Easy Garlic Alfredo Tortellini
So simple, so easy, and just amazingly creamy. Best of all, it comes together in just 20 min from start to finish!
Three-cheese tortellini are smothered in a homemade alfredo sauce. And the best part about this? No, it’s not the epic cheesy-garlic goodness. Or the creaminess that just melts away in your mouth. It’s that it comes together in just 20 min from start to finish.
Seriously. It’s just that quick and easy. No joke. But the secret ingredient here is the fresh tortellini. Dry tortellini can be used but the fresh ones just taste so much better, and cuts the cooking time right in half. Either way, I recommend doubling this recipe or else you’ll be fighting for seconds!
Easy Garlic Alfredo Tortellini
Ingredients
- 1 9-ounce package refrigerated three cheese tortellini
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk, or more, as needed
- ½ cup half and half*
- 2 ounces cream cheese, cubed
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook tortellini according to package instructions; drain well.
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Gradually whisk in milk and half and half, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in cheeses until melted, about 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more milk as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in tortellini and gently toss to combine.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Its was soooooo good!!! Super easy 🙂 thank you for the great recipe !!!!
Made this tonight with sautéed chicken. Very good. Didn’t have half and half, so used milk and a little more cheese. More cheese is always a good thing. Everyone loved this. Will add this to my menu.
We enjoyed this recipe very much. The only change I made was to add onions, peas and increased the amount of red pepper flakes for more flavor. Used almost the entire bag of frozen (19 oz.) tortellini, so I made 1 1/2 times the sauce. It made enough for us two for dinner and 2 lunch portions for the next day. I plan to make this again. 4 1/2 stars.
This was amazingly delicious!
Awesome Alfredo! Super creamy and delicious. Made it just like the recipe ask minus the fact I added chicken. This recipe is a keeper for sure!
This is amazingly simple to make. And Damn Delicious to eat. Even my pickiest eater loved this pasta. I wouldn’t change a thing!!!
Beyond delicious and so simple!
Delicious! A super easy to make treat. We served this with a big green salad and it was such a comforting meal. Thank you!
Great Recipe. This is the first time I’ve made a GARLIC ALFREDO TORTELLINI and it turned out delicious.
I love how this gets right to the point. Also the sauce is amazing
My new favourite Alfredo sauce, I also served it with bite sized chicken that I browned off in pan then removed to make the sauce.
I cooked this with my 12 year old boy last night and today. Excellent and easy recipe, my son is amazed as to how quick it came together especially the way I cook.
Last’s night recipe:
added sausage, forgot the cream cheese and parsley. I used heavy whipping cream instead of half & half… we tore it up with no leftovers.
Today’s recipe:
Added chicken, added the cream cheese and forgot the parsley again. used whipping cream.
The cream cheese can be skipped with great results.
I love the simplicity of this recipe and how quickly and adaptable it is.
Thank you!
I love this recipe!! It’s my go to when I’m craving something really cheesy and indulgent for dinner. I don’t often have cream cheese on hand, so I usually just add a little bit of fresh mozzarella and extra Parmesan until the sauce reaches the right consistency. Works perfectly! Thanks so much
This is delicious as is and I did not have half and half, so I just used all milk. Next time I will also add spinach and artichokes and KNOW this will only make it even better!
This recipe was amazing and I wish I took a picture. Beautiful presentation. I had pan fried some diced pancetta for a few minutes and then added some peas to the pancetta. Threw them in at the end when I tossed the pasta with the cream sauce. Another change that I made was I added a mix of asiago and parmesan cheese. I also added some fresh ground pepper as well. Truly delicious!
Best recipe for the sauce I have every tried! Thank you!
I made this for dinner last night and my boyfriend (who likes to think he is something of a food critic) said it was the best cream sauce he’s ever had. I will definitely be adding this one to my recipe list—we loved it so much!
