Skinny Fettuccine Alfredo
A rich and creamy lightened up alfredo sauce that’s so easy to make, and it tastes just as good as the original!
Fettuccine alfredo is one of favorite kind of comfort foods. It was always my go-to dish as a kid each time we went out to an Italian restaurant, particularly Olive Garden. But as I’m getting older and my metabolism has come to a screeching halt, it’s been getting a little bit difficult to stomach this. Fortunately, I’ve found a “skinny” version that’s a little lighter on your tummy, and it tastes just as creamy and comforting as the original!
With a couple of lightened up options, you’ll have this comforting fettuccine on your dinner table in less than 30 minutes. It’s a super easy sauce that comes together simply by stirring until the cheese has melted. While that’s happening, you can go ahead and boil up the pasta, and when your sauce is ready, you can just throw that in and you’re all set. Now how easy was that? Just be sure to have some self-control around this because you’ll want to eat the entire pan!
Skinny Fettuccine Alfredo
Ingredients
- 8 ounces fettuccine
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups 2% milk, or more, as needed
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 ounces Neufchatel cheese, cubed
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and garlic powder until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
- Stir in cheeses until melted, about 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more milk as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Stir in pasta and gently toss to combine.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Really delicious, great recipe! I didn’t want to buy cream for just this, so I used all milk (mine was whole milk), and it was wonderful. I nearly doubled the sauce and cooked a full pound of broccoli with the noodles, for a good bit of vegetables. I may toss a little rotisserie chicken in next time, too. This is a great sauce, with none of the preservatives and suspicious flavoring agents in pre-made, jarred sauces.
I used this recipe and added Montamoré cheese (Sartori from Wisconsin) because, who can’t have enough cheese?! It was to die for. Thanks for this delicious recipe!
Does the sauce freeze well? If iI wanted to make some ahead of time and freeze it, that’d be awesome!
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I never comment on these things but I found your recipe on pinterest and just made it for the second time last night. We love it! The first time I threw some chicken and steamed broccoli in there and it was our main course. Last night I made it as a side dish to steaks and veggies. So simple and so delicious! Thank you!
Made this tonight; this is so TOTALLY going in my ‘must make again’ binder. Never thought of using cream cheese to help thicken! The only other recipe that I have ever made that tasted as good called for equal parts butter/parmesan/heavy cream – a heart attack waiting to happen. Love. This!
I meant so good, darn spell check.
This recipe was delightful, my family loved it! I added more parmasean than lo fat cream cheese, used 2% milk, nutmeg, sautéed mushroom, garlic, chicken and chopped spinach. And for the kicker added red pepper flakes for a little spice. Skinny has never tasted do good …..thanks for the recipe.
I just made this. It is SO good! I didn’t use the heavy cream, but it was still amazing. Thanks for this recipe!
Just made this for lunch and it was very tasty! I didn’t have cream so used half and half, and used a garlic clove sauted in the butter instead of garlic powder. Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe!
Had this bookmarked and finally made it tonight. Kids and adults looooved it. Really good. Will make again. I doubled the pasta and drizzled the sauce on top and there was definitely enough. Added red pepper flakes. Thank you!
Do you think almond milk would be a fine substitute for 2% milk? I’m going to try to make this tonight with zucchini noodles 🙂
You can certainly substitute almond milk but I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish as further recipe testing is needed.
I cannot thank you enough for this scrumptious recipe. I cooked this today, and with much trepidation because I didn’t really think that it was possible to have “skinny” alfredo sauce without sacrificing taste, but, wow, am I glad to be wrong. It was beyond damn delicious – my husband kept asking for seconds and my son was impressed by my culinary magic 🙂 Thank you for sharing the recipe. The only thing that I did differently was to add 2 tbsp of sundried tomato pesto paste to give it a nice color. I’m going to freeze the leftover sauce for another day.
The sundried tomato pesto paste sounds amazing! I will definitely have to try that next time.
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This recipe was amazing! I added chicken and some sauteed zucchini.
I was wondering if you ever tried to freeze the sauce? I would love to be able to make a big batch and freeze it ahead of time.
I actually have not tried freezing it – there were no leftovers to freeze! If you ever give it a try, please let me know how it turns out.
I see that this recipe yields 4 servings, but just wondering how many people it realistically feeds. It doesn’t seem like much sauce compared to other alfredo recipes. I’m cooking for 6 people (3 very big guys!) so I’m planning on doubling it. Will that be enough?
It really depends on how much they eat and what you serve this with (side dishes, appetizers, etc.). If you are serving this with other dishes, doubling the recipe should be just fine.
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Will shredded Parmesan cheese work just as well as grated…?
Yes, shredded should work just fine.
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Made this for dinner tonight~very tasty and quick. I used all 2% milk and a grating of nutmeg, it was very creamy. One would never think it was a skinny version.
This is now my go-to recipe for Alfredo! Does not taste “skinny”, no one could tell the difference. Thanks!!