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Homemade Alfredo Sauce Made Easy

Recipe by Jenn Giam Smith

Discover the basics of homemade Alfredo sauce: a simple white/cream sauce made with butter, cream, and Parmesan cheese. Plus, learn how to add garlic for an extra flavorful twist.

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Tossing Pasta in Alfredo Sauce 2

Ingredients

Units Scale

Traditional version

  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 cups Heavy Cream (See Notes-Substitutions 1 for substitution options)
  • 5 oz (about 2 Cups) Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese (See Notes-Substitutions 2 for substitution options)
  • sea salt, and black pepper to taste

Optional Garlic version

Add all the above plus the following

  • 3 Garlic cloves Minced
  • 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
  • 1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

  • Melt the butter (if making the garlic version add the Italian seasoning and garlic as well.) to a 3 Quart sauté pan or medium saucepan.
  • Add the heavy cream and let simmer over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes
  • Whisk in the parmesan cheese until melted fully melted and the sauce has thickened.
  • Add sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper if needed.
  • Serve immediately or see Notes -Storage Details – for storing.

Equipment

Notes

Storage Details

  • The Parmesan will thicken this sauce up.  If it isn’t quite thick enough, allow the sauce to stand for 2-3 minutes before serving.
  • To add your pasta  I like to transfer directly from the water to the sauce. It you don’t like to do that, you will need to reserve about ¼ cup of pasta water before draining. Add about the pasta water, then the pasta.
  • After either incorporation, allow it to re-thicken on low for about 2-5 minutes. Serve optionally with more parm and some fresh parsley and garlic bread

Substitutions

  1. If you don’t have heavy cream for THIS recipe, try one of these:
    • ¾ cup of half and half with ¼ cup melted unsalted butter
    • ⅔ cup of whole milk with ⅓ cup melted unsalted butter
    • 2 tablespoons cornstarch into 1 cup any fat milk (this is essentially a slurry, so make sure to get out the clumps.
  2. Use equal amounts for Grated Parmesan.
 

Find it online: https://www.jenn-smith.com/homemade-alfredo-sauce/