Using Alfredo sauce in mac and cheese can be a tasty but high-fat change of pace. Whether you cook this dish on your stove or in your oven, using an Alfredo sauce with low-fat ingredients can help improve the nutritional value of your meal. Although you thin Alfredo sauce to some extent during preparation, your choice of pasta is also important. Alfredo sauce remains a thick sauce, requiring a large, firm pasta that can withstand the weight of the sauce without becoming mushy during cooking.

Reduce the boiling time of the “mac” part of mac and cheese by one to two minutes. This ensures that the pasta barely reaches an al dente doneness, or a state where the pasta is tender but still slightly chewy.

Drain the pasta in a colander but do not rinse it. The starch clinging to the individual strands or pieces of pasta creates a sticky surface, ensuring that the sauce thoroughly coats the pasta.

Reduce the characteristic thickness of the Alfredo sauce by thinning it with skim or low-fat milk. For a tasty consistency, combine 1/2 cup of milk with every cup of Alfredo sauce.

Heat the Alfredo sauce mixture in a saucepan; if desired, add additional seasonings, such as shredded cheese and black pepper, to the saucepan to blend the flavors before combining the sauce and cooked pasta.

Add the cooked pasta to the hot Alfredo sauce in the saucepan and stir to combine the ingredients. If you plan to bake your mac and cheese, transfer the pasta and sauce from the saucepan to a 2 1/2- to 3-qt. oven-proof casserole dish.

Bake the Alfredo mac and cheese at a moderate temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit in your oven for about 30 minutes or simmer it on your stove for about 10 minutes.