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, and all comes together in 10 minutes, so it’s perfect for last minute meals. This isn’t a recipe whose 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. Originally shared in August 2008, this recipe has been a family staple in millions of households all over!
Ingredients Needed
- low-fat milk – anything from nonfat to whole milk works, I really like 1-2%. If you’re not tracking your 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.
- low fat cream cheese – adds creaminess and also adds body to the sauce.
- all purpose flour
- salt
- butter
- garlic
- parmesan cheese – 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.
How to Make Guiltless Alfredo
This is a simple overview of the recipe, you’ll find a full printable recipe below!
- Blend milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt until smooth.
- Sauté garlic in butter over medium heat until fragrant.
- Stir in the milk mixture and cook until thickened and creamy.
- Reduce heat, add cheese, and stir until melted.
- Let stand a few minutes to thicken before serving. Adjust seasoning as needed.
Storage & Other Tips
- Thickening: this sauce thickens a lot as it cools, so don’t panic if it seems too thin when it’s done.
- Refrigerate: let cool slightly, then store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 – 5 days. It will thicken a lot when it cools, so you’ll definitely want to add a splash of milk to thin it back out.
- Freezing: probably possible, but will definitely affect texture. We’ve never tried it this way so we can’t guarantee results. If you try it, let us know how it goes in the comments!
- Ways to Use It: this recipe is so versatile! Of course this is fantastic on pasta, but it’s also really great as a sauce on pizza, or a dip for breadsticks, or even drizzled over vegetables.
Frequently Asked Questions
1 – 2% work well, and whole milk is also delicious! We did have a reader in the comments said she had good success using soy milk, so maybe give that a try if you are sensitive.
Blending these together helps make the mixture smooth and avoids lumps when cooking.
If it’s too thin, it might need a bit more time to simmer or cool. This sauce thickens a lot upon cooling, so give it a bit of patience and it should work out just fine!
Freshly grated does give a nice texture, but pre-grated works great too. Sometimes I like to do half fresh and half grated, and I’ve noticed that works out really well.
Reheat it gently, in a thick-bottomed sauce pan with a splash of milk while stirring. This is the best way to get that nice, smooth consistency back.
Guiltless Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups low-fat milk
- 3 ounces low fat cream cheese
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, fresh grated
Instructions
- Place milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth.
- In a non-stick sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter and add garlic. Let the garlic saute for about 30 seconds.
- Add the 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 turn heat to low. Add the cheese, stir it up to melt and then remove pan from heat and cover.
- Let stand for 5-10 minutes before using. It will continue to thicken upon standing. Season with additional salt if needed.
Questions & Reviews
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!!
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!!!
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.