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.
Absolutely amazing!!! Best Alfredo Sauce recipe.
Wahooo! Thanks Verda, I love this one😋
This is the best fettuccine Alfredo sauce ever and so easy. I add cooked chicken thighs and chicken broth to make it a little thinner. I also freeze it and it comes out just as good as before freezing. Thank you.
I’m so happy you’re enjoying the Alfredo Sauce Tonya! I love that you’re freezing some, I’ve done that before and it does reheat well. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!💗
My daughter requested alfredo for her birthday. This was delicious!! We will definitely be making it again.
I’m so happy this was a hit for your daughters birthday Vanessa, that’s so sweet! Thanks so much for the great review!❤️
Who are you kidding ??? This is better than Olive Garden. I made this with marinated chicken tenders in McCormick’ garlic herb and wine marinade and fettuccine noodles. Best chicken Alfredo my wife ever ate. Thank you for the great recipe. I followed it to a T and it came out amazing. The chicken was grilled on a George Foreman grill. So easy and fast. Flavor is spot on.
Wahoooo! I’m so happy to hear such great comments Chris, thanks so much! Marinated chicken tenders are perfect with this!😋
This was the BEST alfredo recipe I’ve ever made and that we’ve ever tried. I made it for the very first time for my in-laws who were over for dinner and they LOVED it. My mother-in-law who isn’t an alfredo person raved the whole way home about it and texted me the next day saying, “Promise me you’ll make me that sauce again!” It was delicious and easy to make. I used danish salted butter + 1 cup of parmesan since I didn’t have romano cheese. Thank you SO much for sharing this recipe! It will get passed down for generations to come, to love and enjoy!
Wahooo! Thanks so much for the great comments Bri. I’m so happy even your mother in law loved it so much, nice work! 💖
This was delicious. I’ll be using this from now on. Thank you for the recipe.
You’re very welcome Cathy! I’m so happy it was such a hit, thanks so much for the great review!💖
Followed the recipe with the exception of adding more garlic. My family loves garlic. I use this as the sauce for my chicken and mushroom ravioli. It was amazing. Thank you for the recipe.
I love that you used it on your chicken and mushroom ravioli April, sounds perfect! Thanks so much for the great review!😃
Thank you, your recipe was delicious! I did add 2 small chopped garlic cloves and about 1/8 tsp. of garlic powder. I used Rana chicken and cheese tortellini. Perfect amount of alfredo.
Sounds so yummy with the chicken and cheese tortellini, yummmm😋 Thanks so much for the great review!
DELICIOUS! and I’m not even a great cook!
I’m so happy you liked it Sue! Thanks so much for the great review!💖
Excellent recipe and easy to make adjustments to change it up a bit. Love the base recipe. Made a few minor changes and a major addition and it is now my favorite sauce recipe to pair perfectly with my made from scratch noodles and my slow cooked specialty chicken.
So glad that you’ve adapted it to make it your own!