How to make homemade alfredo sauce

How to make homemade Alfredo sauce is not as hard as you might think. You can make this sauce in less than 20 minutes!

Alfredo Sauce Video

This video walks you through the recipe step by step. I use an easy bechamel sauce as the base which is made quick and easy in this video. Which IMO, makes this creamy sauce so much better than any jarred Alfredo you'll ever find in a store.

Fettuccine Alfredo is a lot like Cacio e Pepe but creamier, with more parmesan, less black pepper, and less butter. Ok... maybe they're more like cousins than siblings. The sheer mass of parmesan in each sauce is definitely their common bond!

How to make homemade alfredo sauce

This homemade alfredo sauce recipe comes together very easily. In the above video, I use bechamel as a base which you can flavor with ½ onion, 1 bay leaf, and a clove. Since most of us don't keep that as a kitchen staple, I've incorporated it into the recipe below to simplify things.

Ingredients

• 9 oz fresh Pasta (Buitoni works well or try this recipe if you want to make your own!)
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• ½ chopped onion (optional)
• 1 bay leaf (optional)
• 1 whole clove or ⅛ teaspoon ground clove (optional)
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
2. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
3. After the butter has melted, add the garlic, onion, bay leaf, and clove. Cook until the onion is soft and the seasoning is fragrant.
4. Sprinkle in the flour and let it cook off its pasty flavor for 2 -3 minutes.
5. Whisk in the milk.
6. Increase the heat and continue to whisk until the milk starts to boil. Then immediately turn the heat off.
7. Stir in the fresh ground pepper, salt, and parmesan cheese.
8. Cover the sauce and set aside.
9. Boil the pasta until al dente (soft but firm and not crunchy).
10. Pick the pasta out of the water with tongs and stir it into the sauce.

6 Ingredient Alfredo Sauce... Really???

There are 12 ingredients listed above. So is this REALLY a 6 ingredient recipe?

No.

But if we're looking at it just as a sauce recipe, take away the parsley garnish, give me the salt & pepper as a freebie, and take off the optional ingredients...

Well, then by golly, we've got her down to 5 ingredients! 🤣

How to thicken alfredo sauce and troubleshooting tips

In the above recipe, we're using a roux to thicken the sauce. A roux is simply equal parts butter and flour cooked together. When the liquid (milk, in this case) is whisked in and brought to a boil, the sauce is thickened.

If too much liquid is poured in, the sauce won't be thick. If this happens, make a paste with equal parts flour and butter. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of this paste at a time into the simmering sauce until it thickens to your desired thickness.

If your sauce is milk-based, don't let it continue to boil. That will curdle the sauce. Keeping it at a simmer is hot enough.

If you are using a broth as your liquid, you can let it boil as you thicken the sauce with the flour-butter paste (or beurre manié as it's known in the culinary world).

Can you use cornstarch or arrowroot as thickening agents?

Technically, yes you can. Do I recommend it? No, I don't. These two thickeners change the texture of the sauce and give it a slick or slimy feel.

But if you have a severe gluten allergy, use cornstarch or arrowroot to thicken your sauce. To do this, whisk 1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot with COLD milk. Then whisk this slurry into your garlic and onions. Continuously stir as it comes up to a simmer and thickens.

Or use 2 egg yolks and switch out ½ of the milk for 4 ounces of cream cheese. However, do not drop the yolks into a hot sauce because they will scramble. Whisk the yolks with cold milk, then add that mixture to your sauce.

Keto Alfredo Sauce

Alfredo sauce itself is both low carb and very keto-friendly. What is NOT low carb or keto friend is the PASTA you put it on. So your best bet to make a low-carb keto-friendly dish is to replace the pasta with spiralized zucchini.

You can also pour the sauce over zucchini you've ribboned with a vegetable peeler or chopped cauliflower. This is an alternative recipe for zucchini Alfredo recipe that's also gluten-free. Instead of flour, I use egg yolks to thicken the sauce.

You can reduce the number of carbs even more by replacing the milk with heavy cream. If the sauce is too thick, thin it out with chicken or vegetable broth.