This Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce is the most wonderfully rich and creamy sauce that’s made from scratch using fresh, natural ingredients. It’s absolutely delicious served over your favorite pasta, chicken, veggies or just served for dipping with warm Italian breadsticks.

Homemade alfredo sauce is a combination of Unsalted butter, Garlic, minced (or you can use garlic powder), All-purpose flour, Heavy cream, Whole milk, Black pepper (you can also use white pepper), Fresh parmesan cheese, and shredded Pecorino Romano cheese

Olive Garden’s Alfredo Sauce Recipe

This is hands down the best pasta sauce you’ll ever make! It’s a copycat version of the popular Olive Garden Chicken Alfredo sauce that’s always a family favorite. But this is such a versatile sauce you can serve it so many other ways. One of the best things is it only takes a few simple ingredients and is ready in just a matter of minutes.

But don’t let that fool you, because even though it’s super easy to make, the results are an unbelievably flavorful and creamy restaurant-quality sauce that’s the perfect companion to just about any of your favorite pasta recipes. This Alfredo sauce is what we use on our homemade chicken Alfredo pasta. And, if you’re looking for other amazing Olive Garden copycat recipes, check out these pillowy soft Olive Garden Breadsticks recipe. They are the perfect thing to dip in this copycat Olive Garden Alfredo sauce.

💓 Why We Love This Recipe

This rich and cheesy sauce is perfect with any pasta dish, chicken, vegetables, and more.
It’s a delicious sauce that makes an easy meal or side dish for any night of the week.
This copycat version is just as good as the original Olive Garden recipe but is made in your own kitchen.

🔪 Recommended Tools:

Heavy bottom sauce pan
Measuring Cups
Cheese grater
Whisk

🛒 What’s Needed for Homemade Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients for Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce

Unsalted butter
Garlic, minced (or you can use garlic powder)
All-purpose flour
Heavy cream
Whole milk
Black pepper (you can also use white pepper)
Fresh parmesan cheese, shredded
Pecorino Romano cheese

📄 How to Make Homemade Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce

Step One: Melt the Butter

Melting the butter for Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce recipe

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Watch it so that it does not begin to brown too much.

Step Two: Make the Roux

Once the butter is melted, add the fresh garlic, heat until fragrant about 2-3 minutes.

Sprinkle with all-purpose flour whisk until well combined.

Adding the garlic to melted butter for Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce

Step Three: Whisk in the Liquids

Add heavy whipping cream and milk, whisk together until smooth.

A mixture of different cheese ingredients for Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce

Step Four: Add the Cheese and Serve

adding cheese and seasonings to alfredo sauce

Turn on low heat and add the parmesan and pecorino Romano cheeses, stir in until cheese is melted and combined.
Garnish with some chopped fresh parsley (optional).

Pro tip: This sauce cooks quickly, so wait to make it right before the rest of the meal is ready.

How to Store Leftover Alfredo Sauce

Fridge: Place pasta sauce in a glass jar with a tight fitting or other airtight container and place in the fridge. It should stay fresh for up to 4-5 days.

Freeze for later: This easy Alfredo sauce recipe freezes well for up to a couple months. For best results, once the sauce cooks and has completely cooled to room temperature, add it to a freezer bag. Squeeze out any excess air. Place in on a flat surface in the freezer until it has frozen solid before moving it around.

Reheating creamy sauces: Creamy alfredo sauce and other creamy based sauces have to be reheated slowly on a low temperature. If you reheat it too quickly or over high heat, the cream will scald. If the sauce is frozen, you’ll want to let it thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating it.

What Can I Do if My Sauce is Too Thick?

The longer you let the sauce cook, the thicker it will get. If your sauce is too thick there’s an easy solution! Just add a little more milk to the thick sauce until it reaches the consistency you desire.

How to Serve this Easy Recipe for Alfredo Sauce

Pasta: Olive Garden’s delicious original recipe is typically served over fettucine noodles or angel hair pasta. You can also use ziti, spaghetti noodles or any of your favorite types of pasta.

Veggies: You can serve this sauce over grilled zucchini or summer squash. It’s also awesome over roasted peppers, asparagus, broccoli or cauliflower.

Protein: Pan seared boneless, skinless chicken breasts, shrimp, salmon fillets or even grilled steak tips are all an easy dinner idea the whole family will love.

Dipping Sauce: You can just serve this scrumptious alfredo sauce on the side with breadsticks or French bread for dipping.

skillet of pasta with alfredo sauce on it

Tips for Making the Best Alfredo Sauce

Fresh cheeses: Most of the flavor in this Olive Garden Alfredo sauce recipe comes from the cheeses. That’s why using a good-quality cheese is so important. Make sure you check the expiration date on cheese and get one with the freshest date as possible.
Grate it yourself: Always use freshly grated parmesan cheese. Prepackaged cheese can sometimes have a coating on it that prevents it from melting smoothly. Freshly grated cheese melts smooth without a grainy texture.
Whisk: This is the one time when you can put away your wooden spoon. You’ll want to use a whisk when making this sauce. This helps to incorporate all the ingredients and makes the sauce nice and smooth.
Watch the temp: You are not going to boil this sauce. You want to bring the heat up just until the sauce is simmering. Overheating it will leave you with a clumpy mess.
Timing: This fettuccine Alfredo sauce is different than marinara sauce that gets better the longer it cooks. This sauce gets thicker as it begins to cool off, so you’ll want to time the pasta or whatever you’re serving it with just right. For instance, if you’re baking chicken to go with it, you’ll want to start the sauce just a few minutes before the chicken is done.

Want More Copycat Recipes?

Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Total Time 20

Creamy, cheesy Alfredo sauce just like Olive Garden's popular pasta and dipping sauce.

Ingredients

Instructions

In medium-sized skillet, heat butter, until melted.
Add garlic, heat until fragrant about 2-3 minutes
Sprinkle with all-purpose flour and whisk until well combined
Add cream and milk, whisk together.
Add parmesan and pecorino romano cheese, stir in until cheese is melted and combined.

Nutrition

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