Keto Alfredo Sauce in Two Easy Steps
Note: This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Thank you!
Keto Alfredo sauce is an easy cheesy sauce for your favorite meats, veggies, seafood, or pasta. It’s a low-carb version of a classic sauce that will make you rethink ever getting canned Alfredo sauce again.
One of our favorite indulgences is Alfredo sauce. Rich, creamy, full of cheese this keto-friendly sauce adds tons of flavor to so many different dishes and you don’t need to worry about carbs.
Alfredo sauce is naturally high in fat, making it perfect for keto dieters. At 3 grams of carbs per 1/3 cup, this decadent cheese sauce is irresistible.
Table of contents
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Butter– Unsalted butter will allow you to better control the taste but you can use salted if that’s what you have.
- Garlic– A little bit of garlic adds the classic flavor.
- Heavy Cream – Don’t try to substitute half and half or milk for heavy cream. Both of those have higher sugar content and will make the sauce low carb, but not necessarily keto friendly. They also tend to make the sauce thinner.
- Parmesan – Using fresh, real Parmesan is extremely important. It is what gives this cheesy sauce its great flavor. It is also what thickens the sauce so that we can avoid any starchy thickeners.
- Ground nutmeg – Ground nutmeg adds a nice, subtle flavor to the alfredo sauce and helps make the sauce delicious.
- Salt & Pepper – Parmesan cheese is pretty salty on it’s own so you may or may not need to add any salt. give it a taste and see what you think! Start with 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper and add more as needed.
How to Make It
This recipe is about as easy as it comes. It’s great for a quick sauce on a busy weeknight.
Step 1 – Prep the cream and butter. Warm up your cream to room temperature (approximately 70 degrees) in a small saucepan or in a microwave-safe bowl. Once the cream is warmed, melt the butter in a small pot. Saute the garlic for about 1 minute or until it becomes fragrant. Next, pour in the warmed milk and bring the pot to a simmer.
Step 2 – Add the cheese. Mix in the Parmesan cheese and nutmeg. Stir the pot frequently as you allow it to cook for about 8 to 10 minutes. Once the sauce has started to thicken, add in the salt and pepper to taste. Serve the sauce hot over your favorite meats, veggies, or seafood or mix it into you favorite low carb or regular pasta.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cold cream can separate if added to heat when cold. You should warm it gently either on the stovetop over low heat, or for a few seconds in the microwave to bring it to room temp (approximately 70 degrees). Using room temperature cream will help prevent separation.
Allow the sauce to cool completely. Once it has come to room temperature, pour or spoon into an airtight container. You can refrigerate the sauce for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 1 month.
Yes! Before freezing, cool the sauce on the counter and then place it in a freezer-safe container or bag. You can freeze it for up to 1 month.
When ready to use the sauce, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight. Heat the sauce slowly over medium-low heat, stirring continuously until the sauce has warmed through. If the sauce begins to separate simply add a bit more heavy cream and whisk it together as it heats. That should pull the sauce back together.
Check your cheese. It’s important that you make sure you use real, fresh, Parmesan cheese that you buy in a block and then grate. Using a store bought powdered cheese or pre-shredded Parmesan cheese is often the reason the sauce doesn’t thicken. You need to cheese to melt into the cream to help give it a thicker consistency.
If you’ve used fresh Parmesan, and it still isn’t thick, you may need to allow it to simmer a little longer, letting some of the liquid evaporate as it cooks.
Finally, if all else fails, you can add some shredded mozzarella to the sauce which will thicken it.
What to Serve With Keto Alfredo Sauce
You can serve our Keto Alfredo Sauce with Our Low Carb Shrimp Alfredo or with our Low Carb Alfredo Zucchini Lasagna. We add mozzarella cheese to it and make this delicious Keto Chicken Alfredo Casserole and Keto Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo. We even added it to bell peppers to make these awesome Keto Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Peppers.
Missing pasta? You have to try our Keto Cajun Chicken Alfredo made with heart of palm noodles (or your favorite keto-friendly pasta).
It’s also a great way to turn our Keto Pizza Casserole into a white pizza, just sub out the pizza sauce for the Alfredo sauce.
It’s delicious poured over roasted vegetable and chicken or pork of any kind. It would be delicious with our Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken or our Prosciutto and Provolone Stuffed Pork Loin.
Like this recipe?
Make sure to follow us on Instagram and Pinterest for more recipes like this.
