The Creamiest Gluten Free Alfredo Sauce Recipe | Fearless Dining (2024)

FAQs

How to make Alfredo sauce creamy and not gritty? ›

Fresh parmesan cheese grated off the block is one of those key ingredients. This will create a smooth textured sauce rather than a grainy one.

Add Cheese

The key ingredient in Alfredo sauce is cheese—generally Parmigiano Reggiano—and lots of it. To thicken Alfredo sauce, simply add more cheese than the amount called for in a recipe until you achieve the consistency you want.

Milk, heavy cream, or sour cream.

You will get a creamier texture and a bolder flavor. If you want, you can also add some romano cheese to balance the nutty taste of the other dairy ingredients. Chicken broth: another way to improve a jar of Alfredo sauce and give it a rich flavor.

Why is my Alfredo Sauce clumpy/gritty? If your sauce is not silky smooth it could be because your ingredients don't have as high of fat content to them. Make sure you're using quality ingredients and whisking until smooth. Can I make Alfredo Sauce in advance?

Heartier herbs like thyme or oregano can be added in to simmer with the sauce. Add delicate herbs like parsley, basil, or chervil at the end to maintain their delicate, aromatic flavor. Quick tip: Swirl in a bit of leftover pesto to add another herbaceous twist to your Alfredo sauce.

White Flour

Flours can be used to make a bit of a slurry and add to the sauce to make it thicker. 1 part flour to 2 parts liquid and then adding it to your sauce should thicken it nicely. Just make sure that when you make the slurry, there are no lumps in your mixture.

The Fix Is Simple—Add Water Back.

While it may seem counterintuitive to add liquid to an oily sauce, whisking in more water replaces what was evaporated and helps re-suspend that fat, emulsifying your sauce once more. A generous splash of water is all it takes.

For a thicker, more creamy sauce, reduce the amount of heavy cream/milk used and add either sour cream or cream cheese 1 ounce at a time.

Use the pasta water to create a creamy Alfredo sauce

This water (which Bon Appetit calls “LIQUID GOLD”) is what emulsifies with the fat in your sauce (oil, butter, cheese, etc) and creates that incredibly smooth sauce. My #1 tip with pasta water is DO NOT ADD IT DIRECTLY FROM THE POT.

Pan sauces and cream sauces will become broken and curdle if simmered or boiled for too long. In both cases, the emulsifying ingredient is often butter or cream, and if subjected to high heat for too long, the balance of fat and water is thrown off, which causes the split.

What can I substitute for butter in Alfredo sauce? ›

Of course we are skipping the butter to make Alfredo sauce and using extra virgin olive oil instead.

Reduce the heavy cream before adding cheese

Most basic Alfredo sauce recipes today will call for heavy cream or whipping cream to recreate the thick consistency of the original dish. One trick to help create a thick Alfredo sauce is to reduce the cream before adding freshly grated cheese (via Better Homes & Gardens).

In addition to extra black pepper, I like to add Italian spices to my alfredo sauce. I start with a dash of oregano and thyme. Then, I give it a taste to see what I think. If I still feel it needs something else, I add a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Avoid Grainy Alfredo Sauce

The first is choosing freshly shredded parmesan cheese off the block. "Pre-shredded packaged parmesan cheese will result in a grainy sauce," says Anthony. Therefore, to avoid lumps in your sauce, always go with freshly shredded cheese.

Adding the sauce slowly, bit-by-bit, as you stir the liquid and pasta in your pot will make the cheese melt evenly and avoid clumping. Please tell us you're not dumping your cheese in all at once.

Slowly let the cheese disolve on low heat into the cream mixture. And remove it before it is completely melted but keep stirring this allows the finishing blending to happen without over heatting the cheese which causes that grainy texture. Try this and you'll never go out to a resturant for alfredo again.

Using pre-grated parmesan

If you're making alfredo for the first time, you may be inclined to buy bagged parmesan from the store rather than grating your own. According to Livestrong, one of the reasons why your alfredo sauce gets grainy is because your pre-bagged cheese contains anti-caking agents.

Q: "Every time I make homemade mac and cheese the sauce is smooth at first but then gets grainy (paste-like) as it cools. What am I doing wrong?" A: "Your ratios—from your roux to the fat content in the cheeses that you're using—may be a little off," Rach says. "You also just may be overcooking it."

When you heat cheese to too high of a temperature the emulsion breaks and the curds are released by the whey. The grainy texture of your sauce is the curds. Next time you make macaroni and cheese, make the bechamel sauce and turn off the heat.