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10 Minute Homemade Alfredo Sauce :: Dairy and Dairy Free Options!

January 20, 2017

Classic garlic filled creaminess and everyone’s favorite pasta sauce! Velvety homemade Alfredo is real food at its best!

10 Minute Homemade Alfredo Sauce :: Dairy and Dairy Free Options!Product links in this post are affiliate links. It does not cost you anything and helps maintain the free information on this site, as well as answer the questions of “what brand do you use?” Please know I never personally recommend any product I wouldn’t use on my own family.

Winter comfort…

January seems to be flying by! That is definitely not something I am used to saying as this beach bum really {really!} enjoys her barefoot summer days.

It’s been a mild winter so far however (in Michigan standards!), and we are finding ourselves enjoying the winter fun that surrounds us, especially now that I don’t have really small babies in tow anymore. My kids are true winter lovers!

15803678_248299058937998_3462896345373736960_n(1)And I have to admit, winter comfort food definitely makes the cold more tolerable!

Creamy Alfredo meals are a cold weather favorite in our house. I used to think that Alfredo had to mean really heavy, unhealthy food. As it turns out, when you make it yourself it can truly be a nutrient dense, nourishing meal that tastes so good!

10 Minute Homemade Alfredo Sauce :: Dairy and Dairy Free Options!The simplest of ingredients seriously make the most amazing food!

Amazingly enough, you really don’t need that mile long list of ingredients that the store bought Alfredo sauce has! Next time you are at the store, take a look! You will be floored! A little butter and garlic, something to thicken up the milk a bit and you are in Alfredo heaven.

Traditional Alfredo sauce is made with milk or cream, butter, and garlic. We tolerate raw dairy in our house well, however I find myself making Alfredo sauce with coconut milk more than our raw milk. Our raw milk share is lower during the winter months when the cows don’t make as much milk. We don’t have as much on hand, and I like to save the raw milk for drinking instead of cooking off all of the raw properties. If you have access to a lot of quality milk and cream in the winter, or it is spring and summer for you and the milk is abundantly flowing, definitely give the milk a try! It is simply amazing!

10 Minute Homemade Alfredo Sauce :: Dairy and Dairy Free Options!A note for hesitant coconut flavor friends

I am not a huge fan of the taste of coconut. {I know it. Send in the real food police, right!?} I am just not. I didn’t grow up with a lot of coconut flavored anything, and no matter how hard I try, I just can’t get used to it. I can’t drink it on it’s own, and I rarely cook with coconut oil other than baking because I don’t like the finished taste!

I promise the coconut flavor is completely masked by *all* that butter and garlic. When you get that garlic super fragrant and use amazing butter, the alfredo sauce simply tastes like…creamy, garlicy, amazing alfredo sauce!

10 Minute Homemade Alfredo Sauce :: Dairy and Dairy Free Options!Coconut milk options

I do tend to use homemade coconut milk more than buy it to save money. Especially in the winter when our raw milk share is low, I am in the habit of making it every weekend anyway, so I just double it if I know we’ll be having alfredo. It is so easy to make, and you can avoid the cans and fillers from the canned coconut milk.

If making it isn’t an option, you are in a pinch, or you are just in a season of life where you just can’t make one more thing (yes, I have been there dear momma with that newborn on your hip!), there are a couple of brand options for you. You may find these in your health food store to price compare here!

  • Aroy-D Coconut Milk: This is a gum free coconut milk – just 100% coconut milk for those who can’t tolerate the guar gum added to many coconut milks.
  • Native Forest Coconut Milk: This is a good, inexpensive coconut milk. It does have guar gum added for thickening which does not bother us, but for those with sensitive tummies it might be something to avoid.

10 Minute Homemade Alfredo Sauce :: Dairy and Dairy Free Options!Noodle options

We definitely enjoy a good rice pasta on occasion! (We like this brand of rice noodles) There is nothing wrong with that if you tolerate it ok! Sometimes I don’t have it on hand, or we have already had pasta that week, so changing it up is always a great idea. If you have hesitant veggie noodle eaters, mix in some veggie noodles with regular noodles for a while to get them used to the idea 😉

Veggie “Noodle” Ideas:

Healthier Pasta Ideas:

10 Minute Homemade Alfredo Sauce :: Dairy and Dairy Free Options!Meal ideas for your alfredo sauce! {Psst! It can be more than just pasta!}

Alfredo sauce makes a kid friendly vehicle to get a load of veggies in. Steam a mix of vegetables to pile up on your pasta and drown it all in alfredo! The meal pictured in this post literally took about 20 minutes to make. I pressure cooked frozen organic broccoli in 2 minutes in my Instant Pot while I made the alfredo, and the chicken was leftover from our roasted chicken the night before. It doesn’t get much faster than that! (If you don’t have an Instant Pot, simply steam that broccoli – it doesn’t take long at all!)

