Vegetarian Recipes

Traditional Fettuccine Alfredo

We all have those dishes that transport us back to our childhood, and for me, this Traditional Fettuccine Alfredo does just that. It’s rich, silky, and made with a handful of simple staples that I always keep stocked in my kitchen. And no, you won’t find any heavy cream here! This recipe is my take on the classic Italian version, using easy-to-find ingredients like fettuccine, salted butter, Parmesan, and seasonings. And at just $0.45 a serving, this dish proves that comfort food doesn’t have to come with a high price tag!

Overhead view of a plate of fettuccine alfredo with a fork.

Easy Fettuccine Alfredo rECIPE

When I was a little girl, my maternal grandparents lived with us. My Grandpa was a first-generation Italian immigrant in the U.S., and he always spoke Italian when he was at home, catching up with his friends. They tried to teach me words here and there, but my favorite phrase was “morire di fame” or “dying of hunger.” 😉 My Grandpa Pellegrini was obsessed with food, and I can say with absolute certainty that my love for cooking started with him.

For this recipe, I considered sharing a cream or cream cheese-based American-style Alfredo sauce, but my Italian roots (and my bank account!) told me to stick with tradition and make a fettuccine Alfredo the way it was originally intended with just a few simple ingredients: fettuccine (of course!), butter, and cheese (mmm Parmesan). I’ve also added some garlic to my recipe (because “aglio è la vita!” aka “garlic is life!”). The original recipe, created in the early 1900s by Alfredo di Lelio in Rome, combined these ingredients with starchy pasta water to create this iconic pasta dish (with no cream added!), just as I’ve replicated here.

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Traditional Fettuccine Alfredo

This traditional Fettuccine Alfredo is made with butter, Parmesan, and simple seasonings—no cream needed! A comforting and budget-friendly Italian classic.

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Total Cost ($3.65 recipe / $0.45 serving)

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings servings

Calories 387kcal

Author Jess Rice

Ingredients

1 lb fettuccine pasta* $0.98
1 stick salted butter $0.99
1 tsp salt $0.03
1 tsp ground black pepper $0.17
2 cloves garlic, finely minced $0.08
¾ cup pasta water $0.00
1 ¼ cup grated Parmesan, divided** $1.35
½ Tbsp fresh parsley, minced $0.05

Instructions

Put salted water on to boil and boil fettuccine noodles for 10-12 minutes until al dente.
Meanwhile, you can melt butter in a large sauté pan with salt, pepper, and finely minced garlic. Cook on medium low heat for 2-3 minutes until fragrant.
Once your pasta is cooked, strain it, but reserve at least 3/4 cup of the pasta water! This is an important step! I like to keep my cooked pasta off to the side in the now-empty boiling pot with a clean, damp kitchen towel over the top.
Add ¼ cup pasta water to the garlic and butter mixture and whisk to combine. Let it bubble and thicken for 3-4 minutes
Sprinkle in half the grated Parmesan cheese, ¼ cup at a time, while continuously whisking until a smooth sauce forms. Add extra pasta water, if needed (you should have ½ cup of reserved pasta water left to use.)
Once your pan sauce is done, add the cooked fettuccine, the remaining grated Parmesan cheese, and the minced parsley. Toss to combine.
Top with any remaining grated Parmesan cheese you may have (optional). Serve immediately.

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Notes

*I kept things traditional and used fettuccine pasta, but you can use any type of pasta you love.

**The original recipe made by Alfredo di Lelio used Parmigiano Reggiano, which I’m sure is absolutely delicious. I personally use standard Parmesan in my version to keep it affordable and easy to find, but if you have the real deal, go for it! I don’t recommend using canned Parmesan, though. It can make your sauce grainy.

Nutrition

How to Make a Traditional Fettuccine Alfredo Step-by-Step Photos

The ingredients for traditional Fettuccine alfredo.

Boil the pasta: Gather all of your ingredients. Now, boil a pan of salted water and add 1 lb. of fettuccine noodles. Cook them for 10-12 minutes until al dente (still with a little bite to them). While your pasta boils, you can start on the fettuccine Alfredo sauce.

Melted butter in a skillet with salt, pepper, and minced garlic.

Start the sauce: In a large sauté pan, melt 1 stick salted butter and add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground black pepper, and 2 cloves finely minced garlic. Cook over medium-low for 2-3 minutes until it becomes fragrant.

Boiled Fettuccine in a colander, next to a glass jug of reserved pasta water.

