How to Make Homemade Alfredo Sauce | Go Bold With Butter (2024)

FAQs

How to make Alfredo sauce more thick? ›

Add Cheese

The key ingredient in Alfredo sauce is cheese—generally Parmigiano Reggiano—and lots of it. To thicken Alfredo sauce, simply add more cheese than the amount called for in a recipe until you achieve the consistency you want.

Heartier herbs like thyme or oregano can be added in to simmer with the sauce. Add delicate herbs like parsley, basil, or chervil at the end to maintain their delicate, aromatic flavor. Quick tip: Swirl in a bit of leftover pesto to add another herbaceous twist to your Alfredo sauce.

Fresh parmesan cheese grated off the block is one of those key ingredients. This will create a smooth textured sauce rather than a grainy one. Butter: Both unsalted or salted work for this alfredo sauce recipe. If using salted butter, then just adjust the extra salt you use or omit it entirely.

Mix the cornstarch with some cold water to create a smooth slurry, then whisk it into the sauce while cooking over medium-high heat for a few minutes. Add all-purpose flour. Another very common thickening agent that will give your Alfredo sauce a creamy texture.

The most readily available sauce-thickener is flour. For a too-thin sauce, try adding a slurry (equal parts flour and water, whisked together) or beurre manie (equal parts softened butter and flour, kneaded together to form a paste)—both are ideal thickeners for rich and creamy sauces, such as steak sauce recipes.

Add basil, parsley, oregano, or rosemary to add life to the sauce. The first three herbs are classic for many Italian dishes, and rosemary is a common addition to creamy potato dishes, so adding them to a jarred Alfredo sauce makes sense.

Why Make it at Home? In blind taste tests I found that alfredo sauce made from scratch has a lot more flavor than jarred sauce. The parmesan is a lot more prevalent and the sauce itself is smoother and richer. And this flavor comes at practically no extra cost.

This happens when there's too much fat or liquid in the mixture. This can happen when there are not enough emulsifiers (which help keep your ingredients together). Sauces are usually made from multiple ingredients that include both oil and water. Oils and water will naturally separate.

While controlling the heat is what helps the fat (oil) not separate from the sauce in the first place, adding cream to your leftovers is what helps to revive the dish. This leaves the pasta nice and creamy again and makes sure that it's not dried out.

Why won't my parmesan cheese melt in my Alfredo sauce? ›

The pre-grated packaged parmesan won't melt into the alfredo sauce nearly as well. Instead, buy a brick of parmesan and use a grater to grate it fresh. Don't bring to a boil. Cooking alfredo sauce over too high of heat can cause the cream to curdle and the sauce to break.

This greasy situation happens as a result of the heavy cream and butter separating when heated up too quickly — a common occurrence when using a microwave to heat up leftovers. This separation also causes the parmesan to curdle and clump up into small balls of cheese instead of creamy, velvety sauce.

If your sauce is not silky smooth it could be because your ingredients don't have as high of fat content to them.

Alfredo sauce is quick and easy to make, recipes are on line and several are pretty good. But that's not the question. To make store bought taste better add some fresh grated parm or romano cheese, a shake of white pepper and a pinch of italian seasoning.

Acid: Adding vinegar or lemon juice does a great job of balancing saltiness. Sweetness: You can also add a dash of honey or sugar. Opposites attract here and create balance. Fat: Another fix is adding some fat, a few pads or butter or a healthy glug of olive oil can absorb some of that saltiness.

You can try using ingredients like arrowroot powder, tapioca starch, or potato starch as natural thickeners for your sauce. Another option is to reduce the sauce by simmering it for a longer period of time, which can help it naturally thicken as the liquid evaporates.

If this is starting to sound like an awful lot of effort but you've already committed to using half-and-half, don't fret. You can thicken up your cream and make it easier to whip by adding butter to it. Simply melt some butter, and mix it in — you'll want to use an amount equivalent to about 1/8 of the amount of cream.

Once the pasta is in the sauce, add pasta water. This is the most vital step in the process. Starchy pasta water doesn't just help thin the sauce to the right consistency; it also helps it cling to the pasta better and emulsify with the fat and cheese you're going to be adding.