Better Than Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce Recipe

A creamy, flavorful Alfredo sauce, I think even most Italians would approve of. It’s made with Heavy cream, simmered with butter, Parmesan, and cream cheese… then seasoned to perfection, making it one of the best Alfredo sauce recipes you’re gonna find online.

Hey, PBJ’s! A few weeks ago, I decided to have some chicken Alfredo for dinner. While making a delicious homemade Alfredo sauce, I realized I hadn’t posted a recipe for Alfredo sauce on my blog yet.

As I was making the sauce, which I always have so much fun doing, I thought to myself, “It’s time to actually put some number to this and make an actual recipe out of it.” I never measured anything when I’d make it.

This will not only help me establish an official recipe for Alfredo sauce but also show my followers how to make a good one from scratch. So a few weeks later I was craving some chicken and shrimp alfredo and decided to take my time with the sauce to make a recipe of it.

While doing so I got excited because I began to think of an interesting story about Alfredo sauce, mainly the Lorretta Olive Garden story that I want to share with you below, so keep reading; it’s sorta funny.

What to love about this alfredo sauce recipe:

• Easy to make: A teenager who hasn’t cooked a day in their life can make Alfredo sauce, especially following my instructions. In general, it’s very simple and, therefore, easy to make.
• Doesn’t take long: It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and 8 minutes to make.
• Everyone loves it: Who doesn’t love Alfredo sauce? It’s a classic Italian condiment that’s become very popular around the world. And while it was once used over fettuccine, it’s now used to garnish meats like chicken, steak, and salmon.
• It’s versatile: It tastes great and goes well with so many things. Pasta, meat, vegetables…

Lorretta Olive Garden Story

Listen, I love Olive Garden, it’s one of me and my hangout buddy’s (Aunt Lorretta) favorite spots. And just so you know, their chicken Parmesan is my favorite dish on their menu. I order it 70% of the time. Lol!

But if we’re keeping it real, their Chicken Alfredo dish is kind of underwhelming, mainly because of the sauce. Now the chicken is juicy, very tender, and seasoned to perfection, but the Alfredo sauce is not.

Let’s just say it’s very bland and “boring”BORING” to me. My aunt Lorretta used to always order it every time we went because she loves pasta and chicken. Plus, it’s one of the cheapest things, too.

But she always complained about how bland the Alfredo sauce was and would shower it with salt. LMBBO! The best way to describe it for those of you who haven’t tried it is it tastes like milk and butter. 

How they drop the ball on the Alfredo sauce when it’s the main ingredient is beyond me. But it’s these visits to Olive Garden and my aunt Lorretta’s constant complaints that made me create an Alfredo sauce recipe of my own.

While most of us love Alfredo sauce, not all of us know how to make it, at least not nearly as well as a 5-star restaurant. So the only way for some of yall to enjoy a good fettuccine alfredo dish is at a good Italian restaurant.

Well, that ends today because I have an Alfredo sauce recipe that I KNOW y’all will LOVE! I promise you won’t find too many Alfredo Sauce recipes better than this. I did a lot of research, experimenting, and testing…

Now let me address a few problems you may encounter when making homemade Alfredo Sauce and show ya how to make it the right way so you won’t have to spend money at restaurants or use jar Alfredo sauce anymore.

Growing Up on ragu sauce

Speaking of store-bought Alfredo, I can’t tell you how many people’s cabinets I’ve seen this very jar of Ragu Alfredo sauce sitting in as a child. Whether it was a family member’s house, a friend, or a neighbor’s house.

I saw this jar in a lot of folks’ kitchens growing up. Now listen, I came from a family of great cooks and was surrounded by a lot of folks who could cook and throw down in the kitchen. I mean that!

But for some strange reason, Alfredo sauce seems to be one of those things people never like to make from scratch. Hmmm… I wonder why! Maybe because it’s an Italian thing to make it from scratch?

Ragu has all types of Alfredo sauce now… roasted garlic Alfredo sauce, creamy basil Alfredo sauce, four cheese Alfredo sauce, and even Alfredo sauce with bacon. LMBBO! I have seen it all.

Personally, I never cared for the taste of the store-bought Alfredo sauce, mainly Ragu sauce, because that’s the only kind my family would buy. I think it’s because it has an artificial taste, in my opinion.

