The Crunchy Add-In That Gives Store-Bought Alfredo Sauce A Deeper, Richer Flavor

Alfredo sauce is creamy, comforting, and decadent, but the flavor can get a little monotonous, especially when using the jarred variety. Even if you're whipping up a quick pasta dish, consider adding ingredients to improve store-bought Alfredo to elevate your meal in terms of flavor, texture, and nutrition. Nuts are one of the easiest add-ins to most pasta dishes, and this creamy sauce benefits immensely from them. You have lots of options when it comes to which nuts to use, so even if you're cooking with a jarred Alfredo sauce brand that's not the best, there's a sure-shot way to make it taste better and the meal more enjoyable.

Nuts are used in several Italian dishes, with pine nuts in basil pesto being the most common. Pistachio pesto is also popular in parts of Italy, with the flavorful nut showing up in places as diverse as savory dishes and gelato. Walnut is another popular add-in and is sometimes even used as the base of a pasta sauce. When elevating store-bought Alfredo sauce, you can choose from pine, walnuts, cashews, pistachios, almonds, and even hazelnuts. This doesn't mean these nuts are interchangeable; each of them will add a specific element to Alfredo sauce. However, if you have any of them at home, you can use them to boost your dish. Whether they are toasted or raw, and how finely you chop them, influences the effect they'll have on your pasta Alfredo.

If you want to add flavor, roast the nuts. Pine nuts become particularly fragrant when toasted, but you can just as easily roast walnuts, cashews, almonds, or any other nuts to incorporate them into Alfredo sauce. Always roast nuts on medium heat, stirring frequently to avoid burning, until fragrant. The more they roast, the stronger their flavor gets, but burning them risks adding bitterness, which could overwhelm the flavors of the pasta. Allow the nuts to cool before adding them to the pasta.

For a prominently crunchy texture, roughly chop the nuts into larger pieces and use them as a garnish. You can also mix some in the sauce since nuts don't get soggy quickly. However, if you want to disperse the roasted nut flavor throughout the Alfredo sauce, as is the case with pine nuts in pesto, it's better to grind the toasted nuts and mix them with the sauce.

Almonds, walnuts, and pine nuts bring a deeper flavor, while cashews, hazelnuts, and macadamia nuts add a more mellow, lightly sweet flavor. Remember that the flavor of roasted nuts helps cut through the fattiness of the sauce, and you can even use lemon zest to lighten the richness of Alfredo sauce. Alternatively, to add more creaminess, try soaking unroasted cashews in hot water and grinding them to a paste. While this is often used as a base for vegan Alfredo, you can add it to store-bought Alfredo to boost the nutritional value of the dish and complement it by topping the dish with roasted cashews for texture.