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.
This is our go-to alfredo sauce! Pairs well with a variety of pasta dishes and can be dressed up or down based on how labor intensive you want to get with the meal preparation. We love this, thank you for sharing the recipe!
My pleasure Olivia! I’m so happy you’re enjoying this, thanks so much for the great comments!💖
I keep coming back to this recipe. I’ve tried several before this and could never get the result I wanted. Then I found this one, and now it’s our go-to meal week after week! Thank you so much for this! I find I have trouble not burning the minced garlic, so I substitute with 1.5T garlic powder instead. So good! Learned how important it is to use whole milk vs the 2% we usually keep in the fridge.
I’m so happy you found this recipe Ashley! I make this all the time too, it makes such a good family meal and it’s so easy to use different pastas and proteins💖
Awesome recipe. Smooth, creamy, cheezzzzy. Froze half of it and thawed according to directions…. still perfect!
I’m so happy you liked it Shari! Great to hear you had success freezing and thawing it. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!💖
Turned out amazing and flavorful! We loved it
I’m so happy to hear that Colt!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, I sooo appreciate it! 🙂 -Stephanie
Made this with a couple minor modifications. I didn’t have Romano cheese so I used half the amount called for of pepperjack. This was sooooo good!!! My go to Alfredo recipe from now on. Thank you! I forgot to take pic. My daughter says if there’s no pic then it didn’t happen. Lol but it did and it was amazing! I shredded chicken in it. And used rigatoni pasta.
I’m so happy it was such a success Jewell! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!💗
This is the best alfredo sauce! I tried several other recipes and I could never get it right. Thank goodness I found this. It’s so easy and it’s basically foolproof. I make it with half and half (3cups) and extra garlic. It’s definitely a favorite at my house!
I am so happy to hear that Katie! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!!! I often make it with half and half too! 🙂
Doubled the sauce for our family of 7 and made with all parmesan because the local Walmart didn’t have romano. Served over family size Great Value bag of frozen tortellini with a side of broccoli. Delicious!!! So much better than the jarred stuff!
Sounds like a delicious meal Shannon, nice work! I’m so happy it was a hit, thanks for the great review!💖
AWESOME!
Thanks so much!💗
I have never made homemade Alfredo sauce. This is spot on!! Easy to make. Just prep ingredients before you start to keep an eye on the sauce. My entire house smells like Olive Garden! Very delicious!! I topped with the microwaveable grilled chicken breasts. They only take 3.5 minutes in the microwave. I will definitely be making this for dinner guests. Thanks so much for posting this amazing copycat recipe!!!
Sounds like your really nailed it Janna, nice work! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!💗
Tastes great with shrimp added in too had done a no meat night and add shrimp to ours was awesome
Yes! I actually just posted a Shrimp Alfredo recipe today, you should check it out! It’s sooo good and has a buttery panko topping for a nice crunch! 🙂
My youngest wanted chicken alfredo for his birthday tonight. We made this and added some steamed broccoli at the end and it was a huge hit. Will definitely make this again.
That’s so sweet he wanted Chicken Alfredo for his birthday, I like his style! Thanks so much for the great comments and for taking the time to leave a review Michelle!