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Get It NowThis easy homemade alfredo sauce recipe is the best way to satisfy comfort food cravings in minutes! Unlike some store-bought sauces, this one is made with clean ingredients, without starch or thickeners. Serve it over your favorite noodles or vegetables for a quick dinner. This recipe for alfredo sauce is so versatile that I included it in my second cookbook to combine with other dishes the book has. And it tastes way better than the jarred kind!
Why You’ll Love This Alfredo Sauce Recipe
- Rich and creamy
- Just 4 simple ingredients
- Ready in 10 minutes
- Better than store-bought brands
- Perfect on ANY pasta!
What Is Alfredo Sauce?
Alfredo is a creamy white sauce traditionally made with butter, parmesan cheese, milk or cream, and spices. Store-bought sauces may also contain thickeners (such as flour or cornstarch), vegetable oils, or other added ingredients to keep them shelf stable.
Ingredients & Substitutions
This section explains how to choose the best alfredo sauce ingredients, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Butter – I use grass-fed butter here, but any unsalted variety will work.
- Garlic – I prefer to use fresh garlic cloves, but 1 tablespoon of jarred minced garlic or 3/4 teaspoon of garlic powder can be used for convenience.
- Heavy Cream – Sometimes this is called heavy whipping cream on the carton. I don’t recommend regular milk or almond milk for this alfredo sauce recipe, as using these requires thickeners and the final sauce will be too thin.
- Grated Parmesan Cheese – Adds flavor and thickens the alfredo sauce without a flour roux or cornstarch. Shredded parm should also work, but might take longer to melt. As an alternative, cream cheese can act as a thickener, but the flavor is completely different, so I don’t really recommend it unless you want a tangier cream sauce.
- Sea Salt & Black Pepper – You’ll want to add a little more than you think you’ll need, since the sauce will mellow out after mixing with ingredients like pasta or vegetables. If you don’t like the appearance of black pepper in your sauce, use white pepper instead.
- Nutmeg – It’s a classic ingredient for any easy alfredo sauce recipe, but you can omit it if you like.
How To Make Alfredo Sauce
This section shows how to make homemade alfredo sauce, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Saute the garlic. Melt the butter in a medium to large saucepan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and sauté until fragrant.
- Add the heavy cream. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer, and continue simmering until sauce thickens and reduces by roughly one third.
- Thicken with parmesan. Reduce the heat and gradually whisk in the parmesan cheese, until smooth.
- Add the spices. You can adjust the spices in this alfredo sauce recipe to your taste. Garnish with fresh parsley if you like.
Tips For Best Results
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese works best. It melts more smoothly into the sauce than the canned stuff. Pre-grated works okay in a pinch, but may not be as smooth.
- A large saucepan works best. The larger your pan, the faster the cream will reduce. You can even use a skillet with tall sides!
- It’s easy to adjust the consistency. For sauce that’s too thick, thin it with more cream. But if you’re wondering how to thicken alfredo sauce, just add extra parmesan to get the right consistency.
Storage & Reheating
- Store: Pour the alfredo sauce into a covered container and store it in the fridge for up to a week.
- Reheat: Warm up on the stove over low heat, or in the microwave at low power, stirring occasionally to smooth out lumps. If it’s still not smooth, you can give it a quick blend. This sauce thickens during storage and reheating may cause more moisture to evaporate, so if it’s too thick, add cream to thin out as needed.
- Freeze: Cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container or freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. You can thaw in the fridge overnight or reheat from frozen. It may separate when thawed, but reheating will smooth it out.
Ways To Use Homemade Alfredo Sauce
Now that you know how to make alfredo sauce, you need ways to use it! Here are some recipes you can pair with this sauce for a comforting meal:
- Pasta – For a classic fettuccine alfredo, cook up some fettuccine noodles or your favorite pasta. If you want a lighter option, use spaghetti squash noodles, delicious cauliflower gnocchi, or zucchini noodles (pictured above). Add some quick pan seared chicken breast for a chicken alfredo meal.
- Proteins – This alfredo sauce recipe actually tastes delicious on meats! Try it on top of healthy baked chicken, grilled shrimp skewers, or even pan seared salmon.
