This easy alfredo sauce recipe truly is as simple (and delicious!) as it gets. It only takes less than 10 minutes to make and you’ll never go back to store-bought alfredo sauce once you try this authentic recipe.
You won’t believe that such a tasty homemade alfredo sauce just has a few basic ingredients and yet adds SO MUCH flavor to make fettuccine alfredo, with chicken, with seafood, in a casserole, or even off of a spoon 😉
Alfredo Sauce Recipe (BEST Ever Version!)
If you always save your alfredo sauce cravings for eating out at Olive Garden, you’ll be so happy to know this authentic alfredo sauce is a piece of cake to make!
In addition to providing the recipe, we’ve included the answers to ALL of your alfredo sauce recipe questions! Like where did alfredo sauce come from? Can you freeze it? How do you make it without whipping cream, and troubleshooting alfredo sauce problems like why did my alfredo sauce turn out grainy?
AND of course, we include a printable recipe card for alfredo at the bottom for you refer back to when you’re craving fettuccine alfredo.
I’d recently heard that some people made their alfredo sauce with cream cheese, I’d never heard of that! If you’re looking for an alfredo sauce recipe without cream cheese then you’re in the right place 😉
What is alfredo sauce made of?
Authentic alfredo sauce recipe actually just contains 3 ingredients– heavy whipping cream, butter, and parmesan cheese!
If you’re just looking for a sauce recipe, we have an easy 10-minute alfredo sauce recipe you’ll want to check out.
To add a touch more flavor to the classic, we also include garlic cloves, sea salt, and black ground pepper.
There are only a handful of basic ingredients in our alfredo sauce, most of which you probably have at home already.
Heavy whipping cream
Butter
Garlic cloves
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Sea salt and pepper to taste, optional
If you’re making fettuccini alfredo and you by chance have an instant pot, I HIGHLY recommend my instant pot fettuccini alfredo recipe. It is THE BEST! It’s seriously my favorite way to make pasta alfredo. The sauce recipe is very similar, but it’s adapted for a pressure cooker and the pasta and sauce cook together in one step.
Because there are so few ingredients in alfredo sauce, you want to make sure to use high-quality ingredients.
My personal favorite brand of dairy products, especially cheese, is Tillamook (no, they did not sponsor me to say that, it’s just my favorite brand), none of their products include artificial ingredients (even their ice cream!), and no growth hormones were used.
And while you CAN substitute garlic cloves in a pinch, nothing beats the flavor of fresh garlic.
You might also come across alfredo recipes using cream cheese, milk or half and half. But trust me, if you want that authentic alfredo sauce taste, you’ll want to make our version. This alfredo sauce recipe (easy and BEST out there!) will surely be a crowd-pleaser.
To be honest, I don’t cook with cream very often and we save this alfredo sauce recipe with heavy cream for a once a month meal so we don’t feel the guilt. We DO include options below to lighten up the recipe if you’d like to cut back on the fat content and calories.
Where Did Alfredo Sauce Come From?
Authentic alfredo sauce originated in Italy in 1922. The story goes that a restaurant owner named, Alfredo di Lelio, made it for his pregnant wife that was feeling nauseous. Just like people in the U.S. giving bland simple food like toast or rice would do if someone wasn’t feeling well, in Italy it was simple pasta.
The original alfredo sauce recipe included pasta mixed with butter and parmesan cheese. Over the years it expanded to include cream, flour and milk as an alternative to cream, or with the addition of chicken.
Apparently the fettuccine alfredo we’re used to is an Americanized thing, and it’s not a dish regularly consume in Italy.
What is the difference between carbonara and alfredo sauce?
When I was growing up, my family would often make fettuccini carbonara. Now being that it seemed exactly like fettuccini alfredo, I’d always assumed carbonara just meant it was fettuccini alfredo sauce but with bacon added.
It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized my interpretation was incorrect!
The MAIN difference between carbonara and alfredo sauce is in addition to bacon (or pancetta), carbonara includes egg and uses romano cheese instead of parmesan.
Who knew? The egg actually gives the pasta a silkier texture and is just as delicious as alfredo. They’re very similar, yet different if that makes sense.
How to Make Alfredo Sauce Recipe
Alfredo Ingredients
- 1 cup Heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 2 minced garlic cloves
Recipe Instructions
Heat a medium-size saucepan on medium-low. Once the pan is warm, melt the 1/4 cup of butter pieces.
