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!
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- Chicken Pot Pie
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- Olive Garden Salad
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- Copycat Longhorn Parmesan Crusted Chicken
-
- Creamy Garlic Chicken
-
- Bacon Mac and Cheese
-
- Mushroom Chicken
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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.
OH MY GOD , I was so shocked when I made this I couldn’t believe that I wasn’t eating actual olive garden. 100/10 !!!
Yayyyy! I’m so happy you liked it so much. I’ve tricked so many friends into thinking this was Olive Garden take out lol. Thanks so much for the great review Jennifer!😃
I have attempted so many recipes in my life for Fettuccine Alfredo … this is the WINNER! My family agrees! We will be going with this one from here on! Thanks so much.. and thanks for the cheese tips.. I think it makes a huge difference!
I am so happy to hear that Tessa! I too had tried so many before landing on this one, I haven’t made it any other way since! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie
This taste NOTHING like Olive Garden. I am done making Pinterest copy cat recipes after this one. 😂
This recipe came directly from Olive Garden’s website back when they used to post some of their recipes there. 😊 We’ve had former or current OG chefs comment that this is either the real deal, or that they don’t use Romano and only Parmesan cheese. Either way, this recipe isn’t far off base. The other 600+ comments tend to agree, I’m wondering if something went south during your preparation or if you used ingredients that weren’t quite up to par, quality-wise. That makes a big difference with this recipe.
No need to be a nasty Karen about it. Move on and find another recipe. Clearly there are many people here who enjoy the recipe. It isn’t necessary to try and humiliate people.
This is it. I’m picky about Alfredo Sauce, I’ve made many. They are simple recipes, but they differ. I added a few slices of mozzarella to thicken. Having this on cheese ravioli, will put under broiler for a few minutes to get a nice brown goodness to it. Yum.
Yummmmm, you just got me hungry with your description Jill lol! Now I want Cheese Ravioli! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave such a great review!❤️
I have a note book, where I keep all the recipes my family loves. I put little notes on them as to how to make the recipe better. This recipe not only is in the book, it has no notes. I should add “just follow the recipe “. It is sooo good and easy to make. It pares well with chicken or seafood. Or you could eat it with just the pasta. Yes it is that good!
I love this! My mother had a similar notebook of recipes that go back decades. Those books are like gold! Thank so much for the great review Cindy!❤️
Once again..love, love love this recipe..similar to my recipe but even better with the Romano cheese. And parmesan reggiano only parm I buy (in block).. Followed recipe exactly..you’re my kind of cook!!! I made your olive garden salad dressing..what a perfect meal!!! I make all my salad dressings/vinaigrettes… I make olive garden’s chicken gnocchi soup..tastes the exact same but healthier..my husband’s favorite. Mine is your Pinto bean soup…I’m a disabled RN, not doing well..but am so grateful to follow you and your very flavorful recipes.. made Ree Drummond’s meat sauce (used Rao’s for the jar part of sauce)…Going to do Lasagna real soon. I love Ricotta cheese but my husband wants me to use cottage cheese, any ideas?
Hi Margery! I am so happy that you love this recipe, we do too, in fact we just had some this week! 🙂 (Chicken Gnocchi soup is a favorite of mine as well as the Pinto Bean Soup, I go through a batch of that so quickly!) Cottage cheese makes a really good substitute for Ricotta in lasagna, my mom used to always use cottage cheese.
Linguini, chicken and mixed veggies, turned out awesome. I don’t think it was supposed to take over an hour to make though.
Hi Lee! I’m so glad it turned out awesome! You added a lot of extras, this is purely a recipe for the sauce, which doesn’t take over an hour to make 🙂 It’s really quick. So quick, that it’s important to measure everything out ahead of time to be able to keep up!
This is my go-to Alfredo recipe. My family said it is better than Olive Garden. That made my heart happy! I always add pan seared chicken tenders or shrimp.
Chicken tenders and shrimp is so perfect! This is my favorite Alfredo sauce too! So many people don’t believe me when I tell them that this was in inspired by The Olive Garden. It’s always such a hit! Thanks so much for the great review Angie!❤️
Hey i have a question, what sould i do if i have no romano cheese? Is there a subsitute, do i need it, or should i go out and buy some (which is not ideal). Thanks!
You can definitely use all Parmesan instead of 1/2 Parmesan & 1/2 Romano! 🙂
made it for first time tonight, and did a side by side of it with some we bought from Olive Garden , this recipe won hands down, we are a large family and i did double it and for the price point per serving is a triple bang for the buck , i used the pro tips and splurged on really good cheese still came out ahead with a nice 2 cups for left overs, and my prep time was minimal , yea me , thanks
That’s so funny, my husband and I have done the side by side test too! I’m so happy you used the pro tips and enjoyed the sauce Raelene, thanks so much for the great comments and review!💗