Alfredo Sauce
I experimented with this until I found a quick, cheap, and easy Alfredo sauce combination -- the secret is cream cheese!
I experimented with this until I found a quick, cheap, and easy Alfredo sauce combination -- the secret is cream cheese!
- Carbohydrate 2.5048965625 g
- Cholesterol 63.44625 mg
- Fat 23.628591875 g
- Fiber 0.155990619659424 g
- Protein 1.4900734375 g
- Saturated Fat 14.961588125 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (60g)
- Sodium 176.337875 mg
- Sugar 2.34890594284058 g
- Trans Fat 1.638844375 g
- Calories 224 calories
Step-by-step
- Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat.
- Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth.
- Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps.
- Stir in Parmesan and pepper.
- Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency.
- Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long.
- Toss with hot pasta to serve.
A limited prep window demands an emulsion strategy that avoids flour slurries or long reductions. Traditional versions rely on heavy cream and starch water, but incorporating block cream cheese introduces stabilizers that prevent the fat from breaking under heat. Whisking continuously over medium heat ensures the dairy solids integrate before the butter separates into an oily pool.
- Melt the butter in a medium non-stick saucepan over medium heat to prevent burning the milk solids at high temperatures.
- Add the cream cheese and garlic powder immediately after the butter liquefies, using a wire whisk to break up solid clumps.
- Pour the milk in small increments, whisking vigorously until the liquid fully absorbs before adding the next splash.
- Remove the pan from the burner the moment the sauce coats the back of a spoon, as residual heat will continue to thicken the mixture rapidly.
- Thin an overly dense sauce by whisking in warm milk one tablespoon at a time until the desired fluidity returns.
Scaling quantities up or down requires proportional adjustments to the dairy fats, though doubling the batch demands a wider saucepan to maintain even heat distribution across the bottom. Keeping the thermal energy moderate guarantees a uniform texture without graininess.
