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My children insist that everything that comes out of my kitchen bear a name, even if that name has little or no meaning to them at the get-go. Since it is, at times, a work in progress and therefore not yet worthy of the eventual name, I resist their demands as best I can. “What's this?” is often met with an answer of, “Dinner.”
This lightened up gluten free Alfredo sauce is, indeed, a finished work—but calling it Alfredo sauce may be misleading as it's made with more than just the usual butter, cream and Parm. That most basic of American restaurant-style white sauces is just too heavy for me to enjoy, and I thought you might feel the same.
A few more ingredients are all it takes to lighten up this gluten free Alfredo sauce enough for it to be rich and impossibly creamy without knocking us out with its heft. As an added bonus, it also has more depth of flavor.
Oh, and about those gluten free fettuccine noodles… When I first made this recipe, they were not very easy to find. These days, even Barilla makes them so pick your favorite brand—or just use spaghetti and it will taste just as good.
Lighter Gluten Free Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- ¼ cup (35 g) gum-free gluten free flour blend, (23 g superfine white rice flour + 8 g potato starch + 4 g tapioca starch/flour)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, (or white pepper if you have it)
- 2 cups (16 fluid ounces) chicken or vegetable stock
- 12 ounces dried gluten free fettuccine, or spaghetti pasta
- ½ cup (4 fluid ounces) lowfat milk
- ½ cup (4 fluid ounces) heavy cream
- 3 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, finely grated
- Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for serving
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil.
- In a medium-sized heavy-bottom saucepan or skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic cloves and sauté, turning the cloves over occasionally, until the garlic is fragrant (about 3 minutes). Remove and discard the garlic.
- Add the gum-free flour blend, whisk to combine and cook just until the mixture begins to simmer. You don’t want any browning, as this is a white sauce. Add the salt and pepper, and whisk to combine.
- In a slow, steady stream and while whisking constantly, pour the stock into the pan. Continue to whisk occasionally and cook until the mixture just begins to thicken and the mixture coats the back of a spoon (about 6 minutes).
- While the sauce is cooking, boil the pasta to an al dente texture according to the package directions.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tinkyada organic brown rice pasta is very good and tastes like linguini. It would be a good
substitute
Yum!! Can’t wait to try! Nicole, words can’t express my gratitude for your hard work and wonderful recipes! I was diagnosed in May and it has been a journey to say the least! I was an avid baker and thought that was coming to a screeching halt with my diagnosis until I found your blog! God bless you for your dedication and outreach with your work!
Just got ‘classic snacks’ and ‘quick and easy’ today! So excited but just to tired too cook, tomorrow for sure! Now I’ve got three of your awesome books, I think I still love the bread one the best (even though I haven’t cooked from the new ones yet) ? thank you
Ross stores sells a pasta maker that is a snap to use. We’ve had good luck with our attempts to make noodles. May try tonight with this sauce!
I get a hankering for Alfredo every so often! We’ll love this.
Yum! I hardly ever have more than a bite of fettuccine because it is so heavy, but this sounds very nice. Some of the pizza places here use alfredo sauce on the crust instead of tomato paste. I may have to try to recreate it with this. I used to love a veggie pizza with white sauce.
Bonta d’Italia has delicious GF penne. The spagetti is good, but the penne tastes 99.9% like the real deal, even without sauce, and that is saying a lot! I have a box of Bonta d’Italia’s tagliatelle shape (think short egg noodles) that we have not tried yet; perhaps this is just the dish to push me to it. Nicole, for all you do, thanks so much. You and your cookbooks rock.
I am thinking this would also be a great base sauce to add your own spices ie; a curry sauce. Maybe substitute coconut milk? Can’t wait to try this!! Thank you so much!! :):)
Sounds delicious
Is your next project perfecting fettuccine ??? I know we are going to love this recipe. Have I missed it or have you already invented GF egg noodles ??
Those ginger muffins made my house smell like the holidays.
Don’t know what I’d do without you.