The best Homemade Alfredo Sauce from scratch with only a handful of natural ingredients including butter, cream, Parmesan, garlic, and a few seasonings. This alfredo sauce recipe is rich, creamy, so easy to make in just minutes, and will knock your pasta socks off!
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
Is there anything better than the combination of butter, cream, and cheese? Maybe a warm chocolate chip cookie. Maybe. This homemade Alfredo sauce recipe is rich, creamy, and completely luscious thanks to heavy cream, butter, and Parmesan. It’s just begging for some warm pasta to coat.
If you love Alfredo like we do, you won’t want to miss our chicken alfredo or shrimp alfredo recipes!
What is Alfredo Sauce?
Alfredo Sauce is a rich, smooth and creamy white sauce perfect for serving with cooked pasta. Authentic Italian Alfredo sauce is typically made with Parmesan cheese, butter, some warm pasta cooking water, and salt. Over the years, it’s been adapted to include heavy cream – I think we can thank the Americans for that one. Lol.
Tara says:
What’s in This Easy Alfredo Sauce Recipe?
Here’s a run-down of the simple ingredients needed to make this easy alfredo sauce recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Parmesan cheese – For optimal results, use real Parmigiano-Reggiano right off the block. Avoid those shaker-style containers or tubs filled with pre-shredded cheese. They don’t melt properly, making your sauce grainy. And they simply don’t taste nearly as good as fresh.
- Butter – Either unsalted or salted work great. If using salted butter, I recommended omitting the additional salt until you’ve tasted the sauce and then add extra, if necessary.
- Heavy Cream – We use heavy whipping cream for the ultimate indulgence. This will give you the creamiest, richest results. Go big or go home, right? You certainly can use regular heavy cream, though, and it will still be wonderful! (See note below for lower-calorie options.)
- Garlic – We use a mix of garlic powder and fresh garlic, which we think is perfect. If you want a more subtle garlic flavor, you could cut back on one or the other.
- Seasonings – Salt, pepper, and dried Italian seasoning. This trio of spices really takes the sauce up a level. Parmesan cheese is already salty, so we’re only adding in a touch more.
How to Make Alfredo Sauce
This easy alfredo sauce comes together in only a few simple steps. You can find the printable version of the complete instructions in the recipe card below.
- Combine butter and cream. Add the butter and cream to a large nonstick sauté pan, over medium-low heat; whisk until butter has melted.
- Add seasonings. Add in the fresh minced garlic, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper; whisk until combined and smooth.
- Simmer. Bring to a gentle simmer (do not boil) and cook for 3-4 minutes, whisking constantly, until it starts to thicken.
- Add in Parmesan. Stir in the parmesan cheese just until melted and the sauce is smooth.
- Enjoy. Take off the heat. If the sauce isn’t quite thick enough, allow it to stand for 2-3 minutes before tossing with pasta.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make Alfredo Sauce with milk instead cream? Yep! To us, this sauce is meant to be indulgent, so we go all out and use heavy whipping cream, but if you want to lighten it up and cut back on calories a little, we get it! Regular heavy cream, half-n-half, or whole milk can definitely be used. Keep in mind, that the less fat content, the less thick the sauce will be.
- How to thicken Alfredo Sauce? We think our recipe is thick enough, but if you want it even thicker, you have a couple options. (1) Make a roux: In a pan over medium heat, melt some butter and then whisk in an equal amount of flour; whisk constantly until combined and smooth, then whisk a little bit of that into the simmering sauce. (2) You can also make a slurry: in a small bowl, whisk together a little cornstarch in with some cold water until the mixture is smooth. Slowly, whisk the slurry into the simmering sauce until the desired consistency is reached.
- Is it gluten free? Yep! This recipe does not include a roux made with flour, so it is considered gluten free.
- Is Alfredo sauce keto? Yep! This sauce is low carb. But, don’t kid yourself into thinking it’s healthy!
- How many cups does this yield? This particular recipe makes about 2 & 1/2 cups, which is perfect to fully coat 1 pound of cooked pasta. If not using it right away, it will fit in a large mason jar.
Helpful Tips For Success
- Use fresh, high quality Parmesan. As mentioned earlier, it’s pretty important to use fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano. The pre-shredded Parmesan won’t melt properly and will make the sauce grainy.
- Whisk, don’t stir. Ditch the wooden spoon and spatula for this sauce. Whisking will help avoid your sauce from separating.
