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Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce is an easy dinner idea served with fettuccine pasta – you can make this restaurant favorite at home in your own kitchen. It’s a creamy Alfredo sauce made with simple, fresh ingredients like two types of milk and fresh parmesan cheese.
Do you want more Olive Garden copycat recipes? Try Olive Garden Minestrone Soup and Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup ❤︎
Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce Recipe
If you’ve ever found yourself craving the rich, creamy Alfredo sauce from Olive Garden, you’re going to love this easy homemade version that you can make in your own kitchen at home!
This copycat olive garden’s Alfredo sauce recipe is silky smooth, loaded with real + fresh ingredients like butter, cream, garlic, and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Use the Alfredo sauce as a dipping sauce, in any recipe that calls for Alfredo sauce, or add your favorite protein for a hearty dinner the whole family will love – shrimp Alfredo and chicken Alfredo with fettuccine noodles are some of my family’s favorites.
I love to grab a bag of ready-to-use Caesar salad and serve that alongside this fettuccine Alfredo. My kids love the long, thick fettuccine noodles and I love that this can be a meatless dinner, that is still hearty and filling, and my kids will eat.
Why You’ll Love This Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce
Whether you’re tossing it with fettuccine, spooning it over grilled chicken, or using it as a dipping sauce for breadsticks, this restaurant-style, easy Alfredo sauce recipe is guaranteed to become a family favorite.
- ❤︎ Rich and ultra creamy
- ❤︎ Tastes just like Olive Garden
- ❤︎ Made with simple & fresh ingredients
- ❤︎ Perfect for pasta, shrimp, grilled chicken, meatless dinner over your favorite pasta
- ❤︎ So much better than store-bought Alfredo sauce
Simple Ingredients Needed
- Salted Butter
- Garlic Cloves : For the best flavor use fresh garlic cloves that have been minced or pressed.
- All-Purpose Flour
- Heavy Whipping Cream : No substitutes!
- Whole Milk : Again, no substitutes! This is a copycat recipe, so for the best copycat version you need those two specific milks.
- Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese : Buy a wedge of parmesan cheese and shred it yourself using a cheese box grater.
- Onion Powder
- Kosher Salt
- Ground Black Pepper
- Fettuccine Pasta : This is the classic way to serve Alfredo sauce, but feel free to serve it with any pasta shape and/or use in any recipe that calls for Alfredo sauce.
How To Make Olive Garden Alfredo Recipe (Printable Recipe Card)
In a medium saucepan or large skillet, over medium heat, melt the butter.
Once the butter has melted, add the minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, stirring constantly so the garlic does not brown.
Sprinkle the flour over top and whisk together for 1 minute.
Slowly pour the heavy whopping cream and milk, while whisking constantly, until everything is well combined.
Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer (lightly boiling around the edges) and let it cook for 5 minutes. Whisk the mixture frequently during the cook time as it starts to reduce and thicken slightly. After the 5 minutes, the Alfredo sauce should be thickened and reduced slightly, if needed cook it for longer until it reaches this state.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the freshly grated parmesan cheese along with the onion powder, kosher salt, and black pepper until it is completely melted and the sauce is perfectly smooth.
Taste and adjust the seasonings as necessary (usually just more kosher salt if needed), then immediately pour it over freshly cooked fettuccine pasta. Or use the Alfredo sauce in any recipe or serve with any pasta. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley (optional) and enjoy!
How To Store Leftover Alfredo Sauce
Store leftover sauce in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days. Because it contains a high percentage of dairy fat, it will solidify into a thick paste when cold.
Reheat very gently on the stove top over low heat, whisking in 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk or reserved pasta water to loosen the emulsion. I do not recommend freezing homemade Alfredo sauce.
Pro Tips From The Test Kitchen
- Olive Garden’s authentic flavor relies on the specific fat balance using heavy whipping cream and whole milk. Because of this, I do not recommend substituting either milk ingredient with a lower-fat option. Only use heavy whipping cream and whole milk – no substitutes!
- Use fresh parmesan cheese! Buy a wedge of parmesan cheese, in the deli area near the other specialty cheeses, and use a box cheese grater to shred it yourself. For a more complex, authentic flavor profile use a wedge of parmigiano-reggiano cheese or Romano cheese. Do not use pre-shredded parmesan cheese or the shelf-stable grated parmesan cheese.
