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Home » Recipes » Main Dish

Garlic Cream Sauce

June 2, 2020 By Katya 19 Comments

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easy garlic cream sauce

Creamy garlic sauce with only 6-ingredients! This sauce will become your go-to for quick and easy meals.

Just like our popular Vodka Sauce recipe, this garlic cream sauce will become a staple in your kitchen.

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Garlic Cream Sauce

Want to makes someone’s day? Make them this garlic cream sauce! 

It’s made with basic ingredients such as butter, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. Not to mention it’s ready in about 20 minutes time.

The flavor of this sauce is everything you expect: creamy, garlicky, and rich. It’s delicious tossed with cooked pasta or use it as a base in casseroles and bakes.

It will surely become your go-to recipe for quick and easy meals.

garlic cream sauce for pasta

What is Garlic Sauce Made Of?

The best part about this garlic cream sauce recipe is that it’s made with only 6-ingredients:

  • Butter:  Salted or unsalted butter works great.
  • Garlic: Fresh garlic is the way to go. Avoid garlic powder. Even the pre-cut garlic is not always fresh. Garlic isn’t the most exciting thing in the world to peel and chop but taking a few extra minutes to do so will make a difference in the taste of your sauce. 
  • Flour: I like using all-purpose flour to thicken this sauce. 
  • Half and Half: Half and half is simply equal parts of whole milk and light cream. It adds the perfect amount of creaminess. Avoid fat-free half and half.  
  • Parmesan Cheese: Get the good stuff! Buy a chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano and grate it yourself. It tastes the best. Do not use pre-shredded cheese. It’s normally covered in the anti-clumping powdery coating. It won’t melt well into the sauce.
  • Parsley: Delicate fresh parsley adds the perfect bright freshness to the sauce. You can substitute with 2 teaspoons of dried parsley.

ingredients for garlic cream sauce recipe

Half and Half Substitute

You can easily make the sauce with milk. It’s slightly less creamy with milk but still very good. Make sure to use whole milk. I do not recommend lower fat milk. Allow an extra few minutes for the milk to thicken. 

How to Make Garlic Cream Sauce

  • Step 1: Make the roux – In a large non-stick skillet (or a sauté pan) melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in flour and cook for about 1 minute or until lightly golden.

roux in a skillet

  • Step 2: Add half and half – Gradually whisk in the half and half. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Simmer until thickened, about 1-2 minutes.

cream in skillet

  • Step 3: Stir in Parmesan – Stir in Parmesan cheese and parsley. The cheese should immediately melt into the sauce. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

garlic parmesan cream sauce

Cream Sauce Variations

Feel free to change up this recipe and make it your own. Love basil? Make homemade pesto and stir in 1-2 tablespoons of pesto into the sauce to brighten up the flavor.

Make the sauce spicy by adding a sprinkle of chili flakes to the sauce. The contract of creamy with spicy is always a delicious combo!

Want more flavor? Try different herbs, like basil or chives. Or different spices, like Italian seasoning, thyme, or rosemary. 

garlic parmesan cream sauce recipe

Ways to Serve It

Garlic cream sauce is very versatile and can be served with pasta or as a base for many other dishes.

Which pasta is best for cream sauce? Our pick is fettuccine pasta. It’s wide, thick shape allows you to pick up the maximum amount of sauce with each bite. But honestly just about any other pasta works too!

Looking to add more nutrition to your pasta? Toss in your favorite cooked veggies and protein, such as grilled chicken or shrimp.

Also, this cream sauce can serve as a base in other dishes, such as mac and cheese, bakes, and lasagna.  

More Pasta Favorites:

  • Easy Bolognese Sauce
  • Chicken Mushroom Spinach Pasta
  • Creamy Corn Pasta with Shrimp
  • Pasta Primavera with Roasted Vegetables

If you try Garlic Cream Sauce, don’t forget to leave feedback and a rating.

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garlic cream sauce recipe

Garlic Cream Sauce

★★★★★ 4.9 from 7 reviews
  • Author: Katya
  • Prep Time: 10 min
  • Cook Time: 10 min
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Sauce
  • Method: Simmer
  • Cuisine: American
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Description

Creamy garlicky sauce with only 6-ingredients! This sauce will become your go to for quick and easy meals.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 Tbsp. butter, salted or unsalted
  • 4 cloves garlic, grated with a microplane 
  • 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 1 3/4 cups half and half (not fat-free)
  • 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1–2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced (or 2 tsp. dried parsley)
  • Kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. In a large non-stick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. When hot, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant, stirring constantly. Make sure not to burn the garlic.
  2. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute or until lightly golden, stirring constantly. You want to cook it just long enough so it doesn’t taste like raw flour.
  3. Gradually whisk in half and half. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer until thickened, about 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally. If any lumps form, just whisk them out. Simmer time will depend on multiple factors, one of them being the size of your pan. You basically want the sauce to cook just until thickened. Properly thickened sauce should coat the back of your spoon.
  4. Stir in Parmesan cheese and parsley. Remove pan from heat. Sauce is best when served immediately. It will thicken upon standing. See notes on serving suggestions.

