Creamy Vegan French Onion Pasta

Anyone else have a serious carb addiction? Just me?

Okay.

Anyway…

I spend some of my time perusing the vegan food blogs for recipe ideas because as much as I am creative and well-traveled and experienced with new cultures, there are many, many times where someone else is more so. When that happens, I make an effort to defer to those know either know more or do it better. At least…somewhat.

So when I came across tons of vegan recipes for variations on French onion pasta, I was eager to try it, experiment with it and make it my own. Because that’s what we do as creatives, as vegans, as home cooks, as…humans.

Right?

This is a simple vegan recipe that also happens to be a 30-minute vegan recipe which in my eyes kind of makes it the gold standard of the perfect vegan weeknight dinner. The only thing is, this one was of my recipe requests which means that my partner, Cos, made it.

And it was simple, delicious and exactly what I wanted.

Creamy Vegan French Onion Pasta (tagliatelle)

Ready to get started?

The first thing you need to do is gather your ingredients but today there are so few that it doesn’t even require a full on bulleted list. All you need is: tagliatelle pasta (no egg), nutritional yeast, vegan shredded cheese, shallots, onions, waste-free broth & cornstarch.

Some recipes call for soaked cashews, thickened plant milk or even coconut milk. These are all viable options to get the sauce as thick and as creamy as possible, but for me there were just too many calories so I asked the hubs to do what he could to reduce the calories while also maintaining the yummy vegan flavors.

First, get the salted water for the pasta boiling.

Next, peel and chop the onions and shallots. Cook over medium-high heat until translucent and brown and caramelized. If you dice them it won’t take as long but if you’re feeling lazy or science-y, add a teaspoon or two of bicarb to speed up the caramelization process. Be careful though, because I did this once and ended up with a goopy mass of delicious (but goopy) onions.

Be sure to season the shallots and onions with salt and pepper.

If you use oil in your cooking, add a sprig of thyme or rosemary for a subtle herb flavor.

When the onions are how you want them, add waste-free broth (recipe HERE) and give the skillet a good stir to scrape up the bits on the bottom of the skillet. You can also add balsamic vinegar or cognac before you add the liquid since this recipe is based on French Onion Soup.

When you’re ready to thicken, add an equal parts liquid and cornstarch slurry to the waste-free broth and stir while it reaches a boil.

Reduce to low heat and now add in nutritional yeast and/or vegan cheese, turmeric, garlic, smoky paprika, curry or whatever herbs & seasonings you’re obsessed with at the moment. This is your French onion pasta so make it your own.

When the pasta is done, DON’T drain it. Use a slotted spoon or pasta spoon and lift the pasta straight from the water and into your creamy vegan sauce. Stir until everything is well combined and then plate it up.

We’re going out of town for a few days so our fresh herb supply was zero, hence the dried parsley on top for garnish. Fresh parsley or dill works better but hey, when we’re in a pinch we do what we have to, right?

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