Chicken
$1.99per plate
Prep
5 min
Pasta · Alfredo Sauce
Alfredo Sauce
Homemade alfredo sauce is one of those things that is far cheaper and better than the jar: just butter, garlic, cream, and a good handful of Parmesan melted into a silky, glossy sauce in about ten minutes. This batch makes roughly two cups, enough to coat a full pound of pasta, so it sauces four plates for under a dollar each, with no flour, no cream cheese, and no preservatives. It is the sauce, not the whole dinner, so spoon it over pasta, chicken, or vegetables however you like. Turn it into a full meal with our chicken alfredo, or compare it to our even cheaper flour-based creamy garlic pasta. It joins the rest of our cheap pasta recipes, price up front.
$0.96per plate
Estimated recipe total
$3.84 · serves 4
Cook
10 min
Total
15 min
Serves
4
Recipe from Budget Plates · https://www.budgetplates.com/alfredo-sauce-recipe
Equipment
- Skillet or saucepan
- Whisk
Variations
- Stir in a squeeze of lemon or a pinch of red pepper flakes for brightness.
- Whisk in a spoonful of cream cheese for a thicker, sturdier sauce.
- Add cooked chicken, shrimp, or bacon at the end to turn it into a full dinner.
1 How to make it
1
Melt the butter and soften the garlic
Melt the butter in a skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat, then add the garlic and cook for about a minute until fragrant. Keep the heat gentle; browning or burning the garlic here turns the whole sauce bitter.
2
Warm the cream, do not boil it
Pour in the heavy cream and bring it to a bare simmer, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes to warm through and thicken slightly. Never let it reach a hard boil; boiling is what makes a cream sauce break or turn greasy.
3
Whisk in the Parmesan off the heat
Lower the heat to its lowest, or pull the pan off the burner, and whisk in the finely grated Parmesan a handful at a time until melted and smooth. Finely grated cheese is important: it melts into the sauce evenly, while coarse or pre-shredded Parmesan clumps and turns the sauce grainy.
4
Season and adjust the consistency
Stir in the salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. The sauce thickens quickly as it sits and off the heat, so loosen it to the consistency you want with a splash of starchy pasta water, milk, or a little more cream.
5
Use it right away
Toss the sauce with hot, freshly drained pasta immediately, or spoon it over cooked chicken or vegetables. Alfredo sauce is best fresh and keeps thickening as it cools, so serve it while it is glossy.
2 Cheaper ingredient swaps
- Milk or half-and-half for the heavy cream. For a lighter, cheaper sauce, use half-and-half, or whole milk thickened with a teaspoon of flour cooked into the butter first so it is not thin. Keep it below a boil so it does not break.
- Add a protein to make it a meal (figured separately). Stir in cooked chicken, shrimp, or bacon, or see our Chicken Alfredo for the full dinner. These add-ins are figured separately from the sauce cost.
- Cream cheese for a thicker, sturdier sauce. A couple of tablespoons of cream cheese whisked in makes the sauce thicker and less likely to separate when reheated, for a few cents more.
- Any pasta. Fettuccine is traditional, but this sauces any pasta, gnocchi, or even steamed vegetables. The pasta is figured separately.
3 Budget tips
- A from-scratch sauce of butter, cream, and Parmesan costs less than a jar of alfredo, tastes richer, and skips the preservatives.
- Buy a block of Parmesan and grate it yourself; it is cheaper per ounce than pre-grated and melts far smoother.
- Loosen the sauce with free, starchy pasta water instead of adding more cream to keep it light and cheap.
- One batch sauces a whole pound of pasta, so it stretches to four dinners from a handful of ingredients.
- See more recipes priced per serving in the Budget Plates Index.
4 Storage, freezing & reheating
Fridge
Refrigerate leftover sauce in an airtight container for up to 4 days. It thickens into a spreadable paste when cold and loosens again as it reheats.
Freezer
Cream-and-cheese sauces can separate and turn grainy when frozen, so alfredo sauce is best made fresh. If you must, freeze it for up to 1 month and whisk it hard as it reheats to bring it back together.
Reheating
Reheat gently over low heat, whisking in a splash of milk, cream, or pasta water to smooth it back out. Do not boil it, which makes the sauce greasy or breaks it.
5 Nutrition (per serving)
Calories
520
Protein
11g
Fat
52g
Carbs
4g
Estimates per serving of sauce, calculated from standard ingredient data. Not a substitute for medical advice.
6 Frequently asked questions
What is alfredo sauce made of?
Classic homemade alfredo sauce is just butter, heavy cream, garlic, and finely grated Parmesan, plus salt and pepper. There is no flour, no jar, and no long ingredient list; the cheese and cream do all the work.
Why is my alfredo sauce grainy or broken?
Usually it is coarse or pre-shredded Parmesan, or too much heat. Use finely grated Parmesan and stir it in off the heat a little at a time, and keep the sauce below a boil so the cream does not split.
How much pasta does this sauce cover?
About one pound of pasta, or four servings. The pasta is figured separately from the sauce cost, so you can pair it with whatever cheap noodles you have.
Can I use milk instead of heavy cream?
Cream is classic and richest, but whole milk or half-and-half works for a lighter sauce. Thicken it with a teaspoon of flour cooked into the butter first so it does not turn out thin.
How is $0.96 a plate figured?
About $3.84 for the whole batch, enough to sauce four plates of pasta, so roughly $0.96 each for the sauce. The pasta itself is figured separately.
Helpful Tools for This Recipe
As an Amazon Associate, Budget Plates may earn from qualifying purchases.
- 12-inch nonstick skillet. A wide nonstick skillet browns ground meat, fries rice, and builds a one-pan sauce with less oil and easier cleanup. Best for everyday stovetop dinners like skillet meals, fried rice, pasta sauces, and patties.
- Cast iron skillet. Cast iron holds heat for a deep sear and moves from stovetop to oven, and it lasts for decades with basic care. Best for searing chops and chicken, and recipes that start on the stove and finish in the oven.
- Chef's knife. One sharp chef's knife handles almost all the chopping, from onions to chicken, and replaces a drawer of gadgets. Best for all-purpose prep in essentially every recipe on the site.
- Cutting board. A large, stable cutting board makes prep faster and safer, which matters when you cook most nights. Best for everyday chopping of onion, garlic, and vegetables across nearly every recipe.
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