Yes, you CAN make a creamy alfredo pasta in ONE POT! You’ll be blown away how good this One Pot Alfredo Pasta is – the pasta is evenly cooked, the sauce is silky and creamy, not gluggy and thick. This is a game changer!!
I’m going to be honest with you, I’ve had some bad experiences with one pot pastas. When the one-pot pasta phenomenon started, thanks to Martha Stewart (though many Italians have since pointed out that they’ve been doing it for years, it is just that Martha Stewart made it popular and more widely known!), I was really cynical. Orzo, yes, it works great cooked in one pot with the sauce. Even macaroni and other short pasta. But long pasta? Then I tried Martha’s original recipe and was lulled into a false sense of confidence and jumped right on board the one-pot pasta train.
ONE POT ALFREDO PASTA
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But then, disaster struck. Enticed by pretty photos, I tried a one pot creamy spaghetti. It was, to be frank (and I will never ever tell where I got the recipe from), bordering on inedible. And I like to think I have a cast iron stomach. The pasta was unevenly cooked, the sauce was hideously gluggy, almost gluey. It was an absolute disaster. One of the worst things to come out of my kitchen in years.
Most people would walk away and put it down to a bad recipe. Me? I was fuelled with a challenge. I was determined to come up with a way to make a creamy pasta in one pot. It took a few goes but actually wasn’t as hard as I expected. My thinking was that it’s fat in the cream + the starch in the pasta that thickens the sauce. So all I do is add the cream right at the end. If you add it at the beginning, that’s when you end up with gluggy sauce. Less than 15 minutes. A creamy Alfredo pasta with a luscious silky sauce. YES, it’s possible. And it is so, SO good.
Want more easy pasta recipes?
- Pizza Pasta Bake
- One-Pot Spinach and Artichoke Pasta
- Taco Mac N Cheese Pasta Bake
- One Pan Chicken Stroganoff
- Creamy Greek Shrimp Pasta
- More dinner recipes…
Tool used to make this One Pot Alfredo Pasta recipe
Large Skillet: This skillet is my go-to kitchen tool. It’s large circumference and high sides make it perfect for cooking anything from one pan meals to soups and sauces.
Tongs: A good pair of tongs is a kitchen essential. I like having a couple sizes – a longer set for grilling and a shorter set for stovetop cooking.
One Pot Alfredo Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk any fat %
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 large garlic clove minced
- 8 ounces fettuccine
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan plus more for garnish
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Parsley for garnish
Instructions
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Use a skillet large enough to fit the pasta.
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Place skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Add milk, chicken broth, butter, and garlic. Bring to simmer then add pasta.
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Move pasta around every 30 seconds or so until it is softened (around 3 minutes) so it doesn't stick. Once the pasta is softened, reduce heat to medium and stir every couple of minutes.
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After another 6 minutes or so, the pasta should be almost cooked but there should still be liquid covering the base of the skillet. Add cream and parmesan and mix.
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Simmer, stirring occasionally, for ~2 minutes, until sauce is thickened and pasta is cooked. If you cook it too long and the sauce goes gluggy, add a splash of hot tap water, it will go back to silky with a few tosses.
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Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately, garnished with freshly grated parmesan and parsley!
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Hi,
I just tried your recipe. I used fresh parmesan grated on the powdery side of the box grater and the sauce didn’t completely emulsify to the silky and creamy point you mentioned but was thick and had a little graininess. Any thoughts on improving? Was really impressed I just need to figure out that last part. Was precise about following along.
Thanks!
Hi Brooke! A box grater grates parmesan so it is “sand like”, not into fine shreds that you get using a proper microplane or similar, that’s why it didn’t melt properly and was sandy.
Just tried this recipe last Sunday. Added abit more stock/milk to make more sauce but yes great receipe, Thank you.
Oh my goodness..thank you so much..I’ve never had luck with 1 pot pasta before but this worked wonderfully
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you.