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American Alfredo Sauce

A creamy pasta sauce made with heavy cream, butter, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

American Alfredo Sauce

Timeabout 1–2 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce

  1. Combine 1¼ cups (300 ml) cream and the butter in a saucepan large enough to accommodate the sauce and later the pound of pasta.

  2. Heat over a low flame, stirring frequently, until the butter is melted and the cream comes to a bare simmer.

  3. Remove the pan from the heat once the butter is evenly incorporated into the cream.

Cook the pasta

  1. Cook the pasta, draining it a little before it reaches the al dente stage; the pasta should be slightly undercooked before being added to the sauce because it will continue to cook while the sauce is being finished.

  2. Drain the pasta.

Finish the sauce

  1. Add the drained pasta, ½ cup (100 ml) of cream, the cheese, the salt, the nutmeg, and several grinds of the pepper mill to the pan.

  2. Heat the pasta and sauce over a low flame, tossing continuously, until the cheese melts into the sauce and the sauce thickens slightly, about 1–2 minutes.

  3. Add chopped parsley as a garnish mixed into the sauce.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

394Calories
18 gProtein
34 gFat
4 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,322 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Heavy cream
Provides the liquid base and richness that the cheese emulsifies into a smooth sauce.
Unsalted butter
Adds fat and silky mouthfeel, carrying flavour into the cream.
Parmesan cheese
Melts into the warm cream to thicken the sauce and add salty, savoury flavour.

The step that matters

Heat the pasta and sauce gently while tossing. High heat can make the cheese clump or turn grainy and cause the cream to separate. Gentle heat with constant tossing lets the cheese melt evenly and the sauce thicken smoothly.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, butter, parmesan cheese, pepper):

  1. Celeryfits about as well
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Parsleyfits about as well
  4. Garlicfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, butter, parmesan cheese, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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