My boys *LOVE* Alfredo sauce. For years, they refused to eat a tomato based spaghetti sauce, so I would buy jarred Alfredo in addition to my Spaghetti and Meatballs (see recipe for my meatballs here). Of course, the jarred Alfredo pales in comparison with restaurant Alfredo, and my boys noticed. Several years ago, I decided to try my hand at homemade Alfredo. How hard could it be? I quickly discovered that it’s not hard at all!
Over the years, I’ve tweaked my Alfredo recipe, and my boys have declared it better than the awesome sauce from a local Italian restaurant. Not to brag, but I think it’s the best I’ve ever tasted. Then, I remember that I tweaked the recipe to reflect my tastes, so of course it’s going to be my favorite! Not sure if it’s going to be yours, but maybe you can give it a go and let me know what you think. Here’s the recipe, so you can get started.
Alfredo, meatballs, and marinara together! So YUMMY!
Garlic Alfredo Sauce
Good, Fresh Parmesan Cheese, grated (to taste, I used about 2 cups)
Fresh Garlic (to taste, I use 5-6 cloves)
1 stick salted butter
1/2 cup flour (I used all-purpose)
2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper, to taste
* * * This recipe is so simple that you will really be able to taste if you use lower quality ingredients. Buy the best you can afford and use fresh garlic rather than jarred, if you can. Costco has awesome Parmesan for a reasonable price (both in block and grated form). * * *
Grate Parmesan cheese, if using it in block form, and put garlic through a garlic press (or mince it). Preheat a medium saucepan on medium heat and add butter. Once it is melted, add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Do not let the garlic brown, or it will become bitter. Add flour to form a roux, and let it cook for another minute or two. Again, do not let the garlic brown. You are only cooking this long enough to get rid of the raw flour taste.
Add heavy whipping cream and whisk until it is incorporated into the roux (butter/flour/garlic mixture). Add grated parmesan and continue to cook over medium heat stirring constantly as the cheese melts. When the cheese is melted and incorporated, add salt and pepper to taste. I add about 1/2 teaspoon of both salt and pepper. The cheese and butter have salt, so go easy on it, tasting along the way. Serve over pasta.
Easy, right? Here’s my photo step-by-step.
Ingredients assembled.
Prepping my Parmesan. There is a rind on Parmesan which is very hard to grate and frankly doesn’t taste very good. I cut it off before grating.
I use this fancy contraption to grate my cheese. It’s a slicer/shredder attachment for my Kitchen-aid mixer. I simply put my cheese in the top, turn on the mixer, press down on the depressor, and my cheese comes out perfectly shredded. As I get older, it hurts to grate cheese, so I got this with some Kohl’s cash. I use it almost every week! Amazon also carries them here.
See how easy this is? The mixer most of the work for me.
I used my handy-dandy Pampered Chef Garlic Press for my garlic. It’s easy on my hands and works beautifully!
Now, I’m ready to cook.
I melted my butter, then added my freshly pressed garlic. I let it cook for a minute or so…
Then I added my flour…
I used a whisk to incorporate it fully, then let it cook for another minute or two.
Next, in went my cream…
And my freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
I whisked over medium heat until everything was melted and incorporated, then I added salt and pepper.
And, Voila! I created a delicious garlic Alfredo sauce!
I forgot to take pictures the night I made it, because it was my son’s birthday, so these will have to do. I served it over spaghetti with…
Meatballs and marinara! These are not my homemade meatballs, because my day was just too crazy. These are Costco frozen meatballs with their Marinara. Not as good as mine, but still yummy. Plus, I was able to dump both in my crockpot, turn it on, and let it go. They simmered for 4-5 hours and were perfectly delicious with a minimum of effort.
Here are the meatballs on top of the Alfredo.
I like to stir it up to make a creamy tomato sauce. It is one of my favorite things to eat!
Think you will try this easy Alfredo?
What’s your easy, yummy, go-to meal?
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