Recipe: Crab Alfredo Sauce

We went out for supper recently and Crab Alfredo was on the menu. Warren jumped at the chance to order it… honestly I hadn’t thought about adding crab to Alfredo Sauce until he ordered it. The creamy Alfredo Sauce with the sweet crab flavor… a winner of a combination.. for sure.

Alfredo Sauce can be very heavy and admittedly, fat laden. So I made a few changes to the recipe to lighten it up a bit without sacrificing the texture and flavor.

Recently I posted a Philly Alfredo Sauce by Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese and decided to adapt it.

TIPS

Last month in my speed shopping in the grocery store, I grabbed what I thought was Half and Half cream, only to get home and realize I grabbed Fat Free Half and Half. It must have been fate, because I discovered it really worked well in recipes without anyone noticing the substitution… so I now use it a lot in my recipes. I highly recommend you try it.

If you substitute milk for the Half and Half, add 1 tablespoon flour to the butter and garlic after you’re done sautéing it. Allow it to cook for a minute to cook off the flour taste and then whisk in the milk, whisking until smooth.

To further cut the fat, you can use a lower fat cream cheese.

Make sure to soften the cream cheese, if you need to soften it quickly, it can be done in the microwave. See my previous post, How to Soften Cream Cheese Quickly.

I did use 1 tablespoon of butter to sauté the garlic, you can substitute a lower fat margarine if you prefer.

Crab tends to be expensive, if you’re on a budget and want to save a little, you can use a “crab substitute”.

Use a good quality Parmesan cheese, it will make a huge difference in the flavor.
This recipe will be enough to make sauce for a pound of pasta, which should serve 4. If you need less, the recipe can easily be cut in half.

Served with garlic bread and a salad, you have an easy and truly delicious meal!






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Recipe: Crab Alfredo Sauce

All you need:

1 tablespoon butter
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 ¼ cups Fat Free Half and Half or regular Half and Half cream
8 oz. Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese, softened
8 oz. crab meat, flaked
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooked pasta

All you need to do:

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium high heat.

Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Do not allow garlic to scorch, if it looks like it will scorch, turn the heat down.

Add the Half and Half cream and whisk.

Add the softened cream cheese, whisking constantly until smooth.

Whisk in the Parmesan cheese.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over cooked pasta.