How To Make Alfredo Sauce

Easy Alfredo Sauce recipe that is ideal over pasta or chicken with easy instructions on storing leftover portions.

If you've ever wondered how to make Alfredo Sauce, this recipe is for you!

If you want to turn a bowl of pasta from ordinary to extraordinary, consider making a quick batch of homemade Alfredo Sauce. You might be surprised to see just how easy it is! This Alfredo sauce is easy to make, ultra-creamy, and completely delicious!

Why This Recipe Works

• Alfredo sauce is a lovely sauce that's perfect to toss with pasta or serve with chicken.
• This is a low-carb alfredo sauce.
• This recipe makes a good amount of sauce and will definitely serve more than one person.
• Skip the temptation to purchase a jar of pre-made Alfredo Sauce at the store, instead, use this recipe to make this better-than-store-bought-version.

Ingredient Notes

See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.

• Heavy cream: Many readers will ask if whole milk or half and half can be used in place of heavy cream. While either can be used instead of cream, I don't recommend it. If you do not use heavy cream, the sauce will be much thinner and less rich tasting. The cream provides richness and a velvety consistency.
• Lemon juice: Use freshly squeezed lemon juice for best flavor but bottled can be used if necessary.
• Butter: I use salted butter.
• Parmesan cheese: Parmesan cheese provides a nutty and savory taste. I prefer freshly grated Parmesan cheese because it will melt beautifully into the sauce. You can use pre-packaged or jarred Parmesan instead but it may not melt as well.
• Ground nutmeg: This ingredient rounds out the flavor of the sauce.
• Salt (optional): For taste.

How To Make This Recipe

1. Stir the cream and the lemon juice in a heavy medium skillet to blend.

2. Add the butter and cook over medium heat just until the butter melts, stirring occasionally.

3. After the butter melts, reduce the heat to low and add in the grated parmesan cheese, a pinch of nutmeg and salt, stirring until the cheese is melted.

4. Remove from the heat.

5.Toss with cooked pasta.

6. Sprinkle a little more grated parmesan over the top, if desired.

Expert Tips

• To reduce the calories in alfredo sauce, you can use half and half for the heavy cream. Although the sauce will be thinner, the calories will be reduced.
• Make sure to continuously stir the sauce, and scrape the bottom and side of the pan so that those hotter areas don’t become curdled as the sauce cooks down.
• Use this alfredo sauce in a variety of different ways. In addition to eating it tossed with pasta, consider also adding the sauce to cooked chicken, shrimp, or on an alfredo pizza.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Thicken Alfredo Sauce?

Alfredo sauce thickens mostly from the cheese. Because we're using heavy cream, the sauce reduces naturally and reaches the right consistency without a thickening agent. If you want to thicken your alfredo sauce further, add more cheese than the amount that is called for in the recipe.

What Is The Difference Between Bechamel Sauce and Alfredo Sauce?

Both are white sauces made with dairy. Bechamel is a French sauce that is made using a roux made with butter and flour.

Alfredo sauce uses heavy cream that is thickened by reduction on the stovetop, then thickened further by Parmesan cheese.

Is Alfredo Sauce Keto?

Yes! This sauce is totally keto. It's perfect if you're following a low carb diet.

Variations of Alfredo Sauce

• Make Chicken Alfredo by adding grilled chicken or shredded rotisserie chicken to the fettuccine and sauce.
• Make Shrimp Alfredo by adding cooked shrimp to the pasta and Alfredo sauce.
• Consider using Alfredo sauce as a dip for breadsticks.

Storage

• Homemade Alfredo sauce should be covered and stored in the refrigerator. It will keep well for up to 4 days.
• To reheat Alfredo sauce, pour it into a saucepan and heat the sauce over low heat, stirring frequently until the sauce has heated.

Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients

If you have any ingredients leftover from this easy Alfredo sauce recipe, you might consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:

• Cream: Vanilla Ice Cream, Strawberry Icebox Cake, Crustless Quiche Lorraine, Chicken with Mustard Sauce
• Lemon juice: Lemon Blueberry Muffin, Lemon and Garlic Chicken, Lemon Meringue Pie, Baba Ganoush
• Parmesan cheese: Parmesan Crisps, Eggplant Parmesan, Chicken Parmesan Tenders, Cheesy Baked Eggs
• Nutmeg: Fried Apples, Garam Masala, Spice Cake, Dutch Apple Pie

Serving Suggestions

• Roasted Carrots
• Sautéed Green Beans
• French Bread
• Broiled Tomatoes
• Broiled Chicken

If you're looking for a small batch of Alfredo Sauce, you can find that recipe as well as many other single serving recipes by visiting our One Dish Kitchen site.

Enjoy!

How To Make Alfredo Sauce

This wonderful Alfredo Sauce recipe is rich, creamy, and so easy to make. Ideal over pasta or chicken with easy instructions on storing leftover portions.

4 from 1 vote

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Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

0 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Course: Main

Cuisine: Main Dish

Servings: 4 to 6 servings

Author: Joanie Zisk

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
• ▢ 1/4 cup lemon juice
• ▢ 8 tablespoons butter 1 stick
• ▢ 3 cups grated Parmesan cheese
• ▢ Pinch of ground nutmeg
• ▢ Salt to taste

Instructions

• Stir the cream and the lemon juice in a heavy medium skillet to blend.
• Add the butter and cook over medium heat just until the butter melts, stirring occasionally.
• Reduce the heat to low and add in the grated Parmesan cheese, nutmeg and salt, stirring until the cheese is melted.
• Remove from the heat.
• Toss with cooked pasta.
• Sprinkle a little more grated parmesan over the top, if desired.

Notes

This recipe for Alfredo Sauce makes enough sauce for a 16-ounce package of pasta. You can divide the recipe in half if you want to make a smaller portion, however the pasta and sauce will keep well in the refrigerator for a few days. To reheat the pasta and alfredo sauce, pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a skillet or sauté pan and set the heat to medium. Add the pasta mixed with Alfredo Sauce to the pan and heat, stirring until warm.

With this easy recipe, you can make Alfredo Sauce whenever you like. You can serve it with any type of pasta. The sauce also goes well with chicken or on an Alfredo topped pizza.

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.