This Is How You Should Be Adding Garlic To Your Alfredo Sauce

There are a few key things that make a great quick and easy homemade Alfredo sauce: one, a cheesy flavor; two, a hint of garlic; and three, a creamy and velvety texture. After all, the last thing anyone wants is a chunky, disjointed Alfredo sauce.

One of the biggest stressors when it comes to crafting a great Alfredo sauce is nailing that creamy texture. Once you introduce garlic, getting that smoothness can be a little tricky. While there are several ways to incorporate garlic into your Alfredo sauce, using grated garlic is the best option for achieving a smooth, rich flavor that blends seamlessly with the sauce and coats the noodles. So ditch the powdered garlic, stop chopping up your cloves, and please don't reach for that jar of minced garlic — because all you need for the perfect garlic flavor in your homemade Alfredo sauce is a grating tool.

Grating garlic is a quick and easy process, especially if you have a microplane or fine grater on hand. Unlike chopping or mincing, which can take time and precision, grating garlic takes just a few seconds. Before adding your cheese, cream, and the other sauce ingredients, simply use a fine grater or a microplane to grate your garlic into a pan; it'll be ready to be sauteed with butter until fragrant.

Grated garlic has a finer texture compared to chopped or minced garlic, which means it basically melts into the sauce when cooked. This creates a smooth, uniform garlic flavor throughout the Alfredo sauce, as opposed to the occasional, overpowering bite of garlic you might get with chopped or minced garlic. Because the grated garlic integrates so well, you won't encounter pieces of undercooked (or even overcooked) garlic that stand out in texture or flavor. The result is a creamy, luxurious sauce where the garlic enhances the flavor without overwhelming it. This is especially useful if you're incorporating a flavorful protein, like a creamy chicken alfredo.

Finally, the aroma of grated garlic is more fragrant than powdered garlic. As you cook fresh, grated garlic, it enhances the overall smell of the Alfredo sauce as it cooks. The result? A mouth-watering fragrance that draws you in before the first bite. But if this still seems too intimidating for you, you can completely transform a jarred alfredo sauce with one ingredient.