A quick and creamy homemade alfredo sauce that’s absolutely divine. Perfect served over pasta, as a dipping sauce for breadsticks, or a delicious pizza sauce. This alfredo sauce will have you licking your plate and elbowing your way in for seconds.
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Hello my friends!
I’m so excited to be here today sharing this awesome recipe with you.
Ever since I discovered this homemade alfredo sauce several years ago, I have stopped looking for alfredo sauce recipes in my life. This is it, my friends. The Best. Oh how I love this homemade alfredo sauce.
Make sure to make plenty!
Last week I made a quadruple batch of this alfredo sauce with five of my sweet young teenage young women whom I am the president of in my church congregation. We cooked and we ate and we raved and ate some more. It was so much fun.
We thought we had made enough to serve for girl’s camp next week for twenty people plus enough for lunch for the six of us, but after I watched these girls’ gobble up this stuff like crazy, I decided I’d better make another batch.
Be warned that this homemade alfredo sauce is wildly popular and it goes fast, my friends.
You can freeze this Alfredo
It is better fresh, but freezing it works good for those times when you need to.
After we made it, we waited for it to cool and I froze it in freezer bags. Up at camp, I will reheat it in a slow cooker on low (or warm depending on how fast it thaws) the afternoon we serve it so it will be all ready to go that night for dinner.
You can also reheat it on the stovetop. Make sure to reheat slowly and whisk often so it doesn’t seaparate.
Talk about creamy. There is heavy cream AND cream cheese AND butter in it. Yes it is definitely rich and creamy.
Substitutions and Variations
Sometimes when I’m feeling slightly less indulgent (which I’ll be honest is not very often) or I’ve run out of cream (which is an extremely sad day indeed), I have successfully made it with whole milk, half-n-half, or evaporated milk and it also turns out good.
Not as good, but still good.
The Parmesan cheese in it takes the sauce over the top. But I’ve also made it successfully without Parmesan cheese and it is still yummy.
Serving Suggestions
The recipe makes about 2 to 3 cups of sauce which is the right amount for us to serve over about a 1-pound package of pasta. If you like things more or less saucy than us, you can adapt that amount as you wish.
The sauce also works great as a dipping sauce for breadsticks.
If you want it a little thicker, you can thicken it with flour. Add a teaspoon at a time until it reaches the consistency you like for dipping. It also works great as a pizza sauce. YUM.
Okay my friends, are you ready for the best alfredo sauce of your life?
Homemade Alfredo Sauce
A quick and creamy homemade alfredo sauce that's absolutely divine. Perfect served over pasta, as a dipping sauce for breadsticks, or a delicious pizza sauce.
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- 8 ounces cream cheese cut into ½-inch pieces
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream see note
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder see note
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese see note
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
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Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cream cheese and turn down the heat. Whisk well until the cream cheese mixes in with the butter and looks kind of clumpy (it will not melt completely at this stage and that is fine).
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Stir in the cream and garlic powder. Increase the heat to medium and bring to a low simmer. Whisk well until the cream cheese mixes in and sauce is smooth. Leave at a simmer, stirring often for about five minutes or until slightly thickened.
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Stir in the Parmesan cheese until melted and season with salt and pepper. Taste and add any additional salt and pepper, if needed. See note for serving ideas.
Recipe Notes
1. Fresh garlic works great in this recipe too. To use fresh garlic, sauté 2 cloves of minced garlic with the butter for about a minute before adding the cream cheese.
2. I have also successfully made this alfredo sauce with half-n-half, evaporated milk, or whole milk and it is still very good. Everyone needs to try it at least once in their life with the cream, though, because it is to die for good.
3. I have also omitted the Parmesan cheese successfully in this recipe and it is still good. But it is better with it.
4. The recipe makes about 2 to 3 cups of sauce which we usually serve with a 1-pound package of cooked pasta. But that can obviously be adjusted depending on how saucy you like it.
4. To use this alfredo as a pizza sauce or dipping sauce, thicken with flour, 1 teaspoon at a time before adding the Parmesan cheese until the desired consistency is reached.
5. I have frozen this recipe successfully also, although I think it is better made fresh. To freeze, let sauce cool and pack into a quart freezer bag. When reheating, reheat slowly and whisk well to avoid clumps. You may need to add a bit of milk to thin it out slightly
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat, adapted from a recipe from The Food Nanny, added my own substitutions, commentary & variations.
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
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