Fettuccine Alfredo
Fettuccine pasta topped with a homemade rich decadent alfredo sauce
There are certain recipes that are essential to have in your recipe box and one of them has to be a phenomenal Fettuccine alfredo recipe. Years ago, when I was teaching kids' cooking classes, this was one of the first things I taught them. Almost every single kid around goes crazy for alfredo sauce! It is so easy to make a homemade alfredo sauce that you will never buy the jarred variety again!
This homemade alfredo sauce is made with simple ingredients -- butter, parmesan cheese, garlic, heavy cream, and salt. It's a 5-ingredient alfredo sauce that is beyond easy!
If you are looking for a lighter version, I created a low-fat fettuccine alfredo version called Skinny Fettuccine Alfredo. You can find the recipe HERE.
This homemade alfredo sauce can be tossed with the pasta so the pasta soaks up all of the sauce or it can be spooned over hot, fresh pasta. I love to use fresh refrigerated fettuccine noodles because it tastes that much better. If you want the fettuccine alfredo to be a little more "saucy" toss the sauce with less than one pound of pasta (you may start with 12 ounces of fettuccine).
Tips for making PERFECT FETTUCCINE ALFREDO:
- Start by bringing water to a boil in a large pot. Add salt to the water to season the pasta. Once it is boiling, add pasta and cook according to package instructions.
- Saute the garlic and butter together until softened -- about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add heavy cream and let simmer over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes to thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add half of the parmesan cheese to the mixture and whisk well until smooth.
- Save some pasta water. The pasta water is full of flavor and can be used to thin out the sauce.
- Toss alfredo sauce with fettuccine pasta and add half of the parmesan cheese. Once it is tossed, garnish with the remaining parmesan cheese. Add a little pasta water if it needs to be thinned out.
- Garnish with Italian parsley, if so desired.
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Fettuccine Alfredo
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb Fettuccine Pasta
- 6 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 Garlic Clove (minced)
- 1 ½ cups Heavy Cream
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 ¼ cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper
- 2 Tablespoons Italian Parsley (optional)
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat water over high heat until boiling. Add salt to season the water. Once it is boiling, add fettuccine and cook according to package instructions.
- In a large skillet or pan, heat butter over medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in heavy cream.
- Let heavy cream reduce and cook for 5 to 8 minutes. Add half of the parmesan cheese to the mixture and whisk well until smooth. Keep over heat and whisk well until cheese is melted.
- Save some pasta water. The pasta water is full of flavor and can be used to thin out the sauce.
- Toss alfredo sauce with fettuccine pasta and add half of the parmesan cheese. Once it is tossed, garnish with the remaining parmesan cheese. Add a little pasta water if it needs to be thinned out.
- Garnish with Italian parsley, if so desired.
Video
Notes
- Use real parmesan cheese, which is refrigerated.
- If you like it to be more "saucy", you may use less than 1 lb. of fettuccine pasta.
- Leftover pasta water may be used to thin out pasta sauce.
I hope you love this fettuccine pasta with homemade alfredo sauce. Happy Cooking, my friends!
Marissa
I’d never made an Alfredo sauce before and this recipe was a great place to start! The recipe is simple and easy to follow. First time I made it I followed the recipe pretty exact, except doubled because my family likes a lot of sauce. It came out pretty good, good enough that I wanted to make it again. The second time I diverted from the recipe and experimented a little. I started by pan searing some chicken with Italian seasonings and butter. Then used the same pan for the sauce. This time I added more garlic, more garlic, and even more garlic! Mixed the fettuccine in with the sauce then added the chicken (sliced) and a bag of baby spinach. It was so good! Very rich and flavorful! Next time I’m thinking of adding some sun dried tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes.
Cliff
Can I put it in a casserole dish
Ryan
Can this sauce be made ahead of time?
Meagan
This recipe can be easily be made vegan! I’ve been vegan for 7 years and I’ve never had fettuccine Alfredo that tasted more realistic! I just used Silk Whipping Cream and Earth Island Parmesan.
Sabrina
Thanks so much for the vegan sub. info!
Jill
What an awesome recipe. I’ve never made Alfredo but this just made it to our favorite go-to recipes. I served with Scallops and Crunchy Asian Cabbage Ramen Salad. Perfect! Thank you for sharing!
Gabby
This is the best alfredo recipe I've ever tried. So easy to make and so yummy
Joy
This recipe was amazing. I made it a one pan meal by adding seasoned and sauteed chicken chunks, spinach and shaved Brussels Sprouts.
