"Fettuccine Alfredo is macaroni and cheese for…

“Fettuccine Alfredo is macaroni and cheese for adults” is a line credited to American stand-up comedian Mitch Hedberg (1968-2005). It’s not known when Hedberg first included the joke in his routine.

Other Italian pasta dishes have also been called “mac/macaroni and cheese for adults.” “Choosing from the regular menu, a companion described the penne a la vodka ( $9.95) as ‘macaroni and cheese for adults’” was cited in print in 1990. Shrimp pasta was called “mac and cheese for adults” in 2012.

Wikipedia: Mitch Hedberg
Mitchell Lee “Mitch” Hedberg (February 24, 1968 – March 29, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and unconventional comedic delivery. His comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-line jokes, mixed with absurd elements and non sequiturs.

Hedberg’s comedy and on-stage persona gained him a cult following, with audience members sometimes shouting out the punchlines to his jokes before he could finish them.

13 June 1990, Newsday (Long Island, NY), “Eats” by John C. Davenport, Part II: Weekend, pg. 21:
Choosing from the regular menu, a companion described the penne a la vodka ( $9.95) as “macaroni and cheese for adults.”

23 April 2003, Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), “By any other name, it’s still macaroni and cheese” by Michele Anna Jordan
My friend Katie, who by any interpretation is a somewhat picky eater, gazed at her plateful of tortellini in cream sauce and beamed. “It’s macaroni and cheese for adults!” she exclaimed.

Google Books
The Reader’s Digest
Volumes 174-175
2009
Pg. 63:
Fettuccine Alfredo is macaroni and cheese for adults.
Comic Mitch Hedberg

Google Books
Cookin’ with Coolio:
5 Star Meals at a 1 Star Price
By Coolio
New York, NY: Atria Paperback (Simon & Schuster)
2009
Pg. 167:
Don Chicken Alfredo
Fettuccine Alfredo is basically just mac and cheese for adults.

Tasty Kitchen
Baked Rigatoni with Bechamel
by lolal19 on February 18, 2010
This is based off a Giada DeLaurentiis recipe. But I modified it a bit. It’s the ultimate mac and cheese for adults, though kids seem to enjoy it too!

Google Books
The 2,548 Wittiest Things Anybody Ever Said
By Robert Byrne
New York, NY: Touchstone
2012
1,040
Fettuccine Alfredo is macaroni and cheese for adults.
—Mitch Hedberg (1968–2005)

kritterbox
TheDuke
06-12-2012 12:41 AM
Favorite Mitch Hedberg quotes! RIP my friend!
(...)
“Fettuccini Alfredo is macaroni and cheese for adults.”

Star-News (Wilmington, NC)
Chef Profile - Sean Mundy at Live Oak Café
By Allison Ballard
Published: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 7:35 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 7:35 a.m.
(...)
Ten years at Live Oak has honed his menu into one of customer favorites. One diner called his shrimp pasta – with seafood, wild mushrooms, tomatoes and leeks in a pesto cream sauce – “mac and cheese for adults.”