The Most Delicious (And Simple!) Alfredo Sauce Recipe

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Cooking With Anadi

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Do you love the indulgence of a good, rich Alfredo sauce? I don’t make Alfredo sauce very often, but when I do, I savor every bite!

I just got back from my trip to Italy less than a week ago, and for my last dinner I had a fettuccine Alfredo, so that I knew what the Italians do so I can recreate it at home. To my surprise, it was extremely simple, yet so good! As I mention in my free motivational guide to explore your potential in the kitchen, Make Cooking Fun!, going out to eat can inspire you to try new creations! While going all the way to Italy to taste a sauce may be a bit of a stretch, I took that opportunity to inspire me almost as soon as I got back!

Alfredo sauce is indeed the ultimate comfort food. While I’ve never had Olive Garden before, I know that their Alfredo sauce really is a staple. However, perhaps you can argue that version is an Americanized Alfredo sauce? I don’t know, I’ve never tried it!

What I do in fact know is that Alfredo comes from Rome. It’s a very recent pasta dish, named by the Roman restauranteur, Alfredo di Lelio, developed in 1908. He opened his restaurant in 1914, and this creation got traction by Americans in 1920, where they asked Alfredo for the recipe, and he gave it. Then, the Americans took that recipe back home and exploited it. It actually started out with only Parmesan cheese, butter, and salt and pepper, but somewhere along the way cream became a staple ingredient. Well, I personally love it that way! Note that Alfredo sauce pasta is not commonly served in Italy, simply because the Italians consider it a basic meal that they can throw together simple ingredients in their home. That may be why you want to make this dish in your own kitchen!

Whether it’s American or Italian or a fusion, making someone Alfredo will definitely be a way to put your heart on a plate! It appears that the whole reason Alfredo sauce was created is because Alfredo’s wife lost her appetite after pregnancy, and this simple sauce brought it back! You can definitely prepare this Simple and Delicious Alfredo Sauce for a loved one as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge. Get it for free by signing up to my email newsletter, plus you’ll never miss another dinner idea as my latest recipes will be sent right to your inbox!

To follow along with the steps and concepts here, be sure to watch the video! If you’re not already, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, and press the bell button so you’re notified when all of my latest video recipes are live! Let’s get cooking!

Why Make This Alfredo Sauce

• Minimal ingredients: Alfredo sauce is actually only made with 6 ingredients! Essentially, this Alfredo sauce is just cheese, cream, butter and seasonings.
• Creamy and cheesy: I find this Alfredo sauce really rich, where I really taste the cheesy goodness, and I just love how it coats the pasta so well! It’s not clumpy - smooth and creamy and oh so tasty.
• Simple process: I recorded this Alfredo sauce and even while recording it was a cinch to get it together! You only need to follow a few steps and you can have delicious Alfredo sauce whenever you want!
• Endless uses: Check out just a few ideas on what to do with Alfredo sauce later on in this post!

Tools Needed to Make the Best Alfredo Sauce

• Butter dish: I buy the butter block because it’s cheaper and I prefer using the block over the individual rectangles. Since it takes up space in the fridge, I like to cut up some butter and store it here!
• Non-stick pan: To cook the Alfredo sauce in.
• Measuring cups: To measure the amount of cream and cheese you’ll be using.
• Spatula: To stir and mix your Alfredo sauce.
• Microplane: I love a microplane to finely grate my cheese.
• Pepper mill: To freshly grind some pepper for the most flavor!
• Salt crock: To store your salt so you can easily spoon out the amount you want.

Ingredients for Alfredo Sauce

All ingredients and their quantities in addition to saving the recipe for later can be found in the FULL PRINTABLE Recipe Card, by scrolling to the bottom of this post or by pressing the “Jump to Recipe” button. The recipe card will also let you scale the recipe based on how many portions of pasta you need to make Alfredo for, so that you’ve got the perfect pasta to sauce ratio!

• Heavy cream: This can also be referred to as “whipping cream.” It is 30% to 35% milk fat content. You do need to use full fat cream for best results so that you have a thick and smooth sauce. Remember, a proper Alfredo really is an indulgence, so plan well!
• Pecorino Romano: If you can’t find this at your local grocery store, check an Italian bottega or a cheese shop.
• Parmesan cheese: Please buy the block and grate it yourself for the best flavor and freshness! I always call the packaged pre-grated Parmesan sawdust!
• Butter: Unsalted butter is recommended so you have more control over the seasoning.
• Nutmeg: You can use whole nutmeg and grate it fresh or just packaged ground nutmeg. ps: continue
• Salt and pepper: Season to taste.

How to Make Alfredo Sauce

Add the cream and butter to a pan and then turn the heat on medium low. Allow the butter to melt and for the cream to start steaming.

Cook until the cream thickens slightly and then take the pan off the heat.

