I am not (not!) exaggerating when I say this quick, creamy garlic alfredo sauce has changed how I view non-dinner nights. You know. Those nights when dinner just ain’t happening. Too many things going on. Too lazy (who, me??). Too many nights of husband being out of town. Too many kids needing attention. Too many weeks pregnant (yes, that is a subliminal announcement!). Too many this. Too many that.
The problem is, on nights like that, I just can’t handle the thought of dinner approaching and knowing I’m going to have to scrounge up something my kids will eat but I’ll probably find gag-worthy. I can’t help it. Grilled cheese only gets me through so many nights.
Enter this sauce. Fast. Unbelievably fast, and incredibly creamy and flavorful, this alfredo sauce is what I’ve been searching for the past five years. Healthier (relatively) than the versions loaded with butter and cream, it comes together quickly and wonderfully and it reheats beautifully the next day if you are lucky enough to have leftovers.
We’ve made this no less than 10 times in the last month, and I have never, and I mean never, seen my kids gobble up anything so quickly. In fact, they beg for it every night and have requested it for their birthday dinners every year until they turn 42. Hopefully by then someone else will be making it for them, otherwise, we’ll have larger issues than just alfredo sauce overload.
Embarrassingly, I have to admit, this sauce is even on the menu this week. I actually planned it that way. I mean, eating it at least once was inevitable, so I might as well add it in to the menu plan so I don’t look like a total slacker.
Note: I've only ever used 1% milk in this sauce and it works great for our tastes. Also, I've made it with regular and low-fat cream cheese. The low-fat cream cheese gives it a slightly, very slightly grainy texture, but the cut in calories is worth it, in my opinion, although the full-fat cream cheese offers a luxurious, creamy texture that can't be beat. You choose!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed through a garlic press
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened and cut into 6 pieces (see note above)
- 1 cup milk (see note above)
- 3 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1 cup)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste, if needed
Directions
- In a medium pot or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, taking care not to let the garlic burn. Add the cream cheese, stirring with a whisk until the mixture is smooth. It will look curdled at first, but with constant whisking for 2-3 minutes, it should come together to form a smooth, creamy paste. Add the milk gradually, about 1/4 cup at a time, whisking quickly and constantly until each addition is incorporated fully into the sauce. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, pepper and salt. Stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce is the desired consistency. Cook for 2-3 minutes for a thicker sauce or remove right after the cheese is melted for a thinner sauce. Serve immediately over hot, cooked noodles.
I love Alfredo Sauce but never, even in my wildest of imaginations, did I think I could make it at home! Made it tonight and I still can’t get over that it was “me” who made it! Everyone loved it!!! Thank you so much for this delicious and oh so easy to make recipe!
I have been looking for a better way to make an alfredo sauce. I will try it. I will see. And I will report back.
Challenge accepted.
I’ve been using a version of this for years now, actually! And when I first found it, it was titled something like “Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce.” I won’t go that far, but it is still VERY GOOD. I also make mine with light cream cheese (I agree on the slight graininess but didn’t know that’s why— I’ve never made it with full-fat cream cheese and always assumed it was the Kraft green-bottled grated parm! lol) and 1% milk. LOVE IT. So good with quickly pan-fried pounded out chicken cutlets and a nice salad. Or with broccoli in with the pasta. YUM. This is also one of my go-to “ohmygoshit’sdinnerandIhavenothingplannedyet” dinner decisions. Thanks!
This sauce was delicious! I used it to replace the jar alfredo sauce in this recipe… http://www.plainchicken.com/2010/11/three-cheese-chicken-alfredo-bake.html and everyone loved it!!
I always feel like I’m cheating on you when I try recipes from other food blogs, but I promise you’re still my number one favorite, go-to recipe spot of ALL time!! Thanks for everything Mel!!
Love this recipe! I do have a question though, how would you add chicken to this?
AndyD— I usually grill it after marinating in Italian dressing, or bake it; or pan sear it (all after marinating in Italian dressing or sprinkling with garlic and Italian seasonings). HTH
AndyD – I think the simplest way to add chicken to this is to grill/broil or cook the chicken separately then slice and serve with the pasta and sauce. You could marinade the chicken many different ways or just use a simple seasoning of salt and pepper.
Thanks guys! I’ll be cooking dinner for my new girlfriend for the first time tomorrow night. I think this is what I’m going to make. I’ve got to make a good first impression!
Looks like a great recipe, we will give it a try and look at the nutritionals to see how they stack up!
This was absolutely amazing. And so simple! I grilled some boneless chicken breast seasoned with salt and pepper and poured the sauce over angel hair pasta. Yum! My boyfriend hates pasta, and loved this dish! This recipe is definitely a keeper.
[...] Creamy Garlic Alfredo Sauce Makes about 2 cups of sauce. [...]
Hey Mel! I just wanted to say that somehow I missed your pregnancy announcement way back when and just saw it today in your post! So exciting! I hope everything is going well and that you are healthy and excited.
Congratulations!!
[...] Garlic Alfredo Pasta with Chopped Broccoli, Crusty Bread [...]
[...] from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe Share the love:EmailPrintShare Tags: cajun spiced chicken, chicken alfredo pasta, homemade alfredo [...]
I was wondering, can i use this for the crockpot alfredo chicken? Thanks.
Michelle – I’ve never used it in the crockpot so I don’t know how the consistency would fare. Sorry I’m not more help – let me know if you try it!
Yum yum yum! Made this tonight for dinner, and it is definitely going on the menu for the week after the baby is born next month! Thanks for sharing!