Okay, so below, I’ll get into the ingredients you’ll need to perfect this delicious Alfredo sauce recipe, so you can say goodbye to those Ragu jars you no longer need.

Ingredients you’ll need:

• Main Ingredient: Heavy cream is the main ingredient. If you don’t have any or can’t find some for any reason, half and half makes a good substitute, even whole milk; it just won’t have the richness and creaminess that heavy cream gives the sauce.
• Cheese: Use block Parmesan cheese and Philadelphia Cream Cheese because it’s the best on the market.
• Fat: Unsalted Butter, and use a good brand like Land O’ Lakes.
• Seasonings: Salt for taste, Italian seasoning, black pepper, and Parsley flakes for decorative purposes. Garlic Paste is crucial and a must when making Alfredo sauce as it contributes to one of its defining flavors… You can use minced garlic or make a garlic paste from fresh garlic.

The Parmesan and Cream cheese

• Parmesan cheese: Parmesan cheese is the most important ingredient. It’s what gives Alfredo sauce its traditional Alfredo flavor. So without it, Alfredo sauce is impossible. Lol!
• The Best Parmesan cheese: Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano is the best Parmesan cheese to use. One, because it’s block cheese, and 2, because of it’s rich flavor.
• Shredded Parmesan Cheese: The preservatives in store-bought pre-shredded parmesan cheese coats the cheese, making it almost impossible to melt completely. It’s already a pretty hard cheese that struggles to melt; the perseveratives make it worse.
• Why doesn’t Parmesan cheese melt? Parmesan cheese is a hard-aged cheese that has a low moisture content and high protein content, which makes it resistant to melting and why it doesn’t melt like cheddar and mozzarella cheese.
• Shaved Parmesan cheese: Now, if you are lazy like I can be at times, there are some brands of shaved Parmesan cheese that melt better than others. Here’s one that I pick up from my local grocery store from time to time, as shown in the photo below.

So give it a try if you just really don’t want to shred the block cheese yourself. It’s a “shaved” Parmesan cheese people typically use in Caesar salad.

• Cream cheese is an Emulsifier: An emulsifier is a food that brings two things together that won’t combine. In this case, Parmesan cheese and heavy cream won’t combine into a nice smooth Alfredo sauce without the cream cheese. So it’s much needed.
• Thickener: Cream cheese is also a thickener. It thickens the sauce and makes it nice, creamy, and smooth.
• Non-traditional: Cream cheese is definitely not traditional, and Italians DO NOT use it to make Alfredo sauce and never have. But man o man o man… it sure does take it up a notch and adds so much flavor to it.
• What’s the best brand? Use a good brand of cream cheese like Philadelphia cream cheese… and I don’t just say that because I’m from Philly! LMBBO! I’m saying it because it’s the standard.

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Broken sauce

Since we’re making alfredo sauce and it’s one of those sauces that separates and breaks quite often I feel it’s important to address everything concerning broken sauce aka “sauce that separates”.

A question I get often is why does my sauce break and how do I fix it. Well first, Sauces contain fat (butter) and liquid (milk), which will naturally separate, aka break, without the right amount of an emulsifier like flour or cream cheese.

But another common cause is cooking or reheating your sauce for too long over high heat. Which is why I dont recommend reheating alfredo sauce in a microwave because the milk in the sauce will separate from the butter aka fat and you’ll be left with puddles of butter on one side and lumps of cheese and milk on the other.

If this happens, it can be fixed however. To fix broken sauce… add a little liquid to it, place it in a saucepan or pot over low heat, and whisk until it comes together. A splash of water or milk and a nice stir over low heat is the easiest fix that will never fail you.

This is why using the right amount of an emulsifier that will keep everything intact, for lack of a better word, like cream cheese and flour, is very essential. Hope that answers the frequent Alfredo sauce nightmare known as “Broken sauce”.

How to make Alfredo sauce

1. Shred the block of Parmesan cheese.
   
   
2. Place a skillet over medium heat.
3. Add the butter and minced garlic, then stir well. 
   
   
4. After 3 minutes, add in the whipping cream, Parmesan cheese, and cream cheese, then whisk well.
   
   
5. Let the cheese sauce simmer for 8 minutes or until the sauce begins to bubble, then cut the fire off.
6.  Add the pasta water and stir well.
   
