The Easy Alfredo Sauce with Penne Pasta You'll Make on Repeat
This quick, easy Alfredo sauce with penne pasta is the weeknight recipe you'll wish you'd known about sooner. Everyone asks for seconds!
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp minced garlic about 2 large garlic cloves
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup finely-grated parmesan cheese
- 12 oz dry penne pasta
- Minced parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the penne pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the package instructions until al dente. Then drain.
- While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Watch closely so that the butter and garlic don’t brown.
- Stir in the heavy cream, black pepper, and kosher salt. Bring to a simmer over low heat.
- Turn off the heat and gradually whisk in the parmesan cheese until the sauce is smooth and creamy. If you need to turn the heat back on for it to melt, turn it on low and don't let the sauce come to more than a bare simmer again.
- Add the cooked and drained penne to the sauce, tossing to coat the pasta evenly.
Video
Notes
The sauce will appear thin at first but thickens right up within a few minutes.
To thin the sauce (for leftovers or if it has sat too long before serving fresh) add more cream by splashes while gently stirring over low heat.
Here’s how to prevent clumpy, grainy Alfredo sauce! 🧀✨
The MUST-DOs:
1️⃣ Remove the saucepan from heat before adding the cheese.
2️⃣Stir continuously until it’s fully melted and smooth.
3️⃣Don't let it boil again!
🐿️Give me the reason in a nutshell:
Adding cheese to boiling sauce can make it clump and turn grainy.
Cheese has proteins and fats that change when heated.
Melt it slowly over low heat to keep your Alfredo sauce creamy, velvety and smooth.
🤓 Take me into your nerd cave:
At moderate heat, the proteins in the cheese denature in a controlled manner. They unfold and then gently intertwine with the fats and water in the cream, creating a stable network.
This process stabilizes the sauce and results in a smooth, cohesive texture.
When cheese gets too hot, the proteins denature (unfold) and coagulate (clump together) uncontrollably.
This excessive and rapid heat causes the proteins to tighten up and separate from the fats, making the sauce grainy or stringy.
Nutrition
Calories: 773kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 47g | Saturated Fat: 29g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 131mg | Sodium: 854mg | Potassium: 283mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1611IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 366mg | Iron: 1mg