Stir in the heavy whipping cream, garlic, and salt and pepper. Combine all of the ingredients together.
Add the shredded parmesan cheese in batches until it’s melted, stirring constantly. You don’t want to add it all at once since it could clump. This will just take you a minute or two at most to melt.
Heat the alfredo sauce to a simmer and remove. The sauce will continue to thicken upon standing.
Recipe Note: It is super important that you do not let your sauce come to a boil. At a boiling temperature, the butter could separate from the rest of the sauce or the milk could burn–both of which would cause your sauce to separate.
So easy! Enjoy!
Serves 4 if you’re making fettuccini alfredo and adding it to 8 oz of cooked pasta.
A printable recipe card is at the bottom of this post
Authentic Alfredo Sauce Tips
Making alfredo sauce is technically so easy, people always have so many questions about this simple sauce!
Whether you want to know how to store it, does it freeze, can you lighten it up, why did your sauce turn out grainy, and simply what else you can do with alfredo sauce besides making fettuccini alfredo, the alfredo sauce tips section is for YOU!
Can Alfredo Sauce be Made Ahead?
Alfredo sauce can be made ahead of time, but it does thicken upon standing. It’s recommended to thin the sauce with either a little milk or chicken broth. The alfredo sauce recipe can be made up to 3 days in advance.
That being said, making your own sauce only takes 5 minutes and fresh is best!
Can Alfredo Sauce be Made with Milk?
If you want to lighten the alfredo sauce to reduce fat and calories, we highly recommend substituting evaporated milk for the whipping cream.
While you technically could make alfredo sauce with milk, you’ll be losing a lot of the rich creamy flavor the dish is popular for.
To thicken a sauce with milk:
Bring all of the ingredients to a simmer. Remove 1/4 cup of the warm sauce and mix well with 1-2 Tbsp of all-purpose flour to make a roux.
Blend the roux in with the remaining sauce until it reaches the desired thickness. You can also add a touch of cream cheese to help thicken your alfredo sauce too.
Can Alfredo Sauce be Made with Half and Half?
Making an alfredo sauce recipe with half and half instead of whipping cream is similar to the milk method. I’d recommend using 1 Tbsp of flour for your roux instead of 2.
To thicken a sauce with half and half:
Bring all of the ingredients to a simmer. Remove 1/4 cup of the warm sauce and mix well with 1 Tbsp of all-purpose flour to make a roux.
Blend the roux in with the remaining sauce until it reaches the desired thickness.
Feel free to reduce the butter and/or parmesan cheese, if desired!
Another way to serve alfredo sauce is to put it over zucchini noodles instead of pasta! Just add a rotisserie chicken.
Why is my Alfredo sauce grainy?
If your alfredo sauce turned out grainy, it’s usually because of one of the following reasons.
- Either the sauce started boiling, which caused the butter to separate OR
- The cheese got overcooked and either curdled or became grainy.
To prevent this in the future, make sure to keep your temperature on low and take the sauce off the heat once it’s just mixed. The cheese will continue to melt and thicken the sauce off the heat too.
Other Related Recipes You’ll Love
- Keto Alfredo Chicken with Zoodles
- Instant Pot Fettuccine Alfredo
- Instant Pot Chicken Fajita Pasta
- Cheesy Chicken Divan Casserole with Broccoli
- Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Alfredo Sauce Recipe
Making authentic alfredo sauce at home is super easy and just takes 10 minutes. You'll love this creamy alfredo sauce recipe and you'll never use jarred sauce again.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 2 minced garlic cloves
Instructions
- Heat a medium-size saucepan on medium-low. Once the pan is warm, melt the 1/4 cup of butter pieces.
- Stir in the heavy whipping cream, garlic, and salt and pepper. Combine all of the ingredients together.
- Add the shredded parmesan cheese in batches until it's melted, stirring constantly. You don't want to add it all at once since it could clump. This will just take you a minute or two at most to melt.
- Heat the alfredo sauce to a simmer and remove. The sauce will continue to thicken upon standing.
- Recipe Note: It is super important that you do not let your sauce come to a boil. At a boiling temperature, the butter could separate from the rest of the sauce or the milk could burn--both of which would cause your sauce to separate.
- So easy! Enjoy!
- Serves 4 if you're making fettuccini alfredo and adding it to 8 oz of cooked pasta.
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