6 Stars
My gosh this is frickin’ awesome. Such tremendous depth in flavor. It’s as if God sent this straight down from heaven. Us mere mortals do not deserve gazing upon, let alone consuming such pure bliss. Perfection encapsulated in a luscious, creamy, garlicky sauce, all topped with a garnishing of parsley. Gordon Ramsey showed up at my doorstep the other day, so I made him this, and looked me dead in the eyes, gently kissed me on the cheek, and said “Well done my boy, this is F$@#&(* excellent”. The only thing he thought it needed was some olive oil, but that’s Chef Ramsey fer ya’. I personally find it to be beautiful in every way, and wouldn’t change a thing about it……
…..but if you do decide to up it a notch (nearly impossible but whatever) the last time I made this dish, I added some diced chicken which was marinated in pesto, along with some roasted garlic cloves and a heaping spoonful of Italian seasoning, and the whole flavor experience was like nothing I have ever shoved into my facehole. I was under the notion that perfection couldn’t become more perfect, but boy was I proven wrong. This’ll be my go-to recipe from now on.
Best recipe, and best review ever
Really quick recipe and great creamy flavor. My son loved it and wanted seconds.
Very creamy, lightly cheesy, great alfredo flavour. I put two large garlic cloves in and wanted it a bit more garlicy so I added about a tsp granulated garlic but that’s personal taste. Adheres very well to the tortellini. Easy to make. Fantastic texture / mouth feel. Yes, I can see how it could be easily adapted to include chicken or ham or bacon or veggies. I have made alfredo from a number of different recipes and this is one of the nicest. So simple with the packaged fresh three cheese tortellini that was waiting for the right sauce.
Had anyone added chicken?
Just made this tonight as directed and it is delicious! The red pepper flakes add just the right amount of kick. Liked the idea of adding veggies as other reviewers suggested, so going to add peas to the leftovers. Thanks for another great and easy recipe!
My family loves this! I doubled the recipe because I had 20-ounce tortellini and added frozen peas at the end. We loved the cheese and wanted more but felt so full we had to save it for tomorrow!
I have made this sooo many times and it doesn’t get old. I throw in honey garlic sausage and spinach… amazing. Thanks for the recipe!!!!
This was so easy to make and the result was nothing short of delicious!
This Alfredo sauce was terribly bland. I followed every step to a T. I don’t understand all the positive reviews. It is extremely bland, truly less flavor than jars you get from the grocery store and painfully rich. We ended up tossing it out and just using olive oil and grated parm, so not a total loss. I LOVE the idea of tortellini with Alfredo, YUM!
…Just not this Alfredo.
My goodness! What we have is the neat Alfredo sauce I’ve EVER tasted! Will make with chicken and broccoli next time. Not sure why people keep mentioning peas but maybe someday.
I saw a review with 1 star and the fact they were saying it was bland hopefully had a covid test because clearly the taste buds are being affected!
Tasty and simple. I added a little more flour and switched out basil for the parsley, and it was really nice. First time I’ve made an alfredo sauce.
Really great recipe. So easy to make. I accidentally used a 19oz bag of frozen tortellini after not reading the recipe and found that amount of pasta to be just perfect for us. Will be adding this to our regular rotation!
Would it be ok with cauliflower instead of broccoĺi?
Bev, there is no broccoli in this recipe but either broccoli or cauliflower would be great additions!
This dish is easy to prepare and oh so delicious! The only thing I did different was add green peas. Had just the right amount of kick and a very rich and creamy meal in one.
Thanks for sharing!
I just made this I used mozzarella for my Alfredo sauce and sprinkled the dish with crisp bacon bits and sautéed mushrroms. Omgosh superb!
This is delicious! I added shrimp and baby spinach! Such an easy recipe, too.
This looks delicious! If I use a family size 20 oz package of tortellini, should I just double the remaining ingredients?
Yes, that should work just fine.
Has any one put this in a crock pot and for a side dish at a party? Any tricks?
Thanks in advance.
You have cream cheese in the ingredient list but not in the directions.
Please refer to step #4:
4. Stir in cheeses until melted, about 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more milk as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in tortellini and gently toss to combine.
This recipe looks amazing.
What am I able to use instead of half and half?
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! Nothing subtle about it. Damn delicious! I added peas. I boiled these with the tortellini. Bookmarked and pinned this treasure and will make it again.
