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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 1/2 cups Heavy Cream
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1 1/4 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
- 1/4 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.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I hope you love this fettuccine pasta with homemade alfredo sauce. Happy Cooking, my friends!
What a lovely Pasta recipe. I won’t make it for Christmas but for sure I’mm make it the day before or the day after. It looks so delicious and hearty…..
I need to feed 9 on Christmas. Would I just do strait doubling for the recipe? I know sometimes changing quantity isn’t cut and dry…
I doubled it and only had one issue with the thickness of the sauce, it was like sticky… it could have most definitely been my own fault for as much pasta as I made. 🙂 It was very good though.
It was alright. My family liked it but I found it wayyyy too salty. Either way it’s an easy recipe and most really liked it.
It was delicious.. Didn’t change recipe, just added lobster tail and peas.. Definitely a great flavorful recipe without any extras..
Delicious! Not sure if you can edit the recipe but just wanted to let you know that I didn’t see “add pepper and salt” to the sauce! It’s common sense, but you might personally want to add it as a recipe developer. (: Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks for letting me know, Avery! I appreciate having extra eyes on everything, I need all the help I can get!
How many calories are in this?
Mmmmmm ferry veryy gud pashtA :)) : )
how many does this serve?
it was really good! i recommend it especially for beginner cooks 🙂
I made this with shrimp. It’s my favorite dish. My kids love it!!! They all ( I have 4) LOVED it. So easy. I will make this dish all the time.
So happy to get the kids’ stamp of approval, Brittny! Thanks for trying my recipe, I’m glad that you like it!
This stuff was freaking amazing!!! Wonderful recipe <3 Everyone loved it. I halfed the recipe for my fiance and I, added shrimp, and we still have leftovers!
Excellent! The only change I made was adding a second clove of garlic and cooking a little less pasta. I’m glad I did because that meant more sauce in every bite! I was skeptical about the quantity of butter, but went with the given measurements. Delish!!
I love the idea of adding shrimp, Ashley! Thanks for using my recipe. I am so glad that you liked it!
This recipe is the best!!
I NEVER leave feedback for any recipes BUT this recipe was so unbelievably amazing that I had to say thank you. My daughter has Celiac Disease and we have been looking for an amazing gluten free fettuccine alfredo recipe and this is the one! I bought gluten free fettuccine from Trader Joe’s mixed with this sauce and honestly this is probably the best pasta I’ve ever eaten. My daughter went nuts over it. This is her favorite meal hands down. Give it a try.. you won’t be disappointed! It’s honestly addicting it’s that good!
Terri this is the best comment EVER! I am so glad that you and your daughter found a recipe that you can both enjoy. Navigating celiac disease can be so difficult, and it’s recipes like these that can become staples! Thank you so much for trying, loving, and using my recipe, and especially for taking the time to comment. I really appreciate it!
This was super easy to make and very delicious! I ended up kind of going off on my own instinct and changed/added a few things. 1. I cooked up chicken, mushrooms and peas in white wine and dry Italian salad dressing seasoning 2. I added some red pepper and onion powder to the sauce 3. I used a cavatappi pasta 4. Used freshly grated reggiano parmigiano cheese. Will keep this in rotation for the future!
Hi Ashley! I love your creativity — this sounds amazing! I bet it was so full of flavor. Thank you so much for trying my recipe!
Hello! I made the Alfredo sauce tonight, and my family loved it. I’m not sure I did all the steps correctly though. Is the quarter teaspoon of salt what you put in the water to cook the pasta, or is that separate and you add salt to the mixture later? When do you add the pepper? Also I’m not sure I understood the several steps of adding parmesan cheese…half of the total amount goes into the cream mixture, then half of the remaining (one-quarter of the total amount) gets mixed into the pasta, and then the last one-quarter is for garnish? Thanks for any clarifications you can offer!
Hi Christina! Thank you so much for trying my alfredo sauce recipe. Let me see if I can help! The salt is to be added to the sauce. I like to generously salt my pasta water (much like ocean water) so the salt water flavors the pasta as it cooks. You can add the pepper as you are finishing the alfredo sauce and taste for flavor. It is important to add the parmesan cheese a little at a time to the sauce to avoid clumping. I like to stir a little in at a time. I hope this helps!