Keto Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons Butter
- 2 cloves Garlic, finely minced
- 2 cups Heavy Cream
- 5 ounces Parmesan, grated
- 1/8 teaspoon Ground nutmeg
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a pan. Add garlic to the pan and cook for 1 minute.
- Pour the heavy cream into the pan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Make sure to stir often so the cream doesn’t burn.
- Stir in the Parmesan and nutmeg and continue to cook until it thickens, approximately 8-10 minutes. You will know it is ready when the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of your spoon.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and add to your meal or let cool completely if you are saving for later.
Nutrition
Does this freeze well?
This Keto Alfredo sauce is the bomb!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
This sauce is wonderful. No need to buy canned sauce again.
So good! I will never by a jar of Alfredo again
Sauce came out very runny and did not thicken at all.
Jenny, I’m not sure why yours came out runny. We haven’t had that issue before. Maybe try a longer simmer?
This keto Alfredo is fire! Thank you!
Absolutely wonderful,so easy to make and the best part my husband loved it !
This is a really good alfredo sauce that my family loves. Super easy to make and really is good on frozen tortellini even if you forget to add the nutmeg.
I don’t know what I am doing wrong but it’s not thickening at all .
Hi Amanda I found adding more parmesan works to help thicken the sauce and still taste amazing!
Mine didn’t either. When I added mozzarella cheese as I normally would with the canned stuff it thickened just fine. So, more cheese!
We added mozzarella which helped. Other recipes I have used (jarred) had me adding mozzarella too.
How long does this last in the refrigerator? Can you freeze it?
It is ideal to refrigerate your Alfredo sauce within the first four hours. If you do refrigerate it, your sauce will last a good 4 to 7 days. When kept in the freezer, Alfredo sauce will stay fresh for up to 3 months.
Can any of these recipes have coconut cream instead of heavy cream in the recipe?
I’ve never tried it with coconut cream so I can’t say exactly how it would work.
I didn’t have enough heavy cream so I used 1 cup heavy cream and 1 cup coconut cream. It made it slightly sweet but my daughter loved it.
Made with what I had on hand which was only 1 c heavy cream and 1 cup coconut cream. Not keto daughter loved it. The addition of the mozzarella cheese made it amazing. She dipped her chicken in it like fondue! I got the compliment “it’s bussin’” so that’s pretty much the highest compliment food gets. Will make this again for sure.
I made this sauce the other night and eventually it came out really good.. I am confused about the amount of cheese.. The recipe calls for 5 ounces of Grated Parmesan cheese which equates to 1.5 us cups. That turned out to be wayyy too much cheese and I ended up having to add another 2 cups of half and half since I had already used to the heavy cream. Can confirm that is the cheese amount and that it is supposed to be Grated and not possible shredded instead?
Thanks!
That’s the right amount of cheese and we grate ours so it is a powdery texture, not shredded. Alfredo sauce should be pretty this so it coats whatever it is added to and we’ve found this to be just the right amount to give us that consistency.
This was so easy to make and so delicious. Had to buy some ground nutmeg for the recipe. I was in the store looking at some refrigerated Alfredo and decided to go to Pinterest to see how to make it and came across your recipe. The only alteration I did was use 6 oz shredded parmesan vs 5 oz, since my bag was 6 oz. I used heavy whipping cream. I’m serving it over Aldi’s seafood mix with broccoli, spinach and Miracle Noodle Fettuccine. I eat One Meal a Day and I recalculated the nutrition to 4 servings and it fit in my net carbs and calories for the day. Thanks for a great recipe! Nice and thick!
I’m so glad you liked it!! It’s one of my family’s favorite things and we put it on everything 🙂
This recipe is the best Alfredo sauce I ever had. It’s so easy , simple and very flavorful. I will never buy jarred Alfredo sauce again.
This Alfredo Sauce is amazing ! The entire family was wowed by it .No more store bought since I found your recipe. This is without a doubt my go to for all dishes with Alfredo and I’ve always loved Alfredo . Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with us.
Quick silly question~ how should the garlic be prepared? I’ve never made Alfredo from scratch, and I’m a beginner cook. I just want make sure I do this right! Thank you so much!
Hi Keri, not a silly question at all. You just need to separate the garlic into cloves and remove the peel from them. Finely mince the garlic and then add it to the butter in the pan (step 1). I hope you enjoy it!
Hands down best Alfredo sauce I have made so far. You will be able to thicken up the sauce by adding corn starch in with the heavy cream when it’s cold. Don’t add too much because it will thicken up quite a bit. Hope this helps!