8 Store-Bought Alfredo Sauces That Are Gluten-Free, Ranked

Alfredo sauce is a creamy and rich pasta topping that has been popular for over 100 years. One sneaky thing about many Alfredo sauces, however, is that they can contain gluten. For those with celiac disease or gluten sensitivities, it's important to be aware of which Alfredo sauces are safe to eat. Common ingredients that help to thicken Alfredo sauce are flour or roux (butter with flour), so that's something to watch out for. Now, you could make an easy Alfredo sauce recipe yourself, however, many people are more apt to grab a quick sauce jar from the grocery store shelves.

When searching for gluten-free Alfredo sauces, as someone who is gluten-free myself, I noticed that some brands were certified gluten-free, while others (that still didn't list wheat as an allergen) didn't have that label. Please note, however, that the sauces that don't have a clear "gluten-free" label may be prepared in environments where cross-contamination with gluten may be possible.

Once I collected my group of gluten-free Alfredo sauces, I put them to the test. I focused on overall flavor, sweetness versus saltiness, texture, and consistency when comparing the brands. For more information on my methodology, check out the bottom of the article. Without further ado, let's taste some Alfredo!

Livwell's Alfredo sauce is one of the few certified gluten-free sauces on the market. It is, however, vegan — so it doesn't contain the usual ingredients that a classic Alfredo sauce would have. Instead, this version is made with cauliflower, water, onion, cashews, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, and salt. Without any sort of "creamy" ingredient, I was hesitant when tasting this sauce.

When I poured it over my gluten-free pasta, I noticed that it had an incredibly thick and almost chunky consistency. I love that Alfredo sauces tend to be velvety smooth, so this was already a turn-off for me. I was conflicted from the first taste. I thought that it had an interesting and unique flavor, with a strong presence of lemon that made it seem very fresh. What was missing, however, was any sense of a cheesy flavoring. With an Alfredo sauce, one of the main purposes of eating it is for that signature cheesy taste — and unfortunately, Livwell couldn't achieve that through plant-based ingredients.

On the flip side, I did enjoy the taste of this sauce when I didn't think of it as an Alfredo sauce. I think it would taste great on something like a wrap or a sandwich, as it had a zesty pop of flavor that could go with many different types of meals. So, although I don't like this as an Alfredo sauce, I recommend it for something else.

Bertolli is a brand that is commonly used in households across the U.S. It's affordable, generally good quality, and has a large variety of pasta flavorings. On its website, Bertolli states that ingredients that may contain gluten will always be listed on the label of its products. When checking the Bertolli Alfredo sauce, I saw that even though it's not certified gluten-free, it doesn't contain any gluten-containing ingredients.

This sauce had a medium-thick consistency, which was a bit thicker than I prefer for an Alfredo sauce. With my first taste, I noticed that it had an overwhelming creamy flavor, and I didn't taste that classic cheese taste that should be noticeable in an Alfredo. The recipe for this sauce doesn't contain any Romano cheese, which is an ingredient that's in many of the "cheesier" tasting sauces that I tested. It contains parmesan, but it was overpowered by the cream used in the recipe. All of that aside, I didn't think it tasted bad — it just wasn't exactly the Alfredo flavor that I was hoping for. If you're more interested in a sweet and creamy Alfredo sauce, however, this could be the one for you.

Classico's Four Cheese Alfredo is one of the more budget-conscious options on this list. The fresh cream gets blended with ricotta, parmesan, Romano, and asiago cheese. Classico used to have a gluten-free label on the back of the jar, however, it was removed. This is because of possible cross-contamination that could happen during production. The good news is, the ingredients themselves are gluten-free — so eat at your own discretion if you have celiac.

When I first sampled this sauce, my immediate reaction was that it tasted incredibly fresh. The consistency was on the thicker side when compared to other brands, but it wasn't so thick that it felt like a dip rather than a sauce. Although I enjoyed the fresh taste, I thought this sauce could afford a bit more flavor. The specific taste reminded me of Annie's mac and cheese – which I love, however, it's not exactly what I want my Alfredo to taste like. Overall, I found this sauce enjoyable, but it just didn't hit the home run that I was hoping for.

When perusing the grocery store, I noticed one of the cheapest brands of Alfredo sauces was Silver Palate. This is admittedly a brand that I've never heard of or tried before, so when I saw that there were no gluten-containing ingredients on the menu, I grabbed a jar. This sauce isn't certified gluten-free, so note that there may be a risk of cross-contamination.

This sauce was the thickest of all the Alfredo sauces I tried. It was so thick that I had to scoop it out of the jar with a spoon. There was an overwhelming presence of parmesan in the taste, and I enjoyed that very much. There was a nice level of savoriness to it, and matched with the thick consistency, it seemed like the most indulgent sauce out of all of the brands. If I'm in the mood for a cheesier, stronger-flavored Alfredo sauce, this will be a brand that I'll reach for. As for eating it consistently with my pasta, the sauce would be better with more butter and cream to even out both the flavor and consistency.