Reserve the pasta water: Strain your pasta once cooked, but reserve at least 3/4 cup of the pasta water! You need this to make the sauce later on. Don’t pour it all away. I like to return my cooked pasta back to the now empty boiling pot and cover it with a clean, damp kitchen towel while I finish the sauce.

Reserved pasta water being whisked into melted butter in a skillet.

Make the sauce: Pour ¼ cup pasta water into the garlic butter mix and whisk well to combine. Let it thicken and bubble for 3-4 minutes.

Parmesan cheese added to a traditional alfredo sauce.

Now, add in half the grated Parmesan cheese, a ¼ cup at a time. Keep whisking after each addition until a smooth and creamy sauce forms. If needed, add in some more reserved pasta water (you should have ½ cup left) to help the sauce emulsify. You don’t need to use all the pasta water, only as needed.

Fettuccine being tossed in a homemade alfredo sauce,

Add the pasta: When your homemade alfredo sauce is done, add the cooked fettuccine to the sauce and toss to coat.

Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley added to a skillet of Fettuccine alfredo.

Now, add in the remaining half of your grated Parmesan cheese and ½ Tbsp minced parsley. Toss to evenly distribute the cheese and parsley throughout the pasta.

Traditional Fettuccine alfredo in a skillet.

Serve: If you have any spare grated Parmesan cheese, you can sprinkle that over top before serving. Enjoy!

Side close up of a skillet of traditional fettuccine alfredo.

What Else Can I Add?

I don’t usually add anything to my homemade fettuccine Alfredo as I love the simplicity of the pasta in the buttery, garlicky sauce. But if you want to turn it into a more filling meal, here are a few tasty add-ins to try:

Mix in steamed broccoli, sautéed mushrooms, cooked frozen peas, fresh spinach (the heat from the sauce will make it wilt nicely), or any other veggies you love at the end
Top the pasta with grilled chicken and turn this dish into a chicken Alfredo!
Or, if you prefer seafood, you can’t go wrong with shrimp scampi
Mix in chopped sun-dried tomatoes (in oil) or olives
Sprinkle over some toasted pine nuts or walnuts for a little crunch

If you’ve never made a traditional fettuccine Alfredo from scratch before—don’t worry! This recipe is super beginner-friendly, and I’ve got a few tips to help you nail it on your first try:

Save your pasta water. This is THE most important tip I can give you! The starchy pasta water helps the sauce emulsify (come together) so the cheese and butter stay creamy and cling to the noodles. I like to reserve about ¾ cup, so I have plenty to work with.
Cook the pasta until al dente. You want it tender but still slightly firm to the bite. It’ll finish softening as you toss it with the warm sauce. As a general rule of thumb, you want to cook the pasta for 1-2 minutes less than the time listed on the package to get it al dente. This worked out at 10-12 minutes for me.
Work quickly but gently. This Alfredo sauce comes together pretty fast, so have everything ready to go before you start. Keep the heat over medium-low when combining the ingredients to prevent the cheese from clumping.
Grate your own cheese. The pre-shredded stuff is super convenient, but for the creamiest sauce, freshly grated Parmesan is the way to go. Pre-shredded cheese is often coated with anti-caking agents that keep it from melting smoothly, which can lead to a clumpy or grainy sauce. Grating it yourself creates that gorgeous, silky texture we’re after!
Whisk, whisk, whisk. When adding the cheese, I recommend using a whisk to incorporate it into the sauce. Keep whisking until all the cheese is melted and fully incorporated.

Storage & Reheating

This homemade fettuccine is definitely best when served fresh. However, I’m all about reducing food waste, so if you’ve got any leftovers, keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The sauce will soak into the pasta some, but it’ll still taste good! I’d also store any leftover reserved pasta water in the fridge and mix that in during reheating as needed. If you used up all your pasta water, regular water will also work to loosen up the sauce. Reheat gently in the microwave or over low heat, stirring often, until warmed through.

Chicken Alfredo Bake

$12.80 RECIPE / $2.13 SERVING

Shrimp Alfredo Pasta

$8.40 recipe / $2.10 serving

Spinach Alfredo Pasta

$5.92 recipe / $1.48 serving

Chicken Alfredo

$10.62 recipe / $2.66 serving

Our original Alfredo sauce recipe was published 2/27/23. It was retested, reworked, and republished to be better than ever 4/2/25.

The post Traditional Fettuccine Alfredo appeared first on Budget Bytes.

