Garlic Parmesan Sauce
This Garlic Parmesan Sauce is not only creamy and delicious, but it’s ready in about the same time it takes to cook pasta. Coincidence? I think not!
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Whenever we go out for Italian, I always order some sort of dish with alfredo sauce. I absolutely love the creamy, rich flavors of alfredo! There’s a small Italian restaurant near us that makes a dish with cheese tortellini, peas and prosciutto…and the whole thing is tossed in one of the best alfredo sauces I’ve ever tasted. Yum!
On the other hand, whenever we make Italian at home, we almost always go with a classic red sauce. It’s tasty, and we usually have the necessary ingredients in the pantry. But this past week, I decided to mix things up. I wanted a good creamy pasta sauce, so I went all in and make this Garlic Parmesan Sauce. In a nutshell: creamy, decadent, delicious!
To be honest, I always thought alfredo sauces required a ton of butter. Not true. There is butter in this Garlic Parmesan Sauce, but it’s not near as much as I thought.
Instead, the base of this sauce is akin to a roux. (A roux is the base of many Cajun recipes, too.) This sauce is easy and quick, too. I made the garlic parm sauce in the same time it took to boil the water and cook the pasta. In fact, the sauce was done a couple of minutes before the pasta.
How do you make creamy garlic parmesan sauce?
Once you’ve got that roux cooking in the saucepan, all you need after that is chicken (or veggie) stock, milk and lots of Parmesan cheese. I opted to get a container of grated Parmesan cheese from the cheese section in our grocery store. That saved me a ton of time when making this recipe!
Roasted Garlic
Oh, and I almost forgot the garlic! We always keep roasted garlic in the freezer, and I chose to use roasted garlic for this recipe rather than raw garlic. The roasted version added a fun depth of flavor to the finished dish. Was it garlicky? Yes. But then again, this is a Garlic Parmesan Sauce!
Whenever we make this again, I’ll use the same amount of garlic as both Laura and I loved this recipe. However, you could easily cut back on the roasted garlic based on personal tastes.
Can you Make Garlic Parm Sauce Ahead?
This Garlic Parmesan Sauce reheats really well (it doesn’t break like other cream sauces often do), and we added some roasted broccoli in with the pasta on night #2. Delicious!
Ways to Use Garlic Parmesan Sauce
A plate of roasted veggies tossed in this Garlic Parmesan Sauce would be quite tasty by itself. As we were eating dinner, Laura and I were talking about other ways we could use this same sauce.
I’m going to put it out there that this sauce would make a killer base for mac and cheese. And I bet I could pour a spoonful of this sauce over chicken-fried steak for one epic meal!
No matter how you use this sauce, I can promise you it will be a meal that gets requested again…and again…and again. Enjoy!
Did you make this Garlic Parmesan Sauce at home? Leave a comment! Or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog).
Garlic Parmesan Sauce
Ingredients
- 16 oz. spaghetti or linguine
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- ¾ cup whole or 2% milk
- 1 head roasted garlic (10-12 cloves; see note) coarsely chopped
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1¼ cups grated Parmesan cheese
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- fresh Italian parsley chopped
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions; drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, using a heavy saucepan, add butter and place over medium heat until butter has completely melted.
- Add flour and stir well. Continue cooking for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent flour from burning.
- Add chicken stock, milk, chopped roasted garlic, salt and pepper; stir mixture until smooth.
- Bring mixture to a simmer and cook on low heat, stirring often, for 8-10 minutes.
- Add Parmesan cheese and heavy cream; stir until smooth.
- Place cooked pasta in a large skillet; add cream sauce and toss until well coated. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until heated through. Garnish with freshly chopped Italian parsley before serving.
Notes
Looking for other tasty pasta recipes? Check out these other favorites:
Pesto Pasta with Grilled Chicken
Italian Sausage Pasta Skillet Bake
Quick Caprese Pasta
Blackened Chicken Pasta
Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
You had me at garlic! Can’t wait to make this for Sunday dinner.
Yes! I love garlic, too, Terri…and I particularly love using roasted garlic in this particular recipe. It adds such a unique layer of flavor. I hope you enjoy this one as much as we do! 🙂
David, this garlic parmesan sauce sounds good enough to drink! I bet the roasted garlic gives it amazing flavor. Never too much garlic here in our house! It looks absolutely perfect with pasta!
Keeping a freezer bag full of roasted garlic is one of my favorite foodie “hacks,” Kelly! In fact, I’m almost out of roasted garlic, and I’ve got a huge bag of garlic sitting on the counter right now waiting to be roasted. Just think how good the house will smell while those are in the oven! 🙂
David! This looks SUPER good! I love garlic and creamy sauces to go with pasta? Yes please! Love how quickly this comes together too. Bet it would pair beautifully with a nice, crisp white wine! Pinning and trying soon. Happy Friday to ya!
Thank you so much, Dawn! I’m all about a good creamy pasta sauce, and this one takes seriously no time at all to make! And, yes, I second the call on the glass of crisp white wine. 🙂 Cheers, my friend!
