Traditional Alfredo sauce is insanely delicious and sometimes considered a splurge with its indulgent amounts of butter, cream, and cheese. This version still gives you a creamy luxurious experience but lowers fat and calories significantly. This isn’t a recipe who’s purpose is copycat the original with different ingredients. This recipe still uses real cheese, and real butter, just way less of it and some clever additions to make up the difference. This healthy, low-fat alfredo sauce is one of the most popular recipes on our site. It’s been here for almost 10 years now (originally shared in August of 2008) and and continues to be a family staple in households all over!
The great thing about this recipe is that it’s made from simple ingredients that you probably already have at home.
It’s also made in under 10 minutes so if you keep this stuff around it’s great for last-minute meals. And if you really don’t care TOO much about calories, go ahead and make it with whole milk. It’s still going to be waaay lighter than using cream, and it tastes extra delicious.
This recipe starts in the blender. You’ll combine some light cream cheese (which adds creaminess and also adds body to the sauce), milk (anything from nonfat to whole milk works, I really like 1-2%), and a little bit of flour (which helps thicken the sauce). Blend it up until it’s smooth.
Meanwhile you’ll melt just a couple pats of butter in a pan with some minced garlic. Your blender mixture gets poured right into that pan.
After it simmers for just a few minutes to thicken, you’ll add the cheese.
Now let’s talk about Parmesan. You can make this recipe with fresh grated parmesan or even the crumbled kind in the bottle. They turn out just a bit different in texture, but honestly either one works. I almost always have both on hand so I tend to do half and half. Just experiment and see what you like.
You’ll take your pan off the heat and then mix that in until it’s melted.
Your sauce will continue to thicken a bit once it’s removed from the heat so I like to set it aside for at least a few minutes before serving it.
I use this on so many different things. Pasta, obviously. But it’s also really great as a sauce on pizza, or a dip for breadsticks, or even drizzled over vegetables.
Guiltless Alfredo Sauce
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 20
- Yield: 2.5-3 cups sauce
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
This lightened up alfredo-style sauce is easy to make and delicious on pasta, veggies, or even used as pizza sauce!
Ingredients
2 cups low-fat milk
1/3 cup (3 oz) low fat cream cheese
2-3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
3 garlic cloves
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Place milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. In a non-stick sauce pan, melt butter on med-high heat and add garlic. Let the garlic saute for about 30 seconds, you don’t want to burn it.
Then add milk mixture to the pan. Stir constantly for about 3 or 4 minutes or until it just comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more. It should be much thicker now.
When it’s nice and thickened remove the pan from the heat. Add the cheese, stir it up and then cover immediately. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before using. It will continue to thicken upon standing. Season with additional salt if needed. Also, if you have leftovers in the fridge, the sauce will thicken almost into a solid. Just re-heat and add a little milk and it will be back to normal again.
I have made this sauce for years. And looking at the date, probably within a year of you posting it. It’s a family favorite so thank you!! I was wondering if you (or anyone?) has ever frozen it with success?? It’s quick and easy enough to just make on demand, but I’m doing some streamlining to my kitchen processes and finding what foods I can batch prepare. Read, I am fed up with washing so many dishes night after night. HAHA! Thanks!
I’ve read through the comments and don’t find anybody questioning the salt. I made a double batch of this today to make an alfredo lasagna and had to come online to research how to save this sauce. It is so horribly salty (and I love salty things normally). Since it has such good thickness to it I just kept dousing with extra milk until the salt was slightly eased. Definitely making this again but will completely omit the salt until the sauce is nearly finished and then just add a quarter teaspoon at a time.
Hmmmm…it’s never been a problem for me. Are you sure it was measured correctly?
This was great. I subbed olive oil for the butter and garlic powder for the garlic, just because it was what I had available. I even used 1% milk. The taste was phenomenal over whole wheat penne and broccoli!
Can this be frozen? I made a batch and it is only me, so I would like to freeze lefovers!
Sure 🙂
Absolutely fantastic! The second time I made it, I doubled it, added some nutmeg and a package of chopped frozen spinach (squeezed dry). This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!
So I’m thinking of using this recipe for a big mother/daughter lunch for our ward. How do you think it would be if I make it Friday night and reheat Saturday morning and toss it over noodles? Also for 75 people, just serving over fettuccini, how many times would you multiply the recipe?
You will have to make a batch and then do the math yourself to figure out the portion sizes you want. I would also try refrigerating that sample batch and re-heating like you would for the party. Since it has flour, it gets very thick when refrigerated, but you can add a bit of milk to thin it out if needed.
Hi I am wondering if you ever maxed this sauce for your ward event, and how it turned out? I am thinking of making it for a youth etiquette night and wondered if I could reheat it like you had planned.
Never made a batch that big! If I was planning a huge event to feed tons of youth, I’d go to costco and buy a bunch of canned alfredo, haha
Did you ever and up making this and reheating it? I’ve been assigned to bring Alfredo sauce for my nieces baptism tomorrow but I don’t really want to get up at 6 AM to make the Alfredo sauce the day of ?
Ha, yes- it should work! After it sits in the fridge it will look super thick and weird, but you just need to heat it up, and you might need to add a little more liquid to thin it out (and then maybe a little more cheese if it needs it from the extra liquid, ha) eyeball it, but yes- you should be good!
Absolutely one of the best recipes I have ever found on the internet. I was eager to try this recipe but was somewhat skeptical as to how similar to traditional alfredo it would taste. I WAS SOOO thoroughly surprised and excited when this turned out perfectly. I’ve used mozzarella instead of parmesan and it still turns out great. Just depends on what cheese you’ve got in the kitchen.
