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This is the Alfredo sauce recipe I’ve made more times than I can count. It’s just butter, garlic, heavy cream and real Parmesan, it’s ready in about 15 minutes, and it’s rich, silky and full of garlic flavor. Never buy a store-bought jar again!
My Cajun Shrimp Pasta, Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo, Asparagus Mushroom Fettuccine Alfredo, classic Fettuccine Alfredo, and Blackened Chicken Alfredo also use this Alfredo Sauce as the base. I also highly recommend serving this sauce with homemade pasta!
Table of Contents
- Homemade Alfredo Sauce at a Glance
- Why This Is the Best Alfredo Sauce
- Ingredients for Homemade Alfredo Sauce
- Ingredient Substitutions
- How to Make Alfredo Sauce
- Step 1: Infuse Garlic in Butter
- Step 2: Add Heavy Cream
- Step 3: Stir in Parmesan
- Step 4: Toss With Hot Pasta
- Cooking Tips for Perfect Results
- Common Alfredo Sauce Problems and How to Fix Them
- How Much Pasta Does This Alfredo Sauce Cover
- Customize Your Sauce
- How to Store Alfredo Sauce
- How to Reheat Alfredo Sauce
- Alfredo Sauce FAQs
- Is This Authentic Alfredo Sauce?
- Can I Use This Sauce in Lasagna or a Baked Pasta?
- Why Is Homemade Alfredo Thinner Than Jarred Sauce?
- More Alfredo Recipes
- Alfredo Sauce Recipe Recipe
Homemade Alfredo Sauce at a Glance
- The recipe: a classic American-style Alfredo sauce made with garlic slowly infused in butter, heavy cream and finely grated Parmesan. No flour and no cream cheese.
- Why you’ll love it: it’s rich, silky and full of garlic flavor, and it’s done by the time your pasta is cooked.
- Time: 5 minutes of prep and 10 minutes of cooking. Makes about 3 cups.
- Main ingredients: butter, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream and 1 1/2 cups of finely grated Parmesan.
- Method: cook the garlic in the butter over low heat, simmer the cream, then take the pan off the heat and stir in the Parmesan.
- How much pasta: one batch covers about 1 pound of dry pasta.
- Quick tip: grate the Parmesan from a block with a microplane, or it won’t melt smoothly.
Why This Is the Best Alfredo Sauce
There are a lot of Alfredo sauce recipes out there. Here’s why this is the one I keep coming back to.
Easy to Make
Any kind of pasta dish is a hit in my house, and when I need a quick and easy dinner idea on a busy weeknight, this Alfredo Sauce recipe is one of my favorites. Add some sliced cooked chicken breasts or grilled shrimp and you have a satisfying meal in no time!
Garlic-Infused Butter
The garlic cooks slowly in the butter over low heat before anything else goes in the pan, so the butter soaks up all of that garlic flavor before the cream is added.
Keep the heat low. You want the garlic soft and fragrant and just starting to turn golden. If it gets dark, it turns bitter.
Versatility
Toss it with fettuccine, pour it over steamed vegetables, or use it with homemade gnocchi or four cheese ravioli. It obviously pairs incredibly well with homemade fresh pasta to make Fettuccine Alfredo.
Ingredients for Homemade Alfredo Sauce
This Alfredo sauce is made with just four simple ingredients, so use the best ones you can get.
- Butter. I use salted butter for almost everything, this sauce included. Unsalted works too. Just taste it at the end and add a pinch of salt if it needs it.
- Fresh garlic. Four cloves, finely minced or pressed.
- Heavy cream. This is what makes the sauce thick and silky. Heavy cream and heavy whipping cream are the same thing.
- Parmesan cheese. Buy a block of real Parmigiano Reggiano and grate it yourself. More on why in the tips below.
Full amounts are in the recipe card below.
Ingredient Substitutions
I have made this recipe countless times and highly encourage you to make it exactly as written, but I know that sometimes recipe alterations are necessary depending on ingredient availability. Should you need to make a modification, these are my recommendations.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream has at least 36% fat, and that fat is what gives this sauce its body. Plain whipping cream (30 to 36% fat) works but makes a slightly thinner sauce. Whole milk (about 3.5% fat), half and half (10 to 12% fat) or evaporated milk can also be used, although I don’t recommend them because you will have a much thinner sauce due to the lower fat content. Skip skim and 1% milk. If your sauce turns out too thin, see the fixes under Common Problems below.
