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Easy Homemade Alfredo Sauce – Great for Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

ByLaurie Neverman

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This may sound silly to some of you, but homemade Alfredo sauce seemed like some mysterious creation to me when I first started cooking. My mom never made it, so the only time I had it was when I ate out, which was a rare thing. Thankfully, back when the boys were just little peanuts, I met a nice young woman from Japan one day at the park when the kids were playing together, and she had an American husband who loved Italian food.

homemade alfredo sauce

We were over for supper one night and she made this sauce. I got the recipe, and haven’t purchased the bottled stuff since. To people who cook real, authentic Italian food, please don’t be offended! I know that “authentic Alfredo” is just cheese and butter, or cheese and butter and cream, depending on who you ask. We just like this uber-creamy variation. We also regularly pair our Alfredo sauce with spaghetti noodles instead of fettuccine, because I buy Tinkyada gluten free spaghetti in bulk.

This sauce is smooth, creamy and very rich – a little goes a long way. Because the recipe is so simple, quality ingredients count. I like to use fresh, local Parmesan (we have some great cheese factories around here) and grate it very finely so it melts quickly. I have made it with the green can cheese (my husband bought some and I was trying to use it up), and the flavor just falls flat. Even my often oblivious teenage boys noticed. Of course, my youngest usually grates the cheese, so he knew I wasn’t using “the good stuff”.

Homemade Alfredo Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, preferably freshly grated
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • Pepper to taste (optional)

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Directions

In a large saucepan, melt butter and cream cheese. Gently whisk in milk until smooth. Whisk in grated cheese and heat until melted. Do not boil or it is likely to curdle and/or break. Just before serving, add freshly grated black pepper if desired. Serve over hot noodles of your choice. Makes around 4 servings. I usually make a double batch, because it reheats well, too. I love leftovers!

We make this into a one dish meal by adding some diced, cooked chicken or ham, and cooked broccoli or other veggies. I don’t measure, I just throw in a handful or two of each and heat through. The Alfredo sauce and noodles pair well with a cold salad and vinaigrette dressing. The acidity of the vinaigrette is nice to balance the richness of the dairy.

And that’s all there is to it.

You can check out more of my family’s favorite recipes on the Recipes page.

If you’ve got questions or ideas for posts you’d like to see, please drop me a note or leave a comment. I’m battling a round of mid-winter writer’s block!

homemade alfredo sauce
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Homemade Alfredo Sauce

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Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, preferably freshly grated
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • Pepper to taste (optional)

Instructions

  1. In a large saucepan, melt butter and cream cheese.
  2. Gently whisk in milk until smooth. Whisk in grated cheese and heat until melted.
  3. Do not boil or it is likely to curdle and/or break.
  4. Just before serving, add freshly grated black pepper if desired.
  5. Serve over hot noodles of your choice.
  6. Makes around 4 servings.
  7. We make this into a one dish meal by adding some diced, cooked chicken or ham, and cooked broccoli or other veggies.
  8. I don’t measure, I just throw in a handful or two of each and heat through.

Notes

  • I usually make a double batch, because it reheats well, too.
  • The Alfredo sauce and noodles pair well with a cold salad and vinaigrette dressing.
  • The acidity of the vinaigrette is nice to balance the richness of the dairy.

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7 Comments

  1. Hi Laurie.
    I haven’t had a single mjnute since our freeze dryer arrived, to take it for a test drive. This weekend was my only chance to decorate and prepare for Christmas. Before that, it was the push to get our wood bucked, split and moved next to the boiler. My plan is to start taking 3 and 4 day weekends right after the holidays, to get some winter projects done. And learning to freeze dry is at the top of the list.

    We have a favorite recipe that we often eat weekly during cold months. Chicken, bacon and broccoli fettuccine Alfredo. Our recipe uses heavy cream instead of cream cheese. I’m quite interested to know if you have freeze dried pasta and Alfredo sauce? Have you reconstituted it? How did it taste? How did you reconstitute it?
    Thanks,
    Pam

    Reply

    1. Hi Pam.

      We’ve done full fat milk, cheese and yogurt, but I haven’t tried alfredo sauce. When we do spaghetti sauce with noodles (spaghetti casserole), the noodles break into smaller sections, but it rehydrates just fine.

      I’d be a little concerned with rehydrating to a smooth sauce with the noodles mixed in, as some mixing may be required to get the sauce creamy again.

      I’d suggest trying a small batch with noodles and sauce mixed and noodle and sauce separate, and checking how it rehydrates before you commit to larger batches. The high fat content of the heavy cream would make that one I’d want to use sooner rather than later, too.

      Reply