Easy Copycat Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo recipe is what it’s all about in our house. The restaurant favorite can be made at home in a cinch!

white bowl with pasta on an orange napkin

Even though you may hear more about the Olive Garden breadsticks, they are not the true star of the Olive Garden chain. The Olive Garden may be the but of some jokes, and some of that comes from the chain’s own promotional materials. Years ago they claimed their chefs were trained in Florence.

That sounds impressive until you discover that Florence is a county in Wisconsin. Still, it would be impressive if every chef were flown to Wisconsin for training, but I don’t even believe that to be the case.

Despite efforts to bring the popular restaurant down a peg or two, it remains a very successful chain. Among certain icons the chain is known for, Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo surprisingly escapes the lips of many who confess their favorite thing to order there. Among the extensive menu options, there is something about this simple dish that people want more of.

pasta in a white bowl on an orange napkin

It’s the one thing they crave that has them returning to the restaurant even if it isn’t their favorite place. I’ve heard enough from other people who share my own love of this dish that I attempted to find out what that special quality is and I think I’ve found it.

Talk about a really easy dish that tastes like you worked on it all afternoon, this is it! This Alfredo sauce is so simple to make, and it’s full of flavor. It’s smooth and creamy with a hint of garlic that even the pickiest eaters will love.

Even if you’ve had a busy day, you can still serve this great Pasta dish, and your family is sure to go back for seconds. Make sure to add this one to your favorites.

Creamy Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce

The Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo is distinct. You can easily make Fettuccine Alfredo at home with a box and a jar. You will love it of course, but it won’t satisfy that itch. If I did my job right, this copycat recipe will do just that. I think I’ve nailed it!! And we have been a fan of this particular restaurant dish for quite some time.

Even if you’ve had a busy day, you can still serve this great Pasta dish, and your family is sure to go back for seconds. Make sure to add this one to your favorites.

Olive Garden Recipes

If you frequent the Olive Garden you may have your favorite. Ours has always been the Fettuccine Alfredo. It’s so indulgent and creamy it’s so hard to order anything else when we go there for lunch or dinner.

The Olive Garden isn’t a place we go to often actually. We only go when friends insist on meeting there for lunch or dinner. Her husband loves their bread sticks and if they have one of their all you can eat pasta specials, look out! We don’t go to many restaurant chains but he manages to drag us there each and every time.

Olive Garden does have a pretty big menu and something for everyone. It is what we call American Italian food. But when we go we will always leave happy with the Fettuccine Alfredo. What is your favorite dish?

How Much is Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo?

The cost is just one reason to look for a way to do a recipe on your own. You can easily find an Olive Garden in most areas, and plenty of restaurants like Olive Garden offer delivery or curbside pick up. Therefore convenience isn’t much of an issue. What most people want to know is if it’s easy and if they can make it cheaper. To answer both questions: Yes. It’s both easy and cheap to make your own version of this dish.

Now, The price for Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo is not excessive if you order it at the restaurant. at $15.99 give or take, it’s pretty reasonable, but if you start calculating tax and tip, plus the cost of additional servings for more people, even this modestly priced entree becomes a pretty steep bill compared with feeding a copycat version of it to your family at home.

You can make enough delicious Fettuccine Alfredo for two or more at home for under $5. It isn’t much more expensive than if you just dumped a jar of bottled Alfredo sauce on a bowl of pasta and called it good.

PIN IT!!

Making Your Own Alfredo Sauce

The best thing about this recipe is not even about the money you save when you make a copycat Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo at home. It’s actually the experience of making your own Alfredo sauce. If you have never made a cream sauce on your own at home, this recipe will open your eyes to how easy and cheap it is to do yourself as well as how good your version of the sauce can actually be. Making any pasta sauce at home is a rich and rewarding experience because you get out far more than what you have to put in. Not saying you’ll never buy jarred sauce at the store again, but learning you can make your own is a life-altering experience.

Making a delicious cream sauce is so easy. All you basically need to do is stir some heavy cream into a skillet of melted butter over medium heat for a few minutes. There are a couple of other things, but that is basically it. One of the secrets to the flavor of this sauce is that it contains sauteed garlic, which is minced before you stir it into the melting butter.

What Makes Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo Special?

t’s easy to make a bland-tasting cream sauce. Alfredo is no exception. The main secret to the Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo is that the sauce has that signature flavor. The flavor is garlic, but don’t oversimplify its importance. By sauteing a couple of teaspoons of finely chopped garlic before adding in the heavy cream, you impart nuance to the dish. Sauteing garlic enhances the flavor, but it also softens its pungency. Add a dash of garlic salt to finish it off as necessary. And bring a pop of green for freshness and eye appeal, by adding some finely minced parsley.

Can Alfredo Sauce be made ahead of time?

It sure can be! Alfredo sauce is a great make-ahead and freezable sauce to have on hand for weeknight meals or a weekend treat.

The sauce can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. It can be frozen in an air tight sealed freezer container and used by 6-8 weeks. Frozen Alfredo sauce should be thawed over night in your fridge for best results.

Serving Up Your Copycat Olive Garden Recipe

The last thing you need to do is serve this dish up at the dinner table. You can pour the drained pasta into a serving bowl and then top it with your delicious homemade Alfredo sauce. For an authentic Olive Garden experience remember to serve copycat Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo with an authentic side salad or minestrone.

Remember the Breadsticks

It’s not Olive Garden without breadsticks. I love to use them to soak up the remaining Alfredo sauce. Use your favorite breadstick recipe, but for authentic Olive Garden breadsticks, you have to roll the dough out about 8″ long and 1″ thick. Brush the breadsticks with butter and sprinkle with salt and garlic powder. The secret is to brush the sticks both before baking and immediately after baking.

a white bowl of pasta on an orange napkin

Don’t Say When

Another old standby is the grated parmesan cheese routine. Make sure you have plenty at the table and forget to say when. No awkward pauses here. Just add as much as you want to your plate without the fear of being judged. You don’t have to invest in a handle crank cheese grater for this, but it helps to bring the whole Olive Garden experience home. Finish the evening with an Andes mint.

Save This Copycat Recipe

The copycat recipe for the Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo is worthy of holding a pertinent spot in your meal rotation. If you love to eat at restaurants or frequently order food for pick up or delivery, this alternative is a huge budget saver. While cooking at home can be expensive as you start out, you will find that frugality is at the heart of this important move. finding inexpensive and easy-to-make recipes is just as important as finding recipes that you know you’ll love. Copycat recipes like Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo fit the bill.

It’s a good idea to save this recipe and others like it, somewhere where you are likely to access them and use them often. Once you get into the habit of making your own version of the favorites you normally go out for, you will start to see a huge impact on your monthly costs. You will also gain more confidence in the kitchen and enjoy the transition into making more food at home.

One of the biggest mistakes I see in people who want to save money by cooking at home is that they tend to dive right in and buy a bunch of ingredients. They don’t necessarily need to do that with this recipe because this recipe is so easy.

I love this simple straightforward recipe for how easy it is to round up the ingredients and make with no hassle. If you are tired of all of the service charges and excessive fees to get the food you usually pay for on top of the restaurant price for the dish.

Use this as your gateway to a less expensive way to enjoy many of your favorite foods in the comfort of your own home.