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Fettuccini Alfredo (aka Christmas Fettuccini)

Fettuccini Alfredo is easy to make at home in under 20 minutes. It’s one of our favorite pasta dishes. For ideas of what to make with this, check out all of our recipes.

We use fettuccini from Wildgrain in this recipe. Keep on reading to find out how you can save $10 on your first Wildgrain subscription.

Fettuccini noodles on a plate with the words "Fettuccini Alfredo (aka Christmas Fettuccini)" digitally written on top.

If you’ve ever seen the movie The Holiday, there are probably a few things you’ve taken from it.

The first is that Jude Law is “insanely good looking” (which is a direct quote from the movie but also from my brain). The second is that Jack Black can, surprisingly, carry himself in a serious(ish) role. And the third thing is that Kate Winslet makes something called Christmas Fettuccini.

Christmas Fettuccini, according to some super sleuths on the Internet, is fettuccini alfredo. Which, side note, happens to be one of my favorite pasta dishes because my dad very often made me homemade alfredo growing up.

So, if you’re looking for something special … and honestly, something easy but delicious … to make this holiday season, Fettuccini Alfredo is it. Call it Christmas Fettuccini to be more festive (and to have an excuse to watch Jude Law as Mr. Napkin Head).

Tri-colored spiral pasta in a colander with the words "20+ Budget-Friendly Pasta Recipes" digitally written above it.

This Fettuccini Alfredo is one of our favorite pasta recipes, but it’s not our only one. For more, check out our list of 20+ Budget-Friendly Pasta Recipes.

Fettuccini Alfredo Recipe

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Fettuccini Alfredo Ingredients:

How To Make Fettuccini Alfredo:

A hand holding fresh fettuccini noodles.

Boil the fettuccini pasta according to the package. Drain it when it’s done and set it aside.

While the pasta is boiling, make the alfredo sauce.

Chunks of butter in a pan.

Melt the butter in a pan.

Quick secret: If you let the butter brown just a tiny bit in the pan, it’ll add extra flavor to the alfredo. Or, honestly, to any dish you’re making. So keep this tip in your back pocket for all your holiday cooking.

Heavy cream being poured into a pan.

Stir in the heavy cream.

Grated garlic on a wooden spoon over a pot with cream in it.

Grate the garlic and stir it in. (If you don’t want to grate fresh garlic, you can use minced garlic instead.)

Salt being poured into a pot with cream in it.

Add the salt.

Cream in a bowl with pepper on top.

And add the pepper.

Bring the alfredo sauce to a boil, then remove it from the heat.

Flour and a little cream in a measuring cup.

Make a rue by mixing together the flour and a tiny bit of the alfredo sauce. When a paste forms, stir it back in. Stir the alfredo sauce until the paste is completely dissolved. This will help thicken the alfredo sauce and won’t add the taste of flour to it.

Parmesan cheese being poured into alfredo sauce.

Stir in the parmesan cheese until it’s combined.

Alfredo sauce being poured over pasta.

Pour the alfredo sauce over the pasta.

Fettuccini alfredo in a pot.

Stir until combined, then serve.

Fettuccini alfredo on a plate.

Fettuccini Alfredo: Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a traditional alfredo recipe?

I would consider this a traditional American alfredo recipe. It’s very similar to the jarred sauces you can buy in the grocery store (although eight zillion times better and way less salty).

A traditional alfredo recipe is butter and parmesan cheese. That’s it. You boil pasta, add it to a plate with butter, and mix until the butter is creamy and melted (and your arms are tired). Then, stir in the Parmesan cheese until it’s melted. That’s it. No seasoning. No cream.

As the story goes, that pasta was originally made for some Americans in Italy. It wasn’t (and isn’t) a traditional Italian sauce. Those Americans recreated the recipe at home and it evolved into the creamy (with cream) sauce we know now.

So is this a traditional recipe? Not in the two ingredient sense of it. But, it’s traditional to what we Americans consider alfredo.

What goes good in Alfredo Pasta?

Personally, I’m a big fan of adding grilled chicken to fettuccini alfredo. You can also add cooked shrimp to make a shrimp alfredo.

Do you have to use heavy cream?

If you can’t find heavy cream or heavy whipping cream in your grocery stores, which happens a lot during the holiday season, you can use milk. Whole milk will make the recipe richer and closer to the actual recipe than using 1% or 2% milk would.

You can also use half and half, if you have that handy. It’ll be a little creamier than if you made this with skim milk.

How can you store leftover fettuccini alfredo?

If you have any leftover fettuccini alfredo, you can store it in airtight containers in the fridge. Most pasta will last between three and five days in the fridge, as long as you keep it closed.

How can you reheat leftover fettuccini alfredo?