Ragú is on the list of popular pasta sauce brands available on the market – it's sold in most mainstream grocery stores, is very affordable, and many people love the flavor of its sauces. Although the classic Alfredo sauce isn't certified gluten-free, it doesn't have any ingredients listed that contain gluten. While it's more of a budget brand, it tastes fairly high-quality with ingredients like real cheese and fresh cream.

The consistency of the Ragú Alfredo sauce is close to perfect, but it could benefit from a slightly looser thickness. I was a huge fan of the smooth and creamy textures that are noticeable right off the bat, which come from ingredients like egg yolk, whey, and cream. Then I liked the delightfully cheesy (but not overwhelming) kick of parmesan and Romano cheeses right at the end. It had a perfect level of subtleness that matched the creamy flavoring, but enough savory notes that added to the overall balance of the sauce. 

Good and Gather, which is one of Target's store brands, offers many types of food. From delicious snacks to frozen foods to sauces, this brand has almost anything you'd need. The sauces tend to be affordable and made with straightforward ingredients, so it's a brand to check out. The Alfredo sauce doesn't have a gluten-free certification, however, its ingredient label doesn't include any ingredients of concern. It's mainly made with water, cream, parmesan, cornstarch, soybean oil, egg yolk, whey, and Romano cheese. The only allergens listed are egg and milk.

I was completely blown away by the Good and Gather Alfredo sauce. When I poured the sauce over my gluten-free fettuccine, I thought that it looked exactly like Alfredo sauces from Rao's and Carbone, which are both the most expensive brands that I tasted. This sauce was very smooth and had a nice balance of cream, butter, and cheese. The cheese flavor pops out, but isn't entirely overwhelming. It had an equal balance of both salty and sweet characteristics, and remained light and fresh. The only thing that made me not love this sauce more than others is that it slightly teetered toward a macaroni and cheese flavor as opposed to the classic Alfredo taste. Other than that, I still enjoyed the sauce and would buy it again.

Rao's is a restaurant in New York City that is one of the hardest spots to get a reservation at. Most of the tables are reserved for people who have a standing weekly table, and to get in, you need a surge of pure luck. If you're keen to try some of Rao's pasta sauce, its bottled sauces are sold in most major grocery stores — they can be a bit pricey, though.

Rao's Alfredo sauce isn't certified gluten-free, however, a gluten-free Reddit user contacted the company to double-check that it isn't made with any gluten-containing ingredients. The company shared that its facility isn't completely gluten-free, hence the lack of certification; however, the sauce itself is made gluten-free. Rao's Alfredo sauce is very comparable to Carbone's. It had the same smooth, velvety consistency and almost an identical taste. The main difference is that Rao's Alfredo had slightly less of a kick when it came to flavor, however, I still enjoyed how fresh, light, and balanced the sauce was overall. Since it had a slightly milder taste to it, it could pair well with different types of protein or add-ons to throw into the pasta dish. I thought this was a very enjoyable sauce and would pick it up again, but one sauce fared even better.

Carbone sauce, which is connected to the famous New York City restaurant, tends to be a bit pricier than other brands. Tasting Table recently taste-tested every sauce flavor that the Carbone sells, and determined that it's a sauce worth buying. I know many people who have had Carbone's Alfredo in the restaurant itself, and I've heard nothing but rave reviews. Carbone's Alfredo isn't gluten-free certified, but it doesn't contain any ingredients that have gluten. On the company's FAQ, it shares that the sauces are indeed gluten-free, but one of its facilities manufactures products that contain gluten. This means that there's a small chance the sauce could get contaminated, so just be mindful.

Carbone's Alfredo sauce is the best sauce that I tasted for this article. It had a beautifully smooth velvety texture that poured over the pasta flawlessly. There was a strong presence of classic Alfredo sauce flavor. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, but when you taste it, you know you've gotten it. It had a perfect mixture of both cheese and cream flavorings, making it nice and balanced. Ingredients like egg yolk, light cream, butter, parmesan, and Romano cheese work together to create a harmonious sauce that's difficult to stop eating. It also had a very strong burst of flavor as an aftertaste, and that made it even more delicious.

When performing this taste test for gluten-free Alfredo sauce, I first had to do my field research to choose the brands. While there aren't many brands out there that are certified gluten-free, there are quite a few that don't contain any gluten-containing ingredients. The brands that are certified gluten-free are options that don't have any ingredients that contain gluten and also don't have any risk of cross-contamination. I still considered the brands that had gluten-free ingredient panels, however, because they are still technically gluten-free. It's up to the discretion of the person on whether or not they'd consume something that doesn't have the gluten-free certification. I will note that I did not have a reaction after consuming any of these sauces.

After choosing the Alfredo brands, I went in for the taste test. I focused on a few main criteria in this ranking: the consistency of the sauce, the specific cheese flavor that shone through, the level of creaminess, the balance between savory and sweet notes, the aftertaste, and the overall impression. I tasted each sauce over a bed of warm gluten-free fettuccine noodles, and all sauces were heated to the same temperature before being consumed.