- If fresh garlic is not available, substitute with ½ teaspoon of garlic powder added along with the onion powder at the end. Fresh garlic cloves that have been minced or pressed will yield the best results – the next best option would be garlic powder.
- Always remove the pan from the heat source before stirring in the parmesan cheese. High, direct heat can cause the cheese to seize up, resulting in a broken Alfredo sauce. The indirect heat from the pan will be enough to melt the cheese.
- Save your pasta water! Before draining the fettuccine, scoop out about ½ cup of the hot pasta water. If your Alfredo sauce thickens up too much, a splash of the pasta water will loosen it perfectly while helping the sauce cling to the noodles.
- Whisk the dairy (heavy whipping cream + whole milk) into the roux (melted butter + flour mixture) very slowly. Pouring cold milk and cream into a warm roux all at once can shock the flour mixture and cause small, stubborn flour lumps. Adding it in a slow drizzle while whisking continuously guarantees a smooth velvety sauce base.
More Copycat Restaurant Recipes
- Copycat Chick-Fil-A Mac and Cheese
- Cracker Barrel Meatloaf
- Copycat Cafe Rio Dressing
- Easy Copycat Recipe Little Caesar’s Crazy Bread
- Starbucks Bacon Gruyere Egg Bites
- Copycat Hostess Raspberry Zinger Cake
- Copycat Hostess Snoballs Poke Cake Recipe
- Copycat Big Mac Sloppy Joes
Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1¼ cups freshly grated parmesan cheese (from a wedge)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 box (16 oz) fettuccine pasta (optional for serving, cooked according to package directions)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan or large skillet, over medium heat, melt the butter.4 tablespoons salted butter
- Once the butter has melted, add the minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, stirring constantly so the garlic does not brown.2 cloves garlic
- Sprinkle the flour over top and whisk together for 1 minute.3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Slowly pour the heavy whipping cream and milk, while whisking constantly, until everything is well combined.1½ cups heavy whipping cream, ½ cup whole milk
- Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer (lightly boiling around the edges) and let it cook for 5 minutes. Whisk the mixture frequently during the cook time as it starts to reduce and thicken slightly.*After the 5 minutes, the Alfredo sauce should be thickened and reduced slightly, if needed cook it for longer until it reaches this state.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the freshly grated parmesan cheese along with the onion powder, kosher salt, and black pepper until it is completely melted and the sauce is perfectly smooth.1¼ cups freshly grated parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Taste and adjust the seasonings as necessary (usually just more kosher salt if needed), then immediately pour it over freshly cooked fettuccine pasta. Or use the Alfredo sauce in any recipe or serve with any pasta. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley (optional) and enjoy!1 box (16 oz) fettuccine pasta
Notes
- The nutrition information provided is for one serving of the Alfredo sauce and it does not include the fettuccine pasta as that is an optional way to serve the Alfredo sauce. The recipe makes about 3 cups of Alfredo sauce so each serving is 1/2 cup.
- Olive Garden’s authentic flavor relies on the specific fat balance using heavy whipping cream and whole milk. Because of this, I do not recommend substituting either milk ingredient with a lower-fat option. Only use heavy whipping cream and whole milk – no substitutes!
- Use fresh parmesan cheese! Buy a wedge of parmesan cheese, in the deli area near the other specialty cheeses, and use a box cheese grater to shred it yourself. For a more complex, authentic flavor profile use a wedge of parmigiano-reggiano cheese or Romano cheese. Do not use pre-shredded parmesan cheese or the shelf-stable grated parmesan cheese.
- If fresh garlic is not available, substitute with ½ teaspoon of garlic powder added along with the onion powder at the end. Fresh garlic cloves that have been minced or pressed will yield the best results – the next best option would be garlic powder.
- Always remove the pan from the heat source before stirring in the parmesan cheese. High, direct heat can cause the cheese to seize up, resulting in a broken Alfredo sauce. The indirect heat from the pan will be enough to melt the cheese.
- Save your pasta water! Before draining the fettuccine, scoop out about ½ cup of the hot pasta water. If your Alfredo sauce thickens up too much, a splash of the pasta water will loosen it perfectly while helping the sauce cling to the noodles.
- Whisk the dairy (heavy whipping cream + whole milk) into the roux (melted butter + flour mixture) very slowly. Pouring cold milk and cream into a warm roux all at once can shock the flour mixture and cause small, stubborn flour lumps. Adding it in a slow drizzle while whisking continuously guarantees a smooth velvety sauce base.
Nutrition
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