Simple One Pan Fettuccine Alfredo

I can’t wait to share the newest one pan recipe with you!  This one pan fettuccine alfredo is a simple meal for any night of the week.  It’s made with pantry staples and is true comfort food.

The idea for this recipe hit me one day when I was working on another one pan pasta dish and watching the Food Network at the same time.  Someone was talking about fettuccine alfredo and it just hit me, I could totally do that in one pan. So I got to testing it. And wouldn’t you know, my family loved it!  I made it a few times, to get the flavor just right, but the method really lends itself to this dish.

Now this fettuccine alfredo recipe is going into heavy rotation this fall and winter.  It’s easy enough to make for a weekend lunch, comforting enough for a blustery fall night, and delicious enough to make quite often.  Serve it with a protein of your choice and you’ve got a quick complete meal in less than 30 minutes.

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Yep, there are just a few key ingredients.

Since there are so few ingredients in this recipe, you’ll want to work with ingredients that you trust and you use all the time.  For me, that’s nothing fancy.

When testing this simple fettuccine alfredo recipe, I used store brand pasta, Trader Joes fresh grated Parmesan, Costco butter.  As I talked about in this post I have a love affair with frozen cubes of goodness.  I used just one garlic cube from Dorot here. 

So how does this one pan pasta thing work?

As pasta cooks it is naturally absorbing the water from the cooking liquid in order to soften or “cook” the noodles all the way through.  By adding the pasta to a sauce, in this case milk with garlic, the pasta not only absorbs the liquid as it cooks, but also the flavor of the sauce.  This helps to ensure the most flavorful dish possible in the shortest amount of time.

Additionally, the pasta gives off some starch through the cooking process, and this starch thickens the alfredo sauce making the finished product thicker and creamier than other recipes might produce.  No runny fettuccine alfredo here!

This is not one of those dishes that I recommend making dairy free.  It’s just not going to work out right. You need the milk and the cheese to create the creamy decadent sauce that you are going for.  If you are looking for a one pot dish that can be made dairy-free, try my one pan tomato basil pasta instead!

Tips and Tricks:

• Crispy roasted broccoli is the perfect vegetable to accompany a dinner of simple fettuccine alfredo.  The crispy bits add a nice texture difference, and the broccoli adds a nice pop of color to an otherwise bland looking dish.
• If I’m serving this with a protein, I like to go the fish route.  Either a simple roasted salmon with olive oil, salt and pepper or a sauteed tilapia with lemon.  Both pair well with this one pan pasta.
• This is a dish best served right after it's made in order to take full advantage of the creamy sauce. The leftovers reheat well, but won't be quite as creamy.

Looking for other great pasta recipes that your family will love?  Check these out!

• One pan pasta - lemon basil
• One pan pasta - tomato basil
• Pasta pangrattato

📖 Recipe

simple fettuccine alfredo in one pan

Marni Katz

a simple comforting one pan pasta dish sure to become a family favorite.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Easy Dinner

Cuisine Italian

Servings 8 servings

Calories 379 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 16 oz fettuccine pasta or any pasta you like
• 1 cup half and half
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 clove grated garlic or one garlic cube
• 6 Tablespoons butter
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

 

• Over medium high heat,add half and half and water to a large straight sided saute pan 
• Add the garlic, 4 Tablespoons of the butter and then the entire box of pasta.
• Add salt and pepper (to taste, I like to start with about ½ teaspoon and then add more later as needed)
• Bring the entire pan to a boil and cook, stirring frequently, until the pasta is cooked through.  You should still have some liquid left.
• Turn off the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese and additional 2 Tablespoons of butter until everything is creamy and combined.
• Taste and then add more salt and pepper to your taste.
• Serve immediately

Notes

If then liquid seems like it is getting absorbed to quickly, and the pasta is still not cooked, add a little bit additional water or half and half (about ¼ cup at a time).  You are better to have a little too much liquid than not enough, so that you end up with a creamy pasta in the end.

Nutrition

Calories: 379kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 13gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 45mgSodium: 324mgPotassium: 181mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 478IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 188mgIron: 1mg

Keyword alfredo sauce, easy pasta recipe, One pan pasta

Tried this recipe?Let me know what you think!

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