This quick and easy Alfredo sauce will rock your pasta! It’s lusciously creamy and 100 times better than the store bought variety!
Hello ridiculously overdue recipe post!
If we were to play the word association game right now, and you were to so boldly toss out the words “Alfredo Sauce,” my first response would be a lightning fast “BUTTER!!!”
Let’s face it, if you order a bowl of creamy fettuccine alfredo from a restaurant that’s exactly what you’ll be getting. All. The. Butter.
There’s nothing wrong with a little good old fashioned Paula Deen-esque butter love every now and again, but considering the amount of baking I’ve been doing lately, a brief hiatus is in order.
This sauce is positively creamy, flavorful, and downright dreamy without adding butter whatsoever.
It’s also really simple to make… meaning it’s time to ditch that jar of pre-made preservative-ladden sauce for good!
Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce
Since I posted my super-hungry-preggo-food-blogger version, aka the one I ate standing in my kitchen by myself for lunch, simply double the recipe to serve four if needed.
You should also let some peas in on the fun. They love pasta.
Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 oz dry fettuccine noodles
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- ½ cup of cream
- ½ cup of evaporated milk
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp dried [or fresh!] parsley
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt
- a few cranks of black pepper to taste
- an optional drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
EXTRAS
- Add those veggies! Peas, mushrooms, spinach, and/or kale are yummy options!
Instructions
- Whether you’re making this dish for one, two, or four, the instructions are all the same!
- Grab a small pot and cook noodles according to the package’s directions. I undercook mine [barely] by a minute or two since they will spend a few extra minutes in the sauce.
- While they simmer away, measure out the remaining ingredients.
- Once the noodles are al-dente and tender, remove the water [drain, strain, whatever!] and reduce heat to medium-low [about a 4 on the dial].
- Add the noodles back to the pot and pour in the remainder of your ingredients.
- Stir constantly with a fork until the sauce thickens [approx 5 minutes if you’re serving one and 5-10 minutes for larger batches]. If you’re staring at a pot full of liquid for a few minutes there, don’t be alarmed. It will thicken by the end. If you’re a bit impatient you can try upping the heat a tad but [as I’ve found out the hard way] higher heat means increased risk of burning, so you’ll want to stir incessantly and watch it like a hawk.
- Once it’s thick and creamy, grab a teeny bite to taste test.
- Feel free to add extra garlic [I have a heavy hand with the stuff], parsley, salt, pepper an even some cayenne pepper for a little zing!
- Serve piping hot and enjoy immediately!
- optional: top with a teeny drizzle of extra virgin olive oil before serving and, if you’re feeling feisty, a little extra grated parm and parsley. Veggies also make a fantabulous addition if I do say so myself =) As does garlicky grilled/sauteed shrimp or coconut shrimp. It’s straight up to die for with shrimp!
Notes
Nutrition
If you get a chance to try this easy Alfredo sauce, let me know! You can leave me a comment here (LOVE checking those daily!) or tag @PEASandCRAYONS on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creations. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
special diets and swaps
No cream/milk lurking in your fridge? 1/2 cup of half and half will work too!
If you have cream but not evaporated milk, 2% or whole milk will absolutely work instead.
I go for evaporated milk in sauce recipes because of its thickness and convenience (it’s shelf stable in my pantry – score!) Lower fat dairy options will take a bit longer to thicken so keep that in mind as well.
Also, if you want to cut down a little on the milk/cream and add in a little good old fashioned butter? Go for it! Same goes for extra cheese on top. Let your taste buds be your guide.
Optional: top with a teeny drizzle of extra virgin olive oil before serving and, if you’re feeling feisty, a little extra grated parm and parsley.
Veggies also make a fantabulous addition if I do say so myself.
As does garlicky grilled/sauteed shrimp or coconut shrimp. It’s straight up to die for with shrimp!
Light and Tasty, MooCow-Free, Allergy-Friendly Alfredo Sauce
ingredients
- 3 oz dry fettuccine noodles
- 1/4-1/2 cup freshly grated romano cheese [from sheep]
- 1/2 cup of So Delicious Plain Unsweetened Dairy-Free Coconut Milk Cream [this one]
- 1-2 TBSP of creamy goat cheese
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/4-1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
instructions
Use the same exact steps as the previous alfredo sauce, just with the ingredients above! So easy! If you love goat cheese you’ll pretty much swoon face-first into your plate. It’s a given.
