Better Than Olive Garden Seafood Alfredo
Thick, rich, creamy, and loaded with seafood, this version of Olive Garden’s Seafood Alfredo isn’t just good, it’s BETTER than what you’ll get at the restaurant! Save your money and make it at home – this seafood Alfredo recipe is going to impress everyone!
My mother got me hooked on Olive Garden’s Seafood Alfredo, and she’s the one who got me started dipping their soft and fluffy breadsticks into the sauce. I love you, Mama, but you’ve created an Olive garden addict!
But I’m a daddy’s girl, too, and he always told me not to spend money on something you can do cheaper! And, rather than shell out for my favorite pasta, I set out to make it myself. And I made it better.
I’m not prone to bragging – unless you’re talking about this amazing Alfredo pasta with shrimp, scallops, and oodles of flavor. And, you can’t forget the breadsticks for dipping – you can even make those yourself. Ever wonder how to make seafood Alfredo like Olive Garden? Read on and I’ll show you!
What Seafood is in Seafood Alfredo?
I loaded my copycat Seafood Alfredo with tender shrimp and scallops. You can add other seafood, too, and I’ve got some suggestions below.
When I first served this to my husband he downright raved about how my version was so good. No disrespect to the OG, but I agree!
Ingredients
There’s not a lot in this complex-tasting Alfredo pasta with seafood, and aside from the shrimp and scallops, you might have everything you need!
- Fettuccine pasta – Or your favorite long noodles, but it’s not called Fettuccini Alfredo without the fettucini!
- Scallops – Look for bay scallops; they’re the small ones at your store’s fish counter.
- Shrimp – Smaller shrimp are fine for this Olive Garden Seafood Alfredo recipe, but do yourself a favor and get them peeled and deveined.
- Butter – Oh yes. There’s LOTS of butter in this dish.
- Olive oilÂ
- Garlic – Fresh garlic is what you need for this recipe.
- Cream – Heavy cream. There’s extra sauce for dipping your breadsticks in this recipe!
- Black pepper – Freshly ground.
- Parmesan cheese – Shredded or grated but use good Parmesan in this recipe.
- Mozzarella cheese – Yes, more cheese.
How To Make Olive Garden’s Seafood Alfredo
For a complete list of ingredients and instructions, please scroll down to the recipe at the bottom of this page.
- Saute the scallops in olive oil and then add the shrimp. Remove them from the pan and set them aside.
- Melt the butter and remaining oil and saute the garlic, then add the cream and pepper.Â
- Add the Parmesan cheese and cook until the sauce is thickened and smooth.
- Stir in the mozzarella.
- Toss the sauce with the noodles and seafood in the pot, or plate the noodles then top with the sauce and seafood.Â
- Serve it with extra sauce for dipping!
How to Serve
This pasta dish is a complete and hearty meal, especially if you serve it with breadsticks or garlic bread. You could also serve this easy pasta Alfredo recipe with a salad and my favorite balsamic dressing or your favorite steamed veggies.
Recipe Tips
- Get your pasta started, and the rest of this dish can be done by the time the pasta is ready.
- If you’re using larger scallops, make sure to pull off the bit of side muscle if it’s still attached.
- Save some Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top, or add a bit of fresh parsley.
- Serve the extra sauce in small cups or ramekins for dipping.
Variations
- Lighten up the dish using half and half instead of heavy cream.
- You can add crab, salmon, and your favorite seafood to this seafood Alfredo recipe.
- Add a bit of Cajun seasoning to make it Cajun Alfredo sauce.
- Stir in some baby spinach at the end of the cooking time for extra veggies.
Storage & Reheating
Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container for 3-4 days but not much longer because seafood is highly perishable.
Reheat your shrimp Alfredo on the stovetop over low heat or in the microwave on half power until warmed through.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, this is an easy dish. You might think it is complicated because it tastes so gosh darn good, but it’s not!
Yes, the sauce and the seafood are gluten-free. To ensure the whole meal is gluten-free, make sure you use gluten-free pasta.
Not so much. This dish is loaded with butter, cream, cheese, and carbs – but everything is fine in moderation! You don’t have to have a huge portion, and it’s a fabulous dish for special occasions.
‘Better Than Olive Garden’ Seafood Alfredo
Ingredients
- 16 oz fettuccine noodles
- 1 pound scallops
- 1 pound small shrimp deveined – shells & tails removed
- 1 stick butter
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 4 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1.5 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 3/4 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat a skillet on medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and saute the scallops for about 6 minutes. Stir in the shrimp & cook for an additional 4-5 minutes, or until done. Remove from the pan & set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, cream, & pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, whisking often.
- Add the Parmesan cheese and cook the sauce on medium heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and is smooth. Make sure you give it a good whisk every couple of minutes!
- Add the mozzarella cheese and stir until smooth, continuing to stir frequently.
- While the sauce cooks, boil the fettuccine noodles according to package directions. Place the pasta on serving plates, and top with the Alfredo sauce and seafood OR just combine it all together in a large pot.
- **This does make a little bit more sauce than you need. I did this on purpose because I like to put a little in a small bowl to dip my breadsticks in. My Olive Garden copycat breadstick recipe is listed on the blog here!***
More Pasta Recipes
this looks amazing. Im making this for dinner one day next week!
