15 Minute Garlic Parmesan Sauce

This garlic parmesan sauce is the absolute best way to dress up your pasta or add a garlicky twist to homemade pizza. With butter, fresh garlic, parmesan cheese, and heavy cream, this parmesan cream sauce is filled with fresh flavors. And it’s ready in about 15 minutes so it’s totally doable on a busy weeknight! 

You Will Love This

• It’s so easy and versatile! This creamy parmesan garlic sauce uses only 10 ingredients, comes together all in one pot, and can be used as a pizza sauce (for my best ever chicken alfredo pizza), pasta sauce, dip for chicken wings, or creamy sauce for oven roasted potatoes.
• If you loved this Parmesan sauce recipe, be sure to check out my Tomato Garlic Pasta with White Wine Sauce, Easy One-Pot Garlic Parmesan Pasta, or my Cheesy Baked Spaghetti.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Butter – I prefer to use unsalted butter for this recipe so that I can adjust the sodium levels myself. Olive oil will work as a substitute in a pinch if it’s all you’ve got on hand, but butter is going to give you the best flavor.
• Garlic – Fresh garlic is a must! Freshly minced garlic gives this sauce a huge garlic kick of flavor that garlic powder just can’t deliver. However, if you don’t have time to mince fresh, you can sub 1/2 a teaspoon or so of garlic powder in place of the freshly minced garlic. If you want to take this sauce to the next level, try adding roasted garlic instead of fresh!
• Italian Seasoning – If you don’t have Italian seasoning, you can use some dried oregano, dried thyme, and dried rosemary instead.
• Flour – Stick with all-purpose flour for this recipe. The flour helps thicken the sauce and give it a nice creamy texture.
• Vegetable Broth – Veggie broth works best for this recipe but if you’re not worried about it being vegetarian, you could use chicken broth in its place. Adding broth thins out this sauce a bit so that it’s super creamy without being too thick.
• Heavy Cream – Heavy cream will make this parmesan sauce luxuriously creamy. If you don’t have heavy cream, you can replace it with half and half, but keep in mind that the sauce will likely have a bit thinner consistency.
• Parmesan Cheese – I like to grate my own wedge of Parmesan for this sauce because freshly grated cheese always melts better. For harder cheeses like Parmesan though I like to grate them using my food processor so I don’t accidentally slip and nick my fingers on the grater (trust me I did it once and it hurt SO bad!).
• Parsley – Parsley adds a nice herby flavor and a little bit of color to the sauce. You could replace it with freshly chopped basil for a slightly different, but still delicious flavor!

Instructions

Heat butter in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Once the butter melts and starts to sizzle, add garlic and Italian seasoning and cook for about a minute.

Add flour and whisk until well combined.

Whisk in broth until well combined.

Simmer for a couple minutes until it thickens.

Add heavy cream, shredded Parmesan cheese, and parsley. Whisk until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth and creamy.

Cook over low heat, and stir sauce until it reaches your desired consistency.

Season to taste with Kosher salt and black pepper and serve with a bowl of your favorite pasta or use it as a base for pizza!

Tips

• This creamy garlic Parmesan sauce recipe comes together pretty quickly so it’s best to have all your ingredients ready to go before you start cooking, that way you’ll ensure that nothing burns or gets over cooked. Mise en place is the name of game on this one.
• Season moderately throughout the cooking process. This recipe is made with only a handful of simple ingredients so adding salt and pepper is going to be key in boosting the flavors. Also be sure to taste the sauce each time you add salt and pepper so that you don’t over season.
• The sauce will thicken quickly as soon as it cools. Keep this in mind while you’re letting it simmer. If it doesn’t seem to be very thick, remember that it will get thicker as it cools. Also, if it seems too thick when it’s done, just add a splash of broth or a bit more cream to thin it out! If you’re serving it with pasta you could also thin it out with a bit of pasta water when you toss it with the pasta!

FAQ

Make-Ahead, Storage, Freezing, and Reheating

• Make-Ahead: You can make this sauce ahead up to a week in advance! I make a batch every couple weeks and just keep it in the fridge for those busy nights when we need an easy pasta dish for dinner! Pair with cooked linguine and roasted broccoli and dinner is done!
• Storage: Store this sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
• Freezing: I do not recommend freezing garlic parmesan sauce. I find that it can sometimes alter the texture. This sauce is best when used within 7 days of making.
• Reheating: Reheat Parmesan sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat. Be sure to add some milk or cream to loosen it up. Cook, stirring frequently until it’s warmed through. Season to taste with salt and pepper after reheating.

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