Regardless of which easy alfredo sauce you make, I think it’s safe to say that those sketchy jars of alfredo sauce have met their match.
Actually, they flat out lost the match the second they added modified corn starch and preservatives to their sauce. No thank you. We eat real food around here!
Besides, the whole from-scratch shebang takes approx 15 minutes to whip up. Going once… Going twice… SOLD!
I made this and the taste was really good, and easy to make. But when I was mixing it it was thin but after few minutes it turned really thick and stuck together like glue. Any ideas on how to fix it.
Hi Chris! This happens with many Alfredo sauces as they cool down. The longer it cooks the thicker it seems to get so so I try to yank it once it’s set and then enjoy right away. Alternatively, it can be thinned with milk if you notice it getting too thick. Hope this helps! xoxo
Let’s make this three ways, with the third way being in my belly! 🙂
Bahahaha sounds like a perfect plan Renee!
The goat cheese has such a nice tang! This is a great recipe. Thank you!
So stoked you enjoyed it Taryn, thanks!
I love the fact that you use real and fresh ingredients! Yeah for real! I am looking forward to the making of this dish for my grandchildren.
You had me at goat cheese!
Sounds and looks fantastic! Finally found a good option for my dinner party. Just planning to make some macaroni, but worried about the mix. So hope this Alfredo Sauce would make it better.
WOWOW! Thank you for having a dairy free option since that is ME all the way! LOVE love LOVE! I will def. be using this recipe at my next dinner party Italian themed 🙂 Love + Shine CourtStar
Wow…just wow..these look so good, and I am so happy you made one without dairy because sometimes those creamy sauces do a number on my tummy and I’d rather be safe than sorry…oh and peas in pasta is like my favorite thing right now!
I’ll take anything over traditional bottled alfredo sauces! This looks delicious!
Peas really DO love pasta, don’t they? I was having spaghetti cravings while at the store the other day and bought a bag of frozen peas because I literally couldn’t comprehend NOT eating them together. 🙂
Thanks for the moo-cow free version. And for saying moo-cow.
Yum this looks great! I should cook more pasta when I see dishes like this 🙂
Droooool! Alfredo is my favorite pasta sauce, so I’ll be sure to give your recipe a try 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
This looks awesome, and I LOVE your addition of peas! I think I have a slight obsession with them considering I will eat them for a snack! 😉
Oh my gosh. This looks delicious. It almost makes me want to lick my laptop. I LOVE your recipes. I also love trying to sneak extra veggies in on my husband via your recipes. Thanks! =)
guess who made this last night with shrimp? This girl. As always yours looks better.
Who doesn’t love a quick and easy sauce like this, great idea!
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
Holy Yummmm!!! Too much dairy doesn’t sit well in my stomach so that second recipe has caught my eye!
Both of these sound so delicious!
you have no idea how bad i want this right now. so good!
STOP. This is too good to be true.
OMG! I just found this WIAW thing and I am already in love! I love posting about the foods that I eat, but I feel weird about it because I don’t want every post to be about food, and I don’t want it to be completely random (probably over thinking this) But now I have a perfect reason to post one post a week that is dedicated to what I’m eating! And I loooveee me some veggies so look forward to seeing some veggie stuff! Awesome – I am SOO excited! Thanks for starting all of this up!
I really want to try the allergy free version! Sounds super healthy and very yummy!
This looks unbelievably good. I might have to add some butter because I have an unhealthy obsession, but otherwise, making this is definitely on my to-do list.
Why did I never think of adding peas to alfredo? Not only does that sound like a great combo, but it looks super pretty!ha
Nice I like the variations you give. I like to make my healthier alfredo using reduced fat cream cheese and milk
they both look awesome! love me some alfredo – and love the addition of peas 🙂
Thanks Amanda!
Do you really think it’s 16 hours for me to get there for dinner? #fail
I lied – It’s like 7 hours! Meet you halfway? =)
Oh my gosh, Jenn. Both of them look amazing and have me feeling hungry just looking at them. I love the addition of peas in version one. Moo-free totally made me laugh. I love the idea of adding goats cheese to the alfredo sauce. I love goats cheese.
Thanks Nikki!!!!! I’m just now starting up a love affair with goat cheese — I had no idea it could be so yummy! Especially alongside fig preserves on crusty bread… OMG I die!