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 really good!! I licked the plate 🙂
I used this sauce to make a creamy chicken and spinach lasagna. I’ve had a recipe using a different sauce for a while, but I thought I would try it with your sauce instead. It was FANTASTIC! Loved it!
Thank you for all your wonderful recipes. My friend bought me your cookbook a few weeks ago and I have been pouring over it every day. We’ve tried several recipes and have found many winners. I love to cook and love trying new recipes, but I rarely find so many recipes from one source that are consistently amazing. Thank you and keep up the good work!
Each first Sunday of the month I gather together a group of friends for a potluck. Usually sometime on Saturday I start whining to my kids, ‘what should I make, what should I make?” While I have (very often) sent people to your site after their “ooo, they’re so cute!” and “what a great idea” comments regarding PIZOOKIES (of which the missionaries are particularly big fans)
for some riduculous reason, I have never thought to look here for ideas!! BIG DUH. I’m a week ahead of time and already have ideas for entire rest of the year and it doesn’t matter how large the crowd gets! woo hoo – thanks for all your posts, ideas and time! you guys rock. oops, girls!
This sauce can be made Gluten-free by substituting Almond Meal or any other bean free flour substitute. The Almond meal adds an awesome flavor…I love this sauce for gluten free chicken alfredo pizza.
I can’t believe how creamy this “low fat” sauce is! I served it on linguini with broccoli and it was very tasty. I plan to use an alternative version (more cream cheese, no parmesan) on cauliflower and potatoes “au gratin”.
Can’t wait for tomorrow to eat the leftovers pasta! 🙂
This is a keeper! It was quick and easy. The entire family loved it. I brought the leftovers to my assistant, she scarfed it down and agreed! I almost like it better than the “real” thing because it isn’t rich and heavy. My tummy felt much better afterwards than it does with a cream version.
I love this sauce and make it regularly for my little family. I want to make some for a bigger family dinner, but I have no idea how much sauce or noodles I would do. There will be 7 adults, 6 kids ages 10-16 and 4 kids 3-9. Any ideas on how many pounds of pasta and how many batches of this sauce? We will be having this over noodles with some grilled chicken, a green salad and garlic bread.
Also, how far in advance could I make the sauce and then just plan on heating it up the day we have it? Or maybe I can at least just get it all blended and do the stove part just before we will eat…thoughts?
Thank you for alfredo sauce. My kids LOVES it. My MIL (italian american) ate 2 bowls! Definitely use this recipe for a long time! *thumb ups*
I tried this recipe out of your book, Our Best Bites. I am hooked! I have never tried to make Alfredo sauce from scratch because it always looked too hard. This was easy to make and OH SO GOOD!
The real Parmesan makes a huge difference. I splurged (when I usually substitute the Kraft kind) and am so glad I did.
Thank you for a keeper!
Oops, “don’t” like.
Of the many “guiltless” alfredos I’ve tried, this one is by far the absolute best. Thank you, thank you and thank you for giving me my favorite “treat” and not feeling too bad about it. I have yet to find a recipe that I donn’t like!!