This Healthy Alfredo Sauce is a significantly lightened up version of a classic (helloooo only 130 calories per serving). Made with skim milk, broth, greek yogurt, and parmesan, this alfredo sauce will surely impress without the guilt!
If you love this lightened up classic, you might also like: air fryer chicken nuggets, ground turkey fried rice, healthy turkey pot pie soup, skinny broccoli cheese soup, vegan mushroom stroganoff.
Is Alfredo good for you?
Healthy Alfredo Sauce. Sounds like an oxymoron, yes? But it’s not. THIS alfredo sauce is, in fact, healthy!
- Normally? No way. 😉
- Today? Heck. YES.
It’s also super yummy, super easy, and super tasty on things like whole wheat pasta and pizza (recipe coming Wednesday!).
Honestly, I’ve never been a huge fan of alfredo.
Growing up, per my request I’m sure, my family and I would go to the Olive Garden for dinner.
I would always order their Zuppa Toscana ♡, my brother, on the other hand, would always, always, always order their fettuccine alfredo. At one point, I actually think he found a “copy cat” recipe and made it at home.
BUT.
What I didn’t want, was a heavy cream, cream cheese filled sauce that would make me feel too full and weigh me down.
So . . .
What can I use instead of heavy cream for Alfredo sauce?
Instead of heavy cream, today, we’re using a combination of broth (for flavor), skim milk (for consistency), and non fat plain greek yogurt (for extra creaminess).
This combination allows us to create a SUPER creamy sauce with just a fraction of the calories.
I mean. There’s a time and place for the full fat, heavy cream alfredo sauce, because it IS delicious, but spring is literally right around the corner, so something light was a must.
This Healthy Alfredo Sauce is lightened up with skim milk and your choice of broth (chicken or veggie for flava), but is kept creamy with the help of non fat plain greek yogurt, and just a teeny tiny touch of parmesan cheese.
Healthy Alfredo Sauce? Gimme.
The weather around here – Wisconsin – is seriously messing with me. One day it’s 55 and sunny and literally the next day it’s below freezing and snowing.
I really don’t mind the winter weather for the most part, mainly because there is nothing cuter than watching Teddy romp around in the snow.
However.
I’m also ready – I think – to move past the stick-to-your-ribs, ultra warm and cozy recipes and move on to the bright, sunny, refreshing recipes. The best part about spring is that you can still have a little of both, right? 🙂
This Healthy Alfredo Sauce is the p.e.r.f.e.c.t. combination.
It’s still warm and cozy, but it’s totally light.
Did I mention it’s easy, too?!
How do you make homemade Alfredo sauce?
It’s actually so much easier than I thought it was going to be.
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, stir in cornstarch. This will help the alfredo sauce thicken.
Now whisk in broth and milk. Bring to a simmer, remove from heat, stir in greek yogurt, parmesan, and seasonings and you.are.done!
Ahhh. Don’t you just ♡ quick and easy recipes? I do! 🙋
Now. Lemme just say. This is NOT as thick and creamy as your typical alfredo sauce, but that’s to be expected! We’re not using butter, heavy cream, or cream cheese.
But I promise you, you’ll love it just as much. Although it’s not as thick and creamy, this Healthy Alfredo Sauce is still plenty thick and creamy, packed with flavor, and is amazing over whole wheat fettuccine.
– Jennifer
What are your favorite dishes that you would like to see lightened up? Show me the yummy!
This Healthy Alfredo Sauce is a lightened up version of a classic (helloooo only 130 calories per serving). Made with greek yogurt, skim milk, and parmesan!
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup broth vegetable or chicken
- 1/2 cup skim milk
- 1/2 cup non fat plain greek yogurt room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1-2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
- Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat.
- Sprinkle with cornstarch and cook for one minute, stirring constantly.
- While whisking, slowly add in broth and milk.
- Continue whisking to combine until smooth.
- Raise heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a simmer.
- Once simmering, simmer for about 2 minutes, until it starts to thickened, again, whisking constantly.
- Remove from heat and little by little, whisk in greek yogurt.
- Once combined, place back on the heat (medium) and stir in Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Bring to a simmer and simmer for an additional 2 minutes, whisking constantly.
- Serve over pasta* immediately or let cool completely (so it can thicken) and serve as a pizza sauce and enjoy!
- If not using immediately, store in airtight container in fridge.
Nutritional information is for 1/4th of the entire sauce recipe.
*This makes enough sauce for about 1/2 - 1 pound of pasta depending on how saucy you like your pasta!
* This post contains affiliate links. We receive a commission on purchases made via these links. The price you pay is not affected by using them.