We also like alfredo poured over baked potatoes. It feels a lot like drippy cheese for loaded baked potatoes! You can do veggie sides or salads in that case to get the veggies in and even crumble bacon over your loaded baked potato.

This alfredo sauce is also great with just a simple stir fry. If you have to be grain free while you are healing your gut, this is a great option for you to dress up your daily healing veggies!

10 Minute Homemade Alfredo Sauce :: Dairy and Dairy Free Options!

Print Recipe
5 from 7 votes

10 Minute Homemade Alfredo Sauce

Classic garlic filled creaminess and everyone’s favorite pasta sauce! Velvety homemade Alfredo is real food at its best!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: dairy free alfredo, dairy-free alfredo sauce recipe, homemade alfredo sauce
Servings: 10 servings
Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 6 cloves of garlic minced
  • 2 TB flour of choice to thicken I like to use white rice flour. Tapioca or Cassava works if you are grain free
  • 1 quart coconut milk Or raw milk. For safe store bought coconut milk options, see the notes in the post above.
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan optional - I don't have access to quality parm all the time, so it is left out frequently and it is still very good - a little extra sea salt takes care of adding the salty bite.
  • Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the minced garlic. Saute the garlic on medium heat for few minutes until fragrant.
  • Whisk in the flour well, and then add the coconut milk.
  • Bring the sauce to a simmer whisking occasionally, until it thickens, about 3-5 minutes.
  • Whisk in the Parmesan if you are using it and then sea salt and pepper to taste.

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37 Comments

  • Reply Megan Stevens January 22, 2017 at 3:26 pm

    I believe this sauce is everyone’s love language. That top photo is SO wooing! I love how easy the recipe is too, and all.that.garlic! 🙂

  • Reply Emily @ Recipes to Nourish January 28, 2017 at 2:09 am

    I totally agree, comfort food makes the cold more tolerable for sure. I almost feel guilty saying that though since I’m in CA and we don’t get snow where I live. This Alfredo sauce sounds so good!

  • Reply Laura April 3, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    Made this tonight w/ the coconut milk. So good!!!

    Thanks for all the wonderful recipes. ❤️ also made the banana muffins yesterday – big hit with the 2 year old even though I over-baked them (whoops!)

    • Reply Renee Kohley April 4, 2017 at 8:25 am

      Awesome Laura! It is so nice to have recipes that work for your family in the back pocket to make over and over!

  • Reply Alison Ziskind November 5, 2017 at 8:26 pm

    5 stars
    My daughter who hates ALL things coconut, and who begged me not to make this recipe because it sounded “disgusting”, just gobbled up a big bowlful of this sauce. I might have also had a little. Maybe a lot. You can’t prove anything. 🙂

    • Reply Renee Kohley November 7, 2017 at 5:34 pm

      Ah! I love this Alison! Awesome! Thank you for sharing!

  • Reply JillIan November 9, 2017 at 5:54 pm

    This was so good!!! I used nutritional yeast instead of Parmesan. I was wondering how long does the sauce keep in the frig and is this freezable?? Thanks!

    • Reply Renee Kohley November 11, 2017 at 5:50 pm

      Hi Jillian! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I would use it up within 4 days in the fridge, and I have frozen it before and it does well!

  • Reply Tami Spahr January 2, 2018 at 6:10 pm

    I want to make this soon and I’m wondering if corn starch can be used in place of flour to thicken and if almond milk can be used in place of coconut milk? Thank you! 😊

    • Reply Renee Kohley January 4, 2018 at 9:39 am

      Hi Tami! Yes both of those replacements should work fine!

  • Reply B January 11, 2018 at 9:59 pm

    1 quart to much milk, sauce wouldn’t thicken. Had to add about 4 tbs of rice flour. I also used vegan butter not sure if that changed the thickness

    • Reply Renee Kohley January 18, 2018 at 10:20 am

      Vegan butter will definitely change things. We make this sauce as is very often and have never had a problem.