- Butter: Replace butter with high-quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic is recommended, but frozen or jarred minced garlic will work as well. Garlic powder can be used as a substitute, but it won’t impart the same infused garlic taste.
- Parmesan Cheese: Authentic Italian Alfredo sauce demands Parmigiano Reggiano, but Romano cheese or a parmesan/Romano blend can also work. Pecorino Romano is saltier, so taste before you add any salt.
How to Make Alfredo Sauce
Step 1: Infuse Garlic in Butter
Melt the butter and add the garlic. Begin by melting half a stick of butter over low heat, then add the minced garlic and stir frequently for about 5 minutes.
Step 2: Add Heavy Cream
Pour in all of the cream. Give it a good stir and allow it to come to a gentle simmer. Increase the heat to medium, if needed. Cook for about 5 minutes and stir it occasionally.
Step 3: Stir in Parmesan
Stir in the Parmesan. Remove the sauce from the heat, then stir in the finely grated parmesan cheese. It will look a little goopy at first. Keep stirring for a few minutes and it melts into a silky, rich sauce.
Step 4: Toss With Hot Pasta
Serve it right away. Toss the sauce with hot, freshly drained pasta and dig in.
Cooking Tips for Perfect Results
- Quality Ingredients Matter – Fresh, locally-grown garlic and authentic aged parmesan cheese imported from Italy make all the difference if you can get them. Kerrygold is my butter of choice.
- Press the Garlic – Maximize the garlic flavor by using a garlic press. Minced garlic exposes more surface area, enhancing the sauce’s taste.
- Finely Grate the Parmesan – For instant melting, grate the parmesan cheese from a block using a microplane grater. This ensures a smooth, creamy consistency.
Common Alfredo Sauce Problems and How to Fix Them
Almost every problem readers tell me about comes down to the cheese or the heat.
- Grainy or clumpy sauce. This is almost always the cheese. Bagged pre-shredded and pre-grated Parmesan is coated so it doesn’t clump in the bag, and that coating keeps it from melting smoothly. Grate your own from a block (see the tips above) and add it off the heat. If pre-grated is all you have, run it through the food processor or blender first, and you may have to keep the sauce over low heat a little longer to get it to melt.
- Greasy or separated sauce. It got too hot. Cream sauces break when they boil hard or get too hot. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in a splash of warm cream, a little at a time, to try to bring it back together.
- Too thin. This sauce shouldn’t need to be thickened if made as directed, but if you want to amp up the creaminess, a spoonful of mascarpone, cream cheese or sour cream will all work. You can also stir in a little more Parmesan.
- Too thick. To thin this sauce, simply add more heavy cream. You can also scoop out a cup of salted pasta water just before draining the pasta and stir it into the sauce as needed to reach the desired thickness.
- Bland or a little sour. Add salt. Any time something tastes too sour, I add more salt and it tends to balance it all out.
★★★★★
“I’ve tried other Alfredo recipes and my family has had complaints about them being too salty or too thick always something that they didn’t like about them. But I made this Alfredo tonight and they have zero complaints and I don’t either. It tasted divine and so easy to make. My new and only go to recipe for Alfredo sauce!”
Lacey, reader review
How Much Pasta Does This Alfredo Sauce Cover
My recipe yields just the right amount of cheesy cream sauce for a pound of fettuccine noodles, but you can easily double it for larger gatherings. If you double it, double everything, butter included.
One batch makes about 3 cups of sauce. A typical serving of pasta is about 2 ounces dry, so one batch covers about 8 servings of pasta.
The recipe card counts a serving as 1/4 cup of sauce (12 per batch), and that’s what the nutrition is based on. If you like your pasta swimming in sauce, you’ll eat more than that, and the calories go up with it.
Customize Your Sauce
While this Alfredo sauce is perfect on its own, you can add black pepper, salt, onion powder, or Italian seasoning to suit your taste.
