Zucchini Alfredo
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Healthy, decadent, amazingly creamy AND low-carb. Finally, a guilt-less alfredo dish that the entire family can enjoy! 203.6 calories.
After this UBE stuffed hot glazed donut, I needed to go on a health binge.
I mean, I was ready to have about 100 of those. But after devouring that entire donut in 0.152545 seconds, I turned to this instead.
This creamy, buttery, garlicky, melt-in-your mouth alfredo sauce, loaded with freshly grated Parmesan. But don’t worry. It’s completely low carb with these zucchini noodles.
It’s pretty much an alfredo recipe that you can enjoy without worrying about calories – instead, you’ll be sneaking in all those veggies!
I will be honest though – it’s no UBE donut but it does come to a close second.
Zucchini Alfredo
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1 pound 3 medium-sized zucchini, spiralized*
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups 2% milk, or more, as needed
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ cup half and half*
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and heated through, about 3-5 minutes; set aside.
- Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the saucepan. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Gradually whisk in milk, thyme and oregano. Cook, whisking constantly, until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in half and half and Parmesan until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more milk as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Stir in zucchini and gently toss to combine.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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I was not overly impressed with this one flavor-wise, although adding some garlic powder to taste once it was plated kicked it up a bit. I would definitely add more fresh minced garlic in the beginning and let the garlic brown longer in the butter. Still a very quick and easy recipe, and with the appropriate tweaks here and there, it could probably be a hit!
Yum! I didn’t have enough Parmesan cheese today, and I added nutmeg and no milk or flour but all cream. Still, it was delicious!
Wow, I was surprised at how amazing this sauce turned out to be. I have a number of tasty creamy sauces on file, and this one blew them out of the water! I substituted creme fraiche for the half and half, and then added some chilli flakes in with the garlic (instead of the herbs later), and then threw in some lemon zest at the end. Divine!
I made this for dinner last night and it was great. I doubled the garlic. I make zoodle dishes a lot and they are always a little watery – its just a thing with zoodles. The recipe was delicious. I added shrimp for the protein to make it a full meal. the sauce was very tasty!
Thanks for this recipe, it was really yummy. I would just add that maybe the zuchinni needs to be drained before adding it to the sauce. Mine turned out a little watery/soupy. (mind you, one tasty soup ^^). Or does that mean I overcooked the zucchini to begin with?
Some zucchini just happen to retain a bit more water than others!
We are lactose intolarent. Is there a lactose free alternative?
Hi Robin! Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Substituted whole milk with almond milk and the half and half for heavy whipping cream also added chicken this is a great recipe
Great Shannon! Happy to hear you made it your own and enjoyed it.
Wonderful recipe. I followed the recipe, then added in cooked shrimp and peas at the end. Great meal.
Made this recipe and it was delicious. Unfortunately I too experienced quite a bit of water from the zucchini. I laid out the zucchini on a paper towel as suggested but it didn’t help. I didn’t have time to read all the comments. I’m wondering if you have found a solution, could you amend your recipe to reflect it?
Since the water seems unavoidable I wonder if maybe reducing the 2% milk in anticipation of the water may help? Maybe mixing the zucchini water with a thick pasty type consistency alfredo would be the trick?
lightly salting the zucchini and letting it sit in a colander for a little while will help to pull out the moisture from the veggie. Same goes for cucumbers (tzaziki) and Eggplants…
I liked it, I needed to add more cheese and salt and pepper for sure. I also added some cooked chicken.
I’ve also made this with shrimp. Delicious.
That sounds amazing!
Just finished making this recipe and it was perfect. I aadded chicken and spinach just because I had some extra in the fridge. I was even able to use unsweetened cashew milk instead of regular milk to make the alfredo sauce. Thanks so much for this great recipe!
I just made this and it is damn delicious! Thanks for all the great recipes!
What happened to the parsley?? In the ingredients, but not the directions
Please refer to step #5:
5. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
I would love to try this but I don’t have a spiralizer, 🙁
I combined this recipe with the shrimp scampi recipe was delicious! Was my first zoodle dish ever! Thank you!
That sounds amazing!
So could you use almond milk for the 2% milk and almond or coconut flour as substitutes? Has anyone tried this?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I am an alfredo lover and I thought once I started my journey to lose weight, I thought I had to cut out my favorite dish but I have gotten into zoodles and I thought “Can I have my cake and eat it too?” Well..my alfredo and eat it too 🙂 I am trying this tonight! I went to the store last night and got all the ingredients! I am going to add chicken and in my recipe analyzer, it is bringing my calorie count to 259! Which is still magnificent! I can’t wait to try this!
The sauce was absolutely perfect. I even added shrimp and it turned out really well. I might add more zucchini next time as it was a lot of sauce but it’s definitely a keeper!
I combined this recipe with the shrimp scampi recipe was delicious! Was my first zoodle dish ever! Thank you!