- Roasted Veggies – Toss roasted broccoli or brussels sprouts in this creamy sauce, or drizzle it on roasted asparagus.
- Pizza – Alfredo sauce makes a delicious white pizza! Spread it on your favorite crust with toppings like grilled chicken, sauteed spinach, red onions, and fresh or sauteed mushrooms. One of my favorite ways to use it is on a chicken crust pizza!
More Homemade Sauce Recipes
Making your own sauce from scratch is not only healthier, but also super fun and lets you experiment with flavors. Explore some more simple options:
Alfredo Sauce Recipe (4 Ingredients!)
This easy homemade alfredo sauce recipe needs just 4 simple ingredients and 10 minutes! It's rich, creamy, and perfect for pasta or veggies.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
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Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant.
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Add the heavy cream. Bring to a gentle simmer, then continue to simmer for about 5 minutes, until it begins to thicken and volume is reduced by about 1/3. (Amount of time will vary depending on the size of your saucepan.)
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Reduce heat to low. Gradually whisk in the Parmesan cheese. Keep whisking over low heat, until smooth.
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Stir in nutmeg, sea salt, and black pepper, to taste. If sauce is thicker than you like, you can thin it out with more cream.
Did You Like It?
Leave a rating to help other readers (this also helps me continue to provide free recipes on my site), or get the recipe sent to your inbox.
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂
293 Comments
Mari
1My son, who considers himself a connoisseur of Alfredo, tells me this is better then most restaurants he has eaten it at! I also grill some chicken tenderloin & toss them in. Delicious!
Rebecca
1This sauce is outstanding! I lightly browned about 8 chicken tenders in a little oil and then added frozen broccoli florets, let them cook on low for about 10 minutes while a made the sauce on the side. When the sauce thickened I poured it over the chicken and broccoli and let it cook on low (covered) for about 5-8 minutes more. Better then a restaurant!
Susan Cooksey
0I totally LOVE this recipe, so do my non-Keto friends! I do not add the optional nutmeg and use white pepper. I use this sauce on most meats with zoodles, spaghetti squash, broccolli, etc. So delicious!!
Janice Adams
1This recipe is fantastic!! I double the recipe and put the remainder in a mason jar in the refrigerator. And take out a spoonful at a time and put it over steamed vegetables, baked and air fried chicken. Thank you for all your wonderful recipes!!!
Elizabeth
1Just prepared the amazing Chicken Alfredo with Spaghetti Squash for dinner. It was a huge success and totally delicious. The squash was 4lbs, so I made a double recipe of chicken and sauce since my partner is a sauce fan. Did not have fresh parmesan cheese, so I used kraft in a jar.
My first time to bake chicken at 450 degrees. It was juicy, tender and seasoned to perfection.
We have leftovers for tomorrow. (A blessing in disguise.)
Thank you so much for sharing your recipes.
Jason
0Made this Alfredo sauce for the first time and I love it. Really easy to make and even my super-picky daughter who found some of my leftovers is loving it!
Kathy F
0Hi Maya, I have been looking a your recipes recently & have found quite a few very nice ones! I have a problem with dairy so really need to know how to subsitute non dairy products, can you help me?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Kathy, Unfortunately in this recipe there aren’t any great dairy-free substitutes.
Gilly
0Tried using cream cheese as a thickener, and while it worked, I agree it does change the flavor. Sticking with parmesan next time for sure!
Faith
0Decided to make this alfredo sauce and tried it with some grilled shrimp skewers. The flavors were fantastic together. It was so simple to make but definitely better than store-bought brands. Homemade is always best!
Amelia
0This alfredo sauce recipe is my new holy grail sauce! It’s creamy, flavorful, and very versatile! I swapped out the heavy cream for half-and-half, and it still had a rich texture. The sauce coated the pasta beautifully, and the flavor was rich without being overpowering.
Charlotte
0This homemade alfredo sauce is so rich and creamy. I poured it over in fettuccine noodles and it’s better than any restaurant version I’ve had. I’m impressed!
Rosie
0Absolute delish! Decided to make chicken alfredo using this alfredo sauce recipe and it came out creamy and amazing! Definitely using this same recipe the next time I make some pasta alfredo!
