Serves 6
This vegan purple cauliflower pasta turns sauce the color of a Lisa Frank notebook. Braise a head of purple cauliflower with shallots, garlic, and broth, then blend it with cashews, lemon, and nutritional yeast. The result is a creamy lavender vegan alfredo that is actually delicious and not just a gimmick.
The purple in purple cauliflower comes from anthocyanins, the same pigments that color red cabbage and blueberries. They’re pH-sensitive. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the plate and the lavender deepens into fuchsia and magenta streaks in real time. Tie-dye on a noodle. Get a video.
A few frozen blueberries in the blender help the color pop. Sounds kinda weird but you can’t taste them. Anything for the color.
Serve this purple cauliflower pasta over fettuccine with whatever you’ve got on hand: toasted pine nuts, fresh basil, a side of crispy tofu or breaded cutlets. This one’s been on PPK since 2020 and it still turns dinner into a science demo your kids will actually sit through.
Tips for the deepest tie-dye color
Before you braise the cauliflower, trim away as much of the white stem as you can. You want to be working with mostly purple florets for the richest color in the sauce. Use a light-colored vegetable broth while you’re at it, because a dark broth will mute the whole thing. The sauce will read pale lavender straight out of the blender. Don’t panic. That’s what it’s supposed to look like.
The big color shift happens at the table. Lemon juice is acidic, which pushes the anthocyanin pigment from lavender toward fuchsia, the same reaction you’d get dropping lemon into red cabbage water. You’re basically doing stovetop chemistry.
Fresh lemon juice works best for the color change — bottled will still do the job but the flavor’s duller and the acidity isn’t quite as sharp.
Purple Cauliflower Pasta FAQ
Does this purple cauliflower pasta actually taste good or is it just a gimmick? Hells yeah, it tastes good. Braised cauliflower gives the sauce natural sweetness, and cashews, lemon, and nutritional yeast build that classic creamy alfredo body. The blueberries are purely for color. Nobody at your table will know unless you tell them.
Where do I find purple cauliflower? Farmers’ markets in summer and fall, specialty grocers, and sometimes Whole Foods, Wegmans, or Trader Joe’s seasonally. If you can’t find it, this recipe still works with regular white cauliflower — you just won’t get the tie-dye effect. It’ll be a solid vegan alfredo either way.
Do I really need the blueberries? Not really, no. They boost the purple by a notch since the cauliflower can cook out to a muted lavender on its own. If you skip them the sauce will still be pretty. Use frozen ones so the color transfers fast without adding any fruit flavor.
Can I make this purple cauliflower pasta without a high-speed blender? Yup yup yup. Just soak the cashews for at least 2 hours, or boil them for 20 minutes if you forgot. Then blend as usual in whatever blender you’ve got.
Can I use a different pasta? For sure. Fettuccine is classic for vegan alfredo but any long or sturdy short pasta works. Penne, rigatoni, tagliatelle, or pappardelle are all great.
Can I make it ahead? The sauce keeps in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Reheat gently with a splash of broth or pasta water to loosen it back up. The color holds. Cook the pasta fresh.
How did I end up here? You were searching for a purple cauliflower recipe, a vegan cauliflower alfredo, or something to do with the weird-colored head of cauliflower your farmers’ market handed you. Or you saw a tie-dye pasta video somewhere and went hunting for the recipe. Congrats on your excellent googling.
More Vegan Pastas To Try:
Tie-Dye Purple Cauliflower Alfredo
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons refined coconut oil
- 1 cup sliced shallot
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 head purple cauliflower in small florets about 6 cups
- 3/4 cups whole unroasted cashews
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice plus extra for squeezing
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 10 frozen blueberries
- 3/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 pound fettuccine cooked according to package directions in salted water
- Directions
Instructions
- Boil salted water for pasta and get that whole thing going. By the time you’re done making the sauce the pasta should be drained and ready.
- Preheat a large pan over medium heat. Sauté shallot in coconut oil with a pinch of salt for 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and spoon a little dab of oil on it. Mix in with the shallots and cook another 2 minutes.
- Add the broth, cover pan and bring to a boil. Place the cauliflower in the pan in as much of a single layer as possible. Cover and steam about 4 minutes. Mix cauliflower in the liquid, cover and steam another 4 minutes. It should be fork tender. Remove a few florets to place on the individual pasta plates later, if you like.
- In the meantime, place the cashews, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, blueberries and salt in a high speed blender (see note if you don’t have a highspeed blender). When the cauliflower is done, transfer it to the blender. Let sit for 10 minutes or so just to stop steaming. At that point, blend until smooth, scraping down the sides
- When pasta is ready, drain and pour the sauce over it. Reserve a little bit for dolloping over the plates of pasta. Taste pasta for salt. The saltiness with vary depending on your salted water and the saltiness of the broth.
- Place pasta in bowls, spoon additional sauce over noodles. Now take a seeded lemon and squirt it all over the pasta. Voila! Tie dye alfredo.
So pretty! So, the tie dye effect with the lemon juice made me think…what if you deleted the blueberries and swapped out half of the broth for half brewed butterfly pea flower tea? Have you ever heard of it? It’s tea made from these dried flowers and it brews up a deep blue and when you add lemon to it, it turns a brilliant purple. It’s so lovely and a very mild flavor. Might make the sauce more vibrant without impacting the flavor. Just a thought. 🙂
This was so good! Hadn’t had Alfredo anything in so long. This was exactly what I needed!
This looks so cool, and I always love your write-ups! I have all your cookbooks and love them all.