Made thia for dinner tonight! Didn’t have mozzarella but used Monterey jack and only had 2 cups of cream so substituted with milk. Delicious and a big hit tonight!!
I made this for dinner last night, and we loved it. I added more cheese to the sauce than it called for, and also salt and more pepper. I’ve tried other alfredo recipes, but they certainly don’t measure up to this recipe!
I made this tonight. Mine was a little bit grainy, probably because I used pre-grated parmesan cheese. The taste was amazing, though! Next time I will buy a block of parm cheese. I made a half batch and it made enough for me and my husband with one serving left for lunch tomorrow. I will definitely make this again. It would also be good with just shrimp.
I made this for dinner last night. Everything was going well until I added the mozzarella cheese. My sauce became very grainy which was a shame because the flavor was great. Maybe using part-skim was the mistake. I haven’t seen mozzarella as an ingredient in alfredo sauce before so I’ll probably omit it next time.
wow!!! Thank you so much!! Olive Garden who???
This was my 3rd attempt at making seafood alfredo. The two previous recipes were too complicated, but this one came out great:) This recipe was very easy to follow and I can’t wait to make it again.
Going to attempt this. Believe it or not I get this at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Tulsa. It’s excellent.
Husband loved it!
Trying this tonight for my vday dinner for my husband… super exited! i bought everything i need already! Thank you. I will let you know how it came out.
Made this multiple times for dinner. My man raves to everyone about how its better than olive Garden’s. Thxs for this its sooooo delish.
How many servings does this recipe make?
6-8 servings.
If you have priced scallops recently, it’s probably cheaper to eat at Olive Garden!
oh yea there are 18.99 a lb
Double up on Shrimp!
I found scallops for $10 lb. was very happy about that’
Has anyone calculated the nutritional information for this dish? I would’ve, but day late dollar short, so I forgot about it.
This was soo delicious and super easy to make. I did use extra cheese and also jumbo shrimp instead of small ones. Soo much better than jar alfredo sauce.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Found this and loved it; but it cost $22.50 for the ingredients today which is late 2014, but serving wise brings it down to $3-4 a serving. Cheap for a delicious main course this good. I served mine with a hot baguette, and a small side salad with gorgonzola and pears; and it was a meal to love. will make many more times. I kept sauce in fridge for a week and reheated in double boiler for a repeat the next week. Just make new pasta.
I made this the other night and was disappointed. My cheese didn’t blend very well with the cream and I ended up with a soupy clumpy-cheese mess. What did I do wrong??!
This was an outstanding dish I made for the family, there were no left overs. I will be making this again.
I made this recipe as well with similar results to yours. Too hot, or too long with the cheese, or a combo of both. Melting butter without burning it. Similar technique here. 2nd time was a charm.
My children agree that this is better than Olive Garden. Thanks for sharing.
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Your rec he was amazing my children loved it. The only thing is is I made a couple of changes and it was actually by accident. So I had bought the heavy whipping cream like a week before I was going to make it and ended up using some of it in my coffee so I was shy half of the 32 ounces so to supplement I had silk cashew milk and I supplemented the other 16 ounces with cashew milk. Then instead of using the five garlic cloves I just did 2 tablespoons of the pre minced garlic. I also used 1-8 ounce container of Kraft three cheese parmesan blend instead of using fresh parmesan Anyways these little changes and it was absolutely amazing. Thank you for sharing
Sorry for typos I was using Google to talk while I was making dinner. It was supposed to say your recipe was amazing
It truly was better than OG!!!! I was really surprised at how great the taste was!!! A new family favorite!!! I give it 5 STARS and 2 thumbs up lady!!!! Thank you for sharing!!!
Hi! I tried making this last night and everything was going good until I added the mozzarella cheese, but I used low moisture, part skim, was that the problem? I really want to try again cause it looks SO good, but I want to make sure that’s the problem before I try again. Thanks!
Can you do this in the crockpot? I’m going to the beach and just trying to find easy crockpot beachy recipes.Â
Eeee, that I’m not sure. I’m going to go with no though. If you try it and have success though, please let me know.
I just made this omg so good !!!!
I’m so glad you like it!
This recipe tastes EXACTLY like what you get in the restaurant. Even the consistency and texture of the sauce is spot on. I love, love, LOVE it! Super easy to make. Thanks so much!
Way better than Olive Garden! Made this for the family tonight,. As some don’t like seafood, I left it off until the end and added some crab meat as well. I only had 2 cups of whipping cream so used half and half for the remainder. It still thickened up nicely. Definitely am adding to the cookbook as it passed the test. Thank you!
Used half and half because I couldn’t find heavy cream thanks to corona…recipe turned out GREAT still!!
Will be making this again and will always use this as my go-to Alfredo sauce. So delicious. Thank you!
This is a go to meal whenever my household shrugs theirs shoulders about what to have for dinner. I’ve been making it for years and has been a hit every single time.
It also doesn’t help that this is my go to dish to order at olive garden and I look for reasons to make this (ps, Aldi has small scallops for 5.99 in the year of 2020 and 9.99 for large ones).
Yes yes yes yes yassss i havent even eaten yet but i tasted the sauce and omg its sooo fricken delicious 🤤 i love this recipeÂ
Divine!