I made this recipe last night with my boyfriend and it was both our first time ever trying zoodles. We will definitely be making these again! We have read some of the comments about the zoodles being mushy so what we did was spiralize the zoodles and put them on paper towels in order to release the excess water. We probably let them dry out for 45-60 minutes. Even after that time, they were still releasing a little water but not too much. The sauce was AMAZING! I have made homemade alfredo sauce in the past and it was always so bland but this recipe was great and full of flavor. We ended up using 1% milk which we believe is the reason our sauce was not very thick after adding all the ingredients. We just added another tablespoon of flour and a little extra Parmesan since we are from Wisconsin and you can never get enough cheese 🙂 Great recipe and looking forward to trying more on this site!
How much is one serving size?
About 1-2 cups per serving.
This turned out great! Everyone enjoyed it, and even my teenager gave it a “meh,” which is his seal of approval.
My 2 year old who does not like sauce actually ate these zoodles after I told her it was pasta!! It did take longer than a few minutes to thicken the sauce, but it did thicken. Next time I might add some cheddar cheese to get more cheesy flavor!
I love this recipe- I ate this for dinner the last 5 days in a row. Yuummmmm!
Wow! Just made this for dinner and it turned out fantastic. I don’t have a spiralizer so I used my mandolin. The zoodles were a little on the the big side so I definitely need a spiralizer. I salted the zucchini a little bit and let them drain in a colander. Had to use a frying pan since the zucchini were to bulky for a saucepan. Didn’t miss the carb laden noodles one bit. Definitely making this again. Thanks Chungah
This looks great. I am thinking about trying it with all heavy cream to lower the carbs. Any thoughts?
Yes, heavy cream can be substituted.
Made this last night and it was seriously delicious! We have cut pasta out of our diets and this was a decadent and healthy alternative, thank you! I did let the zucchini noodles rest on paper towels for about a half an hour and i also returned them to fresh paper towels after the saute as they began to release some water. We did add sun dried tomatoes and found we liked the little burst of flavor they provided. The only change I will make in preparation will be to spoon the sauce over the ‘noodles’ rather than combining the two as we had more sauce than ‘noodles’. Thank you again, this is a keeper!
I made this last night and turned out delicious! I added some cubed chicken breast as well to increase the protein! I would definitely recommend taking the spiralized zucchini and letting it sit on paper towels to help with the extra water that can come from them. Also, I would say that the serving size was a little off for me? it says there are 4 servings, and I made it for my husband and myself and 2 kids (5& 8) and we ate it all with nothing to spare. next time I would definitely throw in another zucchini (4 total).
Oh! also, I used GF all purpose flour and it that worked well if people are looking for a GF alternative. 🙂 Thanks for all your recipes! They are always a hit! 🙂
Your website is the only one I use now for the speed and easy preparation time. Thanks so very much for putting these up and for in general, having a wonderfully easy website to navigate and easy clean healthy/decadent (but always delicious) food recipes. I have never come across a website where 90% of the recipes are totally delicious. You are a marvel.
I didn’t have the spiralizer so decided to put in cuts lengthwise into the zucchini and then just use the potato peeler to create the spaghetti or in this case liquine like lengths. Perfect outcome and so easy. Please keep them coming as you save me so much time in the kitchen and most of the ingredients are already in my fridge and pantry.
I just got this spiralizer, and love it! We made the chicken zoodle soup this week and it was delicious. Random question – for the “noodles” in this recipe, did you use the thinner or thicker side of the spiralizer?
Thanks Chungah! Really enjoy your recipes and writing!
I used the thicker side but you can really use either of them! 🙂
Hi Chungah,
Thank you for creating such an amazing website. It is my go to for quick mid week meals that ALWAYS turn out great!
Could I substitute coconut milk and margarine to make this recipe vegetarian?
Thank you
Yes, absolutely.
Just made this for dinner after ordering the spiralizer that you provide the link to from Amazon. Very disappointed. Followed directions exactly but should’ve cooked the zucchini longer than 3-5 mins. Probably 10 minutes because not cooked through so tough and chewy. The sauce never thickened….looked like white water and not much flavor. Ugh…I hate when I spend so much time making a dish and the recipe fails.
Thank you for your feedback. But instead of blaming the recipe, it is important to remember that many factors are at play here that may result in a failed outcome. I only share recipes that have been successful and well-tested in my own kitchen, but I understand that failures and mishaps can happen. But with a little bit more information, we can troubleshoot what went wrong to have a successful turnaround next time.
So I must ask – did you follow the recipe exactly as written without any substitutions?
Can almond milk be substituted for 2%?
That sounds like a great idea but without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment.
Every time I make zoodles they are soggy and make the sauce watery. What do you do to combat this?
Danielle, here is a great tutorial to avoid soggy noodles. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the link to the spiral slicer you use. I have been wanting to get one for awhile, but unsure of which one is best. Besides being easy to use – is it easy to clean?
Yes – so easy!
Hi,
I recently started a blog reviewing recipes and movies. I have to say, I’ve gotten a few recipes from your site before and I’m always impressed how good they are. IBe recently gotten into healthier and organic foods so I cannot wait to try this one.
Thanks for the recipe!
