In just minutes it’s easy to make this restaurant quality Alfredo sauce at home. And let’s not forget, unlike what we’ve been told for many years, we shouldn’t be afraid of these “good fats.”
So don’t waste any time giving this tasty and inexpensive sauce a try over some whole-grain noodles and lots of fresh seasonal veggies. It would also work well in a “white lasagne” or extra creamy macaroni dish. No matter what, you just cannot go wrong when you start with fresh cream and butter!
What are the Ingredients in Alfredo Sauce?
Homemade alfredo sauce is super easy to make with only a few ingredients! All you need is butter, heavy whipping cream, grated parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. For the best taste don’t make any substitutions in this recipe.
Butter
Any real butter you have on hand is fine. In alfredo sauce, butter not only adds flavor, but helps thicken it too.
Heavy Whipping Cream
This is the base of alfredo sauce and what makes it taste so good! Heavy cream is essential for a rich sauce; if you substitute with milk or half and half, it won’t turn out the same.
Parmesan Cheese
For the best flavor, choose high-quality parmesan cheese and grate it fresh. For convenience, pre-shredded or grated parmesan can also be used, but not dried parmesan or a shaker.
Not all parmesan is the same; for the best flavor, choose authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese imported from Italy.
Seasoning
Alfredo sauce is traditionally seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper. You can also season with garlic, Italian seasoning, lemon juice, and parsley.
How to Make Homemade Alfredo Sauce with Milk
If heavy cream isn’t available, you can still make alfredo sauce with milk or lighter cream. Since the biggest difference between heavy cream and milk is the amount of milk fat, you can get a similar taste and consistency by combining milk and melted butter. Keep in mind this isn’t a perfect substitution, but you’ll still end up with great tasting alfredo sauce in a pinch.
To substitute milk for heavy cream, combine 1/3 cup of melted unsalted butter with 2/3 cup of milk. Half and half or table cream can be substituted one for one, with butter added to taste and desired consistency.
Is this an Authentic Italian Alfredo Sauce Recipe?
Alfredo sauce is an Italian restaurant staple, but it’s not actually an authentic Italian dish. So, while you won’t be finding this recipe in any Nonna’s cookbooks, it tastes just like the fettucine alfredo sauce served in restaurants.
Tips and Tricks for Making This Easy Alfredo Sauce Recipe
Homemade alfredo sauce is easy to make, even for beginner cooks. Pair it with your favorite whole grain pasta like fettuccine, penne, or even kid-friendly shaped noodles. Or try alfredo sauce as a topping for veggies; it’s delicious!
To help this recipe turn out perfectly:
- Use fresh ingredients
- Don’t forget to hold back 1/3 of the cream for end
- Stir your cream thoroughly so it doesn’t stick to the pan and burn
- Don’t simmer your sauce on too high or low heat; it should be hot enough to thicken, but not boiling
- Thoroughly drain pasta before adding it to the sauce to avoid thinning
What Can you Add to Homemade Fettuccine Alfredo?
Something I love about fettuccine alfredo is how easily the creamy, buttery flavors work with almost anything. Some add-ins will need to be pre-cooked, so make sure to prepare them alongside your homemade alfredo sauce. For protein options, try chicken, beef or pork strips, tofu, or shrimp.
Saucy dishes like fettuccine alfredo are also a great way to get picky eaters to eat vegetables. Some of my favorites to add in are cooked broccoli, peppers, peas, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, or raw tomatoes or spinach.
How to Thicken Alfredo Sauce
The alfredo sauce in this recipe should thicken on its own when cooking, but small differences in measurements or technique can affect the process.
- Add more cheese. This is the most common reason for thin alfredo sauce since grated cheese is hard to measure accurately. Add more cheese until you get the thickness you want.
- Let it cook for longer. If your sauce isn’t thick yet it may just require more time to reduce.
- Increase the butter. Butter helps alfredo sauce thicken; if the sauce is too thin you may not have used enough. This is especially true if you’ve substituted the heavy whipping cream for a product with less milk fat.
- Try pasta water. The starch in pasta water can help thicken a cream sauce. Add a small amount of water, then let your sauce to a boil for about one minute. If you don’t bring it to a boil, pasta water will have the opposite effect and thin your sauce even more.
- Last resort: add a bit of corn starch. While it’s not supposed to be an ingredient in alfredo sauce, adding corn starch is a sure way to get sauce to thicken.
Super Easy Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb whole-wheat pasta (boxed or homemade)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2/3 cup parmesan cheese (freshly grated)
- salt (to taste)
- pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- In a large pot, boil the pasta according to package directions
- Meanwhile melt all the butter and 2/3 of the cream in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Stir with a wooden or other large spoon.
- Once the cream and butter start to thicken (after a couple minutes) turn the heat off.
- When the pasta is done drain it thoroughly in a colander and add drained noodles to the cream and butter mixture.
- Turn the heat back on to medium-low and add the remaining 1/3 cup cream and all of the Parmesan cheese.
- Toss the pasta around to coat until the sauce thickens slightly. Season with salt and pepper and portion out into pasta bowls. Garnish with extra Parmesan cheese and fresh sautéed vegetables (if desired) and serve immediately.
