The Flavorful Addition That Transforms Store-Bought Alfredo Sauce

Store-bought Alfredo sauce can be a convenient option for at-home pasta dishes, but the jarred stuff can often be a little bland. To drastically improve the flat flavor of a store-bought Alfredo sauce, put in the extra effort to caramelize some onions for the sauce.

Caramelized onions become sweeter as they cook on the stovetop, even though they retain their innate savoriness as well. This delicious sweet-savory combo pairs wonderfully with the rich, creamy notes of any Alfredo sauce. But when it comes to store-bought sauces, the freshly caramelized onions provide a dramatic flavor improvement.

One important thing to remember with this flavorful addition, though, is that caramelizing onions takes a long time — typically at least 45 minutes, but maybe longer. They must be sautéed in fats low and slow — gentle enough to not burn the delicate vegetables but long enough to break the onions' natural sucrose down into sweeter glucose and fructose. It takes patience, but the reward is worth it. 

Caramelized onions are a fantastic way to elevate store-bought Alfredo sauce, but cooking the right onions the right way will guarantee the best flavor possible. For starters, consider adding a small amount of butter to the oil for your onions. Adding butter is one of the best ways to improve caramelized onions generally, but for store-bought Alfredo, the buttery taste and mouthfeel the onions pick up should help them blend even more beautifully into the creamy sauce.

It's also important to caramelize the correct onion. Some varieties, like Vidalia or Maui onions, are pretty sweet to begin with and might not be the best choice for adding caramelized onions to Alfredo sauce. On the other hand, yellow onions have a mellow sweetness that develops nicely with caramelization and won't overwhelm your sauce.

Caramelized onions are just one of the best ways to upgrade any Alfredo sauce, but you can also combine this tip with other sauce improvements. The sweetness of caramelized onions pairs nicely in store-bought Alfredo with pieces of pancetta, a salt-cured Italian pork belly that will add a meaty, smoky savoriness to the flavor explosion.