Andrea
0You said 4 ingredients. I see 7 in the list. I am seeing that more & more in different recipes, not just yours. Please explain.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Andrea, The 4 main ingredients are butter, cream, garlic, and parmesan. Salt and pepper are typically not included in ingredient counts by convention. I also don’t include optional ingredients (nutmeg in this case), as you don’t have to add them if you don’t want to. It’s a very simple recipe either way.
Jen M.
0So delicious and so easy! And to make a super quick meal of it, I thawed some frozen shrimp and tossed those in the sauce. I did opt out of the nutmeg. I’ll definitely be using this sauce on other proteins, too. For my meal, I added about 90 grams of shrimp. In order to have even portions for keto meals, I poured the finished sauce into a large glass measuring cup then split it evenly between 4 containers. (For me, it made a total of 1-1/3 c., and I filled each container with 1/3 cup.) I will say that it doesn’t maintain its original, creamy consistency once reheated in the microwave, but with a lot of stirring, it comes close. Still amazingly delish, though! Thanks for another great recipe, Maya!
DONNA L
0IT SEEMS TO ME THE GREEN CAN GRATED PARM WOULD CLUMP UP AND NOT MELT – BUT THE RECIPE DOESN’T SPECIFY FRESH OR IF THE CANNED STUFF IS OK TO USE, THOUGHTS?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Donna, As noted in the post I suggest to grate it fresh if possible.
Brenda
0Delicious and super easy to make! My family loved it 🙂
Elizabeth K.
0Where can I find the recipe? Please
Wholesome Yum A
0Hi Elizabeth, There is a pink circle at the top of the page that says, “Jump To Recipe.” You could also scroll all the way to the bottom to find the recipe card.
Sandy Knecht
0Delicious. Made this twice and making it tonight. Great for shrimp and scallops. Thank you! Yes, I use fresh Parmesan.
Wesley Rainbolt
0This was absolutely delicious. I didn’t notice the sauté the garlic in the butter before adding the cream so I just added it as my cream and butter were starting to heat up and I also added about a 1/3 cup of Parmesan because it seemed a little runny at first but that made it perfect.
Law Blank
0Super easy directions. Turned out amazing.
Gwendolyn Abshire
0This was easy, delicious and filling. I am not a fan of cooking so this was perfect for me to make. Next time I’m going to try it with chicken or shrimp. Thank you for these recipes.
Liz
0Wow this was the best Alfredo sauce I have ever had. It was better than restaurant versions. It was thick and creamy and flavorful. And best of all it was so easy to make. WhenI ate it I felt like I was cheating my diet. But its all natural ingredients and it keeps to the Keto rules. I LOVED THIS RECIPE.
Gwendolyn Abshire
0I agree!
Claudia
0Mine did not thicken. The cheese melted into a big clump surrounded by watery cream.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Claudia, Sorry this recipe didn’t turn out as expected. A tip I have to help get a creamy sauce is to reduce heat and gradually whisk in parmesan cheese until smooth.
Anna
0Can I use salted butter?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Anna, Yes, you could do that.
Nikki
0Best and easiest Alfredo Ever! Made it with my new favorite Chicken and Sausage Alfredo with Angel Hair Miracle Noodles! Thank you!
Lafo
0Easy to follow and turns out tasty!
jan campbell
0The absolute best alfredo sauce I’ve ever had and surprisingly my gives it a 5 star as well. I’ve made it twice once with egg wraps cut into strips and again with some angel hair that we wanted to use up. This is recipe #2 of yours and we loved both! I was just looking at your white pizza with chicken crust. I’ll let you know how it turns out – fabulous I’m sure.
Jan Campbell
0Absolutely fabulous! I had some egg wraps that I rolled up and cust into noodles. Just dropped them in the sauce to warm and with the addition of chicken and a vegetable we had a wonderful meal.
Carol L
0Hi. Just made this to go with some chicken and vegetables. I thought I had low carb fettuccine, but didn’t…so I’m going to add some palm hearts rice and throw this on top. Making it to travel where there are no low carb options. One question: the salt, pepper and nutmeg, it would be nice to have a starting point. I know it’s to taste, but how much to start? 1/2 tsp? 1 tsp?