Oh, this reminds me of a parmesan garlic dipping sauce from somewhere that you could dip your breadsticks in. Nope note a pizza delivery but a proper restaurant. Anyway, David, well done. This is so different from the way I prepare a creamy garlicy pasta that I have to try this.
Interesting! That parmesan garlic dipping sauce would be a fun idea. What if you made that and drizzled it over, say, roasted asparagus? Sounds like that might need to happen! I’ve got to say that this sauce is really quite easy to make…perfect for those nights when dinnertime sneaks up on you suddenly. Thanks, Ron!
Hi David! This sounds delicious! I love roasted garlic and keep it in the freezer. A friend in MI grows the best garlic and he sends us two braids every year. I don’t know if it’s the soil or the type of garlic (it’s a hard stalk garlic) but I’ve never had better. I agree that this sauce would be great with vegetables or mac n’ cheese! I would use bucatini pasta, it’s one of my favorites. Have a fun filled weekend!
Interesting! That’s so cool that your friend back in Michigan sends you garlic each year. I love that! I have a huge bag of garlic sitting on our kitchen counter right now just waiting to be roasted. Think how good the house will smell when I finally get around to roasting it up! Ooo…I do love a good bucatini pasta, too. It’s just a little harder to find. I hope you had a great weekend, my friend! I spent the weekend curling a lot, and now I’m ready for a nap. Haha!
You do love your Italian food don’t you David? But then again who can blame you. It’s some of the finest cuisine in the world. I love how you’ve used roasted garlic here. I can see Lynne and I enjoying this with a fresh cool crisp glass of pinot grigio! Thanks for all your amazing recipes! Hope you guys have an amazing weekend with lots of delicous food involved!
Oh man, I absolutely love Italian food, Neil! And (like many countries) there are so many fun variations on Italian. This pasta recipe is super easy, and the taste is out of this world food! The roasted garlic brings so much flavor to this recipe. We did indeed have a good weekend here. I curled a lot (bonspiel weekend) while Laura did double duty with the little guy. Now I’m tired and ready for a weekend again, though! Haha. Cheers, my friend!
Um . . . . creamy, decadent, delicious? Yes, please! I’m am so okay with the amount of roasted garlic. Delicious! What a comforting meal this would be! It’s quite gloomy here in LA, so I’m craving this type of food.
It’s cold and snowy (again) here in upstate New York today, Valentina. Just the perfect weather to make another batch of this creamy pasta! I hope the weather out there in LA improves soon. Is it Spring yet??
We love this kind of creamy, dreamy pasta for a quick weeknight meal! Just our kind of comfort food!
Yes! This recipe is surprisingly easy. I mean the sauce takes less time than the pasta…and that doesn’t take much time itself. This one is perfect for those nights when dinnertime just sneaks up on you! Thanks so much, Marissa!
This looks SO delicious. Simple to make and YUM – I will be making this tomorrow 🙂 Anything with garlic and parmesan will be something I love!
I’m right there with ya on the garlic + parmesan combination, Alexandra! This recipe is super easy to make, but it’s still packed with flavor. Perfect for night when you need a quick dinner! 🙂
That’s my kind of meal! I love creamy, cheesy and garlicy! I love how easy this comes together in almost no time at all. This is comfort food at its finest!
You and I share similar tastes for sure, Kathy! This recipe is super easy to make, but it’s also got tons of comfort-food flavor. 🙂 I hope you had a great weekend, my friend…and here’s to the week ahead!
I love your suggestion to toss this sauce with roasted veggies. The only way to improve on roasted veg is to add a creamy sauce :). And I especially love how easy this is to prepare. Hello new weeknight dinner!
You know, I totally need to go roast some veggies and then remake this recipe, Kelsie! It would add a bit more time, but it would still be easy. Plus, roasted veggies = yum! 🙂 Give this one a shot, my friend. I’m pretty sure you’ll like it!
Looks so delicious, David!
I’m sure the roasted Garlic would have added an interesting flavor to this sauce.
Thank you so much, Harshad! The roasted garlic adds such a fun layer of flavor to this recipe. In fact, I’m thinking about making this one again soon! I appreciate the comment!
The man in my life loves pasta in alfredo sauce, he can eat it every single day, so i make some vacation of a cream sauce once a week. Now I get to put your garlic parmesan sauce into rotation. It’s making me drool. Looks like you love alfredo sauce too.
Oh man, I could easily eat alfredo sauce once a week, too, Mary! It’s one of my favorite ways to serve pasta! (Although, to be fair, pasta in any form is usually a favorite around here.) This Garlic Parm sauce totally deserves a spot in your rotation! 🙂
I made this tonight, It was very good. I added chicken, mushrooms, Canadian ham, and peas. It was a little thick, so added pasta water. Thank you for the recipe.
Awesome! So glad to hear that you enjoyed this one, Angi. It’s one of our favorites for sure! And, yes, that pasta water is key…hang on to it whenever you make pasta! 🙂
Garlic Parmesan Wings are a great alternative to buffalo wings, especially for people don’t like spicy! The sauce is quick and easy to make.
I couldn’t agree more, Marie! Garlic + Parmesan is a great flavor combination…and I love it over pasta. Yum!!