You’ve just made all of my sauce dreams come true with this recipe! I could never eat Alfredo sauce because it doesn’t sit well in my stomach, but I now have new hope!! Can’t wait to see this on pizza as well 🙂
Yay!! Thank Marina!! The pizza is soooooo good! Can’t wait to share the recipe. 🙂
OMG this on pizza will be Ah-mazing!
Thanks Kelly!! 🙂
Cannot wait to try this as I love Alfredo sauce but no longer
eat it due to calorie count! Thanks so much for the recipe.
Rated it due to contents and low calorie count. Thanks again!
Thank you so much, Shirley!! I hope you love it! 🙂
This looks delicious and love the fact that it’s healthy. Can’t wait to try.
Hi Dean! Thank you! I hope you love it. 🙂
Looks AMAZING! We’re gonna have to try!!!
Staci
http://www.missbloodymary.com
Thanks Staci!! 🙂
I made this last night and absolutely loved it! Mine came out a bit thicker than I had expected… I may cut down on the cornstarch next time or add a touch more broth. I added a touch of crushed chili pepper, which gave it a nice zing. I’m looking forward to trying this with zucchini noodles as an even lighter! Thanks!
Hi there! Thank you so much for making the recipe 🙂 I’m so happy you loved it and helloooo you’re genius for adding chili pepper, we LOVE spicy. I also love the idea of trying this with zoodles. 🙂 Cooking the sauce a little less should also help keep the sauce a bit thinner.
I just tried the fettuccini Alfredo and was amazed by the flavor! I added sautayed organic onions and mushrooms, and crumbled turkey bacon, yummy!!! Thank you so much for making my favorite dish a better one.
Yay!! Thanks so much Jackie!! 🙂
I tried this with just a few tweaks and it was WONDERFUL ! I used cashew/almond milk because that’s what was in my fridge and I added leftover shredded chicken. Even with the Cashew milk substitution and the added chicken, this was still a healthy low fat, dish. Thank you so much. I have been wanting to make a healthy version of Alfredo Sauce.
Hi Nancy! Yay! So glad to hear it 🙂 I’m OBSESSED with cashew milk, so I’ll have to give that a try. Thanks!
This is totally delicious! I replaced the starch with arrow root and the greek yoghurt with sheep yoghurt, a bit more generous with the parmesan, added a punch of nutmeg and a pinch of chipotle pepper powder for a bit of punch. worked great with quinoa/rice fusilli and sautéed mushrooms & chopped up flat parsley. Super light and yet totally comfort food delicious!
(and yes: use cashew milk! )
LOVE cashew milk!!! Have you ever tried making your own Cashew Nut Butter? You’d probably love it!
Thanks Camilla!! Love your adaptation…sounds super delicious! 🙂
I just made this recipe and it was so good! If I have some left over, could I possibly freeze it, maybe in a glass jar?
Yay! So glad you loved this Lauren! That should be fine! You’ll have to let me know…I’ve never tried that. 🙂
This sauce is sooooo good! Thank you! Some little changes I made to make it even healthier are 1) I split the amounts of milk in half: half unsweetened almond milk, and half 1% milk, which is what I had in my fridge. 2) I did equal parts of swiss cheese and parmesean cheese to take off a little salt from the recipe. The end result was spectacular! Thanks again!
Yay! Thanks so much Adeline! 🙂
Just made this amazing recipe and love it! I’m always looking for a healthy alternatives to my favorite foods and this is definitely something I’ll be making it again. Thank you!
Yay!! Thanks so much Melissa! 🙂
I made this tonight with whole grain noodles and let me say this sauce is absolutely delicious!! I was skeptical but I must say I was very impressed. I rarely, if ever, leave comments but this is so good I had to leave a THANK YOU!! I’ve been sharing the link to it with my friends and family. 😊
Aww thank you so much Alicia!!! That’s so nice of you to let me know 🙂 Really happy you loved this!
Just made this tonight and it was fantastic!!!
Thank you so much Amanda!!
This recipe is great! Made it last night, tossed it with penne pasta, shrimp, cherry tomatoes, and green pepper – so good!!! Thanks for sharing, we will definitely make this again!
Wahoo! Thank you so much Bria!! 🙂
He sauce is delicious! I was able to make it with what I had on hand. Even with dry sprinkled parmasean cheese it’s creamy and cheesy! I’m not a big alfredo fan but will make this again. I did add some spinach and tomatos to the pasta because I like vegetables in everything. Thank you gor the wonderful recipe!