Cook the pasta until close to al dente and then drain and add to the sauce. Return the pan back on the heat and set to low. Top with parmesan, pepper, salt, nutmeg and mix well to coat the pasta well with the sauce.

As the sauce starts to steam and thicken slightly more, add the pecorino romano cheese, toss well to combine and then taste and adjust for salt.

Serve immediately.

The One Tip for Making Incredible Alfredo Sauce

• Make sure you don’t over reduce the cream. It only needs to be heated for a couple of minutes, and then topped with cooked pasta off the heat. Cheese must be mixed in on low or no heat and then a tiny bit more heat at the end just to bring it all together. Keep it simple and your pasta will be creamy and delicious!

Variations of Alfredo Sauce

• Garlic: Add in some minced garlic or garlic powder for a garlic flavor to your Alfredo sauce. I recommend this if you’re not going to have garlic elsewhere in your recipe.
• Spicy: Throw in some red chili flakes to add a touch of heat to your Alfredo sauce.
• Onions: Some diced red onions to add a little sweetness to your Alfredo sauce.
• Herbs: Throw in some freshly chopped parsley for a pop of color.

Ways to Use Alfredo Sauce

• Bacon & Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo: You can use your Alfredo sauce paired with protein for a filling pasta dish!
• Pizza: White pizza anyone? An incredible chicken Alfredo pizza or even bacon Alfredo with diced onion are amazing combinations!
• For pink sauce: My Spicy Creamy Chicken Penne Pasta makes an Alfredo sauce with chili flakes and sun-dried tomatoes!
• Lasagna: I’ve never done this myself, but it would be excellent for a white lasagna!
• Crepes: Try this in Creamy Chicken Crepes. I originally used white sauce, but Alfredo would be so good too!
• Casseroles
• Soups
• Enchiladas

Other Tasty Pasta Sauces

• Classic Basil Pesto Sauce
• Italian Marinara Sauce
• Ragu alla Bolognese
• No-Cook Italian Pizza Sauce

Heat Control: The Whole Trick to a Smooth Alfredo

Almost everything that goes wrong with Alfredo goes wrong because of heat. Start the 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter and the cup of heavy cream in the pan together over medium-low and let the butter melt into the cream rather than browning on its own. What you are after is a gentle simmer - the cream steaming and thickening slightly, two or three minutes at most - never a hard, rolling boil. Stir gently as it goes, and a whisk is fine, though nothing vigorous is needed here: there is no roux in this sauce and no flour to cook out.

The moment the cream thickens, take the pan off the heat. High heat is what splits a cream sauce, and it is also what turns grated cheese grainy, which is why the Parmesan and the Pecorino Romano go in over low or no heat at all and the pan only goes back on briefly at the end to bring everything together. That really is the whole technique, and it is also why the recipe says to serve immediately - Alfredo is at its best about thirty seconds after it is finished.

Cream, Cheese and Pasta: What to Buy

Heavy cream, sometimes sold as heavy whipping cream, at 30 to 35 percent milk fat, is the one thing here that is not negotiable. Whole milk does not carry enough fat to hold an emulsion, so a milk version stays thin and is far more likely to break - and because there is no roux in this sauce to thicken it artificially, the fat is doing all the work. The cheeses are the other half of it: 1 cup of finely grated Parmesan, ideally Parmigiano-Reggiano bought in the block and grated yourself on a microplane, and 1/2 cup of Pecorino Romano, which brings the salt and the sharper edge.

For the pasta, 7 ounces of fettuccine or tagliatelle is what the recipe is built around, and a wide flat ribbon really is the right call - it gives the sauce a surface to cling to in a way a smooth short shape never quite does. Past that, use your favorite pasta. And because the sauce itself contains no flour at all, it sits just as happily over gluten-free pasta as it does over wheat.

A word on what else can go in. The variations above all work the same way: you melt butter and cream together first, then stir the extras through at the end, off the heat, so nothing gets a chance to split. Vegetables sit well in this sauce - the diced red onion already suggested is the obvious one, but sauteed mushrooms, wilted spinach or roasted broccoli all belong here too. Whatever veggies you add should go in already cooked and well drained, because water is the enemy of every emulsion. A pinch of Italian seasoning does much the same job as the chopped parsley if that is what is in the cupboard. As with most creamy sauces, the rule is to add flavor without adding liquid.

Storing and Reheating Alfredo Sauce

Alfredo is a serve-immediately sauce, so it is worth making only what you need. If you do end up with some left over, let it cool and keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for three to four days. It will set firm and look faintly alarming when cold - that is just the butterfat behaving normally, not a sign anything has gone wrong.

Reheat it gently, over low heat in a small saucepan, stirring as it loosens, and add a splash of cream to bring it back to a coating consistency. Do not reheat a cream sauce over high heat or in one long microwave burst, because the same heat that would have split it in the pan will split it now. Freezing is not worth the trouble either - cream sauces separate as they thaw, and no amount of stirring puts them back together.