Skip to content

Keto Alfredo Sauce

This keto Alfredo sauce is so easy and delicious! Way back in the day when I still ate pasta, I would never ever order an Alfredo dish. The combination of a cheesy cream sauce with pasta was just way too heavy for me. However, this Alfredo sauce when paired with zucchini noodles (zoodles) or shirataki noodles actually has a light fresh taste with the parsley and lemon juice cutting some of the richness. My favorite way to eat this dish is with grilled chicken, but feel free to use your favorite protein.

According to Wikipedia, modern Alfredo was invented by Alfredo Di Lelio in Rome. His family says he worked in a restaurant in Piazza Rosa where he developed a triple butter sauce for his ailing wife. The original dish included only butter, cheese and pasta. While it’s common in the United States to include cream as I have here, Italian-American Chef Music says, “American cooks added heavy cream or half-and-half to thicken and enrich the sauce. To each their own, but no authentic fettuccine Alfredo recipe should include cream (because it dulls the flavor of the cheese).”

While developing this keto Alfredo sauce recipe, I opted to include the cream because it stretches the sauce further while requiring less butter and cheese. It’s also what most Americans are use to and will be looking for in a recipe. As the chef said, to each their own!

Keto Alfredo Sauce

While homemade Alfredo sauce is generally very keto friendly, Alfredo sauce you purchase in the store can often contain unnecessary unhealthy ingredients like carbs like gums and seed oils. For example, here is the list of ingredients in a popular national brand: Water, Cream, Butter (Sweet Cream, Salt), Parmesan Cheese (Pasteurized Part-Skim Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Soybean Oil, Modified Food Starch, Enzyme Modified Egg Yolk (Egg Yolk, Salt, Enzyme), Romano Cheese Made from Cow’s Milk (Pasteurized Part-Skim Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Salt, American Sherry Cooking Wine (Wine, Grape Alcohol, Salt, Potassium Metabisulfite [Preservative]), Whey, Xanthan Gum, Disodium Phosphate, Yeast Extract, Garlic Powder, Black Pepper, Natural Flavor.

I checked a few of these and one even had water, soybean oil and modified corn starch as the top three ingredients. So while these are technically keto alfredo sauces with a minimal carb count, I personally would never even consider eating something made like that. I’d much rather consume the clean, delicious sauce below with just eight natural and simple whole foods!

Keto Alfredo Sauce

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 2

Ingredients  

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon white pepper

Instructions

  • In a medium saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter with the garlic.
  • Add the cream, parmesan, 1 tablespoon parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper and stir until melted and smooth.
  • Serve over zoodles or shiritaki to keep it keto or over pasta.
  • Garnish with the remaining parsley and more parmesan cheese if desired.

Nutrition

Serving: 1peopleCalories: 414kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 9gFat: 40gSaturated Fat: 25gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 119mgSodium: 837mgPotassium: 142mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 2gCalcium: 273mgIron: 0.5mgNet Carbohydrates: 6g

Did you make this recipe?

Be sure to tag @healnourishgrow on Instagram to be featured in our stories or our newsletter! We love it when you make our recipes and share with your friends.

Author

  • Cheryl McColgan

    Cheryl McColgan is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Heal Nourish Grow, where she has published evidence-based health and nutrition content since 2018.

    With over 30 years of experience in fitness, nutrition, and healthy living, and nearly 20 years of professional editorial and journalism experience, she brings both subject-matter depth and trained editorial judgment to everything on the site.

    Cheryl holds a degree in Psychology with a minor in Addictions Studies, completed graduate training in Clinical Psychology, and is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and E-RYT Certified Yoga Instructor and trained in Yoga Therapy.

    She is the author of 21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart, Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight, The Grain Free Cookbook for Beginners, and Easy Weeknight Keto.

    Read more about Cheryl and the journey that created Heal Nourish Grow on the about page.

    Cheryl McColgan is the founder of Heal Nourish Grow, where she writes about protein, body composition, healthy aging, and evidence-based nutrition and wellness along with the everyday habits that actually make those things work in real life.

    With a background in psychology and graduate training in clinical psychology, plus nearly 20 years of experience in editorial and publishing, Cheryl approaches health from both a research and real-world perspective. She’s also been immersed in fitness and nutrition for more than 25 years, which gives her a practical lens most purely academic content tends to miss.

    Her work today focuses heavily on protein intake (especially for women), muscle retention, metabolic health, and sustainable fat loss, along with topics like sleep, wellness, recovery, and wearable health tech. You’ll also find a mix of high-protein, low-carb recipes designed to make hitting those goals easier without overcomplicating things.

    Cheryl’s interest in health and nutrition became more personal after navigating her own health challenges, which pushed her to dig deeper into how lifestyle, diet and daily habits impact long-term health. That experience continues to shape how she approaches everything on this site: practical, realistic, and focused on what actually works over time.

    What Cheryl Covers

    Most of the content here falls into a few core areas:

    Protein & Muscle Health: how much you actually need, especially for women and how to use protein to support strength, body composition, and aging
    Fat Loss & Metabolic Health: sustainable approaches that prioritize muscle retention and long-term results
    Healthy Habits & Lifestyle: sleep, movement, strength training, consistency, and the small things that compound over time
    Wearables & Recovery: real-world testing and comparisons of tools like Oura, Whoop and others
    High-Protein & Low-Carb Recipes: simple, realistic meals that support your goals without feeling restrictive
    Travel & Lifestyle: wellness-focused travel, outdoor experiences, and a slightly more elevated take on healthy living

    If you're new, here are a few good places to begin:

    30 Day Healthy Habits Challenge

    Protein Foundations

    High Protein Recipes

    About Cheryl & Heal Nourish Grow

    Coaching and Programs