Lighter Fettuccini Alfredo

  4.4 – 106 reviews  

For fans of garlic, a low-fat pasta. Try penne or shell pasta for variety.

Servings: 6
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  1. 12 ounces dry fettuccine pasta
  2. 1 cup nonfat milk
  3. ½ cup reduced fat margarine
  4. 8 ounces Neufchatel cheese, cubed
  5. ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  6. ½ teaspoon minced garlic
  7. ¼ teaspoon onion salt
  8. 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. In a large pot of boiling salted water cook fettuccini until al dente. Drain.
  2. Combine milk, cubed Neufchatel cheese, butter or margarine, garlic powder, onion powder, minced garlic, and salt. Stir until smooth. Stir in grated Parmesan cheese and cook 2 to 3 minutes, or until blended.
  3. Toss pasta with Alfredo sauce and serve warm.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 438 kcal
Carbohydrate 45 g
Cholesterol 41 mg
Dietary Fiber 2 g
Protein 18 g
Saturated Fat 10 g
Sodium 624 mg
Sugars 4 g
Fat 21 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Christopher Jackson
We added just a bit of black pepper and lemon zest!
Tracy Calhoun
Love this!! I’ve made this a few times as a base pasta recipe and then added. I really didn’t change much except that I did not add the powders and instead used 3-4 cloves of minced fresh garlic and chopped onion to taste. In a separate pan, I sauteed (in a few tablespoons of light butter) mushrooms, additional garlic and onions until soft. Then I added about 1 lb of large shrimp and cooked for about 3 minutes until opaque. I added this mixture to the sauce, along with spices to taste (I used crushed red pepper and oregano) and then added the cooked fettuccini. I also used chicken breasts and just adjusted the cooking time to allow for the chicken to be done. Great recipe.
Ryan Williams
Made it exactly as written. Added salt and pepper at the table. This was so good.
Melissa Henderson
Great recipe! After reading some reviews on here, I think there’s some misconceptions. First, neufchatel cheese *is not* the same thing as cream cheese. It’s closer in fat content to low-fat cream cheese and in the US is pretty close, but still not the same. Second, the purpose of this recipe—if for some reason you couldn’t figure it out by the title—is a healthier, lower fat alternative to Alfredo sauces that are mostly heavy cream. Adding regular cream cheese and bacon pretty much defeats that purpose. May as well go with the heavy cream and get ready for your diabetes, heart attack and erectile dysfunction. But if you don’t want the health problems and don’t want to be a tubby land whale, this one is for you.
Jose Park
This turned out thick and gloppy. I think cutting down on the Neufchâtel cheese might help. I won’t try it again and will make the regular Alfredo next year, since I only make it about once a year anyway.
Kimberly Young
This is my go-to recipe for any recipe calling for an alfredo sauce. I don’t use low-fat margarine because I don’t care to use any type of margarine, but I do use less butter than the recipe calls for. Otherwise, I follow the recipe (I probably add more Parmesan cheese, though). I use an immersion blender (before adding cheese) to smooth out the lumps.
Joel Kelley
A very good alfredo sauce. And BTW, the guy who invented Philadelphia Cream Cheese was actually making Neufchatel cheese. He only named it Philadelphia Cream Cheese because that’s where he was making it. So yeah, they are the same here in America. Real Neufchatel cream cheese is hard to find, and not the same thing as the Neufchatel found in Walmart’s dairy section. So Philadelphia Cream Cheese is just the brand name of an American made Neufchatel cheese, and they are interchangeable.
Jennifer Bowen
This is pretty good but, I made a few substitutions based on what I had onhand. I used neufanchal cheese, 2% milk and a few tablespoons of butter. Garlic and whatever cheese blends I had onhand 5 blend Italian shredded cheese and some fresh grated parmesean. To thicken my sauce instead of flour I used cooked and pureed cauliflower. I use this sauce to serve stuffed spaghetti squash boats with alfredo Primavera..
Frank Meyer
This was really delicious. I had some neufchatel cheese that I needed to use up, and I really didn’t care about being low-fat so I used 2% milk and real butter (although I only used about 1/3 cup). I also added about 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg because I like that flavor in Alfredo. Cooked some chicken and broccoli with it. Will definitely make again next time I have neufchatel to use up!
Jeremy Green
This was very delicious! I didn’t have a full cup of parm so I used 1/2 cup of a parm,cheddar,tuscano blend from trader joe’s and 1/2 cup of mozzarella. It blended together perfect. Will make again with the same cheeses.
Tasha Moody
Ehh, tasted like cream cheese
Terri Gentry
Love this recipe and as with all recipe’s that call for garlic I double that ingredient!
John Thompson
Added some sour cream and mushrooms – used chopped chives as a garnish. Really good!
Robert Klein
Simple and delicious. Loved this recipe!
Michelle Garcia
Cream cheese is the best way to make an alfredo sauce, in my opinion. This tasted rich and creamy , i could barely believe it was less fat than a traditional alfredo. I tossed in some steamed broccoli to get my kids to eat some veggies and when veggies are coated in this sauce, they ate them right up!
Sara Shepherd
AMAZING! Better than most restaurants! I always double my garlic and I don’t know if I put too much parmesan in (I didn’t measure this ingredient) or next time I’ll add more milk to make it a little thinner.
Jeffrey Norton
This was flavorful but the sauce was too thick for my liking. It was hard to believe that there was anything lite about this when I was eating it.
Briana Lopez
I have never written a review before but I just had to rate this one. This is fantastic!!! I did not change a thing and it is by far the very best alfredo sauce ever! My whole family loved it – so full of flavor, thick and creamy. The second time I made it I doubled the sauce and got double the pleasure! Thank you so much for sharing this awesome recipe!
Tammy Suarez
For all the people in America…there is no such thing as Alfredo in Italy. I am married to an Italian and we live in Rome and he has lived in his country his entire life. There is nothing called Alfredo over there that he recalls. It may be another way for Americans to make up a recipe and give it some sort of Italian name to sell it in restaurants. Such as saying Tuscan spices…no such thing.
Joseph Burton
This recipe was great! I used spaghetti noodles and cream cheese because that is what I had at home added a little garlic salt and added mixed veggies to the pasta to give it a bit of color! I will make again. Love that it is low cal!
Samuel Snow
This was quick and easy to make and very good. Everything came together well. We added shrimp to the dish, sprinkled parsley from our garden on top, and voila, dinner was ready, with a side of green beans and a salad.

 

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