Ingredients for Alfredo Sauce

The traditional ingredients for Alfredo Sauce, as used in the basic recipe of Fettuccine Alfredo, are simple: Fettuccine pasta, butter, cream and Parmesan. Seasoning with salt and pepper will do it for the basic version. Yet, there are many variations around – even on this website – and it might be worth having a look at them and how they might e replaced (or not).

Fettuccine

Fettuccine is a long, flat and thin type of pasta, resembling Tagliatelle but being somewhat wider. An even wider type of this egg-based noodle is called Fettucce whereas a thinner version is named fettuccelle. Fettuccine is a specialty from Rome but can be purchased worldwide today. Our Alfredo sauce was first served with this type of noodles. Nevertheless, you can replace them with virtually any other kind of pasta.

Butter

While there does not seem to be anything special about butter it is still useful to know that butter contains a considerable amount of natural emulsifiers. These will make sure that your Alfredo sauce has the right consistence and thus, butter should be preferred over other substitutes. For the same reason butter is an important ingredient in many sauces. Moreover, butter contributes with its good taste on its own to a well done Alfredo sauce.

Cream

The best cream to be used for Alfredo sauce is heavy (whipping) cream; containing 35% of fat or a little bit more. Light cream is fine, too but is more endangered to fall separate when it comes to sauce making and being heated. Hence, for a light, low fat sauce Alfredo you will have to use additional stabilizers such as flour or starch. Egg yolk would be another natural emulsifier you could use if you want to add acid liquids such as lemon or lime juice to your Alfredo sauce.

Parmesan Cheese

Parmesan is the French name for the Italian Parmigiano, a cheese based on cow milk stemming from the Parma region in Italy. Parmesan has to age between 12 and 72 months. Accordingly, it is extremely delicious, but not always the cheapest cheese. In Europe the label Parmesan is protected and may be used only by producers of the very region. In US everyday language Parmesan might be used for several kinds of “Italian” hard cheese. Often there are not as long aged as the original one and contain more salt. Nevertheless, they are still a good ingredient for our Alfredo sauce and you should not hesitate to use them. Grated Romano cheese or Asagio might do it likewise, yet they will alter the flavor of the sauce.