My Recipe for the Easiest Alfredo Sauce

The world went crazy on us last week folks. We are all living out life in some form of containment, and I am sure are wondering what we will do to pass time in isolation other than drive each other crazy.

In our household, good food is something we take comfort in. Our decision was to make the most of this extra time together as a family and cook some really nice meals together, and all from scratch! One of the reasons behind this is not only keeping ourselves out of grocery stores, but also to save money. If you commit just a little effort into scratch cooking I think you will discover how incredibly affordable it is! Staples of our lives such as bread and pasta can be created for pennies at home – especially if you buy your flour and sugar in bulk.

So, over the next few weeks I plan to share with you some of the simplest scratch recipes that are SO AFFORDABLE and easy to make at home. My hope is that soon you find how easy it is to make some of these staples, and can cook more fresh foods for your family and save money along the way.

Today, we start with Alfredo sauce! Alfredo sauce is creamy and delicious, and can be used for all sorts of dinners. Tonight, we made cheese tortellini topped with sauteed veggies, and finished it off with this Alfredo sauce and the kiddos went back for seconds. You can pair with any kind of pasta, and it also goes great with chicken, and of course bread for dipping.

The concept is super easy – you need equal parts fat and flour to create the correct consistency. If you desire to make a larger serving, you can simply increase your equal parts fat/flour and add more milk.

Here we go!

Ingredients:
-1/3 cup butter
-1/3 cup flour
-2-3 cups milk (2% milk fat or higher desired)
-1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, shredded
-1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, or to taste
-1/4 teaspoon pepper

This recipe is super easy, but the one thing to know is that you super can’t throw it all in a pot and make it work. Follow my directions precisely for best results! It is easy, and the basic idea is DON’T STOP WHISKING. The other important thing is to have all ingredients out and ready. This all moves quickly and you don’t want to accidentally burn anything while going to the fridge to grab an ingredient.

Begin by melting your butter over medium to medium-high heat. Don’t let it brown. Here is where the whisking starts, get ready!

Add your flour and whisk like crazy. It will turn thick like a dough. Don’t worry, this is supposed to happen! Now, slowly pour in your milk while continuing to whisk. Continue whisking and adding milk, until you are just a little runnier than your desired consistency. Your sauce should only be lightly simmering before each addition – you don’t want to add more milk until you see a simmer, but you also don’t want it too thick or to boil. I left the amount of milk added pretty open in this recipe as I am sure some people like their sauces thicker than others.

Step 1 – melt the butter

Step 2 – add flour and whisk

Step 3 – this is what it looks like before you add milk, get ready to whisk like crazy!

Once your sauce is almost at your desired consistency (again just a tiny bit on the runny side), add your cheese, still while whisking. You will see the sauce thicken to the perfect Alfredo consistency at this point! Add your seasonings to taste – I typically like to add a little more salt to mine, so I the measurements above are on the conservative side. Don’t be shy to add more!

Alfredo Sauce Recipe 6 — Don’t be shy with the cheese! I often add more to mine if I want my sauce thicker and more cheesy.

So, how did you fare making your Alfredo following these instructions? My hope is that it went well, and you realized how easy a scratch Alfredo sauce is to make! Seriously, how much money do you think you can save making this recipe at home, instead of buying jars for $5 at the grocery store? I can tell you that we get a bulk bag of flour from Costco for $6 about once every six months, so the answer is, A LOT!

Enjoy friends, and happy cooking!

X.O. – Abbey Co.

Abbey Co. Seattle is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. I am not sponsored by any of these products, but am bringing you info on how to purchase them because I LOVE THEM!!!

OK, so a few things in regards to kitchen supplies. Your best combo here is a stainless steel pan with a stainless steel whisk. Once you dial in how to use stainless, you will never go back. They deglaze so easily and many are even dishwasher safe! The other key thing about stainless is your safety – they are not coated in anything… all these non-stick pans that have been the rage for the past few decades are coated in crap that gives you cancer. It might seem great at first, however over the years you will find this non-stick pan coating literally chipping off into your food. This is something I encountered a few years ago, and the scary thing was it was a pan I cooked with all the time – I only realized it was chipping when making a white chocolate sauce. My first thought – how did this pepper get in my pan? I quickly realized it was the coating from my pan chipping and was mortified! We instantly made the change after and will never look back.

Here are my favorite picks, All-Clad is out brand of choice:

All-Clad 4203 Stainless Steel Tri-Ply Bonded Dishwasher Safe Sauce Pan with Lid / Cookware, 3-Quart, Silver – 8701004398