Make The Most Decadent Alfredo Sauce With This Canned Ingredient Shortcut

Alfredo sauce may already be a simple recipe to begin with, but we spoke to Jake Peterson, chef and co-owner at Dēliz Italian Steakhouse, about a shortcut that'll upgrade its decadence. For the richest, creamiest Alfredo sauce, Peterson thinks adding evaporated milk could be a good idea. "In theory, it would be like using double cream, i.e., double cream that has been reduced by half," the chef explains. "I'd love to try it myself to see the results."

Peterson's reasoning (or hypothesis) for trying evaporated milk is that it'd be a good swap for heavy cream. Heavy cream is already a foundational ingredient in the original recipe for chicken fettuccine Alfredo, which reduces the cream by half before piling on Parmesan and melted butter. "It was one of the first recipes I started with when I was 10," the chef notes, adding that "evaporated milk, having already been reduced, does not have the water content to allow for further reduction." This would mean quicker cooking times because the sauce will be thick enough without needing to simmer off that additional water.

Not only will evaporated milk give Alfredo sauce a thick, velvety texture, but, says Peterson, "flavor-wise, it would be a little nuttier and richer." The nutty richness of evaporated milk will enhance the salty, nutty, umami-richness of the Parmesan cheese beautifully. Plus, evaporated milk is a cheap, shelf-stable staple that you can keep in your pantry for months, while heavy cream has a finite shelf life.

You can use our recipe for a simple Alfredo sauce as the ultimate test to see if Peterson's theory is a success. Simply swap the heavy cream for three cans of evaporated milk. The recipe will come together in the time it takes you to boil the pasta. Start by melting the butter over medium heat, then add the evaporated milk. When the milk and butter are hot, add Parmesan cheese, reduce the heat, and whisk to combine. You can add a few tablespoons of pasta water with the freshly boiled pasta to thin out the sauce while still instilling a velvety texture.

As a sort of milk reduction, evaporated milk is much thicker than heavy cream. "You could use evaporated milk to make a gluten-free sauce that doesn't require a roux, unlike when using heavy cream," the chef adds. Many store-bought Alfredo sauces use a roux for a thicker consistency. Evaporated milk saves you the flour and makes it that much easier to construct Alfredo sauce from scratch. That said, you can add a combination of evaporated milk and pasta water to store-bought Alfredo sauce to give it a more homemade taste.

If you're looking for even more incentive to try evaporated milk, Peterson adds, "It may be lower in calories than if you used heavy cream and more butter." Butter and evaporated milk are a rich and delicious duo without the heavy cream.