Ready in just 10 minutes with 6 simple ingredients, this thick and creamy homemade alfredo sauce recipe is truly the best! Made with heavy cream, parmesan cheese, butter, garlic, salt, pepper, and an optional pinch of nutmeg, it’s SO much better than jarred sauce.
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My Dad's Winning Alfredo Sauce
Growing up with an Italian father who always made sauces from scratch, I have a true love for homemade marinara sauce, fresh basil pesto sauce, and creamy Alfredos. Unlike a lot of recipes, you won’t need any flour or cream cheese to thicken this sauce! The key to my dad’s Alfredo sauce is simmering a little fresh garlic, salted butter, lots of heavy cream, and freshly grated parmesan cheese together until it becomes nice and thick.
My Dad likes to add a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg to balance the sauce and make all the flavors pop. While that may be a surprise, many classic Italian white sauces (like béchamel) use nutmeg. Over the years we have tried other recipes, but my family always insists they are never as flavorful and creamy as this version. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
What Makes This Homemade Alfredo Sauce Recipe So Good?
- Quick & Easy: Ready in only 10 minutes with just a whisk and a skillet and 6 simple ingredients!
- Oh So Creamy: Made with nutty parmesan cheese, rich butter, and heavy cream, this Alfredo sauce is lusciously rich and creamy.
- Better Than Store-Bought: It’s cheaper to make at home and tastes like it’s from a five-star Italian restaurant!
What You’ll Need
Here’s a quick look at what you’ll need to make Alfredo sauce. Made with super simple and common ingredients, you probably already have what you need on hand! Scroll down to the recipe card for a full printable list of ingredients.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream will create the creamiest sauce possible. However you can use a 50/50 combo of heavy cream and whole milk, or half and half, for a lighter sauce. Evaporated milk also works well in a pinch and is creamier than whole milk!
- Garlic: My dad taught me to always use fresh garlic cloves, not jarred garlic, for the best fresh flavor. And personally, I like to double the garlic as my family loves garlic! You can use 1 teaspoon garlic powder in a pinch, but the flavor will be more dull.
- Parmesan Cheese: Use freshly grated parmesan cheese, not the kind in the shaker can. (Read why in the tips section below.) For a slightly different flavor, try another hard cheese like Asiago or Romano cheese.
- Seasonings: Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste. You can also add a pinch of Italian seasoning or freshly grated nutmeg for warmth. Just grab your microplane grater and a whole nutmeg and grate about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, to taste, into the finished sauce.
How to Make Alfredo Sauce
This homemade Alfredo Sauce recipe comes together in just a few simple steps. Too much heat can burn the butter/garlic and make the cheese clump, so make sure to keep your heat at a steady low-medium. Let’s take a quick look at how to do it. (Don’t forget to check out the full recipe card below for the printable instructions.)
- Simmer: Melt butter and add the cream, bringing the mixture to a low simmer. Cook, whisking often, for 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic: Then cook for another minute.
- Add the cheese: Add the parmesan cheese slowly, whisking constantly, until melted and the sauce is smooth. If your sauce becomes too thick, add a little pasta water or more cream to thin it out.
- Season and Serve: Add salt and pepper, to taste. Toss in your favorite cooked pasta, or use it as a dip or topping, and dinner is served. It really is that simple!
How to Keep Alfredo Sauce Smooth & Silky
Many homemade Alfredo sauces can break or have a slightly curdled appearance. Not so with this recipe! We keep the heat low and slow, whisking the entire time as we slowly add the cheese, to ensure the sauce turns out super smooth and velvety every time.
Chef’s Tips and Variation Ideas
- Only Use Fresh Parmesan: You can grate it yourself or use the kind found in the refrigerated section. Do not use the green shaker can, it is coated in anti-caking agents and can make your sauce over-thicken or become clumpy!
- Extra Thick Alfredo Sauce: For a super thick sauce, whisk in 1 tablespoon of flour to the melted butter and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds to create a roux. Then whisk in the cream and continue with the recipe as written.
- Lemon Cream Sauce: For a lemon Alfredo sauce, add fresh lemon juice when you add the cream. For a slight lemon flavor, add juice from half of a lemon. For a very lemon-y Alfredo, use a whole lemon!
- Cream Cheese: Alfredo sauce with cream cheese is another common swap made in many American home kitchens. It gives your Alfredo a slightly tangy flavor.
Ways to Use Alfredo Sauce
- Pasta: Just pick your favorite pasta: fettuccine, penne, ziti, spaghetti, ravioli, etc.
- Meatballs: It’s delicious served over these homemade Italian meatballs.
- Chicken: Add some chicken to your noodles to make chicken Alfredo or use your sauce in this Cajun chicken Alfredo. I also have two Alfredo bakes you might like, one chicken Alfredo bake and a chicken broccoli Alfredo bake.
- Pizza: Alfredo sauce makes a perfect white pizza – especially if you top it with chicken, bacon, and/or roasted mushrooms.
- Use as a Dip: Any kind of vegetable is delicious dunked in Alfredo. This parmesan roasted broccoli is a personal favorite of ours. And if you want to be a little decadent, I’m always a fan of dipping breadsticks in it.
