The Cozy Cookbook is here! 
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.
Try These Next!
-
- Chicken Pot Pie
-
- Olive Garden Salad
-
- Copycat Longhorn Parmesan Crusted Chicken
-
- Creamy Garlic Chicken
-
- Bacon Mac and Cheese
-
- Mushroom Chicken
More Restaurant Copycats
Love Copycat Recipes? Check out my entire collection!
Get My Free Meal Plan
I’ve got a Free Meal Plan with 7 of my super popular recipes (complete with grocery list)! Sign up for my email list and I’ll send it over now along with weekly dinner recipes!
And follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
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.
Perfect. I did a Cajun seasoned mahi mahi to lay on top of the fettuccine, and I added a 1/4 tsp of Cajun seasoning to the sauce, 3 egg yolks, and 2 slices of white American cheese. It was fabulous.
Tasted excellent, was really quick to make and was exactly what I needed. I’m living overseas and missing familiar tastes like these. Make sure you pick a big enough pan! It was too late by the time I realized I was in trouble… 🙂
Hey Nicole, I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie
Tastes exactly like Olive Garden. We loved it!
I’m so happy you loved it!😃 It really does taste just like Olive Garden!😋 Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!
If you dont have heavy cream, can you just use milk instead?
Hi VC, I would use half and half if possible as milk is much thinner and less rich for Alfredo sauce.
This was awesome, there was another variant that I was using that disappeared from the internet. but this is just as good.
This recipe uses 1.5 of HC , and .5 of milk, where as the other used 2 cups of HC, no milk.
I’m happy you were able to find this recipe and enjoyed it! I’ve been an Olive Garden Alfredo fan for so long so I was so happy when I learned how to make it at home! Thanks so much for the review!😃
Made it tonight and it was absolutely delicious. This is the Keeper!
I’m so happy to hear that, thanks so much for the review!😃 This is definitely a popular one in my house!
i used block cheese and i got land o lakes butter but i still got the sandy gritty texture in the sauce. it was still delicious but i wanna perfect it now
Hey James! That is the result of the heat being too high, which causes the dairy in the cheese to separate and leaves you with a gritty consistency. Make sure the heat is SUPER low next time and give the base a chance to cool before you gradually sprinkle in the cheese. Remove it from the heat as soon as the cheese is added. You’ll be a pro in no time!
Great recipe 👍👍
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it Neba!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review as well, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie
I’ve made this twice! It’s sooo good! The second time, I sautéed shrimp to go on it. You can’t find it as good in a restaurant!
Thanks so much SueAnne! It’s so good with shrimp. I’d love to try this with scallops one day too!
this was a big hit for my family! It was delicious!
I’m so happy to hear it was a hit with the family! Thanks so much for the review!😃