Fettuccine Alfredo
Variations
- Chicken AlfredoFettuccine Alfredo with seared chicken folded in at the end.View recipe →
- Cream AlfredoThe cream-reduction method described alongside Primera’s butter-and-pasta-water reference.View recipe →
Adjustments for this recipe
Cooking for more people
Adjust the serving count for ingredient quantities. For four or more, cook the pasta in one pot but build the emulsion in two batches, or use a pan wide enough for the noodles to move. More ingredients do not mean proportionally longer cooking.
1050kcal44.1g protein58g fat88.1g carbs~$2.71/ serving*Estimates computed from the ingredient list; cost uses average US supermarket prices. Not a substitute for packaging measurements or your receipt.
Contains gluten, dairy
Restrictions
Containsgluten · dairyIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.
Diets
VegetarianPescatarianNo porkNo alcohol
Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.
Ingredients
Servings:
| 8 oz |  fettuccine (dried) |
| 2 l | water |
| 1 tbsp | salt (for the pasta water) |
| 6 tbsp |  butter (unsalted, cut in pieces, softened) |
| 1 ½ cup |  parmesan (finely grated) |
| ½ tsp |  black pepper (coarsely ground) |
Optional
Not counted above. The dish works without them.
| 1 pinch |  nutmeg (grated) |
| 1 tbsp |  parsley (chopped) |
Steps
- Grate4 minfine rasp, cheese coldparmesan on the smallest holes you own — pre-shredded cheese is coated in cellulose and potato starch that will not dissolve, and coarse shreds melt into threads instead of into sauce. Let the grated cheese sit out while the water heats; cold cheese hitting warm butter is the most common cause of a stringy pan.
- Boil9 minrolling boil, salted, uncoveredwater + salt + fettuccine, stirring for the first minute so the strands do not weld. Use less water than usual for pasta — you want it cloudy and thick with starch, because that starch is the emulsifier that holds butterfat and cheese in suspension. Pull the pasta one minute short of the package time and reserve 1.5 cups of the water.
- Mix1 minwide pan, off the heatbutter + 0.5 cup hot pasta water in the pan, swirling until the butter melts into a cloudy, slightly thickened liquid. Off the heat is deliberate: melted butter over a flame separates into oil and milk solids, and once it has split it will not carry the cheese.
- Emulsify2 minoff the heat, tossing constantlydrained fettuccine + buttery water, tossing hard so the noodles release their surface starch, then + parmesan in three handfuls, waiting for each to disappear before the next. Adding the cheese all at once drops the temperature unevenly and the casein clenches into a rope around the tongs; adding it above about 175°F does the same thing from the other direction. Splash in more pasta water whenever the pan looks tight — the finished sauce should slide, not cling.
- Season1 minwarm, plated immediately+ black pepper + nutmeg, then serve straight from the pan. Parmesan is already salty, so taste before adding any; and there is no holding this dish — the emulsion stiffens as it cools and reheating breaks it for good.