My friend Ali is obsessed with cacio e pepe. And when I say obsessed, I mean OBSESSED. Like it might be one of the only things she’s enthusiastic about. And if you know her, she’s extremely chill and mellow most of the time. So when she’s enthusiastic, it stands out.

Of course, cacio e pepe isn’t vegan as it literally translates to “cheese and pepper”, so I wanted to see if there was a vegan version online that I could recreate to see what all the hype was about!!

I found this amazing recipe from Simply Quinoa: https://www.simplyquinoa.com/vegan-cacio-e-pepe-pasta/

 I was a little nervous because it uses cashews and nutritional yeast to make the cheese and I wasn’t sure if it was going to taste too healthy or something but let me tell you guys, this recipe is incredible!

Of course I don’t know what regular cacio e pepe tastes like, but I think this recipe nailed it! I talked to my friend Rebecca who described normal cacio e pepe tasting like “Creamy parmesan and black pepper” and that’s EXACTLY wha mine tasted like. It legit tasted like creamy parmesan and black pepper!! So I think I nailed it. My only recommendation is to use a pasta other than Banza because that shit sticks together like glue after a while.