If you’re reheating this in a pinch (because we all know you don’t have time during holiday season), you can reheat it in the microwave for about a minute.

If you have a little time, this is best reheated in a pan on the stovetop.

Garnish with a little grated Parmesan cheese before serving.

Can you make alfredo sauce ahead of time?

You definitely can make alfredo sauce ahead of time. Make it like this recipe says, just not the pasta.

Sanitize a mason jar, then add the sCaauce when it’s still hot. Seal the jar tightly. The inside of the mason jar lid may actually vacuum seal, just like the sauce you buy in stores. (That’s how we close the jars of Pete’s homemade marinara sauce that we sell at the farmers market.)

Store the mason jar in the fridge and then use it within a week of opening it. So, you can make the sauce when you have a little downtime, then use it to make a delicious dinner on a night when you don’t have that much free time.

Mardi Gras Pasta in a bowl.

Fettuccini Alfredo Variation:

If you’d rather something with a bit more spice, check out our Cajun Alfredo (aka Mardi Gras Pasta).

A slice of bread with smoked garlic butter on it.

What side dish goes with Fettuccine Alfredo?

Bread is really great with fettuccini alfredo. You could make your own bread (like our prosciutto bread). Or, you could leave the breadmaking to Wildgrain and just go ahead and make your own smoked garlic butter to serve with the bread.

A box of Wildgrain fettuccini noodles.

What’s Wildgrain?

Wildgrain is our current obsession. It’s a subscription box filled with fresh pasta (like the fettuccini in this recipe), par-baked bread (that you finish by baking at home), and pastries.

Each month, a new box is sent directly to your home. The contents are often different, although there is some overlap. Like the croissants. Right now, if you order, you’ll get free croissants for life. Which is incredible because those croissants are our favorite thing in this whole box. You can see them on our Instagram here.

A loaf of Wildgrain Everything Sourdough Bread.

October’s box came with a plain sourdough loaf, a  cranberry-pecan sourdough loaf, a rosemary garlic sourdough boule (which Pete wants to make a lemon ricotta dip for, OMG), fettuccine and tonnarelli pasta, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and croissants.

There’s free shipping always (and that includes the dry ice packets and container) and you can save $10 on your first subscription with the code DIVAS10 here.

If you order now, you’ll probably get the November box, which should have the fettuccini pasta (so you can make this exact recipe), plus plain and harvest sourdough loaves, a three seed slow-fermented loaf, tonnarelli pasta, orange-cranberry biscuits, and croissants.

If you order and then realize you’re going out of town for Christmas, you can just pause the subscription and pick it back up in January.

Yield: 4 Servings

Fettuccini Alfredo

Fettuccini Alfredo is easy to make at home in under 20 minutes. It's a classic pasta dish (also called Christmas Fettuccini).

Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 11 minutes

Ingredients

  • 12 oz. fettuccini from Wildgrain
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 2 cup heavy cream (also known as heavy whipping cream)
  • 2 teaspoons fresh garlic
  • 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. Boil the fettuccini pasta according to the package. Drain it when it’s done and set it aside.
  2. Melt the butter in a pan.
  3. Stir in the heavy cream.
  4. Grate the garlic and stir it in. 
  5. Add the salt.
  6. And add the pepper.
  7. Bring the alfredo sauce to a boil, then remove it from the heat.
  8. Make a rue by mixing together the flour and a tiny bit of the alfredo sauce. When a paste forms, stir it back in. Stir the alfredo sauce until the paste is completely dissolved.
  9. Stir in the parmesan cheese until it’s combined.
  10. Pour the alfredo sauce over the pasta and serve.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 775Total Fat 69gSaturated Fat 43gTrans Fat 2gUnsaturated Fat 21gCholesterol 202mgSodium 453mgCarbohydrates 31gFiber 1gSugar 4gProtein 11g

Are you planning on making this Fettuccini Alfredo this holiday season? Let us know in the comments.

Penny Struebig

Sunday 4th of December 2022

Yum! Pinned so I can make it later. Sounds so delicious and easy!

Mie

Sunday 4th of December 2022

OMG, that looks soooooo good! With all the ingredients I like! But I am not going to make it, I am to heavy already... In dutch I would say: doeme toch! A way to express my feeling that I want to eat it but will not do it ;)

Joanne

Friday 2nd of December 2022

That looks delicious! I love alfredo sauce but rarely make it since I have at least 1 boy that will not eat it. LOL. We try to have it on nights he's out of the house.

Donna B Reidland

Friday 2nd of December 2022

Yum! This is always one of my favorites!

Sim

Thursday 1st of December 2022

This looks like a real Winter warmer! Pasta is the greatest comfort food and this recipe is perfect for busy families!

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