Cheesy Vegetarian

Easy Mediterranean Lentil Meatballs

Don’t you just love it when a recipe is as simple as ‘mix + bake’? No pre-cooking, no unnecessary extra steps – just mix together all of the ingredients, and pop it in the oven. And that’s just the case for these vegetarian lentil meatballs (lentil balls? vegeballs? meatlessballs?). They couldn’t be easier.

Other easy ‘mix and bake’ recipes → easy nut roast; baked fajita rice; Boursin pasta.

Vegetarian Mediterranean lentil meatballs served with spaghetti and tomato sauce.

I served my lentil balls with spaghetti and tomato sauce – spaghetti and meatballs is such a classic that’s hard to improve on. If you prefer, you could equally serve these vegetarian meatballs with couscous and tzatziki, stuffed into pitta bread, or even just eaten straight from the oven (no judgment here). They’re packed with Mediterranean-inspired flavours, and they’re super versatile.

Mediterranean lentil meatballs on a baking tray.

What’s in these Lentil Meatballs?

The basic recipe for these lentil meatballs is canned lentils + flour + egg (the same base I used for my cheesy lentil burgers). Once you’ve got that far, you can jazz things up however you like. I added:

black olives
sun-dried tomatoes
parmesan-style cheese
fresh basil
garlic

If you like, you could easily switch things up to bring a different flavour profile to your meatballs – maybe you could make a Tex-Mex version, or use some Indian spices, for example.

Cheesy Vegetarian Bakes ebook on an ipad screen.

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make these vegetarian meatballs. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

cooked lentils. I used lentils from a can, because they’re so convenient – just drain them well, and they’re ready to use. If you can’t get canned lentils, you can boil dried brown or green lentils until they’re soft, then continue with the recipe as written. I would not recommend using red lentils for this recipe, as they will not give quite the same end result.
eggs
plain flour (I used wholemeal for extra fibre)
sun-dried tomatoes
black olives
parmesan-style cheese. ‘Real’ parmesan isn’t vegetarian, but there are plenty of vegetarian alternatives, which are very similar. Often, supermarkets sell a generic ‘Italian hard cheese’, which is usually vegetarian.
fresh basil
garlic granules

Spaghetti with tomato sauce and Mediterranean lentil meatballs.

Printable Instructions

Mediterranean Lentil Meatballs

Easy vegetarian lentil meatballs, made extra tasty with Mediterranean-inspired ingredients. These are so simple – just mix and bake!

Course Main meal

Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean

Diet Vegetarian

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Total Time 35

Servings meatballs

Calories 216kcal

Author Becca Heyes

Ingredients

2 x 390g tins green lentils, thoroughly drained (470g, or ~ 2 2/3 cups, in total when drained)
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons sliced black olives, roughly chopped
5 pieces sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
50 g (~ 1/2 cup) finely grated vegetarian parmesan-style cheese
1 teaspoon garlic granules
Few sprigs fresh basil, roughly chopped
85 g (~ 2/3 cup) plain flour (I used wholemeal)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F). Add all of the ingredients, except for the flour, to a large mixing bowl. Use a fork to mix the ingredients thoroughly. It’s fine if the lentils get a little mashed up.
Add the flour, and mix well to combine.
Lightly grease a baking sheet. Use clean hands to form the mixture into ball shapes, and place them on the tray. The mixture will be quite sticky – they don’t have to be perfect balls. I managed to get 25 balls from the mixture.
Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes, until the lentil balls are slightly crispy and just firm.
Serve with spaghetti and tomato sauce, if desired.

Nutrition

Recipe FAQs

Can I prepare these lentil balls in advance?

You could certainly mix together the ingredients in advance, and then store the mixture in a sealed container in the fridge for a day or so, until you’re ready to shape and bake the balls. The meatballs are tastiest when freshly baked, but if needed, you could even bake them in advance, and then reheat when you’re ready to eat them.

Can I freeze these lentil meatballs?

I didn’t experiment with freezing these balls, but it’s the sort of recipe I have had luck with freezing in the past, so I definitely think it’s worth a try.

How should I reheat leftover vegetarian meatballs?

The easiest way to reheat these lentil meatballs is in the microwave. They do dry out a little and lose their crispiness when reheated, but they’re still tasty. Alternatively, you could re-crisp them in the oven or air fryer.

How should I serve vegetarian lentil balls?

I served my meatballs with spaghetti and tomato sauce, which worked beautifully. You could alternatively serve them stuffed into pitta bread with some tzatziki, or alongside some mashed potato.