Bye bye jarred Alfredo Sauce! This killer homemade easy and quick Alfredo Sauce is not only creamy and fantastic, but it comes together in under 15 minutes. I promise once you try this, you’ll swear off store bought for the rest of your life.
The Players aka The Ingredients
- Butter – This is what creates that deliciously smooth consistency in the Alfredo sauce.
- Cream Cheese – While not authentic, this gives the Alfredo sauce a tangy, yet delightful flavor. You’ll never want to go without cream cheese in Alfredo sauce again!
- Garlic – I prefer to use fresh, finely minced garlic in this recipe. But if you’re in a pinch, garlic powder can be substituted.
- Milk – I always use whole milk because that’s what I buy for my kids. But feel free to use 2% milk if that’s what you have.
- Heavy Cream – I like to use heavy cream or half and half to help make the Alfredo sauce thicker. A combination of heavy cream and whole milk really help make this sauce amazing!
- Parmesan Cheese – If you’re able to, shred or grate your own Parmesan cheese yourself. The pre-shredded cheese you find at grocery stores has a chemical coating that is really difficult to melt down, therefore, will make your Alfredo sauce a bit clumpy.
- Nutmeg – Just a dash of ground nutmeg will help bring warmth to this Alfredo sauce.
- Black Pepper – I personally love a lot of black pepper in my sauce, but use as little or as much as you’d like.
- Salt – The Parmesan cheese really adds saltiness to the sauce, so add to taste.
How to Make This Quick Alfredo Sauce
Before I continue on, I need to get this off my chest. I realize this is not at all an authentic Alfredo sauce recipe. In a true Alfredo sauce recipe, cream cheese would not be in the equation whatsoever. But guys, give this recipe a shot! It’s so creamy, cheesy and delicious!
When I go to make this quick Alfredo sauce, I like to pull out my cream cheese about an hour or so before I start cooking this. You don’t have to do this, but this really aids in melting down the cream cheese faster. Of course, if you forgot, this is totally not a big deal!
Melt your butter in a medium sized saucepan over low heat. Add in your chopped garlic and cook for about one minute. You don’t want to cook it for too long for fear of burning it. Yuck! Throw in your brick of cream cheese and whisk until butter and cream cheese are thoroughly combined.
Once butter and cream cheese have blended together, slowly begin to add your warm milk a little bit at a time to the mixture. I like to warm my milk + cream combination in a microwave safe dish in the microwave for about 30 seconds. While adding in your warm milk, whisk constantly.
After all the milk and cream have been added, continue to whisk and allow the mixture to come up to a slight simmer for one minute. You don’t want to boil the sauce, but rather, just have a few bubbles pop up around the edges.
Throw in your shredded Parmesan cheese, ground nutmeg, ground black pepper, and salt. Remove from heat and whisk until the cheese has completely melted.
How to Thin Out Sauce
If you find your Alfredo sauce too thick, add in a tablespoon at a time of salted pasta water. Generally, when you’re making Alfredo sauce, you’re usually about to serve it with some type of pasta like Fettuccine, Linguine or Penne. When you’re boiling your pasta, reserve some of that salted water (about 1/2-1 cup) so that you can whisk it in to your Alfredo sauce to help thin it out.
How to Thicken Alfredo Sauce
If your Alfredo sauce is not thickening up, add in a 1/4 cup more shredded Parmesan cheese over low heat and whisk constantly. You may have accidentally added in more liquid, which is totally not a big deal! Just whisk, whisk, whisk until your arm falls off haha!
If you’ve added your cheese to the Alfredo sauce and it’s still thin, try making a cornstarch slurry (1 teaspoon of cornstarch + 2 teaspoons of water in a small bowl) and add to your sauce. Continue to whisk over low heat until you get the desired consistency.
How Much Alfredo Sauce for 1 Pound of Pasta?
A serving would be about 1/2 cup of Alfredo sauce for one bowl of cooked pasta. If you’re making 1 pound of pasta, plan on having about 3 cups of Alfredo sauce. Of course, a “serving” size is totally subjective. Some folks like a little bit of sauce, and some want their pasta drowning in Alfredo sauce. For my family of five, I only use about half of this Alfredo sauce to serve over our pasta, which is plenty for us. Additionally, If you like your pasta super saucy, you’ll probably end up using the entire saucepan for dinner.
Watch me make this quick Alfredo sauce on my YouTube channel!
Can You Freeze Alfredo Sauce?
Yes! In fact, I make this quick Alfredo sauce knowing full well, that I’ll be able to make another quick pasta night soon in my future.
To freeze this Alfredo sauce, allow the sauce to cool completely. Pour sauce into a freezer gallon bag (that has been marked with the date) and lay down in freezer. Similarly, you can choose to freeze in a small glass Tupperware container rather than a plastic zip-lock bag. Freeze for up to 2 months.
How to Defrost Homemade Alfredo Sauce
Having frozen Alfredo sauce in the freezer makes for easy and quick dinners! Defrosting Alfredo sauce is very simple. You can pull out your frozen Alfredo sauce from the freezer the night before and place in the fridge overnight. Conversely, about an hour before using, place gallon bag or glass container in a baking dish with cold water.
How to Reheat Frozen Alfredo Sauce
To reheat frozen Alfredo sauce, once your sauce has thawed, pour into a small saucepan over medium-low heat and whisk until completely warmed through. You can add in a little bit of salted pasta water to help thin out the sauce or a little bit of milk.
Looking for other easy dinner ideas? Check these out next!
- Easy Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
- Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Dinner
- Easy Shrimp Scampi with Linguine
- Albondigas Mexican Meatball Soup
Pin it for later!
Let me know if you end up trying out this quick Alfredo sauce! What is your favorite type of pasta to top with Alfredo sauce? I’d love to chat with you!
Easy and Quick Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
- 2 tbsp chopped garlic
- 1 block 8 ounces, softened cream cheese*
- 2 cups whole milk or heavy cream* slightly warmed
- 3/4 cup about 6 ounces, grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.
- Add softened cream cheese, stirring with whisk constantly until smooth. Slowly add in warm milk while constantly whisking until milk is fully incorporated into butter and cream cheese.
- Bring to very low simmer (do not boil) and add in Parmesan cheese, nutmeg and pepper.
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