- Don’t overheat. Do not allow the sauce to boil. It’s a short, gentle simmer over medium-low. If the heat is too high and/or the sauce begins to boil, it will cause the sauce to break/separate and become clumpy. Not good!
- Make and serve right away. This sauce is at its best served right after making it, so if you’re serving it with pasta, try to time the cooking so they finish at the same time.
Proper Storage
- How long does Alfredo Sauce last in the fridge? Pour the sauce in a jar, allow to cool completely, then fasten tightly with a lid. It will last in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Can you freeze Alfredo Sauce? So…technically, yes. But I don’t recommend it. Cream, butter, and cheese frozen and then thawed will separate and become grainy. Not ideal.
- How to reheat Alfredo Sauce. Low and slow on the stovetop! Set your heat to a lower temperature and slowly heat it back up, stirring frequently. Avoid the microwave, which makes the sauce oily. Also, you can reheat this sauce once. After that, you’ll need to toss it and make a new batch!
Other Pasta Sauces We Love!
- The absolute best Spaghetti Sauce! Read all the reviews.
- Wonderful fresh homemade Marinara Sauce adapted from the fabulous Mario Batali.
- Classic basil Pesto Sauce. We love the taste and beautiful green color!
- Thick, hearty, and rich Bolognese Sauce made in the crockpot.
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Homemade Alfredo Sauce
The best Homemade Alfredo Sauce recipe from scratch with butter, cream, Parmesan, garlic, and a few seasonings. It’s rich, creamy, so easy to make in minutes, and is just begging to be paired with your favorite pasta!
Servings: 6 (1/4 cup per serving, or 2 & 1/2 cups total)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter , cut into large cubes or slices
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (not table salt)
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Instructions
- Add the butter and cream to a large nonstick saute pan, over medium-low heat; whisk until butter has melted.
- Add in the minced garlic, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper; whisk until combined and smooth.
- Bring to a gentle simmer (do not boil) and cook for 3-4 minutes, whisking constantly, until it starts to thicken.
- Stir in the parmesan cheese just until melted and the sauce is smooth.
- Take off the heat and toss with cooked fettuccine noodles (or your favorite pasta.) If the sauce isn't quite thick enough, allow it to stand for 2-3 minutes before tossing with the pasta.NOTE: make sure to read the full article on helpful tips for optimal results, FAQs, possible variations, and storage.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 543kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 53g | Saturated Fat: 33g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 172mg | Sodium: 796mg | Potassium: 105mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1904IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 456mg | Iron: 1mg
Never using jar sauce again…this was so easy to make and delicious!
Very creamy, great flavor, easy to make. Made parm crusted chix to go along with it. Yum!
Best alfredo recipe I’ve made!!! Added peppers, mushrooms, fresh diced tomatoes, and grilled chicken to mine. Delicious!
wow !! Love this recipe.
First time making alfredo and I loved the simplicity of this recipe. I added sauteed shrimp along with carrots and broccoli. Delicious!
I’ve tried multiple different Alfredo recipes but this is by far our favorite. It’s quick easy and fairly cheap to make. My 10&11 year old can make it by themselves even.
Aided me a lot, just what I was looking for : D.
I am not sure it was the actual parmesan we had to grate or the recipe itself but it was absolutely amazing. My granddaughter said she had to “slurp the sauce off the pasta and dip it again” just so she could eat every bit of the sauce. 10/10
I made this recipe exactly as is and it turned out amazing! It’s the first time I’ve made my own Alfredo sauce but it didn’t disappoint. So much better than the jar stuff. Thank you for sharing!
I loved it! Very simple & easy. I didn’t use any seasonings because I have a picky family, and I still loved it. Very classic & you just can’t go wrong. I had mine over red lentil pasta & I couldn’t even tell it wasn’t regular pasta! That’s how good this sauce is. I served hubby’s & the kids’ over regular pasta. They loved it, too! I will be bringing some to my parents’ to try today or tomorrow. I’m sure they’ll enjoy it as much as we did, too.
Made this recipe many times and I’m so glad I found it! I don’t add or change a thing- perfect as is! My kids all LOVE it!
Can’t wait to make this. Thank Q so much!
This is my new favorite recipe for Alfredo sauce! It was so good…hands down the very best I’ve ever made, or had. The recipe I usually use starts off with a roux and calls for half & half. It always turns out good, I just wanted to try something else and I’m so glad to have found this recipe! My whole family LOVED it!