  • Reply Aleeza January 15, 2018 at 6:46 am

    5 stars
    Just tried this last night. My only issue was that there wasn’t enough sauce for seconds! I will have to make more soon. Absolutely delicious! Thank you!

    • Reply Renee Kohley January 18, 2018 at 10:17 am

      Love that Aleeza! Thanks for sharing!

  • Reply Paulette January 17, 2018 at 12:40 am

    Is there a specific type of “butter” that you use? If not, wouldn’t that negate the dairy freeness of this dish. Please know, I am not trying to argue, just trying to figure out what you use that might taste best.

    • Reply Renee Kohley January 18, 2018 at 10:15 am

      Hi Paulette! I use Kerrygold butter which is not dairy free, but you can use a well sourced palm oil or ghee if you tolerate that – I use ghee a lot.

  • Reply MOlly January 24, 2018 at 7:01 pm

    Awesome! I added So Delicious Vegan cheese and it was terrific! I have been dying to find a dairy free sauce. Thanks!

  • Reply Instant Pot Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Alfredo :: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free - Raising Generation Nourished February 10, 2018 at 5:48 pm

    […] you are grain free, I would recommend separately making this DIY alfredo sauce, and then just add some spiralized zucchini or sweet potato noodles. My kiddos love this dinner […]

  • Reply Instant Pot Alfredo :: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free - Raising Generation Nourished February 10, 2018 at 5:49 pm

    […] you are grain free, I would recommend separately making this DIY alfredo sauce, and then just add some spiralized zucchini or sweet potato noodles. My kiddos love this dinner […]

  • Reply JC August 22, 2018 at 8:27 am

    how many can’s of coconut milk do you need ? 1 quart is what you noted.

    • Reply Renee Kohley August 24, 2018 at 8:00 am

      1 quart is about 4 cups, so you will need about 2 cans.

  • Reply Nancy November 10, 2018 at 6:29 pm

    I want to use this as a basis for mushroom soup. Any changes needed?

    • Reply Renee Kohley November 11, 2018 at 8:48 am

      Hi Nancy! It is pretty thick, so you may need to thin it out some.

  • Reply Kristi January 9, 2019 at 6:58 pm

    5 stars
    Turned out good. Entire family approved :).
    Used Tapioca Starch and only 27 oz. of Coconut Milk. Plus added a dash of Homemade Seasoned Salt & Red Pepper Flakes (along with Sea Salt and Course Black Pepper). Left it on a low simmer for bit longer than called for and the sauce thickened up perfectly. Served over Gluten-Free Gnocchi Pasta with Peas, Carrots and Broccoli. We’ve already made future plans to try it over other pastas and on our Alfredo Pizza. Thanks a lot for the recipe! 🙂

  • Reply Althena December 29, 2019 at 4:22 pm

    My fiancée decided to change our diet from meat to a plant based diet. Im afraid I can’t let go of my alfreado sauce. it goes well with almost every recipe I have. I absolutely love this recipe, however what would you recommend on butter? Can I use other substitutions other than butter?

    • Reply Renee Kohley January 14, 2020 at 11:13 am

      Hi Althena! I would imagine olive oil would do the trick – the flavor will be a bit different but should still taste good.

  • Reply Michael April 26, 2020 at 11:10 am

    5 stars
    I made this last night. delicious. Everyone in my family likes it. Thanks!

    • Reply Renee Kohley April 28, 2020 at 6:33 am

      So glad your family enjoyed it Michael!

  • Reply lilly May 11, 2020 at 8:57 am

    5 stars
    I am a teenager and can still make this recipe! Thanks for this great recipe I am going to make it tonight

    • Reply Renee Kohley July 22, 2020 at 2:52 pm

      Hi Lilly! That seriously makes my day! Thank you for commenting! So glad you enjoyed it!

  • Reply Will August 22, 2020 at 4:05 am

    5 stars
    Velvety homemade Alfredo is real food at its best!

  • Reply Brendon August 22, 2020 at 1:31 pm

    5 stars
    This recipe has such great flavors, I would definitely make this again!

  • Reply Maeve December 31, 2021 at 10:08 pm

    Great recipe! I used 1 can of coconut milk and 1 cup broth in place of the 1 qt of coconut milk. It turned out great!

    • Reply Renee Kohley January 3, 2022 at 12:57 pm

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it Maeve! Thank you for sharing!

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