I’ve tried a few of your recipes and they have been very flavorful and deliscious, thanks you so much as I am not a great cook
Looks good! Has anyone made it just using whole milk? My cream expired
This is simply amazing! My husband is out of town and despises dinner without meat, so I made this for my kids and I and we are all devouring it! I added peas because we all love them and I didn’t want to use another dish. 🙂 Thank you so much! It’s restaurant quality without leaving the house! 🙂
I know nobody has commented on this for a while, but for future makers- I added peas and ham to mine and it give it a great taste.
That sounds amazing! I’ll definitely have to try that next time.
Hmm. While I haven’t tried or tasted this, it seems to me that what you might be making here is..a big, cheesy dish. Is there any subtlety to be found? A cheeses Alfredo sauce over a cheese-filled tortellini?
I think that a simple butter sauce with sage or Rosemary with a bit of garlic would allow the tortellini to shine, rather than smothering it in more cheesiness.
Of course, I could be wrong.
We just had this for dinner for the second time. Even my Super picky 9 year old loves this & eats every bite happily. 🙂
I am putting this on our bi-weekly meal plan. I swear every one of your recipes that I make end up being a family favorite.
Thank you so much for making such easy & ridiculously delicious recipes! 🙂
I’ve made this twice so far, and I like it. It’s slightly not “salty” enough, so I added a few dashes of garlic salt. I generally like my Alfredo on the saltier/cheesier side. Haha. Thanks!
This is so fantastic! Made it tonight and was really pleased. Actually had random tortellini on hand (went to the store for gnocchi, had to go with the tortellini instead), so this was perfect!
This is the first time I have ever commented on a recipe… this sauce is the BOMB!!! Great taste, not too heavy and perfect for any kind of pasta really. Throw in some vegetables and it is an easy meal!
Thank you so much – this will be my go-to alfredo recipe from now on! YUM
This recipe, which I haven’t made yet, will not freeze well because the dairy products will separate into curds and whey when frozen. Although, you could easily freeze or use frozen tortellini–put them in boiling water while still frozen. Start checking for doneness when the water gets real foamy…and may boil over.
I’ve made this recipe a few times now and it is idiot-proof and fantastic! I add chopped broccoli to the pasta and my family adores it. Thank you!
How much is a cup? US and imperial measures are different. What’s this in ml? You can easily treble your audience with this simple addition.
Nicole, here is a great resource to convert recipes to metric measures. Hope that helps!
I really want to try your recipes,but every time I go to print,it comes up BLANK PAGEI do not know what else to do.
Internet Explorer has recently made some updates that are causing print problems. I recommend using a different browser, such as Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari. But if you can only use Internet Explore, you can highlight the recipe, left-click, and print from there. Easy peasy!
This was fantastic! Looking for suggestions on what to serve with this.
Lisa, please feel free to browse through these side dishes for possible pairings. The garlic roasted carrots is a personal favorite!
making this tonight with garlic parm steamed broccoli and garlic knots. Can’t wait to try it! Sounds and looks amazing. I am doubling the recipe!
This was so easy and awesomely fantastic. I have cooked this 3 times in the last month for the wife and me.
Do you think this could work with any pasta? I have everything but tortellini!
It should be fine with a different kind of pasta, but it’s really best with tortellini!
I love alfredo, I can’t imagine how much better it is with tortellini!
Made this last night for dinner- So good and easy!
mmmmmmmmmmm this pasta looks SO creamy and rich and deeelish
ohhhhh yeahhhhhhhhhh
Can you freeze this?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I am a major sucker for alfredo and cheesy sauce. I think it’s just part of my heritage. But I will be more than happy to gobble this down!
This looks simply delicious!
Mmmm…. this looks so good and creamy. Can’t wait to make this for dinner!
Great recipes all the time.
I just love all of your pasta dishes! This looks divine.
Can’t wait to try this quick and easy recipe. Looks fabulous, but then all your recipes do!
Second time we are having this since you posted. Delish!!
This does look quick and easy….and delicious. That’s a win in my book!
Thank you for the nice recipe Chungah. Happy Valentine’s Day to you and your family.