips
- When you're cooking a lot of mushrooms, it's best to add them to the pan in batches. They have a very high water content so at some point you will likely see a lot of liquid in the pan. You'll want to keep sautéing until the pan is dry and the mushrooms are beautifully browned (which is when the sherry will be added.)
- If the sauce is thicker than you’d like, add more vegetable stock until it's the consistency you want.
How to Make it
(More detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.)
- Coat the bottom of a large sauté pan with olive oil and place it over low-medium heat. Add the onions and, stirring often, cook until soft and slightly golden, about 7 minutes. Add the thyme, mix and sauté for another 30 seconds or so, until it's very aromatic.
- Turn the heat up, add a bit more olive oil and half of the mushrooms. Stirring often, cook until they've shrunk considerably. Then add the other half and sauté until they're all beginning to brown.
- Turn the heat down, add the sherry and mix. Turn the heat back up to cook it off and use a flat-edged spatula to scrape any bits of stuck ingredients off the bottom of the pan and back into the mix.
- Turn the heat to low, add the cashew cream and stock and mix until warm. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
How to Use it
- This sauce makes for the most delicious vegan mushroom pasta ever! Add it to any pasta you like. Use about 1 ½ cups of the sauce for ½-pound of dry pasta.
- One of the reasons this recipe is so amazing is that it's a rich and creamy mushroom sauce without cream, making it perfect for a vegan diet. That said, one does not have to be vegan to absolutely love it. If you're not vegan, you will really like it spooned over chicken or served with steak.
- I also like to mix it into casseroles and rice dishes.
- You can replace cream of mushroom soup with it! Add vegetable broth to the desired consistency and heat!
- If you're vegetarian, not vegan, add finely grated Parmesan cheese to the sauce and serve it with Fettuccini, it will be a delicious vegan Fettuccini Alfredo.
Other Vegan (and Vegetarian) Mushroom Recipes
- Pan-Fried Oyster Mushrooms
- Marinated Grilled Portobello Mushrooms
- Savory Polenta Cake with Mushrooms
- Mushroom Cauliflower Risotto
Can you make it ahead?
You can make Vegan Mushroom Sauce up to three days ahead. Keep it refrigerated in a tightly sealed container.
To reheat it, add it to a sauté pan and warm it over low-medium heat. If it’s too thick, add a bit of vegetable stock to thin it. I would not recommend freezing this sauce.
I hope you love this sauce as much as we do!
Vegan Mushroom Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- extra virgin olive oil for the pan
- 1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
- 6 cups (about 1½-pounds) mixed mushrooms (Crimini, Shiitake, Button, Oyster) washed and dried, thinly sliced
- 1 generous tablespoon fresh thyme
- ¼ cup dry sherry
- 1 cup Cashew Cream
- ½ to 1 cup vegetable stock
Instructions
- Prep the pan and cook the onions. Coat the bottom of a large sauté pan with olive oil and place it over low-medium heat. Add the onions and, stirring often, cook until soft and slightly golden, about 7 minutes. Add the thyme, mix and sauté for another 30 seconds or so, until it's very aromatic.
- Add the mushrooms and thyme. Turn the heat up, add a bit more olive oil and half of the mushrooms. Stirring often, cook until they've shrunk considerably. Then add the other half and sauté until they're all beginning to brown.
- Deglaze the pan and add the cashew cream. Turn the heat down, add the sherry and mix. Turn the heat back up to cook it off and use a flat-edged spatula to scrape any bits of stuck ingredients off the bottom of the pan and back into the mix. Turn the heat to low, add the cashew cream and stock and mix until warm. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Here’s How to Season to Taste.)
NOTES
NUTRITION
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Eha Carr
I love all kinds of mushroom sauces - here in Australia we are lucky as every supermarket keeps a number of Asian mushrooms as well as most of those the rest of the world has to enjoy . . . and many of them both look and taste delicious ! Eating as healthily as I know how naturally these days I do try to keep cream away from the house, usually reaching for yogurt at the end of a cook . . . this methinks would be a very tasty and welcoming variant !
valentina
Thanks so much, Eha. I do love yogurt, too. It can be such a treat. 🙂 ~Valentina
John / Kitchen Riffs
This looks great -- a healthier version of a classic mushroom/cream sauce. Tons of flavor in this, too, which of course is the important thing. Thanks!
valentina
Thanks so much, John. Yes, packed with flavor. 🙂 ~Valentina
Cathy
What a great recipe! I am always looking for ways to reduce the dairy in my life. Thank you!
valentina
Thanks, Cathy. I hope you love it! 🙂 ~Valentina
David @ Spiced
So I haven't played around with cashew cream yet, but this sauce looks incredible, Valentina! I could imagine this going over all sorts of things from chicken breasts to mashed potatoes. Talk about comfort food!!
valentina
Thanks, David. I love it with the chicken. Hope you do too. 🙂 ~Valentina
David Scott Allen
Again, this cashew cream is an amazing ingredient, especially when you can get such a beautiful mushroom sauce like this. I’m glad Trader Joe’s sells raw cashews. I just showed this to Mark and, even in his sleepy state, he said, “we should make this!“ you have no idea what a complement that is!
valentina
Awww, please thank Mark for me. And thank you! Hope it lives up. 🙂 ~Valentina
Kim Lange
Sounds so rich and creamy delish! LOVE!
valentina
Thanks, Kim. 🙂 ~Valentina
Marissa
This is such a fabulous idea, Valentina. Your pasta looks absolutely luscious. I've used cashew cream in soups, but never thought to enjoy it with pasta - what a revelation!!
Valentina
Thanks, Marissa. I must now add it to soups, too! 🙂 ~Valentina
David Scott Allen
Who, oh why, didn’t I remember this dish when I needed a vegan mushroom pasta to teach this week to 40 students?? I did okay, but I should have done this. (I did mushrooms and spinach and thicker with a tiny bit of flour.
Also, I love that we both posted creamy pasta recipes today. 🩵
Valentina
Great minds think alike. 😉 Your mushroom-spinach sauce sounds dreamy! Are you teaching cooking classes? How fun! ~Valentina
chef mimi
Delicious! I’m not vegan but I’ve always enjoyed subbing different milks when I can. I mean, why not?! And this sauce looks wonderful.
Valentina
Hi Mimi. Thanks so much. Hope you try and love it! 🙂 ~Valentina
Jeff the Chef @ Make It Like a Man!
I love everything about this! I'm a big fan of mushrooms, and I've cooked with cashew cream before and really like it.
Valentina
Yay! Thanks Jeff. I've always been surprised at how well the cashew cream cooks into things, and the nutty flavor is so rich and creamy. Enjoy! 🙂 ~Valentina
Dawn
I just love cashew cream (it's amazing how they can create the most incredible sauce) and I definitely adore mushrooms! What a wonderfully comforting recipe, Valentina. This is my kinda meal. 🙂
Valentina
I agree, Dawn. I love it too, and how well it works its way into sauces. Thanks and enjoy! 🙂 ~Valentina