Half and Half Alfredo Sauce

Find how to make half-and-half Alfredo sauce for a creamy plate of pasta in less than 15 minutes. For an even better result, we will make the half-and-half alfredo sauce in melted butter and a fried garlic clove to make this dish even more special. In the end, we will add the shredded parmesan and cook together the sauce with the pasta for a minute.

I love this recipe because it has a lower fat content than the original one, but it is still very creamy and has a rich flavor of melted butter, parmesan cheese, and fried fresh garlic clove.

You can also make this half-and-half alfredo sauce ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for a few days.

And when you need to serve the pasta, you can take off the alfredo sauce from the refrigerator, heat it a little bit on low heat, and mix it with the pasta.

So, it is an ideal option for a busy midweek dinner when you need to put something quick on the table, and everybody will enjoy eating.

Even your kids will adore this plate of pasta and will ask for more. Just make sure not to use a lot of oil for them.

What You Will Find in This Post?

• How to avoid overcooked pasta.
• On what you should pay attention to avoid a bitter taste.
• How you can control the consistency and creaminess of the pasta.
• How to avoid separating the alfredo sauce.
• Serving and substitute suggestions and a lot more.

Read until the end of the article to find some expert tips that will improve your dish.

🥰 Why You Will Love This Recipe?

• You can quickly make the alfredo sauce in the time that the pasta boil.
• You can add and vary the recipe depending on what ingredients you have in the fridge. You can add chicken or mushrooms or other vegetables that you prefer to eat.
• You will need only a few simple and affordable ingredients for this recipe.
• Your kids will love this dish as it is creamy in the end.

🥘 Ingredients and Substitutes

• Butter and Parmesan cheese. These two ingredients are the basis of this sauce. The original recipe was made up only of them. If you don’t have the parmesan, you can replace it with other hard cheese.
• Garlic. I added one large garlic clove for its incomparable aroma when cooked in a bit of butter. If you don’t like it or the taste of fried garlic is too intense for you, you can omit it altogether, use a smaller garlic clove, or replace it with dry granulated garlic.
• Half and Half. The cream is added because it is easier to get a special creaminess at home. Otherwise, you have to use the pasta risotto technique, which means you cook it for less time than indicated on the package, then put it in the pan with butter and mix it continuously, adding water as you do with risotto, but this takes longer. You don’t always get the desired result. You can use a fatter cream and dissolve it in milk.
• Pasta. You can use any pasta you want, but I recommend pasta with a hole in the center or wide pasta such as tagliatelle because they maintain a larger amount of sauce inside, and the final taste will be more balanced.

👩‍🍳 Step-by-step Directions

Put the butter and garlic in a cold pan, set the heat to low, and let the butter melt.

When the garlic is slightly browned, remove it from the pan and save it for the end if you want to use it for decoration; otherwise, you don’t need it anymore.

Pro Tip: Use a spoon, take the melted butter, and pour it over the garlic during the frying process. In that way, the melted butter will absorb a stronger garlic flavor.

Set the heat as low as possible and pour the half and half into the pan over the melted butter.

Stir continuously, until it starts to boil. Cook it for about 30 seconds, then turn off the heat.

Add the grated parmesan over and mix again until it melts.

In the end, you will get a creamy and aromatic alfredo sauce in which we used only half and half.

Now, if you didn’t boil the pasta yet, now is the time.

Pro Tip: As I said, consider boiling the pasta for one minute less than is indicated on its package because we will cook for an extra minute in the alfredo sauce on the pan.

Quick Note: Don’t throw away the water in which you boiled the pasta. You will need it later to adjust the consistency of the sauce if the pasta will absorb too much alfredo sauce.

Set the lowest heat again, but be careful not to let it boil as the sauce may start to separate. Mix continuously for about a minute.

If the pasta has absorbed all the sauce, add a little more water in which the pasta was cooked, and continue until the pasta boils, and you will get the desired sauce density.

Serve as soon as possible when the pasta is still hot and has a creamy sauce.

As you may see in the above photo, I made it only after 3-5 minutes after it was done, and the pasta mostly absorbed the creaminess of the alfredo sauce.

For this reason, I suggest you enjoy this delicious plate of pasta will half and half alfredo sauce as soon as possible for a better creamy texture.

🍽️ Serving Suggestions

If you like the taste of fried garlic, definitely serve the pasta with it because it gives extra texture and flavor to the food. Also, in the end, you can add a bit of finely freshly chopped parsley.

It fits well with an aroma and will give you extra color to the plate.

You may also consider sprinkling a little freshly ground black pepper directly on the plate at the end or sprinkling the alfredo pasta with a bit of olive oil for an even more Italian taste.

You may enjoy the pasta with this delicious alfredo sauce or serve it together with a green salad seasoned only with olive oil and lime juice for a balance of nutrients.

🏆 Expert Tips. What to Pay Attention To?

• Be careful not to fry the garlic for too long. Otherwise, you risk burning it. As a result, the garlic becomes bitter, smells unpleasant, and may destroy the entire dish.
• If you don’t like the smell of garlic or find it too intense, you can replace it with granulated dried garlic or omit it altogether.
• Be careful not to boil the cream at high temperatures or for a more extended period because it can separate.
• Add the cheese in the end only after turning off the heat. The heat from the pan will be enough to melt it. Otherwise, the ingredients from the sauce may separate.
• Boil the pasta for one minute less than indicated on the package and cook it in the sauce for the last minute. This way, you will get a much tastier and creamier pasta that is correctly cooked.
• Adjust the density of the sauce with the help of the water in which you boil the pasta.

♻️ Make Ahead, Storage and Heating:

📋 Recipe Card: