In many Italian meals, alfredo sauce is a standing dish adding flavor to such food as pizza, vegetables, or classic outdoor fettuccine. The recipe is simple. However, there are various methods on how to thicken alfredo sauce.
Each recipe is designed for specific purposes, perhaps for a full-fat or a vegetable diet, but all require the sauce heated in a pan with ingredients to maintain the thickened structure. To summarise, you may try 7 tricks below to find the most suitable one for yourself.
How To Thicken Alfredo Sauce – 7 Helpful Tricks For You
Cheese
One of the basic ingredients to make alfredo sauce is cheese. It adds up to the creamy texture and greasy flavor of the sauce. Alfredo sauce at restaurants, however, up to the taste of several customers, usually made thinner. As a result, not many table companions are satisfied.
In contrast, homemade sauce somehow does not come up to our expectations due to low-technique hands, and it may not possess the expected condensed texture. Still, it is not hard to change, so trying these genres of cheese below certainly makes your dream come true.
Cream cheese and Heavy cream
If you are a cream-cheese-flavor-aholic, then adding more cubes of cream cheese to the sauce mixture while heating is sincere advice. Keep calm and watch these cubes melting and blending with the sauce. Add more cubes if you feel the density is not enough.
You may simmer half a bow of heavy cream as an alternative. Pour heavy cream into a hot pan, whip it clockwise until it reaches a new density, and pour it into the mixture. This method expands the sauce. Therefore, it may not be useful advice unless on your cheat day.
Parmesan and shredded cheese
In case you miss cheese savor but still on a diet, Parmesan or shredded cheese are two alternatives for you to control fat content. Blocks of Parmesan can easily be found in supermarkets, so get one and let it thicken your sauce with heart-melting flavor.
Shredded cheese from white cheddar, on the other hand, can simply be whisked to create condensed texture for the sauce. Remember, shred the cheese manually, or else, it will not blend well with the mixture. Hence, up to your appetite, choose mozzarella, provolone, or other genres of cheese to shred.
Egg Yolks
This is a highly recommended tip for you to make alfredo sauce condense. Usually, one or two organic egg yolks are enough for fear of scrambled eggs, since eggs combined with milk and cream serve better than we expect.
First, pour yolks into a small bowl and whisk. Then add a few spoons of hot sauce into the yolks to whip. Once it reaches the diluteness level, pour the liquid back to the heating sauce, whisk and simmer. Now that you have your sauce thickened.
Flour
Perhaps the easiest and most efficient trick is here. All you need to do is keep the sauce simmering in a pan, afterward dissolving 3 tablespoons of flour in 150ml water (approximately half a water cup). The next step is to add the liquid to the sauce and keep creaming it until reaching the demanded thickness.
Cornstarch
Some people are afraid of flour spoiling the sauce quickly, which is true. So replacing this ingredient with cornstarch to possibly reheat the leftovers is their solution. The steps of the cornstarch method are similar to the previous flour one.
Dissolve 3 tablespoons of cornstarch in 150ml water, whip slowly then pour the mixture into the sauce. Whisk and simmer to reach the perfect creaminess.
Vegetables
For those who are on diet, this method is an ideal recipe. First, puree your favorite vegetables (you may stew the puree later), then add the liquid to the sauce. Slowly whip to creamy level, here you have it, the ultimately condensed vegetables alfredo sauce is ready to serve.
Roux
Prepare a medium heated pan, add the same quantity of melted butter and flour together then whisk to achieve the smooth combination. This mixture is called a roux, for people not having acknowledged.
Roux adds greasy savor to the sauce, making it more appetizing to gourmet. The final step is to pour 1 – 2 tablespoons of roux into the simmering sauce. Slowly whip to achieve the targeted condense.
Butter
The final trick is dedicated to butter-aholic, although the process is quite familiar with the roux method. The first steps are similar, softening butter in medium temperature, then adding the same amount of flour into.
Whip until they are well combined, afterward put the mixture into a small bowl. Let it cool, the last step is to blend it with the simmering sauce for creaminess.
In a Nutshell
“How to thicken alfredo sauce” is a much simpler question than you expected. However, if things go out of control, don’t panic, you can easily thin it down by adding a few teaspoons of milk or some vegetables instead. Cooking is a journey, enjoy it while trying new methods for your home meals.