Ricotta Cheese Sauce Alfredo
This Ricotta Cheese Alfredo sauce is creamy and rich, bursting with garlic flavor! It’s quick and easy to make, and pairs perfectly with your favorite pasta.
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This Ricotta Cheese Alfredo is officially a new favorite in the house. I LOVE Alfredo sauce. It is by far, one of my favorite things. Give me a big bowl of pasta smothered in alfredo and a slice of cheese garlic bread jammed in next to any day of the week!
This alfredo sauce is a very rich and indulgent dinner. So worth it. I also love that it only takes about 15 minutes to whip up a batch! This recipe will yield about 3 ½ cups of sauce in total. It can easily be doubled if you are feeding a crowd but this amount will easily cover 16oz of uncooked pasta.
I promise you when I try this Ricotta Cheese version, it will beat out any bottled Alfredo sauce from the store.
What is Alfredo Sauce?
Traditional Alfredo is very basic. It’s a simple (white)cream sauce. It is made from butter, heavy cream, and parmesan cheese, that’s it. While the original version is great, I personally LOVE what the Ricotta, garlic, and Italian seasoning do to the Alfredo sauce, and make it taste even better! This Ricotta Cheese Alfredo Sauce is extra cheesy, garlic-forward, and just delicious.
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Cooking Instructions
These are the Ricotta Cheese Alfredo Sauce cooking instructions with details and explanations on why or how to do things. If you just want the Ricotta Cheese Alfredo Sauce recipe itself and missed the “jump to recipe” button at the top, keep scrolling.
Step one: Add the butter, Italian seasoning, and garlic to a large skillet.
Step two: Simmer over low heat for 3-4 minutes (it should be fragrant, but not a burning smell). This brings out the flavor throughout the sauce and cuts the bite from the fresh garlic.
Step three: Add the ricotta cheese, continually stirring until it becomes a creamy texture, and eventually becomes more sauce-like.
Jenn’s Note:
This recipe is NOT a walk away and come back. You do need to continuously stir or you will have scorched cheese or burnt garlic (neither sounds appealing).
Step four: Add the heavy cream (this will loosen up the cheese and may look a little thin, but don’t crank up the heat or freak out). Continue to stir for about one minute.
Step five: Whisk in the parmesan cheese until fully melted and the sauce has thickened.
Step six: Add salt and pepper (adjust to taste).
Serve immediately with your choice of pasta.
Tip for Successfully Adding Pasta
For either of these techniques, cook your pasta just under al dente. You will be cooking the pasta in the sauce a bit.
For freshly made Ricotta Cheese Alfredo Sauce: Add about ¼ cup of pasta water to the sauce before adding your pasta to ensure it covers and coats it properly. Let the pasta cook in the now slightly watered-down sauce until it re-thickens.
For Ricotta Cheese Alfredo Sauce from the fridge. Add about ⅓ cup of pasta water to the sauce and stir to warm up and loosen the sauce. Add the pasta and heat on medium continuously stirring. Let the pasta cook in the now slightly watered-down sauce until it re-thickens.
One of my favorite ways to add the pasta is to simply take a spider and quickly add the pasta (water still draining) into the Ricotta Cheese Alfredo Sauce. you’ll get a good amount of pasta water with the noodles.
Cooking with Kids
DISCLOSURE: These tips are generalized, and meant to be suggestive. Everything I’m sharing I do with my kids, and they are all different even within my own five. So please take these as suggestions or ideas and if you think your child needs more or less help, then go with what you and your child are comfortable with. Ultimately, you know your kids, do what YOU think is best.
Storage Details
This Ricotta Cheese Alfredo Sauce is “cream base” so it doesn’t last long in the fridge. But the Yeild is enough to use on 1 lb of pasta, so you can get away with two meals out of it.
- It will last 3-4 days in a food-safe jar/container in the fridge.
Did you try it, have questions?
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Ricotta Cheese Sauce Alfredo
- Total Time: 15
- Yield: 3 ½ Cups of Sauce 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This Ricotta Cheese Alfredo sauce is creamy and rich, bursting with garlic flavor! It’s quick and easy to make and pairs perfectly with your favorite pasta.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter (melted)
- 3 Garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan
Instructions
- Add the butter, Italian seasoning, and garlic to a medium saucepan
- Simmer over low heat for 2-4 minutes (it should be fragrant, but not a burning smell).
- Add the ricotta cheese, continually stirring until it becomes a creamy texture and loosens up.
- Add the heavy cream and continue to stir for about one minute.
- Whisk in the parmesan cheese until fully melted and thickened.
- Add salt and pepper,
- Serve immediately with your choice of pasta.
Equipment
Global 7-piece Ikasu Knife Block Set
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SMIRLY Bamboo Cutting Board Set with Holder,
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Tip for Successful Pasta
For either of these techniques, make sure to cook your pasta just under al dente. you will be cooking the pasta a bit in the sauce.
- For freshly made sauce: Add about ¼ cup of pasta water to the sauce before adding your pasta to ensure that it covers and coats the pasta properly. Let the pasta cook in the now slightly watered-down sauce until it re-thickens.
- For sauce from the fridge. Add about ⅓ cup of pasta water to the sauce and stir to warm up and loosen the sauce. Add the pasta and heat on medium continuously stirring. Let the pasta cook in the now slightly watered-down sauce until it re-thickens.
Storage
Will last 3-4 days in a food-safe jar in the fridge
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: Sauce
- Method: One Pot
- Cuisine: Italian-American
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This is wonderful!
Thank you! Glad you like it!
You mention adding “cream” with the butter and garlic first. Later you say add heavy cream. But in the ingredients only one is listed. Can you please clarify?
Hi Cora! Apologies, this is a typo on my end. The cream is added after the cheese. In the beginning of the recipe, you are heating the butter and creating that flavor for the sauce. Thanks so much for bringing that to my attention! I updated the recipe card to reflect this.
Always, – Jenn Giam Smith
Hi Cora! Apologies, this is a typo on my end. The cream is added after the cheese. in the beginning you are just heaving the butter and creating that flavor for the sauce. Thanks so much for bringing that to my attention!
Always, – Jenn Giam Smith
Love this recipe! Finally have the perfect way to use up leftover ricotta!
I’m so glad! Thank you for the review! 💗