Who doesn’t love a creamy bowl of pasta, drenched in rich Alfredo sauce that’s loaded in flavor and texture?
It’s the ultimate comfort food and is tough to beat. But what if you’re following the ketogenic diet? Is Alfredo sauce on the list of foods that are allowed, or should you steer clear of it in order to maintain a state of ketosis?
Obviously, the pasta will need to be substituted, but the sauce itself is what we’re looking at.
Read on to find out if you should ditch your Alfredo sauce or keep it as part of the keto-friendly diet.
Carbs and Macros in Alfredo Sauce
The following macros define the nutritional makeup of 1/4 cup of Alfredo sauce:
Calories: 50
Carbs: 3g
Sugars: 1g
Fat: 3.5g
Protein: 1g
Is Alfredo Sauce Keto-Friendly?
When you look at the macro content of Alfredo sauce, it seems as though you may be able to safely add this yummy sauce to your diet, as long as you keep your portion sizes under control.
Alfredo sauce is loaded in calories, which can really add up if you drown your dishes in this particular type of sauce.
Further, store-bought Alfredo sauces tend to hide some sugars, so you’ll want to be careful with that as well.
But the fat content is certainly conducive to the keto diet. Obviously, you want to maximize your healthy fats while keeping carbs to a minimum.
And it seems as though conservative servings of Alfredo sauce might be OK for the keto diet.
Alfredo Sauce Recipes
Rather than being at the mercy of what your grocery store has to offer in terms of Alfredo sauces, why not make your own instead?
That way you can be sure that there are no added sugars and that the fats included are indeed healthy.
Here’s a great homemade Alfredo sauce recipe you may want to try out to top your next meal with:
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp salted butter
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
Directions:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
Add the garlic and saute for approximately 30 seconds.
Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer, allowing to simmer for about 5 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken.
Reduce heat and whisk in the parmesan cheese until smooth.
Add salt and pepper.
Now that you’ve got your delicious homemade alfredo sauce, what should you add it to? Here are a few ideas to stimulate your taste buds:
Chicken and Alfredo Bake
Ingredients:
- 1 pound chicken breast, diced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp parsley
- 1 cup leeks, chopped
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cups alfredo sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 390°F.
In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil.
Add the diced chicken until thoroughly cooked.
Add the cooked chicken to an ovenproof dish.
In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, then add the mushrooms, leeks, and garlic.
Cook for about 4 minutes, then add over top of the chicken.
Pour the alfredo sauce over top, then sprinkle some parmesan cheese if desired.
Bake in the oven for 18 to 20 minutes.
Zucchini Pasta With Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients:
2 zucchini
2 tbsp butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup alfredo sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Using a vegetable spiralizer, create “noodles” out of your zucchini.
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter.
Add garlic and saute until fragrant, then add the zucchini noodles and cook about 3 to 5 minutes.
Remove the saucepan from the heat, then add the alfredo sauce, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.
Final Thoughts
The great thing about the keto diet is that there are so many delicious high-fat foods that can be enjoyed while still allowing for fat loss, and alfredo sauce can be one of them.
While you can always use store-bought alfredo sauce sparingly, you may find making your own batch more keto-friendly.
Enjoy!