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Vegan Recipes

Written by:

Lucy

Last updated: January 4, 2025

Creamy vegan silken tofu sauce base recipe

Name: Creamy vegan silken tofu sauce base
Prep time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 packet Silken tofu (about 300g); 4 tbsp Nutritional yeast; ½ Lemon (juice of); ½ tsp Garlic powder (or use 1 fresh garlic clove); ½ tsp Onion powder; ¼ tsp Salt; ¼ tsp Black pepper (ground)

5 from 2 votes

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Finding a suitable vegan cream sauce that you can buy in the supermarket is pretty much impossible. I have found many substitutes to either be very bland, way too sweet to be cooked in savoury food, or just packed full of unnecessary ingredients.

This is why I love using silken tofu. It is a high-protein natural ingredient that when blended with the right balance of ingredients, can be used as a cream sauce. It’s absolute magic!

A packet of silken tofu next to a vegan silken tofu sauce base

Lucy

Creamy vegan silken tofu sauce base

5 from 2 votes

A quick and easy vegan cream alternative

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Prep Time 10

Servings: 4 portions

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: French

Ingredients

1 packet Silken tofu about 300g
4 tbsp Nutritional yeast
½ Lemon juice of
½ tsp Garlic powder or use 1 fresh garlic clove
½ tsp Onion powder
¼ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Black pepper ground

Equipment

1 High-powered blender

Method

Add all of the ingredients into a blender, including the water from inside the packet of tofu
Blend until smooth. If you find the mix hasn't blended fully and is quite stiff, then add in some vegan milk until it is smooth and has the consistency of double cream
Taste and add seasoning if it needs more
Set aside and use in any dish that takes your fancy. You can also keep it in the fridge for about 3 days

Notes

This sauce makes enough for about 4 people, or 4 portions. So if you are making a creamy vegan pasta for one person, then you’ll need to 1/4 of this. The rest will last well in the fridge.

What can you cook with a creamy vegan silken tofu sauce base?

I recommend using this tofu cream sauce with pasta. Simply cook some onion, garlic, and vegan chicken, before adding this vegan white sauce. You can follow my quick and easy creamy vegan mushroom pasta recipe here.

You can also use this in place of a bechamel in a vegan lasagna. Or you can add extra nutritional yeast with some spices to create a cheesy sauce to bake on top of nachos. The possibilities are endless!

I’d love to find out what you do with your creamy vegan silken tofu sauce base. Make sure to let me know in the comments box at the bottom.

Variations

This creamy tofu sauce is a great base for so many different recipes. As it is, it can create wonderfully creamy dishes, but you may want to add some extra flavourings to the mix to suit a whole variety of different cuisines. Here are some of my favourite variations:

Curry: Add a few teaspoons of your favourite curry powders to use as an accompaniment to your favourite curry dish or as a dip for some Indian flatbreads.
Chipotle: Add in a spoonful of chipotle paste and the juice of a lime for a Mexican twist. Great for topping nachos or as a sauce base for vegan quesadillas.
Eggy: Add some black salt to use this as a sauce for your scrambled tofu.

Recipe categories:

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Lucy the founder of Edible Ethics vegan food blog eating vegan noodles in a plant based restaurant

Lucy Johnson

Lucy has been working in the food industry for over 6 years and has worked in many reputable vegan restaurants in the UK. She has held numerous sold out supper clubs and started up her own plant-based fast food business.

About Lucy

12 responses to “Creamy vegan silken tofu sauce base recipe”

bee howarth

September 18, 2023

This is definitely my go to sauce-it’s so nice with pasta and vegan no-chicken pieces

Reply
1. Lucy Johnson
  
  September 19, 2023
  
  I’m glad you’ve been enjoying the sauce Bee!
  
  Reply
Geo

February 28, 2024

Just had it on lasagne, absolutely delicious

Reply
1. Lucy Johnson
  
  February 28, 2024
  
  Hey Geo, I’m glad you enjoyed it!! It is a staple in my household
  
  Reply
Annie

December 23, 2024

Can you make it ahead and use the next day?

Reply
1. Lucy Johnson
  
  December 24, 2024
  
  Hi Annie, definitely! It lasts absolutely fine in the fridge for a couple of days. I tend to make a larger batch so I can do this.
  
  Reply
Becky W

March 12, 2025

Perfect base! I left out the lemon and added a red pepper with a spoonful of vegan chili pesto. Fantastic! It was so nice to pour protein all over my broccoli :). Thanks for the great recipe. This will become a staple in my house.

Reply
1. Lucy Johnson
  
  March 12, 2025
  
  Hi Becky, love the idea of mixing in chilli pesto! It really is so flexible, and a lot less faff than the cashew cream sauce I used to make.
  
  Reply
Jana

May 12, 2025

I’m confuzed. Must you eat it straight from the blender (uncooked)?
What if I want it hot? Will it “fall apart” if I heat it to a boil? That would happen if I’m making e.g. gnocchi, I would not want to serve it with a cold sauce.

Reply
1. Lucy Johnson
  
  May 12, 2025
  
  Hi Jana, you use this like a cream sauce. So you can heat it up, add it to pasta in a pan, etc. But it only needs heating up for a few minutes. Check out my notes under the recipe for suggestions on how I use it!
  
  Reply
Vicki Leahy

December 5, 2025

I make a vegan quiche using JUST egg and a cashew cream. I would like to make the quiche for a friend of mine, but he is allergic to nuts. Do you think this would work well in a vegan quiche?

Reply
1. Lucy Johnson
  
  December 5, 2025
  
  Hi Vicki, I definitely need to try out that combo with JUST egg and cashew cream! I do actually make quiche using silken tofu, here is the recipe: https://edibleethics.com/recipes/mains/healthy/vegan-quiche/ – I hope this works 🙂
  
  Reply