Creamy, cheesy, and full of flavor, this recipe for the easiest Alfredo sauce requires only 5 main ingredients and can be made in 20 minutes or less.
We all have those extra busy nights of the week; the ones where we basically surrender ourselves to the mercy of the schedule and throw together whatever we can fix up from the contents of the fridge and pantry. Tuna and jam sandwich anyone?! Just kidding. However, I am here to tell you, it doesn’t have to be this way! I know I sound a bit like a mental health ad, but let me tell you about this delicious Alfredo sauce.
Why make this tonight?
Made from only five main ingredients, many of which are “staples” found in most peoples homes, you can have a homemade meal that seems kind of fancy. The best part? It is super quick. Cooking the noodles is the most time consuming part of this recipe, where the sauce itself takes maybe 10 minutes to make.
That brings me to the rest of the ingredients:
- butter – use salted butter
- garlic – fresh is preferred, but can also use garlic powder.
- cream cheese – so I haven’t personally tried it, but Neufchâtel cheese might work in it’s place; quite frankly if you don’t have cream cheese you probably don’t have Neufchâtel either lol.
- heavy cream, half and half or 2% milk (I have placed them in order of preference but trust me when I say it turns out fantastic still with just milk.)
- 3 cheese blend or parmesan cheese – I’ll level with you, I have used the cheapest ‘fake’ parmesan in this recipe and yes its still good! The 3 cheese blend is made up of shredded fontina, asiago and parmesan. Work with what you’ve got.
The beauty of cooking is that it is much less of a science and more ‘free spirited’ if you will. You can tailor the recipe (within reason) to your own personal tastes. In contrast, many of the recipes on my blog are fall under the baking category, which is my favorite thing to do. However, baking foods is definitely a science and in order for a lot of baked goods to be successful you need to follow the recipe to a T.
To add to that thought, if you have a protein like a precooked grilled chicken hanging out in the freezer, or can air fry a batch a chicken strips then go ahead and make your life easier by adding this to your meal. Heck I wouldn’t judge you if you decided on adding meatballs either. Your meals, your rules.
Lastly, you can drastically improve any recipe by adding a fresh element to it. For this recipe, I added a finely diced sprinkle of fresh parsley from the indoor parsley *tree* that is growing wild in my kitchen. These days I am basically looking for ways to use up the amount of parsley that things gives us. I also added some black pepper but that is more of a flavor preference.
Another fresh element that would go well with the easiest Alfredo sauce is some spinach that you could mix into the hot pasta and sauce to let it cook from residual heat. A side salad might be nice too. Seems like a lot of work though hah!
This recipe is egg free, peanut free and tree nut free. It is also vegetarian if you leave out the chicken. Yes, you can eat it. Yum, it tastes terrific. Go! Go on and make more, eat more, treat yourself more.
How to achieve the easiest Alfredo sauce
——Heads up——Before starting the sauce make sure you are cooking your pasta. Sauce cooks up quickly and noodles do not.
-Heat a large skillet over medium heat. I am using my Le creuset braiser skillet which measures about 5 quarts.
-Add in butter and garlic, cooking until melted down and garlic is fragrant. High heat will burn garlic quickly so be aware of the temperature.
-Add in the cream cheese by about 2 tablespoons at a time (so you end up with 4 blobs of cream cheese in the skillet), whisking well until mixture is smooth and combined with the melted butter-garlic mixture.
-Next, slowly pour in the cream/milk and whisk as you incorporate it.
-Allow the sauce to simmer for 1-2 minutes.
-Then add in your shredded 3 cheese blend or Parmesan, frequently stirring to melt the cheese into the sauce mixture. The sauce will thicken significantly with the addition of the shredded cheese. Turn off the heat now.
-Add salt and pepper, based on flavor preference.
-Using tongs, mix the cooked, drained, noodles into the large skillet with the Alfredo sauce. Stir to combine.
-Top with fresh diced parsley and chicken (optional) and serve immediately.
Things that helped in the kitchen for this recipe, and can help you too:
Le Creuset 5 quart braiser – This pan is great for meals that need to be stove cooked and then oven baked, I even use it for my sourdough skillet flat bread recipe. Find a deal since it is pricey 😉
Stainless Steel Garlic Press – if you’re in the market for a new garlic press, this one is great and has lasted longer than most celebrity marriages.
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Easiest Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 3-4 cloves freshly pressed garlic or garlic powder, whatever you have on hand
- 4 oz plain cream cheese =8 tablespoons
- 2 cups heavy cream or half and half or milk
- 1½ – 1¾ cups 3 cheese blend, shredded (asiago, fontina, parm) or just parmesan cheese
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Fresh parsley optional
- diced grilled chicken or other protein of choice optional
Instructions
- Before beginning the sauce, make the noodles.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add in butter and garlic, cooking until melted down and garlic is fragrant. High heat will burn garlic quickly so be aware of the temperature
- Cut cream cheese into pieces, I usually do about 2 tablespoons size blobs (so you end up with 4 blobs of cream cheese in the skillet), add into skillet whisking well until mixture is smooth and combined with the melted butter-garlic mixture.
- Next, slowly pour in the cream/milk and whisk as you incorporate it.
- Allow the sauce to simmer for 1-2 minutes. Then add in your shredded 3 cheese blend or Parmesan, frequently stirring to melt the cheese into the sauce mixture. Turn off the heat.
- Add salt and pepper, based on flavor preference.
- Using tongs, mix the cooked, drained, noodles into the large skillet with the Alfredo sauce. Stir to combine.
- Top with fresh diced parsley (optional) and serve immediately.
Easiest Alfredo sauce not what you’re looking for? How about trying my other easy and healthy dinner noodles, pad see ew?