This Alfredo sauce recipe will make enough to throughly coat 8 ounces of cooked fettuccine. Double the recipe if you are making 16 ounces (a standard sized full box) of pasta!
Homemade Alfredo Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup heavy cream, or half and half for a lighter sauce
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese, the refrigerated kind!
- Salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
- fresh grated nutmeg, optional, to taste
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Instructions
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low to medium heat. Add cream and bring to a simmer (lightly bubbling, not a full boil). Cook, whisking often, for 5 minutes until it starts to thicken slightly.
- Then add garlic, cook for 1 minute more. Add the cheese slowly (I recommend doing it in two to three batches) and whisk constantly until melted. Add salt and pepper, and optional freshly grated nutmeg, to taste. If adding nutmeg, I recommend starting with 1/4 teaspoon.
- If your sauce becomes too thick, you can thin it out with a little extra cream or pasta water. Toss in your favorite pasta and dinner is served!
Video
Notes
- Yield: This sauce will make enough to throughly coat 8 oz of fettuccine. Double the recipe if you are making 16 oz (a standard size box) of pasta!
- Store: Store sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Reheat: The best way to reheat Alfredo sauce is on the stovetop over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until heated through. Adding a splash of cream or milk to thin the sauce, if needed.
- Freeze: Be warned that this sauce may separate once thawed, however it’s worth a shot if you happen to have a lot leftover. Freeze the cooled sauce in an airtight container for up to 3 months. For best results, thaw sauce overnight in the fridge. Then reheat as directed above.
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Tastes just like Olive Garden. Don’t be shy with your parmesan! This is my new “goto” sauce, my family loves it!
The best I have ever had!
This is so incredibly delicious! The family raved about it! Very easy and quick sauce. We added shrimp and broccoli!
Very delicious and easy. Just the right amount of garlic. I love garlic but not if it overpowers. It did get super thick once the cheese was added a little pasta water worked well but I might try half|half next time. Definitely a keeper. One of the picky grandkids even loved it. I’d post a pic but I didn’t get one before it was all gone.
Tried it tonight because my 7 year old demanded chicken Alfredo homemade… it’s amazing! May make a bigger batch and can it for winter!
Delicious and easy, it turned out perfect.
This recipe is wrong, you don’t simmer cream for 5 min unless you want cheese. Cook the garlic first until aromatic, then add cream and cheese until melted and thick. Learn how to cook
Hi Jesse, have you even tried it before saying it’s wrong?
I love this recipe! I had no parm so I used some camembere instead. It turned out absolutely delicious. Such an easy recipe too. My husband loved it.
Servings? How many people does this serve. Wanting to make for 6-7 adults and 2 kids. Would I double or triple this recipe?
Hi Sam! This Alfredo recipe makes enough sauce to coat 8 oz of fettuccine pasta. Which usually serves 2 or 3 people, depending on how hungry they are. Hope this helps! 🙂
Awesome! We loved it! Will definitely make again! Thank you for sharing!
This is by far our favorite recipe for alfredo! Tonight, we added some rosemary and crushed red pepper and backed a bit off on the garlic. YUM!
I will be making this tonight with shrimp. Excited to try it out.
Delicious! My teenager loves alfredo, but I don’t love the things in the jar stuff at the store. This was super easy, and he LOVED it!!
Easy and delicious thank you
Loved this recipe. I added bacon and spring onion as my husband is a big meat eater. He loved it. I will never buy store bought again
This came out great! I doubled the recipe and used half and half. It came out really creamy and there was no cheese lumps. My husband said this was the best alfredo he has ever tried.
Holy cow. Made this for the first time tonight and I’ll never make another recipe. This is perfect and brilliant!!! And so easy!!
Was really easy to prep and tasted phenomenal
Excited to try this! If storing the sauce separate in the fridge, do I avoid tossing in the noodles at the end?
Hi Kassidy! Yes, if you want to store the sauce to try to use again later, it’s best stored by itself. Then reheat it slowly on the stovetop to try to prevent it from splitting as directed! 🙂
Sooo yummy! The only thing I’d change when I make again (which I will definitely be doing!) is adding the garlic in with the butter earlier in the cooking process. It didn’t completely cook down so there were hard bits of garlic in every bite which wasn’t for me. Otherwise, 5 stars!
Taste great but the instructions say nothing about when to add/put the cheese in. Even without the cheese it’s great but that seems like an oversight.
Hi Brian, you add the cheese in step two, right after the garlic. Slowly adding it and whisking the whole time. 🙂
This was fantastic. I made the sauce, added seamed broccoli, left over king crab, and fettuccini pasta.
Love it so much! It adds a perfect amount of flavor to the pasta! Every bite is mouth watering!
So quick and easy. I have always been intimidated to make an Alfredo sauce. I was under the impression that it was difficult. This was not only simple. But absolutely delicious!!!
I am a TERRIBLE cook and this sauce came together beautifully!! Followed the directions to a tee and it was superb. Perfect amount of sauce for 16 oz of small shell pasta (maybe some to spare). Chef’s kiss!