Readers also love a pinch of nutmeg, some Asiago with the Parmesan, or a little homemade Cajun seasoning for a kick.
Fresh parsley always makes a nice garnish on any creamy white sauce.
How to Store Alfredo Sauce
Store any leftover Alfredo sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use it within 3 to 4 days. It firms up a lot as it chills, and that’s normal.
Can you freeze it? I have never frozen it. I only eat it fresh. Freezing a cream sauce like this is safe, but it tends to separate and turn grainy when it thaws, so I don’t recommend it.
Making it ahead: The sauce only takes 15 minutes, so I make it right before dinner. If you need to make it ahead, refrigerate it and reheat it very gently (see below).
Keeping it warm for a party: A slow cooker on the warm setting works. Don’t turn it up any higher, keep the sauce at 140°F or above while it sits out, and stir it now and then.
How to Reheat Alfredo Sauce
The microwave will often kill a cream-based sauce like this, so the best bet is to reheat it gently over low heat on the stove.
- Stovetop: Heat it over very low heat in a saucepan, stirring frequently until warmed through.
- Microwave: If you have to use the microwave, use very low power (50% or less) in 1-minute increments, stirring each time until heated.
- Super Hot Pasta: Let the sauce sit out for 20 to 30 minutes to take the chill off, then add it to freshly drained, hot pasta. The heat from the pasta will warm the sauce perfectly.
Alfredo Sauce FAQs
Here are the other questions readers ask me about this sauce.
Is This Authentic Alfredo Sauce?
It is said that the original recipe came from Alfredo di Lelio who lived in Rome over 100 years ago. I struggle with how impressive this was, because the original version was simply butter and parmesan. That’s no different than how I used to make my “buttered noodles” when I was ten years old.
My version is definitely an American-style Alfredo sauce. A little garlic and some heavy cream definitely takes “buttered noodles” to a whole different level.
Can I Use This Sauce in Lasagna or a Baked Pasta?
If this sauce gets too hot, it will get gross. For a baked dish, I would bake everything without the sauce and then toss it in the sauce just before serving.
Why Is Homemade Alfredo Thinner Than Jarred Sauce?
Jarred Alfredo is usually thickened with starches or gums. This one has no flour at all, so it looks a little loose in the pan, but it thickens as it cools and clings to the pasta.
More Alfredo Recipes
This sauce is the base for some of my favorite pasta dinners.
If you tried this Alfredo Sauce recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
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Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 cloves garlic finely minced or pressed
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese finely grated
Instructions
- Add 4 tablespoons butter and 4 cloves garlic (minced) to a sauté pan and heat over low heat. Allow to cook until the butter is infused with the garlic, about 5 minutes.
- Add 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, stir, and allow to come to a gentle simmer. Increase heat slightly, if needed. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and immediately add in 1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese. (Note: the parmesan will easily melt if it was finely grated from a block. If you used pre-grated cheese that is thicker, you may have to continue heating over low heat to get it to melt.) Stir to combine. It will take several minutes for the cheese to melt. It will look goopy at first (especially if you used pre-grated cheese) and then the sauce will be creamy and smooth. If sauce needs to be thinned, add additional heavy cream.
- To serve, toss with hot, freshly drained pasta, or spoon it over vegetables.
Notes
- Quality ingredients. The higher quality ingredients you use, the better your sauce will be. Make sure the garlic is fresh and, if possible, grown locally. Kerrygold is my butter of choice, but there are so many great ones available. Be sure to buy real authentic parmesan cheese imported from Italy.
- Press the garlic. When garlic is minced through a garlic press instead of chopped, you expose the maximum amount of surface area. That means you’ll extract the most flavor from it.
- Grate the parmesan yourself using a microplane. You can certainly use shredded parmesan, but it will not melt properly due to the large size of the pieces and anything that has been added to the cheese to prevent sticking. I highly recommend grating from a block of cheese using a microplane grater. It will make the parmesan melt instantly.
- Reheating. This alfredo sauce will thicken as it cools. If it cools too much, it will get too thick. If it gets too hot, it will separate. The trick is to keep it just warm enough. This sauce must be reheated gently either on the stove over low heat, in the microwave on 50% or lower power, or by adding super hot, freshly drained pasta to your sauce.
