Homemade Alfredo Sauce Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is homemade Alfredo sauce made of? ›

Alfredo Sauce Ingredients

You'll need just five simple ingredients to make this basic Alfredo sauce recipe: butter, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and fresh parsley.

Add heavy whipping cream, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps.

The key ingredient in Alfredo sauce is cheese—generally Parmigiano Reggiano—and lots of it. To thicken Alfredo sauce, simply add more cheese than the amount called for in a recipe until you achieve the consistency you want.

Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano Reggiano, the name-protected Italian cheese, is a surefire way to add a umami and depth of flavor to a jarred Alfredo sauce. Freshly grate a few inches of the cheese, then whisk it right into the sauce as it's warming on the stove.

Real alfredo sauce is made with 3 simple ingredients: butter, Parmesan cheese and fresh fettuccine pasta. There is absolutely no cream in this dish (cream is common in most American-style alfredo sauce recipes). Make this dish with my fresh homemade pasta, fresh sourdough pasta or store-bought fresh pasta.

For a garlicky alfredo sauce, saute 1 to 2 cloves minced garlic with the butter before adding the flour. You can use 2% or skim milk for this recipe, but the sauce will be thinner. This recipe can be scaled up to make larger batches. Just keep the ratios of flour, butter, milk, and cheese the same.

Mix the cornstarch with some cold water to create a smooth slurry, then whisk it into the sauce while cooking over medium-high heat for a few minutes. Add all-purpose flour. Another very common thickening agent that will give your Alfredo sauce a creamy texture.

After 12 ounces of fettuccine pasta noodles are finished cooking, reserve 2 cups of the pasta water to include in your sauce. The starchy water is essential to creating a thick, creamy sauce consistency.

Add a little butter or cream or cream cheese, to taste. It will smooth it all out. Make sure you mix it in really well. I have read that you can add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda per cup of sauce to cut acidity, but I wouldn't try that myself.

The Fix Is Simple—Add Water Back.

While it may seem counterintuitive to add liquid to an oily sauce, whisking in more water replaces what was evaporated and helps re-suspend that fat, emulsifying your sauce once more. A generous splash of water is all it takes.

How do you make Alfredo sauce thicker without cheese? ›

Use Flour and Water

Combine 2 tablespoons flour with every 1/4 cup cold water and whisk until smooth. Add the mixture to your sauce over medium heat, and continue to stir and cook until you've reached your desired consistency. Test with a spoon.

Adding that starchy pasta-cooking water to the sauce helps emulsify it, ensuring it's smooth and creamy.

Why Make it at Home? In blind taste tests I found that alfredo sauce made from scratch has a lot more flavor than jarred sauce. The parmesan is a lot more prevalent and the sauce itself is smoother and richer. And this flavor comes at practically no extra cost.

Butter: This Alfredo sauce starts with two sticks of butter. Cream: The rich sauce calls for almost a cup of heavy cream. Seasonings: The fettuccine Alfredo is simply seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Cheese: You'll need Romano and Parmesan cheeses.

White sauce – also known as béchamel – is made with flour, milk, and butter. It's a basic sauce that can be used as a base for other sauces or as a topping for dishes like lasagna. Alfredo sauce, on the other hand, is made with butter, cream, and Parmesan cheese, and has a much richer flavour than white sauce.

Water, Cream, Parmesan Cheese (milk), Enzyme Modified Egg Yolks, Modified Cornstarch, Butter, Salt, Sugar, Whey Protein Concentrate, Xanthan Gum, Gum Arabic, Spice, Lactic Acid, Natural Flavour, Sodium Phosphate.

From the Package

MODIFIED CORN STARCH, ENZYME MODIFIED EGG YOLK (EGG YOLK, SALT, ENZYME), WHEY, SALT, ROMANO CHEESE MADE FROM COW'S M MILK (PASTEURIZED PART-SKIM MILK. CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES), WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, XANTHAN GUM, YEAST EXTRACT, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, NATURAL FLAVORS, GARLIC POWDER, SPICES.

Homemade Alfredo sauce is a popular sauce with Italian-American dishes, but it's actually a secondary French sauce. The base, known in French cuisine as a Mother sauce, is bechamel sauce. By adding cheese and seasonings, it transforms into a velvety smooth, creamy white cheese sauce!