Notes

  • Garlic: For best results, use a microplane to grate the garlic. If you do not have a microplane, use a garlic press.
  • Parmesan: Buy a chunk of fresh Parmesan cheese and grate it yourself. Bagged cheese normally has anti-clumping agents and does not melt well.
  • Half and Half Substitute: You can make this sauce with whole milk. It will be slightly less creamy but still good. I do not recommend lower fat milk. Allow more time for the sauce to thicken when using milk.
  • To Serve: This recipe makes enough sauce for 8 oz. of dry fettuccine pasta.  Reserve some of the pasta water to thin out the sauce as it will thicken upon standing and when tossed with cooked pasta.
  • Leftovers/Reheating: Sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Reheat over medium-low heat with a splash or two of half and half or milk.
  • Nutrition is for the sauce only, not including pasta.

Keywords: garlic sauce, pasta sauce, easy white sauce

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Filed Under: Main Dish, Recipes, Sauces and Condiments Tagged With: cream sauce, garlic, parmesan

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Comments

  1. cathy bliss says

    February 19, 2021 at 11:30 AM

    I’m making Parmesan chicken tonight will the parmesan and garlic sauce make it too much I don’t want it to overpower and everything tastes like Parmesan cheese

    Reply
    • Katya says

      February 19, 2021 at 12:25 PM

      You can always cut down on garlic and Parmesan a little if you think it’ll be too much with the chicken.

      Reply
  2. Heath says

    January 6, 2021 at 12:50 PM

    Can you use almond or coconut flour instead of regular flour.

    Reply
    • Katya says

      January 6, 2021 at 10:50 PM

      I’m not sure how almond or coconut flour work as thickeners in the sauce but I do know that arrowroot starch/flour works great. I’ve used it in many recipes where it calls for flour as a thickener.

      Reply
  3. Marlene says

    December 7, 2020 at 4:52 PM

    This recipe was super easy to follow and my sauce came out great, I made it extra garlicky and decided to blend my cream (I had evaporated milk on hand) with more garlic cloves, mushrooms, and a mini red bell pepper. I cook for my parents on a low sodium diet so I subbed salt substitute and a little light salt. I also added extra flour to make more sauce and added sodiom free chicken broth. Since it is so easy to make my own sauce, I probably will forgo the garlic alfredo jar at the store. Thanks so much!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Katya says

      December 8, 2020 at 8:53 AM

      That’s so great! Thank you.

      Reply
  4. Olivia says

    November 24, 2020 at 6:18 AM

    Could do with half the amount of flour as its a bit thick and floury. But that’s just my taste. Otherwise a great lil garlic sauce!

    ★★★★

    Reply
    • Katya says

      November 24, 2020 at 5:51 PM

      Thank you for feedback.

      Reply
  5. Sheila says

    November 14, 2020 at 12:17 PM

    Love your recipes

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Katya says

      November 14, 2020 at 2:55 PM

      Thank you!!

      Reply
  6. Marisa says

    September 22, 2020 at 8:55 PM

    I absolutely loveeee this sauce. I’ve used it on butterflied lobster tails, and with pasta. Both times I’ve gotten the best reaction from my family I’ve ever gotten haha. I just have a question, if mine came out a little too thick, do you suggest I add water (pasta water in particular) or more half & half to even it out?

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Katya says

      September 22, 2020 at 9:23 PM

      That’s so great! Thank you for your feedback Marisa. With half & half the sauce is going to be creamier so I would do that.

      Reply
  7. Adam says

    September 12, 2020 at 8:13 AM

    This sauce is absolutely amazing and the uses for it can be endless thanks for such an amazing and simple garlic sauce too make will definitely be cooking this again

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Katya says

      September 14, 2020 at 8:58 AM

      Thank you Adam! So happy you enjoyed it.

      Reply
  8. Caliph says

    August 22, 2020 at 3:13 AM

    This was great! I didn’t have parsley so used oregano and it was still delicious. I also used shaved Parmesan from Trader Joe’s. Next time I’ll get it right but even with adjustments, it was excellent!

    Reply
    • Katya says

      August 22, 2020 at 11:06 AM

      So glad it worked for you! Thank you for feedback.

      Reply
  9. Nishat says

    August 17, 2020 at 9:11 AM

    Fantastic. Thank you.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Katya says

      August 17, 2020 at 1:07 PM

      Thank you!

      Reply
  10. Marsha G says

    August 13, 2020 at 4:43 AM

    Very delicious and turned out amazing! Will be making again.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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Hello and Welcome! I’m Katya. I believe life is too short to eat bad food and wear boring shoes. I'm glad you're here! Learn more...

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