- Substitutions. Many readers ask if whole milk (3-4%) or half and half (10-12% fat) can be used in place of heavy cream (38-40% fat). The answer is YES, although I don’t recommend it because you will have a thinner sauce. If you need to make a substitution and feel that the final sauce is too thin, you can always stir in a bit of mascarpone or cream cheese at the end to thicken it.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was originally published in 2018. I’ve updated the tips since then, but this reader-favorite recipe has always remained the same.
Love this recipe, very easy to follow. I made with Tortellini some chopped leftover ham and peas. Will definitely be making it again.
I just realized I bought whipping cream instead of heaving whipping cream will that make a difference in the way the sauce will turn out?
It’ll still work! Heavy whipping cream has a little more fat than regular whipping cream, so your sauce may be a touch thinner. Just don’t use whipped cream in a can (like Reddi Whip). That’s not the same thing at all.
Both my kids (16 & 21yrs old) LOVE Alfredo sauce, me not so much… I just made this for them, was about to pop in a frozen pizza and a little in pan left, my kids said it was AmaZing and I’m like ok I’ll try it instead of wait another 15 min til pizza done for myself lol…and low and behold… MY GOODNESS this is some amazing sauce!!!! And I never ever really liked Alfredo sauce, whether from jar or restaurant eh, but wow 10 out of 10 on this!!!! At first I thought it was goopy, but keep stirring, I used a whisk and kept it going.. smooth and delicious! Thank you!!!!!!!
Cut the recipe in 1/2 because it is only my husband and myself. Followed recipe and video – Perfect!
I look forward to trying this recipe. Does it matter if you use salted or unsalted butter?
I use salted butter for almost everything now, this sauce included, but unsalted works too. Just taste at the end and add a pinch of salt if it needs it.
OMG I may never need to go to Olive Garden again! This was awesome just as the recipe states. I accidentally purchased heavy cream when I meant to buy half & half for another recipe so I was looking for a way to use the heavy cream and stumbled upon your recipe. Made a half box of fetucinne noodles and now have some leftover sauce for when I choose to cook the rest of the pasta. I had tried cream cheese based alfredo and it was not what I was looking for, this however, is perfect! Thank you and I have it saved for future use.
I don’t know what I did wrong… Parmesan cheese didn’t melt….😭 the taste was good! But it didn’t work.
Did you grate it yourself or buy it pre-shredded?
I have realized with ANY cheese you have to buy it in block and shred it yourself. When you buy it ore shredded they add a wax like substance to the cheese for preservation purposes. That WILL NOT break down completely when cooking.
This ^^^
Thanks for sharing the recipe. Turned out great! Found it helpful to leave it on low heat while the cheese melted
I love to add some fresh grated nutmeg to almost any cream sauce. It really brings a nice nuttiness to the sauce
This by far beat any alfredo sauce that I’ve had in any restaurant!! Very easy to make! And, my husband even cleaned his plate!! Thank you for this recipe!
OMG Krissy, this is killer good! I made it exactly as written…used it for a 18 ounce bag of fresh (not frozen) spinach & ricotta ravioli. Added some cooked shrimp and this was the perfect sauce. To me, there was plenty of sauce for this.
You MUST use freshly grated (finely) parmesan and add slowly to melt. This was beyond restaurant quality. BTW, the brand of ravioli I used was Giovanni Rana from Walmart! So delicious…thank you for recipe I’ll make over and over.
I’m thinking of making this sauce a day ahead to make for a quick but delicious meal for Valentines day (I have less time tomorrow). Do you think it would work out ok if i make the sauce today and noodles tomorrow? Recommendations?
You can make the sauce ahead of time, but you’ll need to reheat it VERY gently. If you reheat it on full power in the microwave, it will turn into a greasy mess. The sauce is really easy to make, though, so I highly recommend you make it right before you want to serve it. Enjoy!
I ended up making it tonight and added extra garlic (we are a garlic family). I also made shrimp, scallops, broccoli and snap peas and through them in. It was amazing! Thank you so much!