Healthy Pasta Alfredo (Cauliflower Alfredo)
We're lightening up the American version of pasta Alfredo with a healthy swap to make your creamy sauce!
Italian Fettuccine Alfredo vs American Alfredo Sauce
Italian Fettuccine Alfredo vs American Alfredo SauceIt might blow your mind to find out that the jars of "Alfredo sauce" we find on supermarket shelves in the States are nothing like the sauce (if you can call it that) that makes up a true, Italian, Fettuccine Alfredo.
That creamy sauce we find in stores is a spin off of the true Italian recipe. As Alfredo's pasta became a huge hit in the States, people began looking for a way to make the sauce quicker and easier (and with a longer shelf-life.
Because, you see, Alfredo's pasta was simply noodles tossed with butter and Parmesan cheese. If you tried to mass produce a dish like that or make it using sub-par ingredients, it wouldn't be a very stellar dish at all.
People began to add cream and starches to the classic Fettuccine Alfredo preparation in order to come up with something that resembled a "sauce" that could be made ahead to prepare for the dinner rush.
And, even better, marketed and sold wholesale!
What a sad history for a tasty sauce.
Even though the creamy Alfredo sauce we find in stores isn't authentic, we have a weak spot for it, so we we decided to try our hand at making a healthier version of this Italian-American, creamy sauce.
Homemade Healthy Pasta Alfredo
Would you believe that this Alfredo isn't made with butter and cream?
Even if you grabbed a fork-full of pasta, you probably wouldn't know that it wasn't your standard Alfredo.
If you've seen our Healthy Penne alla Vodka, you can probably guess where we're going here.
Veggies!
Roasted cauliflower, to be exact.
The Key To Our Healthy Alfredo Sauce Recipe
A little ⅓ fat cream cheese brings a beautiful creaminess to this sauce, just like a regular, store-bought Alfredo sauce. And a handful of fresh grated Parmesan cheese gives you the salty cheese kick you crave.
With a cauliflower puree as the base to this creamy sauce, you get a thick and flavorful sauce that has a fraction of the calories and fat of a normal butter and cream thickened Alfredo sauce.
You're welcome!
Healthy Pasta Alfredo with Sun Dried Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1 lb cauliflower, chopped
- ¾ lb pasta, dry
- 2 teaspoon salt, divided
- 4 Tbsp (2 oz) ⅓ fat cream cheese
- ½ c (2 oz) fresh Parmesan or Asiago cheese, grated
- 2 oz sun dried tomatoes, drained, if canned (optional)
Instructions
- Place the chopped cauliflower in a steam basket in a medium saucepan. (If you don’t have a steam basket, just put the cauliflower straight into the pan.) Add 2 c of water. Cover and steam the cauliflower 10-15 minutes, until VERY soft.
- While the cauliflower is cooking, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add pasta and 1 teaspoon of salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 7-9 minutes, until the pasta is al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Once the cauliflower is soft, place the cauliflower, cream cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, and 1 teaspoon salt into the bowl of your blender. Process until smooth, adding liquid from the steamed cauliflower (or pasta water) as needed to create a silky smooth and creamy sauce. (We used ½ - ¾ c of liquid.)
- Add the cauliflower alfredo sauce to your drained pasta. Mix in the sun-dried tomatoes. Taste and adjust the salt as desired.
Notes
This is one of the recipes from the early days of Curious Cuisiniere. We've updated our pictures since we first shared the recipe, but we've left the original images here as a fun throwback and shout out to how far we've come. Enjoy!
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
Great alternative use of cauliflower. The sauce was thin when I put the water in in the blender, but when it sat with the noodles for a while, the consistency became very gummy. Suggest making the sauce very thin to allow for the pasta to absorb lots of liquid. Also, the flavor was a bit thin; I'd add some nutmeg.
Hi Red. Thanks for your comment. I suspect you added too much liquid to the sauce. We find that this sauce works best if you only add as much liquid as you need to blend the cauliflower to a creamy sauce consistency. This way the sauce will coat the noodles, and there won't be excess moisture for the noodles to absorb (which is probably why yours turned a bit gummy). Thinning the sauce too much might also be why the flavors were a bit thin. But a pinch of nutmeg would be a good addition!
What a clever idea -- to make an alfredo sauce from roasted cauliflower and onions. Love it!
Dehydrators can be a load of fun. I gave mine to my brother when we moved and every once in awhile I miss it.