This thick and creamy tasting alfredo sauce is made with real cream cheese, giving us a great texture and richness in every bite.
I love making my own homemade alfredo sauce here and there but my favorite version includes cream cheese. I always have a block or more in the fridge for baking purposes so adding it to my sauce is easy.
This alfredo sauce recipe gives you a thick and luxuriously creamy alfredo sauce that clings to cooked noodles or works great in alfredo baked casseroles and recipes as well.
Use the homemade alfredo sauce with cream cheese to top your chicken, pizza, or lasagna with this sauce and you will definitely be in for a good time!
🥘 Ingredients
- Butter
- Garlic
- Flour
- Milk or heavy cream
- Cream cheese
- Garlic powder
- Italian seasoning
- Black pepper
- Parmesan cheese
- Salt
🍽 Equipment Needed
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- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Whisk
- Medium sized pot
🍴 Recipe Tips
Everyone likes their alfredo sauce at a different consistency, some like runny and others like thick. I personally prefer thick which is why I enjoy this recipe as-is, but there's an easy way to thin it down and stretch it out into even more servings.
If using this alfredo sauce with pasta, reserve water from the boiled noodles and whisk it into the prepared alfredo sauce ½ cup at a time until desired consistency has been reached. Or, you can use very warm water or milk to add to the sauce.
Also, when making this easy alfredo sauce with cream cheese, you can use cold cream cheese, but keep in mind that the texture will be different than if using softened cream cheese. When cream cheese is cold it doesn't fully incorporate into sauces and leaves behind very tiny white ball-looking pieces. Visually, they are noticeable, texturally, they are not.
💭 FAQs
I do not recommend freezing this alfredo sauce unless you plan on using it for a baked recipe later. For example, a meal prepped with lasagna, casserole, or smothered baked chicken breasts would be okay examples whereas a jar of leftover sauce is not. The difference is that when frozen the mixture will separate and not come back together in the same texture and appearance as it was before being frozen. When baked it's much less noticeable because it blends in better than if it sat on top of a pile of noodles.
This alfredo sauce using cream cheese can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Yes! You can choose to use regular milk, heavy cream, or even half and half to give this sauce the liquid needed for that flavorful creamy end result.
🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make cream cheese alfredo sauce with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Melt your butter in a medium sized pot over medium heat.
Whisk in the minced garlic and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Whisk in flour, black pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.
Slowly whisk in the milk until smooth.
Add in the cream cheese and stir occasionally until melted and the sauce begins to thicken.
Add parmesan cheese and whisk until blended.
Once the sauce is smooth you can serve it as-is or you can add in up to ½ cup of reserved pasta water from your cooked pasta to help thin it down a little bit.
Serve and use as desired.
Enjoy!
More great pasta recipes to try
- 3 Ingredient Spinach Artichoke Mac and Cheese
- Creamy Roasted Garlic and Tomato Pasta
- Pineapple Teriyaki Yakisoba Noodles
- Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Bake
- Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
- Cream Cheese Bacon Pasta Bake
📖 Recipe
Cream Cheese Alfredo Sauce
Equipment
- Medium-sized pot
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons butter ($0.24)
- ½ teaspoons minced garlic ($0.03)
- 2 Tablespoons flour ($0.01)
- 2 cups whole milk ($0.38)
- 4 oz cream cheese softened & cubed ($0.99)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder ($0.10)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning ($0.10)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper ($0.02)
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded ($0.99)
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a medium sized pot over medium heat on the stove, melt your butter.
- Whisk in the minced garlic and stir about 30 seconds until fragrant. Whisk in the flour, black pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder, until well mixed.
- Slowly add in the milk, while whisking until smooth. Add in cream cheese and stir occasionally until melted into the mixture and it begins to thicken.
- Whisk in the parmesan cheese until blended.
- Serve the sauce as desired or whisk in hot reserved pasta water ½ cup at a time to thin down the sauce if desired.
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