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

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

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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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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:

• Spaghetti squash “pasta” {which is what is pictured in this post!}
• Sweet potato “noodles”
• “Zoodles” (spirilized zucchini)
• Butternut Squash “noodles” (peel, scoop out the seeds, and use a spirilizer)

Healthier Pasta Ideas:

• Tinkyada Gluten Free Rice Pasta
• BioNaturae Organic Rice Pasta 
• Jovial Gluten Free Rice Pasta
• Jovial Gluten Free Egg Pasta
• Jovial Einkorn Wheat Pasta (if you tolerate gluten)

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!

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 mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time15 minutes mins

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.

More real food recipes you might like:

• DIY Coconut Milk
• DIY Sweet & Sour Sauce
• 15 Minute Asian Veggie Noodles
• Veggie Spaghetti Sauce
• Pumpkin Cream Sauce