My Semi-Homemade Alfredo Sauce Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What to add to Alfredo sauce to make it better? ›

Heartier herbs like thyme or oregano can be added in to simmer with the sauce. Add delicate herbs like parsley, basil, or chervil at the end to maintain their delicate, aromatic flavor. Quick tip: Swirl in a bit of leftover pesto to add another herbaceous twist to your Alfredo sauce.

Most Alfredo sauces are made with only Parmesan cheese, butter, cream, and salt. But we took the liberty of adding in some garlic and extra seasonings to make it that much more delicious.

Add heavy whipping cream, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stir in Parmesan and pepper. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long.

This happens when there's too much fat or liquid in the mixture. This can happen when there are not enough emulsifiers (which help keep your ingredients together). Sauces are usually made from multiple ingredients that include both oil and water. Oils and water will naturally separate.

The easiest way to accomplish this is to mix about a spoonful of cornstarch to 2 spoonfuls of liquid – it could be water or chicken stock or even milk. You will add this mixture, also called a slurry to the sauce and as it starts to cook, the sauce will thicken.

What Makes Alfredo Taste Alfredo? The key to Alfredo sauce's unique flavour is the combination of butter, cream, and Parmesan cheese. The butter and cream create a rich, velvety base, while the Parmesan cheese adds a tangy, salty flavour.

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.

All-purpose flour: To help form a roux and thicken the sauce. If you are making gluten-free Alfredo sauce, however, you are welcome to omit the flour and have a slightly thinner sauce. Or you can use a cornstarch slurry to thicken it (see details below).

One of the key components to making a thick and creamy Alfredo sauce is the cream. That being said, I think you could get away with using half and half or if in a real pinch, whole milk. Keep in mind that the less fat content in the dairy the thinner and less appealing the Alfredo Sauce will be.

Should you put pasta water in Alfredo sauce? ›

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 more cheese.

This is often the easiest way to make a creamy sauce. Any grated, shredded, or cream cheese will do. Toss in 1 or 2 tbsp of pasta water for best results. The starch from the pasta will bond with the dairy content, creating a nice cream that will improve the texture of the sauce.

The pre-grated packaged parmesan won't melt into the alfredo sauce nearly as well. Instead, buy a brick of parmesan and use a grater to grate it fresh. Don't bring to a boil. Cooking alfredo sauce over too high of heat can cause the cream to curdle and the sauce to break.

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.

The goal of reheating fettuccine alfredo is to make it taste as close to fresh as possible. Pantry & Larder says you can achieve this by adding a small amount of water, cream, or milk to the dish to increase moisture and prevent the noodles from drying out.

While controlling the heat is what helps the fat (oil) not separate from the sauce in the first place, adding cream to your leftovers is what helps to revive the dish. This leaves the pasta nice and creamy again and makes sure that it's not dried out.

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.