This Tortellini Alfredo recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make with sauce that’s restaurant quality! It’s easy to add broccoli or leftover chicken for a dinner that your family will love.
Be sure to serve this with a side of my Garlic Bread with Cheese.
Tortellini Alfredo
A few years ago, I was lucky to the best Alfredo sauce recipe from Olive Garden, and since then, life has been pretty wonderful. This is definitely one of my favorite 30-minute meals on the blog. (And it actually takes less than 30 minutes!)
Although you can pair this with any kind of pasta you have on hand, Tortellini has to be my favorite because, well, it’s cheese-filled. 😉
(Unless we’re talking about my Chicken Alfredo Bake, in which case, I love using shells.)
Alright- let’s do this.
Ingredients
The bottom of this post also contains recipe card with ingredients and full instructions.
- 3 cups broccoli florets
- 20 oz. refrigerated Tortellini, Rana 5-cheese tortellini is my favorite, but any variety will work!
Alfredo Sauce
- 6 Tablespoons high quality butter, Cabot is my preferred brand.
- 1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups half and half
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated from a block and at room temperature
- ½ cup Romano cheese, grated from a block and at room temperature
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- Fresh parsley, to garnish
How to Make It
Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Whisk in the flour. Slowly add in the half and half, continue to whisk. Increase heat slightly and bring the sauce to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to low.
Gradually sprinkle in grated cheese and whisk to incorporate. Let it continue to heat on low while you prepare the pasta.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tortellini and boil for 4 minutes. (Confirm cooking time on package.) Drain.
Add the broccoli and pasta to the Alfredo sauce. Stir to combine and serve. The sauce will continue to thicken as it stands.
Pro Tips
- Use high-quality butter for this recipe. Mince your own garlic, and shred the cheese from a block for best results.
- A pound of dry pasta may be used instead of tortellini. I like to use 3/4 of a pound for extra saucy pasta.
- This is a great meal to use with leftover chicken.
- I don’t recommend using milk instead of half + half, as the lower fat content can cause it to curdle.
- Serve this with a side of garlic bread with cheese.
- Any filling option is fine when selecting your tortellini. Sun-dried tomato and pesto, spinach, or tomato basil make great alternatives to cheese-filled.
Storage
Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
The BEST Way to Reheat:
I recommend reheating this with an easy homemade double boiler. Just fill a metal or glass bowl with leftover pasta and place it over a pot of steaming water, ensuring that it fits snuggly. The bowl will reheat slowly and evenly, and this will reheat the pasta nicely, as close as possible back to its original state.
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Tortellini Alfredo
Ingredients
- 3 cups broccoli florets
- 20 oz. refrigerated Tortellini, *see notes
Alfredo Sauce
- 6 Tablespoons butter, high quality
- 1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups half and half
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated and at room temperature
- ½ cup Romano cheese, grated and at room temperature
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- Fresh parsley, to garnish
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for one minute.
- Whisk in the flour. Gradually add the half and half, whisking constantly.
- Bring the sauce to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to low.
- Slowly sprinkle in the cheeses, continuing to whisk. It will continue to thicken as it simmers.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the broccoli. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the tortellini and cook for 4 minutes. (Confirm cooking time on package.)
- Drain the tortellini and broccoli and add to the Alfredo sauce, stir to combine.
- Garnish with parsley and serve!
Notes
Any kind of pasta may be used as an alternative to Tortellini.
Alfredo sauce isn’t meant to be too thick, but if you prefer for it to thicken more, let it continue to simmer and reduce slightly prior to adding the tortellini.
Love love this. We had some leftover so I put some in a couple of casserole dishes, added a little milk and put some mushrooms in the bottom of my husbands, baked it at 425 for about 20 minutes and added some mozzarella cheese for about 5 minutes. In heaven
I love how you used the leftovers, great call Diane!🙌 Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and review 💖
This recipe tastes amazing, BUT, it is excessively rich in taste. I can eat a quater of a serving and already feel full. The sauce alone can be great with a different type of pasta that doesnt contain more cheese.
Hi LC! Yes, it is a rich dish 🙂 When I created it, I based it off my favorite local Italian restaurant who has a rich sauce and a cheese-filled tortellini. Based on your feedback I just added additional emphasis in the post that any filling option is fine to use in this recipe. A few suggestions might be sun-dried tomato and pesto, spinach, or tomato basil! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to leave your thoughts on the recipe, I appreciate it!
I plan on making it this week. It looks delicious
Thanks Pat, I can’t wait for you to make it. Enjoy!
I am about 7 ounces short of the half and half. Will this effect it? Can I substitute with a little heavy cream?
Heavy cream and a splash of water and you’re in business!
Thank you so much for the quick response! It turned out amazing! My husband thought he was eating from a restaurant!
You’re very welcome! I’m so happy to hear it was a success!❤️
First time making alfredo of any kind, and for picky eaters. It was better then if we went to a restaurant thank you for the recipe. Will definitely be using the sauce again.
I’m so happy to hear that Steven!😃 My daughter is a picky eater and she likes this one too. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!
How about doubling it? Will it work to just double ingredients? I just know somethings dont always work out that way. There are 6 or us and 5 are guys.
Hi Melissa, I do believe this should work if you double everything 🙂
OMGosh this was really yummy. I added mozzarella and Cheddar along with the Parmigiano and Romero in the recipe since we love lots of cheeses. No complaints about leftovers either. Was better the next day with a splash of milk to thin it out. Love your recipes. Thanks for sharing!! 💗😋😁
Thanks so much for the review Sue! I’m so happy to hear you liked this one and are enjoying the other recipes!😃 I also love soup leftovers, makes such a great lunch the next day!
This was fantastic! The sauce was perfect! I didn’t have broccoli on hand so I used asparagus… I also used Rana toasted garlic chicken ravioli, again that is what I had on hand. This recipe is so quick and easy and the sauce came together so perfectly!!
I’m happy to hear you liked this one Milla!😃 I like how quick this one is, definitely a great weekday meal!
Agreed! I love the versatility! I am wanting to try a vegetarian – spinach, mushroom, asparagus version of this next! Thank you for sharing your recipes with the world! 🥧🍲🍛🤤
That sounds delicious! You’re very welcome, I love being able to share my recipes with the world!😄
I tried this recipe and loved it. Only change I made was that I used le gruyere cheese instead of Romano. It gave the cheese a little extra flavor.
Thanks for sharing Jill, I’m sure Gruyere would be a nice substitution!
This was absolutely delicious! Only substitute was mozzarella instead of romano cheese and adding another cup of half and half (I live in a high evelation state so sometimes pasta recipes can give us dry/not enough sauce–this wasn’t the case for this recipe and probably doesn’t need it for the future!) Definitely going into our dinner rotation 😋 Thank you!
Hi Rachele! I’m so glad you liked the Tortellini Alfredo! I love this one! Those upper elevation states can be tricky but I’m happy to hear this worked out for you!😀
Delicious! Made it for the whole family and it was a big hit. I had some left over grilled chicken that I mixed in and it worked really well. I definitely recommend this one, 5 stars!
So glad you and the family liked it Sandy! I’ve made it with chicken as well and it is delicious!