Easiest Alfredo Sauce Recipe

You’ve found the easiest Alfredo sauce recipe ever! It uses melted cream cheese and butter for an instantly creamy sauce, it’s loaded with garlic and Parmesan, and everyone who’s tasted it says it’s the best ever! Note: Can be made on the stove or in the microwave.

Alfredo sauce is already wonderful, but it’s even better when you make it with this super-easy recipe. I’m even giving you options for making it on the stovetop or in the microwave to speed things up even more. The only ingredients you need are: butter, cream cheese, garlic, Parmesan cheese, milk, salt, and pepper. I bet you already have most of those! So then, get your pasta cooking and get ready for a delicious dinner that’s simple enough for even busy nights.

Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.

Video: Making Easy Alfredo Sauce

What Is Alfredo Sauce?

The classic Italian pasta sauce called Alfredo sauce actually only uses butter, Parmesan cheese, and pasta water. Then there’s the American version that most of us are more familiar with (think Olive-Garden-style, like in their Asiago Tortellini Alfredo With Grilled Chicken mmmmmmm), which is a bit different and includes flour and butter combined to make a roux, and then Parmesan cheese and heavy cream are added. The result is a thick and creamy sauce.

The recipe below for the Easiest Alfredo Sauce is neither an authentic Italian alfredo nor is it the more roux-based Alfredo of Italian-American restaurants. If you want an authentic Italian alfredo recipe, go here. And that roux sauce is more like this béchamel sauce recipe, but with Parmesan and garlic added. And for a chicken pasta bake dinner with that kind of thick and creamy alfredo, head over here.

Instead, today’s recipe gets you that nice thick sauce, but without needing to make a roux. Instead, it’s thickened with cream cheese!

Special Ingredient For Easy Alfredo

So yes, this easy Alfredo sauce recipe is thickened with cream cheese just like my Garlic Parmesan Dip recipe. It therefore has a lot of creaminess and tang, but with very little effort. Making a roux is pretty easy, but this is even easier and packed with flavor. And since you’re essentially just melting the cream cheese, you’ll see that we can do it on the stove or in the microwave, which is more challenging if you’re making a roux.

We’re essentially just melting the cream cheese with butter, and then thinning that with milk, and adding garlic and Parmesan cheese for flavor. And salt and pepper, of course, too.

If you want to try another alfredo recipe with a different ingredient you might not expect, try this Greek Yogurt Alfredo recipe.

Making Easy Alfredo On The Stovetop

The full recipe instructions with measurements are below, but here are the basics.

To make this easy alfredo sauce on the stove, you’ll set a sauce pan over medium heat and add butter, cream cheese, and some minced garlic. Stir regularly until the ingredients melt and combine.

Then you add in freshly grated Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Once the cheese melts, reduce to low heat. Then, while stirring, you’ll drizzle in the milk. Keep stirring until combined and heated through.

Remove the pan from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes to thicken a bit. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if desired, before adding it to pasta.

This recipe makes enough to toss with one pound of cooked fettuccine noodles. Slice up some baked chicken breasts to add on top for chicken Alfredo, or serve with a salad and hot breadsticks.

Making Alfredo In The Microwave

This recipe is already easy, but I wondered if I could make it even easier by not even turning on the stove. Turns out, you can also make this in the microwave! So, if you only have one stove burner and it’s being used to cook your pasta, then you can make the sauce in the microwave. This is really a perfect recipe for a college dorm, or for if you just want less going on on your stove.

Can I Use Other Cheeses?

Absolutely. It changes it from being similar to an Alfredo sauce to just a delicious cheesy sauce, but that’s good too. You can change the cheese whether you’re making this on the stove or in the microwave.

Any kind of cheese that melts well will work here. It’s great with Parmesan, Cheddar, Monterey jack, or mozzarella. I find that freshly grated cheeses melt better for sauces than the bagged shredded cheese, as they have an additive to keep the cheese from clumping.

Can I Use Garlic Powder?

Yes, if you’d like to use garlic powder instead of fresh, minced garlic, that’s not a problem. Use 2 teaspoons of garlic powder, and go ahead and add it when the recipe calls for the fresh garlic.

Can This Sauce Be Used as A Dip?

One of my favorite things to do at an Italian restaurant is to dip the breadsticks in Alfredo sauce. You can absolutely make the sauce recipe as is and use it as a dip like that. However, I’ve found that it’s an even better and thicker dip if I cut down on the milk in the recipe. If you’d like to use this recipe as an Alfredo dip instead of as a sauce, use 1/2 cup of milk instead of 1 cup of milk.

More Pasta Sauce Recipes

If you love this easy homemade Alfredo sauce recipe, browse my full collection of sauce recipes or try one of these other recipes that are perfect for pasta.

• Garlic Parmesan Sauce
• Best Cheese Sauce Recipe
• Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce
• Homemade Tomato Sauce
• Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe
• Sun-Dried Tomato Tapenade