Homemade Alfredo Sauce

The BEST homemade Alfredo sauce recipe. Tips on how to get smooth, creamy pasta sauce for fettuccine. You’ll be surprised at how easy this better-than-Olive Garden alfredo sauce is to make at home!

Easy Alfredo Sauce

Somewhere during Maddie’s life, she fell in love with Alfredo sauce. I’m not sure where she got it from. It wasn’t a sauce I regularly made or that we even tried at restaurants. About two years ago a friend of ours made some homemade alfredo sauce for a dinner party. It tasted amazing and I couldn’t believe how easy it was! Since then I’ve made it several times at home. And every time Maddie’s eyes get wide.

The original version of alfredo sauce was just butter and Parmesan….no cream. Americanized alfredo sauce has cream because our butter has less fat than countries. Adding the cream helps the sauce be…well…creamier!

How to Make Alfredo Sauce

Alfredo sauce is a simple mix of three ingredients: heavy cream, butter and freshly shredded Parmesan cheese. Here are a few hints to remember as you create this recipe:

• We like to use a shallow skillet when warming the sauce. That is most likely because that is what I saw my friend using and we found it worked beautifully. Use a heavy bottomed skillet so the pan heats evenly.
• Stir constantly and keep the heat on medium low. Milk scorches so easily, so stir it often!
• Use freshly shredded Parmesan cheese. This is key for a smooth sauce. Freshly shredded cheese melts so much more smoothly than pre-shredded. There are no additives to the cheese to make the cheese clumpy.
• Mix the cheese in very slowly, just a sprinkle at a time. Let each cheese addition melt before adding more. This will go more quickly than you may think, but be sure to take your time. Don’t rush homemade alfredo sauce!
• This could really be a 3-ingredient alfredo sauce recipe. It’s just that good. We do like to add in a touch of ground black pepper and minced garlic for a little boost of flavor.

Fettuccini Alfredo

Alfredo sauce is traditionally served over fettuccini pasta… a flat, ribbon pasta. Fettuccini is normally served with cream sauces such as this. You can substitute a difference pasta shape if you’d like!

Healthy Alfredo Sauces

We often get the question of if we have a healthier alfredo sauce recipe. My first thought its that alfredo is best when made with heavy cream, butter and Parmesan. Here are some things to think about:

Keto or Low Carb Alfredo Sauce

Alfredo is a great keto meal if served over low-carb zucchini noodles.

Gluten Free Alfredo Sauce

Our homemade alfredo sauce is naturally gluten free. Serve over veggie noodles, potatoes, or gluten free pasta for a delicious, gluten free dinner!

Light Alfredo Sauce

If you’d like to cut calories, use half and half in place of the heavy cream. This will allow the sauce to still be creamy, but cut calories back by about 120 calories per serving for a total of 210 calories per ½ cup of pasta sauce. That’s a decent amount of calorie savings! (All calorie counts are estimations since different brands have differing calorie amounts.)

What to Serve with Fettuccini Alfredo

• Italian Bread: This is a cool-rise bread that makes 2 loaves!
• Italian Green Beans: Drizzle a little alfredo sauce over these beans….mmmm!
• Sugared Walnut Fruit Salad: A light, but sweet ending to a delicious meal.

Tools to Make Alfredo Sauce

• Heavy Bottomed Skillet: For more even heating so the milk doesn’t scorch.
• Cheese Shredder: An easy to use Parmesan cheese block shredder. Just like they use in Olive Garden!
• Spaghetti Tongs: For serving the fettuccini.
• Veggie Spiralizer: For low-carb zucchini noodles!

Homemade Alfredo Sauce

4.91 from 20 votes

The BEST homemade Alfredo sauce recipe. Tips on how to get smooth, creamy pasta sauce for fettuccini. You'll be surprised at how easy this better-than-Olive Garden alfredo sauce is to make at home!

Servings 8

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

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Ingredients

 

US Customary - Metric

• 16 ounces heavy cream
• 1/4 cup butter
• 6-8 ounces Parmesan cheese block (about 1 1/2-2 cups)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper (optional)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (optional)

Instructions

 

• In a heavy bottomed skillet, heat the cream and butter over medium low heat until the butter is melted.
• Use a grater to finely grate the Parmesan cheese.
• Add the freshly shredded Parmesan cheese to the sauce a few tablespoons at a time, stirring between each addition so that the cheese melts evenly. Be sure not to add the cheese too quickly. Take your time and add it slowly, stirring constantly!
• After all the cheese is added, stir in the pepper and garlic, stirring over low heat for 1 minute.
• Remove the skillet from the heat and serve immediately over fettuccini or your favorite pasta.

Video

Notes

The calories shown are based on the recipe making about 4 cups of alfredo sauce, with 1 serving being ½ cup. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate.

Nutrition

Calories: 330kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 412mg | Potassium: 62mg | Vitamin A: 1175IU | Vitamin C: 0.5mg | Calcium: 290mg | Iron: 0.2mg

Author Julie Clark

Course Main Dish

Cuisine Italian

Calories 330

Keyword alfredo sauce, fettuccini alfredo, italian recipes, parmesan sauce

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