   
7. Add the seasonings, and BAM, BOTTA, BOOM!!! YOU’RE ALL DONE!!!
   
   

You have the best Alfredo sauce in the world before you, ready to grace your pasta with all of its deliciousness!!! Lol!

Better Than Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce Video

Tips for best results:

• Make sure everything is at room temperature: Making sure everything is at room temperature before making the sauce will shorten the cooking time because everything will already be warm and melt-ready. 
• Don’t simmer long: The key is to simmer the sauce for a short period of time to prevent separation. Cheese takes a while to melt, so add it early on, right after the cream, so it’s almost melted by the time the cream gets hot, which is around 5 minutes.
• Use a whisk: A whisk is a perfect tool for breaking up any lumps in the sauce, especially for the cream cheese, which has a tendency to form lumps.

Serving suggestions:

• Fettuccine pasta: Alfredo sauce is typically served over fettuccine; this is a given. You can also serve it over fettuccine with chicken, shrimp, broccoli, or a combination of the three.
• Salmon bites: Alfredo sauce goes great with salmon and is often served drizzled over fried salmon bites. 
• Steak: Have you ever had steak topped with Alfredo-smothered shrimp? Make some Alfredo sauce, add shrimp to it, then pour it over a well-seasoned seared rib-eye steak. Lawd, have mercy! One of my best dishes to make; a very romantic dinner for 2.

Storage and reheating

• How do you store Alfredo sauce? You can add the sauce to a glass Tupperware dish or bowl, cover it with a lid, plastic wrap, or aluminum foil, and store it in the refrigerator.
• How do you reheat the sauce? Place the sauce in a pot or skillet over low heat. Stir in a little water or milk, and simmer, whisking periodically, until it’s hot and smooth.

Frequently asked questions

• How long does it last? Alfredo sauce can last a long time if you keep it sealed in a glass jar and store it in a cold area of your refrigerator so it stays fresh.
• How to double, triple, or quadruple this recipe? Just double, triple, or quadruple the ingredients. The cooking time may be longer, but follow the same steps and use good judgment. Watch the sauce as it cooks and remove it once it’s smooth and slightly thickened.

Cookware & utensils you’ll need:

• Big Spoon: You’ll need a big spoon to scoop and serve the Alfredo sauce.
• Cheese grater: You will need a cheese grater to shred the block of Parmesan cheese.
• Large skillet or pot: Have a skillet on hand to make the sauce in. If you don’t have a skillet but have a medium-sized pot, that’s cool. You can use either; the outcome will be the same.
• Whisk: This is very important! In my opinion, it’s the best utensil for smoothing out and breaking up the lumps of cheese in the sauce. 
• Measuring Cups and Spoons: Have measuring cups and spoons on hand to accurately measure ingredients such as heavy cream, cheese, and seasonings.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this Homemade Alfredo Sauce recipe, and if you do, which I’m certain you will, leave a comment below letting viewers know how you like it, share the recipe, and give me 5 stars if you like!!

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Enjoy, Later
PBJ~

Better Than Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 9 reviews

• Author: PhillyboyJay
• Prep Time: 5 Mins
• Cook Time: 15 Mins
• Total Time: 20 Mins
• Yield: 4
• Category: Condiments
• Cuisine: Italian

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Description

Heavy cream simmered with butter, Parmesan, and cream cheese… then seasoned to perfection! Making this a homemade Alfredo sauce you’ll easily fall in love with.

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Ingredients

• 2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
• 2 Tbs Pasta Water
• 1/4 Cup Butter
• 8 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 1–1/2 Cups Block Parmesan Cheese, shredded
• 2 Tsps Minced Garlic
• 1 Tsp Salt or Salt to Taste
• 1 Tsp Parsley Flakes
• 1/4 Tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 Tsp Black Pepper

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Instructions

1.  Shred the block Parmesan cheese.
2.  Place a skillet over medium heat.
3.  Add the butter and minced garlic, then stir well. 
4.  After 3 minutes, add in the whipping cream, Parmesan cheese, and cream cheese, then whisk well.
5.  Let the cheese sauce simmer for 8 minutes or until the sauce begins to bubble, then cut the fire off.
6.  Add the pasta water and stir well.
7.  Then add and stir in the seasonings. 

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 4