Make Olive Garden’s Alfredo Sauce Recipe at home in just 20 minutes! Pair it with Fettuccine for an easy dinner idea the whole family will love!
Love Olive Garden Copycat Recipes?! Try these Chicken Gnocchi or Zuppa Toscana Soup recipes next!
I know it’s a restaurant chain, but honestly, Olive Garden’s Alfredo Sauce recipe is just perfect in my book. Hands-down. Chain or no chain, I love it.
(And you won’t believe how easy it is to make at home!)
PRO Tips For Making Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce:
- Olive Garden’s Alfredo Sauce recipe is made with Parmesan and Romano Cheeses, however you can also incorporate Mozzarella, Gruyere, Gouda, or Asiago. You can also just use Parmesan.
- You can use half and half instead of half heavy cream/half milk.
- If you only have evaporated milk, just use half the amount of milk and replace the other half with water. You won’t compromise flavor or consistency by doing this in creamy sauces like this one.
- You can even experiment with different pastas. I like fettuccine because the noodles soak up that thick sauce well, and Tortellini Alfredo with Broccoli is delicious as well!
How to Make Alfredo Sauce
Melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Whisk in the flour. Add heavy cream and milk. Gradually whisk in the cheese.
Add cooked Fettuccine. Sauce will continue to thicken upon standing.
Tip: I like to use 3/4 lb. of fettuccine for saucier pasta, but this recipe will satisfy a full pound as well.
Tips for Extra-Creamy Sauce
- Use blocks of (high-quality) cheese and shred it yourself for extra creamy results. Bagged shredded cheese has cellulose added to it to prevent the cheese from sticking together in the bag. Cellulose repels moisture, which makes it melt poorly in comparison to shredding the cheese yourself.
- Let the cheese come down to room temperature before adding it to the sauce.
- Sprinkle in the cheese gradually, the sauce should be warm but not too hot. Otherwise the dairy will separate and the consistency will be grainy.
- High-quality butter is important. I like Land O’ Lakes brand.
⭐Pro Tip: Alfredo sauce continues to thicken upon standing, and thickens even more when it’s added to pasta. Refrain from adding additional cheese to thicken it up.
⭐This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 132!
Making Alfredo Sauce Ahead of Time
- Alfredo sauce is a convenient make-ahead and freezable sauce. Unlike some other cheese sauces, the flour in this recipe helps it to maintain it’s consistency when cooled and reheated.
- It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- It can also be frozen and is best if used within 1-2 months.
How to Reheat Alfredo Sauce
- Alfredo sauce will thicken up and harden as it cools, but can be easily microwaved or slowly reheated on the stove top. Reheating in a makeshift double boiler is the best reheating method to restore it back to it’s original form. (Either by itself or when combined with pasta.)
- Frozen Alfredo sauce should be thawed overnight in the fridge before heating.
- If the sauce is too thick when reheated, add a splash of milk or chicken broth to thin it out.
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Did You Make This Recipe?
I would love for you to leave a rating and a comment below! How’d you do?! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 Tablespoons salted butter, high quality
- 1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups whole milk, 1% or 2% can be used if needed
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated and at room temperature
- ½ cup Romano cheese, grated and at room temperature
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1 lb. Fettuccine
- Parsley, to garnish
Instructions
- Boil the fettuccine according to package instructions. As the water preheats, begin the sauce.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for one minute.
- Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously.
- Add the heavy cream in splashes, stirring continuously. Add the milk in the same manner.
- Bring to a gentle bubble, then reduce heat to low to bubble. It will continue to thicken as it simmers.
- Slowly stir in the cheese. Taste and season with salt/pepper if desired.
- Drain the pasta and carefully mix it into the sauce until well incorporated. The pasta will absorb the sauce and it will continue to thicken.
- Garnish with chopped parsley and serve!
Notes
For Saucier Pasta: Use 3/4 lb. pasta instead of a full pound.
Pro Tips for Reheating:
- Alfredo sauce will thicken up and harden as it cools, but can be easily microwaved or slowly reheated on the stove top. Reheating in a makeshift double boiler is the best reheating method to restore it back to it's original form.
- Frozen Alfredo sauce should be thawed overnight in the fridge before heating.
- If the sauce is too thick when reheated, add a splash of milk or chicken broth to thin it out.
- Be sure to serve this with my Olive Garden Salad!
⭐This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 132!
The nutritional information is an estimate and is per serving. There are 6 servings in this recipe.
Great recipe. Best Alfredo I have made. Thanks
Excellent! So happy to hear that Mario!! We LOVE this one too, it took years of searching for the perfect recipe but we found it!! 🙂
Delicious, will definitely make again, Thank you
You’re very welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!!!😃
It is the absolute, hands down best Alfredo ever!! I LOVE Olive Garden Alfredo, I could eat it every day! I love how easy this recipe is and I can make it as often as I like at my home! Thank you so much for sharing this awesome recipe!! ☺️
You’re very welcome Jessica!😃 Thanks so much for the wonderful review!😊 I’ve been obsessed with Olive Garden’s Alfredo Sauce for years. I was so happy to discover it can easily be made from home!
How many servings is this dish i am making this tonight.
Hey Mike, it makes enough for a pound of pasta. 4-6 servings!
The Cozy cook you did it again!! This was our third meal to try from your site!! My family loved this recipe! Win for momma in the kitchen! LOL I added some precooked rotisserie chicken in the end for Chicken Alfredo but the sauce is clearly the winner!
Hey Kesha!! I am so happy to hear that and I love that you added chicken!! Yummmm!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review, you are the BEST!!! -Stephanie
Can I use heavy whipping cream instead of heavy cream? If yes, what is the measurement, recipe, timing, etc?
That will work, no other changes needed!
This was hit for all of us even amongst the kiddos!!
I added fresh basil and fennel seeds.
Served with linguini and garlic butter shrimp!
AMAZING 🙂
Great to hear Janelle, thanks so much for the review! Adding shrimp sounds so delicious!😋 I keep meaning to try that, I definitely will next time!
One of the BEST Alfredo sauces out there! Very easy. I would recommend doubling it, its that good!
Thanks Barb! I definitely agree, this alfredo is so creamy and full of flavor.😋 Definitely popular in this house!
Can’t wait to try this! quick question though, I am not a real big fan of garlic in the sense I don’t like to chew on pieces, Does the garlic cook down enough in this recipe or can you use garlic powder instead? Thanks!!
Hey Diona! You could certainly use 3/4 tsp garlic powder if you’d rather! I never notice chunks of garlic in this recipe but feel free to make the substitution if you’d rather, just in case! 🙂
Hi!! I can’t wait to make this!! One of my favorite dishes at Olive Garden! I did have a question, should the butter be salted or unsalted?
Thank you!!
Hi Amanda, I would use salted butter, definitely! 🙂