Lemon Cream Sauce for Pasta
This lemon garlic cream sauce recipe comes together with only 8-ingredients! It’s delicious with pasta or as a base for many other dishes.
If you love quick sauces, try our 3-Ingredient Alfredo Sauce.
Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce
Lemony garlic cream sauce with half and half, fresh lemon, garlic, parmesan, and parsley could not be any easier to make.
It comes together in a cinch and tastes so creamy and fresh! You’ll love it tossed with any pasta of choice but it’s also a great sauce for salmon, shrimp, or chicken. For a variation of this sauce, check out our pasta sauce with cream cheese.
Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce Ingredients
- Butter
- Garlic
- All-purpose flour
- Half and half
- Lemon juice and zest
- Parmesan cheese
- Parsley
Can I Use Milk?
You can use 2% or whole milk. Keep in mind though, that the higher the fat content, the richer the sauce will be.
Recipe Variations! Love spicy sauce? Turn this cream sauce into creamy cajun sauce. The contrast of creamy with spicy is always a delicious combo!
How to Make Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce
1. Melt butter in a 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat.
2. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
3. Stir in flour and cook for about 1 minute or until lightly golden, while stirring constantly. It will look like a paste. Make sure not to burn the flour.
4. Gradually pour in the half and half, stirring as you pour. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to a medium-low and cook until the sauce thickens about 1-2 minutes. If any lumps form, just whisk them out. Properly thickened sauce should coat the back of your spoon.
6. Whisk in lemon juice and zest. Stir in Parmesan cheese and parsley. The cheese should immediately melt into the sauce.
7. Remove from heat and serve immediately.
Lemon Garlic Pasta Sauce Tips
- For ultra-smooth sauce, I highly recommend using a microplane for the garlic.
- Use freshly grated Parmesan cheese instead of shredded, as grated incorporates better into the cream mixture. Use a microplane to grate the cheese or a box-grater.
- Keep an eye on the temperature while cooking and stir frequently so that the garlic and butter-flour mixture doesn’t burn.
- Finished sauce will thicken quickly upon standing so it is best enjoyed immediately. You can thin out the sauce with little white wine, reserved pasta water, milk, or half and half.
How to use his Creamy Lemon Sauce
Lemon garlic cream sauce recipe is very versatile and can be served with pasta or as a base for many other dishes, such as:
- Chicken
- Shrimp
- Salmon
- Mac and cheese
- Bakes
How to Store Lemon Garlic Sauce
This recipe is best served right away while it’s still warm. However, if you have leftovers or want to prepare in advance, you can store the cooled sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Reheat the sauce in a pot over medium-low heat on the stove, stirring frequently. Add an extra splash of half and half or broth as needed to loosen it back up.
I don’t recommend freezing creamy lemon garlic sauce as it tends to separate once thawed!
Video: How to Make Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce
More Easy Pasta Recipes
- Italian Sausage Stuffed Shells
- Shrimp Pasta Primavera
- Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce
- Spicy Tomato Cream Sauce tossed with pasta of choice.
More Favorites from Little Broken
Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Simmer
- Cuisine: American
Description
Lemon garlic cream sauce recipe comes together with only 8-ingredients! It’s delicious with pasta or as a base for many other dishes.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 4 garlic cloves, grated with a microplane
- 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 2 cups half and half (not fat free)
- Zest 1 lemon, about 1 tsp.
- 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley
- Kosher salt and fresh black pepper
Instructions
- In a 12-inch non-stick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant, while stirring constantly.
- Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute or until lightly golden, stirring constantly. You want to cook off the raw flour taste. Make sure not to burn it.
- Gradually add in the half and half, stirring as you pour. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until the sauce thickens about 1-2 minutes. If any lumps form, whisk them out. The sauce should easily coat the back of a spoon.
- Whisk in lemon juice and zest. Stir in Parmesan cheese and parsley. The cheese should immediately melt into the sauce. Serve immediately.
Notes
- For a Smoother Sauce: Use a microplane for the garlic and for the Parmesan cheese. Grate the Parmesan yourself, it will taste and melt into the sauce better than the bagged cheese.
- Serving: This recipe makes 2 cups of sauce, which is enough for 8 ounces of dry pasta. Or use the sauce as a base for other dishes. See post for serving ideas.
