Easy Alfredo sauce recipe without heavy whipping cream or cream cheese is so simple to make. It takes the traditional cheesy white sauce for pasta and creates a healthier sauce while still having a ton of flavor, richness as well as being incredibly creamy.
Next time, try this fire roasted tomato recipe and ditch the store bought ones.
Creamy Alfredo sauce is the perfect accompaniment to fettuccine or as pizza sauce or even with your baked chicken.
If you have 15 minutes, I will show you how easy it is to make your own homemade Alfredo sauce that is simply delicious. I think you may never want to buy jarred sauce again.
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❤️ Why You'll Love It
- An easy recipe for a homemade Alfredo sauce.
- Lower in calories.
- Able to use lactose-free milk if you want to lower your lactose intake.
- Incredibly simple recipe
- Takes less than 15 minutes to make.
Easy homemade Alfredo sauce without cream is a lighter version of the traditional Alfredo sauce. This sauce comes out so creamy, you won't miss the heavy cream at all! Lower in calories and light, this is a total win win! After you make this recipe, you will no longer buy the jarred Alfredo sauce at the supermarket!
📝 Ingredients
📋 Ingredient Notes
- Butter - unsalted butter is best if you like to be able to control the amount of salt in your recipe.
- All purpose flour - mixed and cooked with the butter will produce a roux and will help thicken your Alfredo sauce.
- Garlic clove - garlic is a must for Italian based recipes it adds so much flavor.
- Milk - a necessity for this creamy Alfredo sauce. Whole milk is preferred and you can use lactose-free if you choose.
- Parmesan cheese - helps to thicken up your sauce and gives it a delicious cheesy flavor. Use grated Parmesan cheese as it melts in easily and makes it so creamy.
🥄 Instructions
- In a pot over medium heat melt the butter and then sauté the garlic for 30 seconds.
- Whisk flour in butter until it changes color to light yellow.
- Pour warmed milk gradually about ½ cup each time whisking in between until the mixture is lump free.
- Keep stirring until the mixture gets bubbly and thickens.
- Turn heat off and mix in the parmesan cheese.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
💡 Expert Tips
- It is better to warm the milk, not boiling, before adding it to the flour mixture. Cold milk might make it harder to get a lump free mixture especially if you are a beginner.
- This is a basic Alfredo sauce that you can take to the next level by adding more spices like Italian seasoning, oregano, a pinch of nutmeg...etc.
⌛ Make Ahead
Make this delicious creamy Alfredo sauce ahead of time and then reheat when needed. Once it cools to room temperature, it should be used within 2 hours or put into your fridge to keep fresh.
🍽️ Serve With
Top your favorite pasta like spaghetti or fettuccine. Mix it with baked chicken or shrimp.
👩🍳 Variations
- This is a basic sauce and can be enhanced with seasonings like Italian seasoning or a pinch of nutmeg.
- Before mixing it in with your pasta, you could also add in cooked sliced mushrooms or sautéed spinach.
🧺 Storage
Homemade Alfredo sauce can be cooled completely and then wrapped tightly or put into a tightly sealed jar or container with lid and stored in your refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
💬 FAQs
Homemade Alfredo sauce can easily be heated back up in a sauce pan or microwave. As it is a milk based sauce, be sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn. If you're adding it to hot pasta, it only needs to be slightly warmed as the pasta will heat it up as well.
If your Alfredo sauce leftovers are in the fridge and it's been a few days, you maybe be wondering if it's still good to use. There are a few ways to tell. Because Alfredo sauce is a milk and cheese based sauce, you should be able to tell by the smell. Or if there is mold or water has begun to appear on the top and it just doesn't look the same as when you put in in the refrigerator. I always live by the rule 'when in doubt, throw it out' and that rule definitely applies here!
Homemade Alfredo will thicken as it sits in the fridge, to thin it out add a bit of milk or chicken stock to the sauce and mix with a whisk until you reach the desired consistency. Taste the sauce after that to adjust seasoning.
Sure you can, place the jar in the freezer for up to 3 months. I do not advice longer as the texture and taste might change.
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Alfredo Sauce without Cream
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 ½ cups milk
- 1 ½ cups parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place your milk in a measuring cup or a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute to get it warm.
- In a pot over medium heat, melt butter then sauté garlic for 30 seconds.
- Add flour, whisk flour in butter until it changes color to light yellow.
- Pour milk gradually about ½ cup each time whisking in between until mixture is lump free.
- Keep stirring until the mixture gets bubbly and thickens.
- Turn heat off and mix in the parmesan cheese.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
- It is better to warm the milk, no boiling, before adding it to the flour mixture. Cold milk makes it harder to get a lump free mixture, especially if you are a beginner.
- This is a basic Alfredo sauce that you can take to the next level by adding more spices like Italian seasoning, oregano, a pinch of nutmeg...etc.
- Blender Method
- This method is recommended if you are a beginners as it easily ensures that your mixture is lump free. Sauce made in the blender is usually thinner so you will use only 2 cups of milk. It is worth mentioning though that the mixture might taste a little bit starchy but it is a good starting point for beginners.
- In your blender, add flour, milk and blend well.
- Melt butter in a pot over medium heat then sauté garlic for 30 seconds.
- Pour the milk mixture and keep stirring until mixture thickens about 6-7 minutes.
- Turn heat off and then mix in Parmesan cheese until melted.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- This method is recommended if you are a beginners as it easily ensures that your mixture is lump free. Sauce made in the blender is usually thinner so you will use only 2 cups of milk. It is worth mentioning though that the mixture might taste a little bit starchy but it is a good starting point for beginners.
Nutrition
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Teresa
Absolutely delicious and very easy to make my husband loves this sauce thank you
Patti
I don't have cream and I'm only 1 person. I improvised a lot. lol I used 2 tbl of butter a large clove of garlic. 1 tbl of flour, maybe 2 tspn next time. I started with about 1/4 cup of milk and had to use maybe 1/8 more. I just winged it. It was very good.
Sylvia
I loved this recipe, I don’t have heavy cream that often so being able to make this when I crave Alfredo is amazing
Kim
Great recipe! Extremely easy to follow and turned out perfect. I wanted to make an Alfredo recipe, but had forgotten to buy cream at the store. This was a great alternative. Thank you!
Michelle
Delish! Made with my 13 year old daughter. Easy and delicious.
Megan
Wow this is the best pasta recipe I have ever made!! Added some nice sliced leftover roast chicken and sprinkled some oregano and nutmeg on top of the sauce and pasta!!! I can’t wait to share it with my family 100/10 would recommend this recipe, it is very delicious and easy to make!!❤️
Amira
Ooh sounds like a seriously hearty meal. Thanks Megan for sharing your feedback.
Norma
Absolutely outstanding! So much better than the normal heavy Alfredo Sauce. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Judy Prather
I will be making the Alfredo Sauce this week. Thank you