Thanks for the recipe!!
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Carol, Start with 1/2 tsp and adjust from there.
Carolyn Knapp
0Used fresh Parmesan (my cuisinart grates it in a breeze) and added it to the cream. Salt pepper nutmeg with the butter and garlic! This was quick and easy! And by far better than store bought!!! Thank you
Sandra
0The recipe is very good, but I will make one major change to it. I will be using the freshly ground Parmesan cheese from the store deli. There’s no way that I will use the Parmesan cheese in the green can. Yes,I realize that in many areas, that is all that is available. I made this last year, and it was perfect. And, surprise (!), my adult son likes it too. He also does not like the sauce that comes in a jar ( any brand ) either. I also will get the garlic crusher gadget; it looks very much like the kind that you mix pie crust mix up with, except you can rock it back & forth to chop the garlic. It’s going to be a lot easier for me to do that than to have to squeeze the garlic. Will let you all know if that thing does the job. Thank You, Maya, for posting this recipe.
Sherry Hoyt-Cline
0Made the sauce to put on Spaghetti squash mixed with asparagus, and grilled chicken. Was delicious!!! Simple. Thank you.
KW
0This recipe for Alfredo sauce is so decadent and good!!! I browned up some diced chicken breast and cauliflower and enjoyed a wonderful treat. Hubby who usually makes faces at keto kept sneaking into the kitchen for just one more taste. Thank you!
LJ
0Just made this for dinner. I didn’t have any nutmeg. My family loved it!! I can’t wait to try next time with the nutmeg. Thanks for sharing!
Sue
0Can you substitute coconut cream for the whipping cream?
Thanks Sue
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Sue, Yes, you could do that.
Mary O’C
0I liked this recipe a lot because it’s versatile and easy. I made it again this evening and folded it over sautéed sliced mushrooms, red pepper chunks and spiraled zucchini noodles. I could have folded in my cooked cooked shrimp – or even cooked chicken – but wasn’t sure the shrimp and mushrooms would go well together. Still, it was delicious, filling and very colorful.
Jennifer Maestas
0Wow…was this ever so good. Due to my husband having to watch fat intake due to surgical concerns, I used 1/2 and 1/2 but everything was the same. Thank you for this!
Melissa
0This is delicious!!! Thank you!! It’s so easy also.
Tasha
0Better than any restaurant! Simple and Delicious my tummy is happy.
Diann
0Can I substitute regular butter for the unsalted?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Diann, Yes you could do that.
Marlene DiPaul
0Hi…I was wondering, can I use coconut milk instead of heavy whipping cream for this recipe??
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Marlene, Yes, that would work.
Elise
0This is super yummy! and was very easy to make. When I reheat the sauce turns into what looks like butter or just oil? What have I done wrong? I’m not much of a cook!
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Elise, I’m glad you liked it! This sauce needs to be mixed well and stirred frequently when being reheated. It sounds like your heat might have been too high or you didn’t stir it enough. Hope this helps!
Danielke
0Neumans Alfredo Sauce contains 3 grams of carbs and 90 calories per 1/4 cup serving. 2.9 grams of carbs plus 261 calories per serving is alot of calories.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Danielke, My sauce is made with better ingredients with no gums or artificial flavor or colors compared to store-bought brands but it’s a personal choice as to what you want to consume.
Martine
0This was delicious, even though my sauce split because I had the heat on too high. Note that If you use a large frying pan, the sauce will thicken faster. The recipe also scales down easily. I made it for one portion.
I eat mine with a poached egg on top, it really adds to the taste.
Lindsay
0Mine didn’t thicken! What did I do wrong??
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Lindsay, I recommend adding additional cheese if the sauce is too thin.
Trudy
0This is very close to the way I make Alfredo. Rich and decadent. I add cream cheese to mine as it helps thicken it and it reduces the chance of it breaking when reheated. Just found your chicken crust pizza can’t wait to try it.
Julia Mills
0Loved it and so did my family! Thank you!!!
Teresa
0Made this tonight with Healthy Noodle (from Costco) and broccoli – it was delicious! Husband and teenager loved it too.