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Instant Pot Skinny Alfredo is a healthier version of my famous Dump & Start Alfredo recipe. This healthy alternative is made with evaporated milk instead; NO HEAVY CREAM! Substituting evaporated milk for the heavy cream cuts the calorie and fat content by more than half making this a guilt-free, healthier Alfredo!
Instant Pot Skinny Alfredo is here for all of you who requested a lighter version of my famous Dump and Start Alfredo Recipe! I tested quite a few different ways to substitute the heavy cream, and I’ve gotta say, this comes pretty dang close to the real thing!
Instead of using heavy cream, this recipe uses evaporated milk. Did you know that heavy cream has 5 times the amount of fat that evaporated milk does? And more than double the calories?
If you are getting ready for swim suit season and trying to was as light as possible, this SKINNY version is 100% made for you!
To make this healthier, evaporated milk is used instead of heavy whipping cream. It comes together a little bit differently than the original recipe though.
For this recipe, the noodles, seasonings and chicken broth cook together in the Instant Pot. The evaporated milk needs to be tempered before being added to the hot noodles and broth.
Once the noodles have finished cooking, taking a few noodles at a time, stir them into the evaporated milk until about half the noodles are in the evaporated milk. At that point it is okay to dump the evaporated milk and noodles back into the Instant Pot.
The tempering is done so the milk doesn’t curdle. Turn the Instant Pot on saute LOW and gradually stir in the parmesan cheese until it melts and thickens the sauce. And there ya have it! SKINNY Alfredo!
Instant Pot Skinny Alfredo
(Printable Recipe Below)
Instant Pot Skinny Alfredo is just as tasty as my famous Dump & Start recipe only without the heavy cream! Substituting evaporated milk for the heavy cream cuts the calorie and fat content by more than half making this a guilt-free meal!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 tsp minced garlic dried
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 lb dry linguine noodles broken in half
- 3/4-1 cup parmesan cheese shredded
Instructions
- Place the broth, garlic, salt and pepper into the Instant Pot liner. Break noodles in half and add to the pot. All noodles should be covered with the broth. DO NOT STIR.
- Cook on Manual HIGH for 6 minutes. Allow for a 6 min NPR before QR the pressure. Stir the noddles, some may be slightly stuck together, but that is okay. Once you add in the evaporated milk and warm through, all will be well.
- Pour the evaporated milk into a SEPARATE BOWL. Temper the milk by adding a scoop of noodles at a time into the milk and stirring. Once about half of the noodles have been mixed with the evaporated milk, dump the milk and noodles back into the Instant Pot.
- Turn the Instant Pot onto Saute LOW and gradually stir in the parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted completely and the sauce has thickened. Enjoy!
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Check out these other Tasty Recipes!
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Instant Pot Skinny Alfredo
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 tsp minced garlic dried
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 lb dry linguine noodles broken in half
- 3/4-1 cup parmesan cheese shredded
Instructions
- Place the broth, garlic, salt and pepper into the Instant Pot liner. Break noodles in half and add to the pot. All noodles should be covered with the broth. DO NOT STIR.
- Cook on Manual HIGH for 6 minutes. Allow for a 6 min NPR before QR the pressure. Stir the noddles, some may be slightly stuck together, but that is okay. Once you add in the evaporated milk and warm through, all will be well.
- Pour the evaporated milk into a SEPARATE BOWL. Temper the milk by adding a scoop of noodles at a time into the milk and stirring. Once about half of the noodles have been mixed with the evaporated milk, dump the milk and noodles back into the Instant Pot.
- Turn the Instant Pot onto Saute LOW and gradually stir in the parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted completely and the sauce has thickened. Enjoy!
Nutrition
How do I adjust this for my 3 qt instant pot?
No need to adjust! Just stay near the pot when releasing the pressure after the NPR, since your pot is smaller, there is a higher tendency that liquid will come out of the vent. If this starts to happen, just close the vent and wait another minute or so before trying again.
Can I use whole milk instead of evaporated milk?
Yes, that will work with this skinny recipe. 🙂
This was really good. I make alfredo often using a full fat Cooycat Olive Garden recipe. I have tried several “skinny” Alfredo recipes and all were disappointing —until this one. My recipe is still my favorite but this will become my go-to now. It’s delicious and fast and a huge fat/calorie savings! The only change I made was to add about an ounce of fontina cheese with the Parmesan because I had it on hand and I love the flavor it adds in my regular recipe.
Wow, such a rave review!! Thank you so much! I am glad you finally found a skinny Alfredo you like! ❤️
I added cooked chicken after the noodles and sauce was made. It was a hit!
I was wondering if you have used frozen tortellini instead of the linguine noodles? How long do you think you would cook the tortellini for?
Hi Rebecca!! I would cook frozen tortellini for 1 minute HIGH pressure with a 3 min NPR. 🙂 This is the cook time I use for my Tomato Tortellini soup and it comes out perfect every time!
Hi,
How much is 1/2 lb of pasta?
Thanks
1/2 lb of pasta is the same as 8 oz. Generally 1/2 of a package if you are from the U.S. Hope this helps!
Can I use penne pasta instead?
Yes! Cook time will stay the same. 🙂
Hi there,
I know this recipe says it serves 4, but how big is each serving size? 1 cup?
Thanks!
Hi Brittany- Each Serving is 2 ounces of pasta (which is what a serving size is on the pasta box). I would suggest considering how much pasta you usually need to make for your family and then doubling the recipe to use a full box if needed. 🙂
Made this last night. Made a few changes as follows. I sautéed bite size chicken breast chunks until browned. Added penne pasta because that’s what I had in the pantry. I did not “temper” the evaporated milk. I have used evaporated milk many times and have never done this before. I also added about 4 oz of cubed cream cheese after I poured the milk in. Stirred until melted and combined. Also used mozzarella cheese again because it’s what I had. This recipe was a good guild and turned out great. I will use Parmesan cheese next time and may cut down cooking time a bit. The pasta was a tad over cooked. It’s best to let this dish sit for a while to thicken. Over all this was a great recipe.
If I wanted to cook chicken at the same time in the pot does any of the instructions change?
Hi Jen- because the cook time is the same for cooking frozen chicken tenderloins you can easily just toss the frozen tenders on top of the pasta and cook everything at the same time. No need to increase cook time. Hope you enjoy!
I made this last night but used frozen tortellini instead of spaghetti, and cooked it for 3 minutes (half the time on the package to cook from frozen). I heated the cup of evaporated milk in the micro for 30 second and then just added it right in the pot instead of all that pesky tempering stuff. 🙂 I also only added maybe 1/4 C of cheese and it was perfectly fine (and much skinnier!). Thanks for this easy recipe!!!
that sounds amazing!! Thanks for sharing!