It's fall, so that means one thing - it's the perfect time to cosy up with this vegan pumpkin alfredo for dinner! With a creamy sauce made of pistachios, pumpkin puree and a hint of spice, it makes for a tasty vegan and low histamine dinner.
If you love pumpkin recipes come fall (or out of season too!), then you may like to see my pumpkin pesto soup for a cosy lunch and my pumpkin spice oatmeal cookies for a sweet treat!
This creamy pumpkin alfredo is inspired by a similar recipe by Choosing Chia, but with ingredient swaps and substitutions to make it suitable for a low histamine diet.
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
Fall flavours. We all look forward to fall in my home, and all the pumpkin recipes we can enjoy! This pasta with pumpkin sauce is a lovely savoury way to enjoy this seasonal produce.
Vegan recipe. As we don't use any dairy, eggs or honey, it is suitable for a vegan diet and can be gluten free if you use alternative pasta.
Easy recipe. After the pistachios are soaked, there are just a few quick steps to make your pumpkin pasta sauce for a tasty fall dinner!
🍝 Ingredients
Traditionally alfredo calls for fettucine but you can of course use this sauce with any pasta that you have. I didn't have fettucine to hand the day I did these photos so used spaghetti instead. If you are gluten-free then use suitable pasta for you.
You will need:
- Fettucine or other pasta: alfredo is traditionally made with fettucine, but of course you can use any pasta with this pumpkin sauce.
- Pumpkin puree: personally I prefer fresh as it tastes better, and is so easy to make.
- Pistachios: these thicken the sauce and provide a plant-based source of protein. Be sure to use unsalted pistachios!
- Garlic: use fresh if you can. Adapt the number of cloves used to preference.
- Sage: the perfect herb to complement pumpkin. Decide how herby you like your sauce!
- Ginger and sweet paprika: to add flavour, and give a hint of 'pumpkin spice' to the sauce.
You may like to check out my easy pumpkin puree recipe to use for this dish!
🌰 Pistachios in place of cashews
Usually pasta sauces that use soaked nuts to make a creamy base use cashews. However cashews are rated as higher histamine and as a liberator on the SIGHI list. Pistachios are therefore used instead (they score 0) and work equally well.
🔪 Step by step instructions
This vegan pumpkin alfredo recipe may seem to have a lot of steps, but they are all very easy and quick too! The only real time spent is soaking the pistachio nuts in water for the base of the pumpkin sauce.
STEP 1
Add the pistachio nuts to warm water in a container that can be sealed and set aside to soak for at least two hours. Then rinse in fresh water in a sieve.
STEP 2
Cook your pasta according to packet instructions.
STEP 3
Blend the rinsed pistachios along with a cup of fresh water in a Nutri-Bullet or blender to get a thin cream consistency. It won't look to pretty - but it will taste good!
STEP 4
In a large pan fry onion and garlic until softened. Then add the sage, sweet paprika and ginger. You can use fresh ginger if you have it, or ginger powder if not.
STEP 5
Pour the pistachio cream and pumpkin puree into the pan and let it cook down for 4-5 minutes to thicken slightly.
STEP 6
Add the pasta and use tongs to toss in the pasta sauce. Make sure to coat it well!
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Don't skip soaking the pistachios! This is necessary to soak them so they can be blended into a pistachio cream.
- If you are using canned pumpkin puree you may need a little less and to add some water as it tends to be thicker than homemade pumpkin puree.
- Adjust the amount of herbs and spice to taste preference.
📋 A note on pumpkin for my low histamine readers
Pumpkin scores 0 on the SIGHI list for histamine, but some other lists rate it as higher histamine. Only use if you know you tolerate it well.
🍲 More tasty fall pumpkin recipes
Enjoy all the fall flavours with these favourite recipes! And find more ideas on my fall recipes page.
I’m always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes. And please do leave a star rating ⭐ if you tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Pumpkin Alfredo
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ white onion diced
- 1 garlic clove finely diced or minced, plus more to taste
- ⅓ cup pistachios
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoon sage leaves diced
- ¼ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cm ginger grated or finely diced
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 6 oz pasta quantity to preference
- salt
- pinch black pepper optional
Instructions
- Add the pistachio nuts to warm water in a container that can be sealed and set aside to soak for at least two hours. Then rinse in fresh water in a sieve.
- Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
- Fry the onion and garlic in olive oil until softened, about 4-5 minutes. Add the sage, ginger and sweet paprika.
- Pour a cup of fresh water into a blender and add the pistachio nuts. Blend to a cream consistency (it will be fairly thin, rather than a thick cream).
- Add the pistachio cream and pumpkin puree to the pan and stir well. Allow to cook for 4-5 minutes for the sauce to thicken. Then use tongs to add the pasta and stir so that it is well coated in the sauce. Add salt and pepper (if using) to taste.
Notes
- Adjust the amount of sage, ginger and sweet paprika to taste preference. This recipe is quite subtle in terms of flavour so increase quantities if you prefer more herbs or spice. I suggest seasoning fairly well with salt.
- Use gluten-free pasta if you prefer or are sensitive to gluten.
- Please note that nutritional information is offered as a courtesy. It is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- garlic, which scores 1.
- ginger, which scores 1.
- black pepper, which scores 1.
- pasta, of which wheat scores 1.
- pumpkin scores 0, but is rated higher on other lists.
Kimberly says
This is so good!! My family is vegan so it's perfect for all of us. We add some broccoli. For myself, I add chicken. It's one of our favorites.
Claire says
So glad you like it Kimberly! It's always lovely to hear that all the family enjoys a meal together.
AC says
Yummm!! I used canned coconut milk instead of pistachio cream and it’s very good!
Claire says
So glad you liked it! And I hadn't thought to do just coconut milk - glad it worked out.
Michael says
This works great for me when bringing a dish to a family gathering or similar event. I can make enough to share and it can be most of the meal for me. I adjust it by using a full 15oz can of pumpkin and adjusting the other ingredients. Also, when I use rotini pasta can put it all in a casserole dish and bake. It has great consistency. Super recipe!!
Claire says
I hadn't thought to do it as a bake - great idea! So glad it works as a sharing dish too.
R says
Curious if you could sub pistachios for macadamia nuts as pistachios are high FODMAP
Claire says
I haven't tried it, but I don't see why not. Macadamias should make the sauce quite creamy!