Joanna Gaines Told Us Her Secret for Perfect Alfredo Pasta, and We’re Stealing the Idea

Joanna Gaines is the HGTV icon. She turned her show Fixer Upper into a DIY empire to share all her best ideas with fans. From her kitchen ideas to her famous biscuit recipe to her lifestyle brand, Joanna (and Chip) know how to inspire us.

The Gaines family also has a restaurant in Waco, Texas. Like the rest of Joanna’s empire, Magnolia Table has a modern farmhouse aesthetic, down to the food on its menu. The restaurant’s spring menu features a White Alfredo Pasta, and, of course, we asked her for the recipe.

Joanna was kind enough to share the recipe with us, and now we know what makes her Alfredo sauce so good.

What is Joanna Gaines’s secret for perfect Alfredo pasta?

You make a traditional Alfredo sauce with butter and cheese, though plenty of recipes also call for cream to create a more indulgent texture. In her recipe, Joanna uses one special ingredient: white pepper.

Both white peppercorns and black peppercorns come from the same plant. The difference is that white peppercorns have had their skin removed, which gives them an earthy, spicy flavor. An added bonus is that white pepper also blends seamlessly into the Alfredo sauce, meaning you won’t see specks of black like you would if you used black pepper.

It’s a small detail that makes for an aesthetically pleasing final result, which is exactly Joanna’s style.

What else is in her Alfredo sauce?

Her Alfredo sauce calls for seven ingredients: garlic, olive oil, butter, heavy cream, mozzarella, Parmesan and, of course, white pepper. The dish she serves at Magnolia uses fettuccine, but enjoy this creamy sauce on any type of pasta that you have on hand (somehow, I always have multiple boxes of penne).

She recommends garnishing Alfredo pasta with fresh lemon wedges and fresh parsley before serving. I suspect Joanna uses home-grown parsley in her kitchen, but for the rest of us, store-bought is fine!