I just made this recipe for my dinner and I was excited because when I added the cream cheese it seemed like I found an alfredo sauce that would be thick! But as soon as I added the milk it got super thin, like water thin, and never thickened up. I used garlic powder instead of the garlic cloves, I’m not sure if that would change the thickness.
It tastes great though so I’d love it if anyone had any ideas on how to make it thicker?
Jamie – did you add the milk gradually? Garlic powder verses garlic cloves won’t make a difference on thickness. On occasion when I’ve made this, I’ve had to cook it a bit longer for it to thicken so maybe try cooking longer or adding a bit less milk. Good luck!
Yes, I did it gradually and left it on for longer haha. I guess next time I’ll try less milk, or maybe add some heavy cream or something.
Delicious! I esp like grating my own Parmesan from the brick, it seems to have better flavor.
So delicious!!! Another keeper recipe from you! Congrats on your new baby! I’m expecting in July and my dinners are getting lazier and lazier, but this sauce may just save my buns for the next months.
Hey, this recipe looks soooo good, I must try. But the thickness threw me off a little considering I like thick sauce as well
so I looked up ways to thicken your sauce, and all you need is TWO EGG YOLKS… I was like “well, thats easy” haha here is the site I found http://www.ehow.com/how_2210846_thicken-fettuccine-alfredo-sauce.html
Not that this post needs a comment but this was delicious and simple. Thank you. Even our “no sauce please on my noodles”son decided he wanted sauce. Cant wait to try it out on an Alfredo pizza braid.
[...] Squash and Chicken Lasagna [a TPC original; alfredo sauce from Mel's Kitchen Cafe] click to [...]
[...] For my recipe of the week (well I guess my recipe from the last couple of weeks) I chose Creamy Garlic Alfredo Sauce from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe (http://www.melskitchencafe.com/). Brandon and I have been trying to eat more vegetarian meals which is proving hard because I don’t really want to each a ton of soy products and neither of us like that many vegetables… but this is one will be a definite keeper. We used 0% fat milk and 1/3% less fat cream cheese to make it a little bit healthier and we both loved it! If you like meat I am sure sausage would be a fantastic addition to this meal. And if you are only feeding two you will certainly have leftovers. Enjoy! http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/10/creamy-garlic-alfredo-sauce-my-go-to-dinner-saver.html [...]
We live in Suriname (do you know where that is?) and so I can’t get a lot of convenience foods here. I am excited to try this here. However, since it so hot here year around, I tend to make my suppers in the morning when it is cooler and then re-heat right before supper. I’m not sure this will reheat well. What do you think?
Jennifer – this will reheat just fine as long as you reheat over low heat.
Just made this for dinner tonight and my kids actually ate it and want me to make it again. So yummy!!! Will double the recipe next time so I can put a bit more on our noodles. Thank you. Been trying a few of your recipes and I’m very pleased.
As usual, we loved the recipe!! I was worried I wouldn’t have enough sauce because I decided to toss in a bunch of fresh spinach at the last minute that I found wilting in the fridge – it was plenty of sauce for the 1/2 box of penne I used. Thank you so much for another great recipe!!
I was searching for a garlic alfredo sauce and stumbled upon it here. I LOVE your blog and every recipe I have tried and don’t know why I didn’t check here FIRST! I actually used this sauce to make a homemade garlic chicken pizza. A-MAZING!! Thank you so much for helping fulfill a craving tonight.
I had no cream and tons of whole milk, was out of spaghetti sauce but had nothing but pasta for dinner. This recipe saved me!
I only had about 2 oz of reduced fat cream cheese, and about 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. I think the whole milk aided in the creaminess, though, and I just cooked it a little longer to thicken it a little more. Mixed it with peas and chopped ham and stirred it into ziti. It was fantastic!
I adore this sauce. Tonight was a “no dinner night” but thanks to this recipe we had fettucini Alfredo with broccoli and chicken. Yum! So fast and easy and delicious! I make it with skim milk and 1/3 fat cream cheese and it comes out tasting great every time!
Love this alfredo sauce. Ive had it in the past but lost the recipe. Now I have it back. Love it with grilled chicken and brocolli. My 20 yr. old daughter loves it because its light and semi-healthy.
Tried this sauce last night and it was fabulous – and super quick/easy! I never have cream on-hand, so this was a great find. I added some veggies and leftover ham to the mix to make a complete, one-dish meal. Excellent. Thanks for sharing it!
we loved this! I’ve tried making alfredo several times before and it’s always been a disaster and I’d be annoyed to have wasted the $ on all that butter, cream and cheese. I saw this and decided to give it one more chance …. success! my whole family loved it and it was so easy. Thanks so much for sharing! I love that it’s lower fat – I just used the skim milk I had on hand and even then it was creamy and tasty – I did add a little bit of a thickener from Kitchen Kneads, probably wouldn’t have needed that if I’d used a higher fat milk.
This was wonderful! I served it over some sliced, marinated, grilled wild turkey and bow tie pasta. We had some leftovers that I heated up for our just home from college daughter. She said it was the best homemade Alfredo sauce she’s had
. So it’s a keeper! Simple and reheated wonderfully! THANK YOU!
AT LAST —- an Alfredo Sauce that has garlic in the recipe!!! How can anyone live without garlic? I’m so glad I found this. BTW, earlier messages mention a pregnancy? Sorry I missed that but HEY CONGRATULATIONS!!! HOPEFULLY a “new chef” in the family. Best of luck!! Celli Favinger