LW
Most of the instructions were fine but pepper was mentioned although it was one of the ingredients. I assume it’s used in the last step for seasoning. In addition, for cheese, you had said “add half” twice and then “garnish with remaining cheese” did you mean add half cup? Cuz two halves means no remaining cheese.
Tanica
Grate the parmesan cheese until you have 1.25 cups and half it, then use the halves according to the cooking instructions.
Olivia
Absolutely delicious! I added about 2 extra cloves of garlic and it came out just how I wanted. It’s creamy, full of flavor, and was easy to make!
Sierra
The PERFECT alfredo recipe! I love making this for dinner in the winter when i'm in need of comfort food!
Dean
I am not normally a person who orders fettuccine alfredo when going to a restaurant. I am more of a "red sauce" kind of guy. This has become a staple for me and now gets mixed in with my traditional red sauce Italian dishes. Great job Modern Honey!
Heather e
Cancer is an awful thing and a friend asked me to cook something for a friend who was in her later stages. I wanted an easy taste yet a comfort food. I used only half a clove to keep it mild for her. I used an additional one cup of the pasta water to smooth it out so keep 1.5 cup of pasta water in case you add extra pasta like me. It turned out perfectly. I will put some in freezer containers which is nice if their fridge is full or for a later time. Oh I always forgot the pasta water so I took it out of the pot BEFORE I drained it.
Lisa Mathews
Ok. I am not lying when I say that this is THE ABSOLUTE BEST Alfredo recipe ever!!!!!!!! So much better than Olive Garden’s Alfredo. Trust me you have to try this recipe and you will have NO REGRETS!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Joan
I have tried many alfredo recipes throughout the years, searching for the "best one". This one stands out above the rest. The taste and sauce to noodle ratio in my opinion is the BEST, my family agrees!! This is my one and only:)
Joyce
This is very good. Previously I was simply combining the butter, milk and half and half till heated. But this technique along with garlic added is the ticket to yummy.
Thank you. Will be looking at your other recipes.
Brittany
I have been using this recipe for over a year now and it is delicious!!! This recipe never fails me! A few things I do differently is using 1 1/2 half and half cream to make it lighter. I also do not mix the Alfredo sauce and noodles while cooking. The noodles get hard, Alfredo sauce dries up and butter melts underneath noodles when leaving it for leftovers for the next day. My family and myself add the Alfredo sauce manually to the noodles served in our dishes. When heating the Alfredo sauce the next day, I use the sauce-pan and add a touch of water, half and half cream and Parmesan cheese to get the texture and flavours back to the way it was first cooked! Overall, a great meal!
Judy
Made this with my granddaughter.. she loved it.
We halved the recipe because it was only for her.
Came out great!
F.T
Fantastic flavour!
Jenny
This is a really simple and good recipe. I just want to point out that this probably feeds about 4 adults. I halved the recipe since the author said it fed her family of 6, but it was just enough to feed 2 adults. Also there's no need to argue about how much cheese to add and when, it's cheese, just add half when it says half and taste/add more to your liking.
Sheri
Very good. I only had half n half. Simmered a few more minutes. We love garlic so 2 extra large cloves. Everyone lived it. Had fresh jumbo shrimp we brought back from our beach holiday. Sauteed in garlic butter and Italian seasoning. Added fresh broccoli to pasta. Delicious. I cook shrimp separately as I hate overcook shrimp. I just lay in top of fettuccine.
Aisha
Hi!! I have tried this recipe multiple times, and shaken it up a bit to my own preferences and every time it’s turned out so well!! Thank you so much for this!! Really love it!!
Brittany
I have been using this recipe for over a year now and it is delicious!!! This recipe never fails me! A few things I do differently is using 1 1/2 cream to make it lighter. I also do not mix the Alfredo sauce and noodles while cooking. The noodles get hard, Alfredo sauce dries up and butter melts underneath noodles when leaving it for leftovers for the next day. My family and myself add the Alfredo sauce manually to the noodles served in our dishes. When heating the Alfredo sauce the next day, I use the sauce-pan and add a touch of water, half and half cream and Parmesan cheese to get the texture and flavours back to the way it was first cooked! Overall, a great meal!
Pegz
Thank you for the great suggestion! I hate to waste food and I’m going to half the recipe anyway.. But I will keep them separate and add as eaten. I’m sure I’ll have a bit of leftover and it would be nice to not have it separated as you say the next day.
Sarah Carroll
Best we've ever had! Made just as directed, absolutely incredible