Katie,
movienight41.wordpress.com
Hi! First of all, all your recipes look AMAZING and I have used your blog to meal plan recently! Second, I love zoodles but really struggle with them retaining water (and being super watery / leaving a puddle in the bottom of the bowl). Do you have any suggestions so that after you cook the zucchini, there isn’t a lot of water in them afterwards? I haven’t tried this recipe but really want to 🙂 I just wasn’t sure if this is something you have faced or maybe it’s something that I’m doing wrong with zucchini noodles. Thank you!
I’m not really sure – this isn’t a problem that I have come across just yet!
I ‘zoodle’ the zucchini directly on a couple paper towels and let them dry out for 1/2 hour-ish. Make sure they’re spread out, and put another layer of paper towels on top to soak up more liquid.
I made something similar last night for dinner. After I spiralizer the veggies, I put them all in colendar and set the Cole dad over a bowl. I sprinkled a fair amount of salt over the zoodles, mixed it up and let it sit for about 20 minutes. The salt draws the liquid out of the zoodles. Then I just pressed more water out of the doodles right in the colendar. I then sautéed the zoodles in a little butter on high heat for a few minutes, mixed it with my Alfredo sauce and then baked it. My final product was perfect! Not watery at all!
I had this problem too. I have recently had to go low carb due to a blood sugar issue. After much internet research and trial and error, I came up with this: Allow extra time for preparation. Spiralize your zucchini, and lightly salt it, as you would eggplant. Spread your zoodles on a clean towel and roll up tightly. You can also put a layer of paper towels over the towel first. Allow this to sit for 30 mins to an hour. Then cook. You will have a lot less liquid released into the pan. I use the same techniques when I use a mandolin to thinly slice the zucchini. I can then use it for noodles in baked dishes like lasagna. Or I spray the slices lightly with olive oil and add seasonings (mostly my fave, GARLIC) then bake at about 350-400 degrees. I flip them when they start to brown and bake until crispy. It almost makes being pasta-free bearable.
I often don’t even “cook” my Zoodles and just cover them with whatever sauce I’m using, Red or white and the sauce usually carries enough heat to cook my zoodles and you get more of an aldente texture. I also don’t notice too much extra water
Make sure you are using unsalted butter. Heat and salt bring out the moisture in zucchini. Before cooking zoodles dry them on a paper towel.
Been searching for a reason to make noodles, thanks for providing one. Looks delicious.
I plan to try this but noticed on the milk it says “1 1/2 2% milk”. I assume it is 1 1/2 cups?
Thanks, I try many of your recipes.
Yes, that is correct – thanks!
This looks delicious! I love regular fettuccine alfredo but it is so heavy. Using zoodles is a great way to lighten it up.
Zucchini noodles are fun. Alfredo sauce with zoodles? Yum. Though I have to say I’d do almost anything for an ube-stuffed donut.
Carrie, get off your broom woman. If a person is seriously into low-carb, they should know what adjustments they need to make to this recipe to eliminate the carbs. Of course, then it wouldn’t be a “low-carb carb” recipe as Carrie clearly indicated in the description. Lighten up woman. Instead of criticizing , try suggesting a change that would make it
no-carb for those who might be interested .
Well done, Carrie. Look forward to trying it.
Oh my gosh this looks so good! Girl, I am over here drooling over this dish right now. I am all over this! 🙂 I can’t even stop starring.
looks really good & someone gifted us with a spiralizer @ holiday time. We will be trying it very soon. Thank You
You can’t call this “low-carb” and use AP flour…..Do you even know the meaning of low-carb and what people on a low-carb diet usually eat or avoid? You could confuse people just starting out on a LC diet with that flour ingredient. The recipe is VERY misleading.
Carrie, this recipe specifically states that this is low-carb, not carbless. Does that make sense?
2 tbsp of flour and you are seriously going to bitch that this isn’t low carb..
Nice trolling.
2 tablespoons is pretty low-carb. Obviously your LC diet has been making you bitchy, feel bad for whoever has to be around you while dieting unless this is your everyday personality, which is even worse. I personally use almond flour to replace all purpose flour, but to each is own. This recipe sounds delicious, I will be making it this weekend thank you!
wow who is this rude and ignorant individual? The only thing that is misleading is wherever they learned your definition of “low carb”. I love this recipe! It’s like getting to eat the alfredo pasta without the actual pasta. Thank you!!
Replace the flour with Agar or Xanthan Gum and replace the milk/half & half with heavy whipping cream and stop your complaining.
She stated right away that she substituted almond flout for the AP flour.
Can’t wait to try this – but where does it say that she subs almond flour for the AP flour? Does the NI include the AP flour or the almond flour?
Get a grip it’s a recipe, if you don’t like it don’t eat it or change it to suit yourself, quit busting everybody’s chops
Sounds good! Where did the trans fats come from?
There are naturally occurring trans fats in dairy products. These ones are entirely different from the ones commercially produced – they have actually been shown to have a health benefit! Unfortunately, on labels, they all get lumped together. 🙁
Yum!! That calorie count makes my heart sing 😉
I am so excited to see this spiral recipe! I love alfredo sauce & this will be one of our dinner meals this week. I do have some leftover chunked chicken protein that I will add to your recipe! Thank you!