I’ve tried several alfredo sauce recipes and this is the stand out one for me. My family doesn’t love cream cheese so I was thrilled this one didn’t include it. It was super easy to make and the taste is fantastic.
First time making this sauce from scratch its so good! Next time ill have to get shredded parmesan but definitely keeping this recipe
Im loving this recipe! I’m cheating with rotisserie chicken but of course I made the sauce from scratch!! It’s absolutely delicious! I haven’t been much of a scratch cooker but I think I’ll be haunting your pages and learn a few more! Thank you so much!
Delicious! I didn’t have heavy cream, so I added 4 tablespoons of cornstarch to 2 cups of milk and went from there. I also didn’t have 2 cups of Parmesan, so I added grated Monterey Jack to make up the difference. I used angel hair pasta so I made 2 batches of sauce and added chicken. Absolutely amazing, highly recommend!
Omgoodness!! This is sooo good. We used rigatoni noodles but the rest I followed the recipe and it was amazing. Previously, I used another recipe for sauce snd it wasn’t as good! Hence trying this one and this one my entire family, picky eaters and all is cleaning multiple plates! Thank you
So So delish!!
My family loved it! I added chicken.
Oh my gosh!! I LOVED THIS ALFREDO!! This is definitely a keeper.
Absolutely perfect recipe. Better than anything from any jar. If you use good fresh grated parmesan its much better. It thickens when it sits. Toss the pasta right into the pan. I have made this 10 times at this point.
My boyfriend and I made this with some chicken thighs we roasted in the oven and it was to die for !! My sauce took a little longer to thicken up than I thought which had me worried but it turned out to be perfect for the amount of pasta we cooked (16oz box). Definitely making this again:)
Awesome
Love this recipe! It’s so delicious!
EXCELLENT!!
My boyfriend said it was restaurant quality
This was easy and very tasty. My boyfriend said it was restaurant quality
This was the best Alfredo I’ve ever made. I made sure to print this one.
And thank you for all the extra tips! They wee useful
My family and I love this recipe!
Best homemade alfredo sauce I’ve tried – we licked our plates clean!!
My family loved this chicken Alfredo. The sauce was perfect.
We love this Alfredo recipe. What a fantastic find!
The entire family lived this recipe. I did alter a bit instead of 2C of Parmesan I used 1 1-2C Parmesan and 1/2C Gruyère. This is a keeper.
I love this recipe! I was very easy to make. I added chucks of chicken, organic spinach and mushrooms! Yummy
Well, this was a rescued fail. I used 1% milk to try to make it a little more healthy. The sauce broke when I put in the Parmesan. But I threw it into the blender then back on the heat and used a corn starch slurry to thicken it up. It worked! The flavor and texture was great. Will
Make it again.
Can you freeze the sauce? Do you put roasted chicken in sauce after sauce is done?
Thank you
Absolutely amazing, I added Cajun Chicken Breasts and Spinach. Thank you!
Added leftover chopped chicken and diced sautéed zucchini for a main dish.. yummy and easy.
Easy and absolutely delicious!!!
My whole family loved this recipe
This recipe is spectacular! I made it 3 months ago! It was delicious and thick and perfect ?. I poured the rest of the sauce into a mason jar while it was still hot, put the lids on and put it the fridge. I forgot about it until tonight. It came out of the jar like thick marshmallow, perfect and still fresh, with a super rich smell, but nor rotten or sour, more like the dayI made it! I reheated it and once it was all warm throughout it went right back to being a perfect thick smooth and creamy Alfredo sauce! I plan to make more!
This is my new go to Alfredo sauce recipe! I made it exactly as written and it was so flavorful. I used the Alfredo sauce for my chicken, broccoli and ziti dish and it was outstanding! Thank you so much for such a simple, delicious recipe.
Say goodbye to jar sauce FOREVER!! This is the same recipe I’ve been using for years and it’s always a hit! Only change I make is more garlic and I sauté it with the butter then add the cream. It really help bring out the garlic flavor and doesn’t make the sauce chunky! So easy and so so flavorful. I promise once you see how easy you’ll never use a jar sauce again
Great recipe! My boyfriend wanted Alfredo for his birthday dinner, but didn’t want to go out to a restaurant. Here’s the kicker, I have a dairy allergy, so pasta Alfredo wasn’t exactly readily available in my recipe box. However, I used plant-based dairy alternatives that worked very well and he raved about dinner tonight. Even boxed up some of the leftovers to take for lunch tomorrow. Thanks for a great recipe, it was delicious.
