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Don’t you just love Alfredo everything? With its creamy garlicky, cheesy flavor, Alfredo sauce may be one of my favorite Italian staples. I love the Olive Garden version, but of course, their pasta bowls aren’t low carb. With a few adjustments, you can enjoy restaurant-quality Alfredo sauce that fits easily within a keto lifestyle.
Is Alfredo Sauce Keto?
Yes! You can make homemade keto alfredo sauce completely keto-friendly. Traditional alfredo sauce is high in fat and low in carb, but there are two things you should watch out for.
Other homemade alfredo sauce recipes call for using milk. Though milk has a high-fat content and decent protein, it also has more natural sugars than heavy cream.
Also, some other alfredo recipes rely on a roux to thicken the sauce. A typical roux uses flour or other starchy ingredients to help thicken the sauce. Instead of using a roux, my easy keto alfredo sauce recipe uses cheese and heavy cream for a naturally thicker sauce.
Ingredients in Keto-friendly Alfredo Sauce
There are only a few main ingredients and a few spices in my keto alfredo sauce recipe. The basic ingredients include:
- salted butter
- heavy whipping cream
- parmesan cheese
To season the alfredo sauce, you only need the following ingredients to get cooking:
- garlic (minced or crushed)
- Italian seasoning blend
- fresh parsley
How to Make Homemade Alfredo Sauce
Keto alfredo sauce is so easy! In fact, this yummy Italian inspired Keto recipe only requires one pot. That’s it!
To make this mouthwatering recipe, start by melting the butter over medium-high heat. When it is melted, add the shallots and garlic and saute them for about 2 to 3 minutes.
Once the garlic and shallots are fragrant, reduce heat to medium-low. Add in the heavy cream, cheeses, and remaining spices. When they are all added, stir to incorporate all the ingredients together.
When the ingredients are all added and mixed together, let the sauce cook for about 10 to 15 minutes. Finally, add the shrimp and cook each side for about 2 to 3 minutes directly in the sauce.
Serve the alfredo sauce over zoodles, steamed broccoli, or low carb pasta of your choosing.
Keto Alfredo Sauce with Cream Cheese
If you are an Italian purest, you might wonder why you might include cream cheese in alfredo sauce. But, cream cheese is a keto-friendly way to add creaminess and thicken the sauce a bit.
That said, you don’t have to add the cream cheese if you don’t want it. But I definitely encourage you to try it at least once to see the difference a bit of added creaminess can make in the sauce.
For this recipe, you’d just add 2 oz of cream cheese to the sauce.
Cooking Tips
Add Fresh Ingredients over Processed
Alfredo sauce is an amazingly simple recipe that uses only a few ingredients and seasonings. When I make this, I use fresh parmesan found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. I also use fresh garlic.
Avoid Extra Seasonings, especially Salt
When you make the alfredo sauce, you should avoid adding extra seasonings. This recipe has plenty of flavors. And the parmesan cheese adds plenty of salt to the sauce, so if you add any more, it can quickly become too salty.
Use Lower Heat to Prevent Burning
Finally, when you add the cheese and heavy cream, reduce the heat of the pan to medium-low. This will prevent the cheese from burning or the cream from scalding.
Using this Sauce
You can use keto alfredo sauce on several different dishes. They range from low carb pasta to vegetables to proteins. Alfredo sauce adds such a rich, filling flavor to anything you put it on.
Some of my favorite ways to enjoy keto alfredo sauce include:
How to Use Keto Alfredo Sauce to Make a Meal
Keto alfredo sauce pairs well with a variety of foods, which may be surprising since most restaurants only serve alfredo sauce in carb-heavy pasta. But the truth is, you can pair alfredo sauce with your favorite proteins, non-starchy vegetables, and low carb noodles or zoodles.
If you want to serve keto alfredo sauce over your favorite protein (like chicken, shrimp, or even steak), brown the protein in a pan using a bit of olive oil. If you want, you can season the protein with some salt and pepper.
To fill out the meal, try steaming a vegetable like broccoli. Once you have both your vegetable and protein prepared, plate them and top with the warm sauce.
Storage Tips
The good news is if you make too much alfredo sauce, you can store it in the refrigerator for several days. Just place it in a glass jar or other airtight container.
When you are ready to serve again, you can either microwave the sauce or add it to a pot and reheat on low. If your sauce gets too thick, you can always thin it out by adding more cream to the mix.
This keto alfredo recipe makes about 6 servings, which is perfect for feeding a larger family or having another meal later the same week.
Other Recipes that Use Alfredo Sauce as an Ingredient
If you love alfredo sauce, you should check out two other recipes that use alfredo sauce as a primary ingredient. These are low carb recipes that give you alternative ways to enjoy a good alfredo sauce:
Easy Keto Alfredo Sauce Recipe
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Butter
- 4 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 cup Organic Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
- 2 oz Cream Cheese, softened, optional
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a pan on medium-high heat
- Add the minced garlic. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until fragrant
- Turn the heat to medium-low. Add the heavy cream, parmesan cheese, cream cheese (if using) and seasoning. Whisk to incorporate.
- Cook the sauce for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. It will continue to thicken as it cooks. Stir in the fresh parsley before serving.
Video
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used. The keto sweeteners I use have 0g net carbs & are not included because sugar alcohols do not impact most people. This is provided as a courtesy, but you can do your own calculations if you wish!
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