Hi Merry! Thank you so much! LOVE the addition of spinach and tomatoes 🙂
This recipe is A-MAZ-ING!!! I didn’t miss the fat at all! And neither did my husband or kids! A++
Yay!! Thank you so much! 🙂
Love this recipe, it’s one my Mom can eat, as she has pancreatitis, but can you tell me the fat content or how I can figure it out?
Thanks so much!
Hi Sidney! I’m so glad you and your Mom love this recipe! I’d suggest using this calorie calculator to figure it out. 🙂
I want to use this recipe instead of the jar the next time I make Slow cooker Cajun Alfredo Pasta. The jar was too creamy. I searched “healthy alfredo sauce” and found your recipe.
Hope you love it, Alan!
I am going to make it a second time. I am going to use it with Banza Pasta.
Wahoo! Thanks so much Alan!
How much parm are you using for this calorie count? I can’t see anywhere it’s mentioned.
Nevermind. Duh.
Glad you got it figured out! 🙂
I was thinking that if there’s anybody here that finds the use of Greek yogurt makes the sauce a bit tangy for an alfredo sauce then if you want it a little less tangy I’m thinking that perhaps fat-free cottage cheese or fat-free ricotta cheese could be used in place of the Greek yogurt. I haven’t tried this recipe yet either in its original form or my theorized modifications so not sure if that would do the trick in place of the Greek yogurt but it might. Also for those of us that REALLY REALLY love garlic (love it so much that our breath can regularly slay vampires LOL) then you can use garlic-infused EVOO on top of the garlic powder called for in the recipe.
Can you give me the nutrition information for this recipe?
Hi Carolina! For the ENTIRE recipe: 500 cals, 27 grams fat, 34 grams protein. 🙂
Tried this tonight with my homemade butternut squash ravs and LOVED it. I was surprised how much sauce it made. But I’ll just use the leftovers for a broccoli cheese side tomorrow.
Yay!!! Thank you so much!!! LOVE the sound of your butternut squash deliciousness! 🙂
This alfredo sauce is amazing. I don’t normally write reviews, but it’s that good I just had to.
Aww yay!!! Thank you so much!
I was looking for sodium content. Do you happen to know what that would be?
I don’t, I’m sorry! You can use this nutritional calculator though: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator 🙂 You can use it for any recipe you find!
I just made this last night for my family and it was a huge hit! We had it over spaghetti squash “noodles” and it was delicious! Making it again tonight because I made waaay too much spaghetti squash… oh darn 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
Ha! Thank you so much!!!! 🙂
I also wanted to share that I added mushrooms, kale, garlic, and shallots! So good, this is my new base recipe for “alfredo” meals.
Yay!!
I just made this tonight, and was so pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Will definitely make this again. I wanted a light pasta dish for this heat, but had a cheesy craving. Worked great for a huge pan of pasta, kale and tomatoe’s.
Thanks so much Cathy! 🙂
I am trying to lower the sodium content. Does your recipe use low sodium broth? I’m looking at nutrient content and would like to isecthat as a jumping off point for that one modification.
Thanks
It doesn’t, but feel free to use a lower sodium brand 🙂
I tried this, turned out great!! (Used arrowroot instead of cornstarch)
Thanks so much Libby!
Did not think a healthy alfredo sauce was possible! You are a lifesaver; thank you! I have so many ideas for this recipe now. 😍
Aww yay!! Thank you!
I was looking for a healthier alternative to Alfredo sauce online and found this recipe and I’m so glad I did! I am a HUGE Alfredo fan, if I have a cheat meal it’ll probably be that or pizza. I wanted to be able to enjoy chicken Alfredo more frequently and now I can!! This sauce is pretty dang great without the creams and butter! The yogurt actually works well with the recipe. I was very satisfied with the flavor of this sauce!
I used whole wheat rotini and added yellow squash and zucchini which really helped curve those cravings and I felt no guilt for eating it.
THANK YOU!
That’s awesome, Heather! SO happy you loved this 🙂 Thank you!!
I have never rated or posted a comment on a recipe before … had to this one … SOOOOO delicious … have been looking forever for a tasty alfredo sauce …. found … will be making again and again …
Thank you!!!
Aww yay!!! Thank you so much Sue!
Awesome!
The crowd loved it. Made Prima Vera with it over penne.
Thank you.
So glad! You’re welcome!
Made this last night. It was delicious. I replaced the salt with Mrs Dash for a little extra zing.
Will be making this again very soon!
Yay! Thanks so much! 🙂
Hi , we love the lite Alfredo . I was wondering how to make it a seafood – Prima Vera recipe.
Thank you,
Rob
Hi Rob! I’d google “prima vera recipe” and then use this recipe instead of the sauce. 🙂
Love this recipe!! No complaints at the dinner table!!
So glad!! 🙂