- Leftovers: This sauce will thicken upon standing. You can thin out the sauce with white wine, reserved pasta water, milk, or half and half. Leftovers will keep in an airtight container for up 5 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 5.3 g
- Sodium: 189 mg
- Fat: 20.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 11 g
- Protein: 7.1 g
- Cholesterol: 62.4 mg
Hi,
Please could you kindly explain: What is “half-and-half”!?
I am using logic to presume you mean cream and water? But you really should mention what it is as many people, such as myself are left guessing.
regards,
Hi half and half is simply a mixture of equal parts whole milk and cream. You can find it next to milk. Hope that helps!
Could the sauce be made in advance? Is it best to stop at a certain step if making the sauce the night before?
Yes, you can definitely make the sauce the night before. It will thicken when refrigerated. You can thin out with half and half.
Awesome recipe! My husband and I are lemon lovers so I doubled the lemon juice and it was wonderfully lemony!! I also added more pepper than most people because we love black pepper, and a little less garlic. I wish I had some artichokes, but I will the next time I make it to add in at the end. So easy and quick to make! We were eating dinner a mere 25 minutes after I started!! I think some garlic bread would be yummy with it too!
Was a lovely sauce for shrimp, broccoli, red bell peppers and mushrooms. Wish I could post a picture. A keeper for sure. My garlic cloves were huge, so will cut back on the garlic next time. I think 1 garlic clove, minced, should be a teaspoon. I think.
Absolutely perfect. I’ve had this dish before, but couldn’t reproduce it. This is the closest I’ve ever come to achieve this perfect sauce. Many thanks to whomever submitted this recipe!
Amazing!! This was so good. I added spinach and chicken. My teenager loved it ! Im already thinking how to change it up for next week hehe maybe some mushrooms 🤤 thank you !
This was a wonderful accompaniment to artichoke & cheve stuffed chicken breasts. Placed chicken on a bed of rice and poured sauce over it. Fabulous!!
what is meant by half & half please ?
Half and half is a mixture of equal parts of whole milk and cream.
SO good!! Super flavorful and easy.
My whole family LOVED this sauce! picky kids cleaned their plates and my husband said it’s the best thing I’ve ever made 😍
What a great recipe! My family and I loved it. The only thing I did different was grilled some seasoned chicken in the pan first and sauteed the butter and garlic in the juices. I also added mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and spinach at the end of it. I also added the grilled chicken back it after I sliced it in strips. It was delicious. I also did Italian seasoning instead of the fresh parsley because I didn’t have any. The base of this recipe was so flavorful and so yummy. Definitely will make this again.
this recipe is so easy to follow and very simple yet incredibly tasty! so, I’m a lazy cook if you will however, fresh pasta garlic lemon….yes all day long! switching things up a bit…butta olive oil browned Epic garlic splash of lemon juice evaporated milk(because that’s what I do) cream cheese add homemade fettuccine 🤯 thank you for sharing so it can be changed!
Very easy and delicious sauce that can be made shortly for an easy dinner. Made this with tortellini pasta and broccoli. Will be making this again and trying different vegetables and protein for variety.
OMG, thank you for such a beautiful recipe, I didn’t change a thing! I’ve served it with a seafood mix on crusty Turkish bread & then with tinned tuna as a tuna mornay option. It tastes really ‘fancy’ & my family say it’s a keeper.
DELICIOUS!!! I used 2% milk because that’s all I had. And it turned out great! I also didn’t have parsley, I used Italian seasoning because that’s what I had on hand. I mixed in some spinach, and simmered some grilled chicken breasts in the sauce and put it over jasmine rice. My husband said this sauce definitely needs to be in the rotation now.
10/10. Other than using a tablespoon of dried thyme and rubbed sage (ea) in lieu of the parsley (added in w salt and pepper), I followed the recipe to a T. Unreal. Had it w sous vide chicken and garlic/rosemary potatoes. Un. Real. Bravo.
This was delicious!! I didn’t have half and half but I had one cup of cream, so I just mixed that with a cup of chicken broth and it turned out amazing!
This lemon cream sauce was delicious and so easy! I will be making it again nd gain.
I made this last night and wanted it to be a meatless dinner so I added artichoke hearts but not the marinated ones. The dish was really good but it’s missing some flavor. Just not sure what. Maybe I’ll add some capers next time.