Any authentic Alfredo sauce with nutmeg recipe is always low carb. It’s a simple sauce made with just 5 ingredients. It’s absolutely delicious on my chicken and broccoli recipe and I love it on my asparagus and chicken recipe as well. While this low carb Alfredo sauce goes together really fast, you can store it in the refrigerator for about a week. That way you can pour it over anything you want.
For this recipe you’ll need: heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, butter, whole nutmeg, and kosher salt.
If you are in a hurry click here to go straight to the homemade Alfredo sauce recipe.
Table of Contents
What is a classic alfredo sauce made from?
As a kid, one of my favorite dishes was fettuccine alfredo. My mom made it from scratch for Sunday dinners. Sometimes she’d even add some chicken to make chicken alfredo. The fettuccine pasta she would add were always covered with that creamy sauce. My recipe copies my moms alfredo which I consider to be the best alfredo sauce. It was simple. Butter, shredded Parmesan cheese, and heavy cream. Sometimes she’d add a little Romano cheese which has very similar flavor as Parmesan cheese. For seasoning, I like to add kosher salt.
I didn’t realize I hadn’t posted my Alfredo recipe. I just kind of assumed I had because it’s so useful on everything. You’re going to love this. The hardest part of this alfredo recipe is having the patience to melt the butter slowly!
There are no substitutions. I mean you could get a jarred alfredo sauce from the grocery store, but you’d really be missing out on the flavor you get from a homemade alfredo sauce. You have to use heavy cream, you have to use real butter, and you have to use the shredded kind of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
What does nutmeg add to alfredo sauce?
The key to a really awesome Alfredo sauce is fresh ingredients. That’s why I use whole nutmeg. It’s easy to grate and the flavor is SO much better than the pregrated one in a jar. You just need a pinch, literally just a pinch in this or else it’s overkill. All of the flavors in this sauce are delicate and balanced. It’s quite a change if you’ve only been used to commercial sauces.
How to thicken homemade alfredo sauce?
To thicken alfredo sauce, the butter needs to be melted very slowly and never allowed to boil up. If it separates the sauce will be greasy and separated. In fact, all the way through this you want the ingredients to heat gently. Once the butter is completely melted you pour in the cream slowly, whisking the whole time. After a minute or two it will thicken slightly and it really starts to thicken up once you add the grated Parmesan cheese.
And I’ll be honest. This isn’t a pasty, thick, gloppy sauce.
Another great thing about this sauce is that if you don’t eat it all in one meal, you can add the remaining sauce to a jar and cover it tightly. It will stay good in the fridge for a week. It will get thick when it’s cold but it will be fine if you heat it up slowly.
What spices go good with Alfredo Sauce?
Depending on what you are serving as your main dish, a variety of spices will help in addition to the nutmeg. A little garlic helps, instead of black pepper which shows as little black dots, you can use white pepper. Although some folks like how the little black pepper dots look in the cream sauce. For example, if I’m making shrimp alfredo, I add a little garlic powder (just a pinch) which goes so great with shrimp.
One of my favorites to make is fettuccine alfredo like my mom made but I use my low carb egg noodle recipe. There just is nothing like fettuccine alfredo using homemade alfredo sauce and low carb pasta.
How many carbs in Alfredo Sauce
My easy to make, ultra creamy Alfredo sauce with nutmeg has just 8 carbs for the whole batch (1.4 carbs per serving). Simple and gluten free, this sauce is great on asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, chicken, shrimp, my low carb egg noodles, zucchini noodles… SO many recipes that you can find on Lowcarb-ology.com to make! Best of all, you can store the leftovers in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Whole nutmeg has so much more flavor than ground nutmeg. It adds a warm, almost pepper flavor to all kinds of things. In this Alfredo sauce the nutmeg adds a “wow, what’s in this sauce?!” kind of vibe. I found this great nutmeg grater which is a small thing that makes a big difference. It creates a finer grind than most graters which really releases the flavor. Again, you don’t use very much nutmeg as the flavor really comes through when it is ground really fine like this grinder produces.
Homemade Alfredo Sauce Recipe
Here’s my (or my mom’s) Alfredo sauce recipe. It’s so creamy!
Print Pin Recipe
Alfredo Sauce Recipe: Low Carb Authentic Italian Goodness
An easy, ultra-creamy Alfredo sauce that has just 8 carbs for the whole batch (1.4 carbs per serving). Simple and gluten free, this sauce is great on cauliflower, broccoli, chicken, shrimp… SO many things! store leftovers in the fridge for up to a week.
Course Sauce
Cuisine Italian
Keyword alfredo
Prep Time 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes minutes
Total Time 10 minutes minutes
Servings 6 servings
Calories 273kcal
Author Marye
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Instructions
Slowly melt the butter in a heavy sauce pan. Don’t let it boil.
Whisk the cream into the melted butter.
Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Don’t let it boil!
Remove from heat and add the nutmeg and salt.
Stir in the Parmesan until it’s melted and the sauce is smooth and creamy.
Notes
Do not ever let the sauce boil or it will separate into a greasy mess. Always warm it slowly and gently.
Nutrition
Calories: 273kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 144mg | Potassium: 40mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 0g | Vitamin A: 1005IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 122mg | Iron: 0.1mg
If you liked this low carb Alfredo sauce you may also like…
Click on the image to see the recipe. From left to right : Low Carb Queso Meatballs, Low Carb Dr Pepper BBQ Sauce, Low Carb Cabbage Carbonara