So glad you loved it!
LOVE this recipe! 🙂 Thank you for sharing!!
Please tell me how the hell is can be considered guiltless. Recipes like this make people think they’re making good choices when they don’t know better, and then they end up wondering how they’re fat when they’re being so careful. Sad.
I am extremely picky and for a lite recipe this really, really good! I tweaked it just a little. Used 1 cup 2% milk and 1 cup chicken broth, added a little white pepper and 3 ozs. of fat free sour cream. Oh, and 4 Tbsp. fresh chopped Parsley at the end. Soooo good! I was just wondering if anyone had any idea of the calories or fat in the original Guiltless recipe? Just wondering how guiltless it really is.
My daughter is now eating gluten free foods. She loved this on Ronzoni gluten free pasta and grilled chicken! Yummy!!! The rest of the family enjoyed it, too!!!
I was so excited to read about a recipe for guiltless, healthy alfredo sauce. Alas, the recipe is greatly disappointing. Here’s why: Humans need about 5% of their nutrition (measured in calories) from fat. Yes, we do need fat, but only a very little amount. For example, a 150 pound person will only need about 75 calories (8.3 grams)per day from fat. The fact that your recipe calls for such high fat items such as cheese, butter, milk, etc. makes it very unhealthy. Please take a look at a recent article from the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (December 2013) for a discussion on obesity. Both of you women are attractive and healthy, but you are also young. To achieve optimum health requires attention to fat and to the use of animal food products. Take a look at a book titled: The China Study. Thanks for your work, and best of everything.
I use skim milk, low w fat or fat free cheer me cheese and light butter from Land o Lakes…tastes awesome with even less fat then the original version. Even using full fat items,this recipes is far healthier then the traditional version. I’m thankful for this recipe as is my husband, I make it every 2-3 months. My next go around with it, I may try unsweetened almond milk.
Just made this for my sister and brother in law, they loved it and had no idea it was the “healthy” version until the big reveal at the end.
I only used 2 T flour and it never got very thick. I also only used a heaping half teaspoon of salt, since the only other comparable recipe I tried tasted too salty, and I thought it was perfect. I can’t stop eating it. Yum.
Was craving fettucine alfredo but wasn’t craving any of the fat that usually comes with it. But look no further– this sauce is IT! I just added onions, mushrooms, roasted brussel sprouts, just bc i personally need veggies in my pasta dishes but my family licked their plates clean!
Didn’t use a blender, just a whisk. It turned out perfect! Delicious served over spinach fettucine with some black pepper and a side salad of mixed greens.
For being 21 and still learning my way around the kitchen I definitely shocked my family when I made this recipe with chicken and fettuccine… best Alfredo recipe ive tried. thank you so much
Omg! This sauce was amazing. I will never buy a jar again.
Uh-mazing!!! Just made it tonight. Thank you.
The recipe is just what I was looking for and sounds wonderful yet healthy. However, I question the last picture. It looks like it contains blueberries or something else round and dark. From the preparation instructions and the pictures of the sauce on pasta, I wonder if this picture actually belongs with this recipe.
Nope, no berries! Lol Are you looking at the photo in the black pan? I think you’re seeing the oil bubbles 🙂
Has anyone tried freezing the sauce? Does it reheat well? I love this sauce and would love to have some on hand.
Thoughts?
You absolutely don’t need a blender for this. That’s a lot of extra mess to clean up! Also no need for flour. I added milk, cream cheese, butter and garlic to a pan and heated it. I whisked it a bit to mix it all together and then once hot I added cheese. That’s all there is to it!
Thanks Warren. I was planning to skip the blender process. Good to know it still turns out well.
Sara,
Wow! My family and I loved the recipe. We will never go back to the jarred stuff, either. You are awesome! Thanks for sharing. God bless you! 🙂
We love this!! It’s also terrific with some thai chili red pepper flakes or sriacha sauce, as my hubby always wants things spicier!! 🙂 Just wondering, does this freeze well??
I’ve actually never frozen it- you’ll have to try!
I am new to the blog and have to say that I tried this recipe with some changes/alternative in the ingredents. I used tofutti cream cheese, almond milk, vegan butter, and wheat flour. I didn’t skimp on the romano cheese. I use an all nature ramono cheese. I have to say it was delicious. And I am not an Alfredo fan.
Thank you. I will be trying anothe recipes from this site.
How much pesto do you add to make the creamy pesto sauce?
Just add to taste!
I just eyeball it 🙂
Just an FYI for those of us scatterbrained housewives that don’t always keep fresh parmesan on hand, I made this tonight and used the shameful Kraft shaker parm! Still turned out delish. I have made this the original way as well, not a huge noticeable difference. I also added a deli slice of harvarti cheese for a little more creaminess. I added 2 chopped zucchinis and a cup of cooked chicken to the garlic and sauteed it all together before the milk. So yummy!
Just made this, it was DELICIOUS!!! Thanks for the recipe!
Just made this last night – subbed in nonfat milk instead of lowfat, and ricotta cheese instead of cream cheese, mostly because that’s what we already had on hand 🙂 Delicious, will definitely be making in the future – there’s so much you can do with this and so many fun ways to tweak!
I just made this tonight for the first time. It was so very delicious! My (very picky) husband loved it and said he felt fancy eating it. That’s a compliment. 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to post these delicious recipes.