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Mmmmm, fettuccine alfredo.
I don’t know about you, but this rich and creamy and oh-so-decadent pasta is pretty much the ultimate comfort food in my book. It has long been a favorite dish of mine, and one that I always looked forward to ordering out at some of my favorite Italian restaurants on special occasions. ButImade the mistake of peeking at the nutrition facts for fettuccine alfredo a few years ago. And after seeing just how much (hint:so much) extra butter and heavy cream restaurants usually toss into this dish, I felt like it was probably time to swear it off for good.
But let’s be real — a girlneeds her favorite fettuccine alfredo every now an then.
So I set to work a few years ago experimenting and tweaking with ways to lighten up this classic dish. I stuck with the traditional ingredients (no cauliflower sauce here), although I completely nixed the heavy cream in place of low-fat milk with a roux. And lo and behold, it actually worked!!! Turns out youcan have rich and creamy and oh-so-decadent fettuccine alfredo made at home — bonus, in just 20 minutes! — with this lightened-up easy recipe. And I’m obsessed with it.
And today I thought I would bump it back to the top of the blog to re-share it with those of you who might have missed it and need some healthier fettuccine alfredo in your lives. :) I went ahead and updated the pictures from the original post that I shared about 3 years ago, but the recipe is the same and just as good as ever. So put on some water to boil, and let’s make some pasta!
Skinny Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe | 1-Minute Video
This recipe, of course, centers around its two namesake ingredients — fettuccine and alfredo sauce.
You’re welcome to use any kind of pasta you’d like for this recipe — traditional semolina, whole-wheat pasta, gluten-free pasta (if so, check out my gluten-free alfredo sauce recipe), totally up to you! My one tip as always is just to be sure that you generously salt the water before adding the pasta. This is your one opportunity to kick up the flavor in the actual pasta itself, so don’t skimp!
But the sauce — this magical sauce — is the rockstarof the recipe. As I said, no heavy cream or cream cheese is used in this recipe. All you need are:
olive oil (a healthier fat, or you’re welcome to use butter for the flavor)
fresh garlic (a must!!)
flour (to thicken)
chicken broth (more flavorful than milk; you can also sub in veggie stock)
low-fat milk (you can use any milk, even soy)
Parmesan cheese (if you freshly grate it, it will bemore flavorful)
Both the sauce and pasta cook quickly. So when you’re ready, drain your pasta and then add in the alfredo sauce.
Then toss them together until everything is nice and creamy and evenly coated.
Then a delicious pan of fettuccine alfredo is yours to enjoy! You’re welcome to just serveit plain…
…or you can top it with a little extra Parmesan, some fresh parsley or basil, or whatever sounds good. :)
Butthe best news? As opposed to the fettuccine alfredo recipe from Olive Garden, which clocks in at a whopping 1220 calories a serving, one serving of this alfredo sauce clocks in at 141 calories, and when combined with the fettuccine it is 450 calories a serving. Not too shabby for a thick and creamy pasta. Perfect when served with a light salad like this one.
This easy fettuccine alfredo recipe is made “skinny” with a lighter alfredo sauce recipe — but it’s as delicious and creamy and flavorful as ever!
Ingredients
Scale
12 ounces fettuccine (or any pasta shape)
1 Tablespoon extra virginolive oil or butter
4 cloves garlic, pressed or finely-minced
3 Tablespoons all-purposeflour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup low-fat milk (I used 1%)
3/4 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
(optional toppings: chopped fresh parsley, extra Parmesan)
Instructions
Cook pasta al dente according to package directions, in generously-saltedwater.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil (or melt butter) in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute one minute, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. Sprinkle with flour, and stir to combine. Saute for an additional minute to cook the flour, stirring occasionally.
Slowly add chicken broth, whisking to combine until smooth. Whisk in milk, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Let cook for an additional minute until thickened, then stir in Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper until the cheese melted. Reduce heat to medium-low until pasta is cooked.
Drain pasta, then immediately add pasta to the saute pan with alfredo sauce. Toss to combine. Serve topped with chopped fresh parsley if desired.
After it thickens up, we spoon out a portion, and reheat it in a saute pan, whisking frequently to keep it from burning. It is then a little thin, and we add a little more parm, and a little flour, and continue to heat to cook out any flour taste. The whole process takes about 2 minutes.
The key ingredient in Alfredo sauce is cheese—generally Parmigiano Reggiano—and lots of it. To thicken Alfredo sauce, simply add more cheese than the amount called for in a recipe until you achieve the consistency you want.
Combine 2 tablespoons flour with every 1/4 cup cold water and whisk until smooth. Add the mixture to your sauce over medium heat, and continue to stir and cook until you've reached your desired consistency. Test with a spoon.
One of the easiest ways to substitute heavy cream in Alfredo sauce is to use a thickener + milk. We chose corn starch + milk because it gives that same creamy texture without the fattiness that heavy cream brings. The corn starch also allows you to thicken your Alfredo sauce recipe with milk and no flour.
At its core, the original Italian Alfredo sauce really only needs two ingredients: butter and cheese. If you're trying to keep your Alfredo sauce simple but want to obtain an extra-creamy consistency, you can add more cheese than the recipe dictates.
You could just add garlic powder, sure, but quickly sautéeing fresh garlic while your pasta cooks is a great way to layer flavor. Resnick likes to add spinach as a way to cut the richness of the sauce. Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil and a few cloves of minced garlic in a sautée pan over medium heat.
Here's how fix a broken sauce: Add about ¼ cup of water to the pan and reheat the sauce to a vigorous simmer, whisking constantly. The bubbling action will help re-emulsify the butter and bring back that thick, glossy sauce.
- Smell: Alfredo sauce that has gone bad will often have a sour or unpleasant odor different from the creamy, cheesy smell it should have. - Texture: If the sauce has separated or become curdled, it's likely gone bad. Additionally, if it's become overly thick or slimy, these are signs of spoilage.
Real alfredo sauce is made with 3 simple ingredients: butter, Parmesan cheese and fresh fettuccine pasta. There is absolutely no cream in this dish (cream is common in most American-style alfredo sauce recipes). Make this dish with my fresh homemade pasta, fresh sourdough pasta or store-bought fresh pasta.
Mix together a little cornstarch in a small bowl with some cold water (or other liquid) until the mixture is smooth to form a slurry. Slowly, whisk the slurry into the simmering sauce in a pan over medium to medium-high heat. Whisk the slurry slowly into the hot sauce until you get the desired thickness.
The Alfredo sauce will harden into a thick paste once it cools in the fridge, but give it a few minutes of gentle heat on the stovetop or in the microwave, and it will once again become silky and creamy. If you see a few little beads of fat starting to form, just whisk vigorously to blend them back in.
Many store-bought sauces thin out a bit when simmering, but cooking also leads to more moisture evaporating. Fortunately, you can just add a touch of heavy cream to create the perfect consistency for any dish you're making.
If you have already separated Alfredo sauce, you can try to salvage it by adding a little bit of milk or cream. This will help to thin out the sauce and make it more creamy. You can also try adding a little bit of Parmesan cheese.
One of the simplest ways to avoid greasy, separated Alfredo sauce is to heat it slowly over the stove instead in the microwave. Microwaves heat up food much faster than a stove does, and the faster you reheat your leftover sauce, the more likely it is to separate.
Introduction: My name is Eusebia Nader, I am a encouraging, brainy, lively, nice, famous, healthy, clever person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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