Love this recipe
INSANE. So good my boyfriend has asked me to make it three times this week. The only modification I made on the third time was fresh herbs to replace the Italian seasoning and… WOW. It’s the best Alfredo we’ve ever eaten. Thank you!!
This was the best alfredo sauce I’ve ever made – husband loved it and the kids licked their plates clean. LOL. Thanks for sharing!
This is the BEST alfredo that I have ever tried ?.
Must give this recipe a try.
I will only use this recipe and pass it down to my daughter.
We just finished eating and everyone made yummy noises! Quite garlicky, but not so much once you mix in the fettucini and chicken. Really tasty!
Super good. Just made it. I did not have heavy cream and substituted 1/2 and 1/2. Still Yummy.
Great recipe, easy and delicious!
I love this recipe came out beautifully added a bit of smoked paprika and it was gorgeous.
Made this recipe last night and it was a really big success!! Everyone that ate it loved it and so did I :) I will definitely be sticking to this recipe for forever!
So easy and delish!
This is delicious and so easy to make!
My sauce always separated before I found your recipe! The best Alfredo sauce I’ve ever made at home thanks!
What a surprise! This sauce was so easy and most delicious!
I made this recipe based on the slight variations from other recipes. It was FABULOUS!!!
At then end, instead of cornstarch or a run. I added a pinch of mozzarella. I never brought it to medium. Cooked it on low and stirred while making shrimp and pasta. Definitely a keeper recipe. Also used gluten free noodles.
I tried this recipe. I did add extra garlic only because we really like garlic. But the recipe itself is excellent. Definitely a keeper recipe.
Easy and fantastic!
A PARTY FOR MY TASTEBUDS!! I added 1/4 top crushed red pepper for a little spice. Thank you for the great dinner I made for my wife!!
This was so good! Added about an ounce or cream cheese to thicken it a little more. It is very tasty!
This recipe was so good! I was only cooking for myself so I did it about half (eyeballing, nothing exact). I diced a little bit of white onion and sauted in olive oil until soft then added the butter and cream and I used two small cloves of garlic, added the spices and simmered for 3 minutes. I then turned it off and diced up some heirloom tomatoes (how ever many you want) and stirred it in then added my pasta and combined. I chopped up some fresh parsley and sprinkled it on top.
Well I bought a cheap jar of Alfredo sauce. I needed MORE. SO I thought I might have all the ingredients and I did. I kept the sauces separated. Your Alfredo sauce recipe tasted BETTER than the store bought jar. We DID NOT SHARE the homemade sauce!! Too good to share. I never felt guilty either! Thanks for making my life simpler!
Thank you is all I can say!!!
one of the best sauces ever made, forgot to use cream instead of cream cheese but put it in after i realized.
Absolutely DELICIOUS! No more jarred sauce for us!
This really IS the best alfredo sauce! Simply scrumptious!
I made this tonight, but didn’t have fresh parmigiano cheese. I used grated parmesan cheese instead. It tasted like Olive Garden!!! I love this recipe! It is right up there with a fancy restaurant!
I made this tonight and it was delicious. No substitutions, followed recipe exactly and it came out awesome. Very quick & easy to make. I made it with butternut squash raviolis, yummy.
This was a very good and easy recipe. I didn’t have enough parmesan so used asiago for half the cheese, Delish.
This was easy and delicious
So easy and delicious!!!
I love this reciepe!!! Great flavor not too rich!!! My hubby liked it and he is not a fan of Alfredo sauce at all…Of course I did add my own little twist to it..Instead of Italian seasoning,..I added 1/4 tsp of Pampered chefs spinach and herb seasoning…delish!!!
Best homemade alfredo sauce! Served it over penne since that’s what I had in the house. We didn’t want to stop eating it. So so easy – will never buy it jarred again. Thank you!
This was excellent…and so easy!
Best alfredo sauce EVER. Hit with the entire family. SO easy and delicious. Thank you!
I’ve never cared for most people’s Alfredo! This one I Love!
This is such a delicious recipe! I only put half of the cheese in (family tastes) and it is the favorite whenever we have this sauce!!!
Awesome! I varied slightly as I was short on heavy cream, so I made the roux. Also short on Parm, I added a little smoked Gouda. The kids liked it better than the ravioli! Thanks Amy.