This is the second time I made it, my son loves it. I added chicken and broccoli, but I don’t think chicken is necessary.
Love to hear when the kids also enjoy the dish. Those add-ins sound good. – Nicole
This is our favorite alfredo sauce! We have been making it for years
This was delicious and very easy! We added peas and broccoli so it was a nice meatless dinner.
This dish was simple and yet very delicious. Even my pickiest eaters gobbled it up. Thank you!
I’m going to toss this on some zoodles tomorrow night, and top it all off with chicken. Yum!
This sauce is amazing and tastes so good…my kids love it!! I threw in some frozen mixed veggies and added a side of broccoli. A much healthier alternative to the store bought stuff in a jar!
I have been on a low carb diet since last April and fell off some around the holidays and a cruise in Feb. I wanted to ask you if you have tried the Dayfield pasta and is it really better for you since it is suppose to have some type carb blocker. then the regular wheat pasta which I also like very much.
Thanks,
Carol
Hi Carol. Sorry, not at all familiar with that brand or its claims. We try to stick with 100% whole grains.
Can I make this the day before for 100 ladies and reheat in convection oven?
Hi there. This will help: https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-reheat-alfredo/.
I love the Alfredo sauce taste, and also the fact that it is so easy to make… which just stressed the fact that I am hungry right now :D
Delicious! We add fresh crushed garlic in step 2 and fresh quartered mushrooms in step 3. Kids scarf this!
BTW, this is very close to delicious alfredo I had in Italy.
I have tried making Alfredo sauce myself before and I can’t find anything in our grocery store called “Parmesan Cheese” other than the stuff in the shaker – which doesn’t melt well. Are you guys finding “Parmesan Cheese” or are you using another kind of cheese?
Hi Karen. We use freshly grated Parmesan. I’ve also used Romano. This bit of info might help: http://www.delcofoods.com/our-products/tips/parmesan-vs-romano-cheese/.
The real Parmesan cheese is usually located in the specialty cheese case, try close to the deli.
Loved it and kids did too!
Try adding a 1/4 tsp of nutmeg…. Makes a huge difference!
What brand of pasta do you typically use ?
Hi Traci. Various organic brands. Just make sure they are 100% whole grain.
Hi! Thanks for this recipe! Any ideas on how to make it non-dairy?
Hi Abbey. That’s not something we’ve tried but Silk has a recipe that you might give a shot: https://silk.com/recipes/fast-easy-fettuccine-alfredo. You could make your own almond milk, too: https://silk.com/recipes/fast-easy-fettuccine-alfredo.
I made this tonight and it was pretty good. I grilled up some chicken and boiled some broccoli to add in. I also added a couple tablespoons of cream cheese. I panicked at first thinking it was too runny but turning off the heat and stirring for a few minutes thickened it right up. I will definitely make this again!
This was very tasty and super easy. I made some sautéed onions and organic chicken sausage to top it off. Delish!
This was so delicious. My family had one complaint…not enough! I will definitely double recipe when I serve as a main meal to my track-running and hockey-playing teens! They did end up having seconds on salad because they were still hungry, so I’m not complaining!
I have made this several times while under pressure (first night arriving on vacation, kids complaining that they’re hungry, etc). It’s so easy and my 2 and 4 year old gobble it up every time. If I want to make it a bit more decadent, I make 1.5 the amount of sauce for the same amount of pasta. Either way, it’s delish!
This meal was amazing!! My whole family loved it!! I added in 2 cups of cooked and shredded chicken. The chicken came from the freezer so this meal was ready in no time! I just set the chicken and it’s container in bowl with warm to hot water so it could loosen up enough for me to toss into the noodles and sauce mixture. I just had to stir and break up the chicken pieces since it was still frozen. I added 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper and that seemed to be the perfect amount. I only added about 13 ounces of spaghetti noodles. This meal is a keeper!! Thank you!!
I made this today for lunch and added bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes. It was delicious and super easy. I was done in 30 minutes and everyone loved it!
This sauce was amazing and so easy to make. My kids absolutely loved it.
This sounds yummy but very fattening. Is this really healthy?
Hi Carole. This post might help with some 100 Days perspective: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/01/04/healthy-eating-defined/.
Carole, NO! Of course it is not healthy to eat all that saturated fat and dairy. But if you are going to eat Alfredo Sauce come hell or high water, better it be this homemade recipe than the crap from the grocery store jar. It is definitely a “once in while” treat, if you eat this on the regular make sure you have great healthcare available and a notarized will.
Is this a recipe that can be canned or would it go bad?
Hi Anna. I would freeze it.
Can I use gluten free pasta? or even substitute gluten free for any recipes? I just found out I am Celiac and learning how to cook and eat all over again. I am excited to try this for the first time
Do you think I can make this sauce and freeze it?
Hi there. You can freeze it but the texture does change somewhat.
if you want to make a sauce that’s a little more rich, add 2 egg yolks. Make sure to keep the heat low and stir so the yolks don’t start to scramble. Once heated through and almost boiling it’s ready to eat.
That sounds yummy.