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
What is garlic parmesan sauce made of?
Garlic parmesan sauce is made from butter, heavy cream, garlic, flour, herbs, Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper. All of the ingredients are combined and heated to make a creamy dipping sauce or spread.
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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5 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 do-able on a busy weeknight!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings (about 2.5–3 cups sauce) 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 8 oz. shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
- Kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Heat butter in a large sauté pan over medium low heat.
- Once melted and sizzling slightly, add garlic and Italian seasoning along with a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently for 1 minute.
- Add flour to the pan, whisk until well combined, and cook stirring frequently for 1 minute.
- Turn heat to low and slowly pour in broth, whisking as you pour, until well combined.
- Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and gently simmer over medium to medium low heat for about 2 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, stirring frequently, until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with your favorite pasta or use it as a base for pizza!
Notes
- This 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!
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 228
- Sugar: 1.1 g
- Sodium: 622.9 mg
- Fat: 17.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 11.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 5.8 g
- Fiber: 0.3 g
- Protein: 11.7 g
- Cholesterol: 48.4 mg
It would be helpful to know how much total salt and pepper the recipe’s author uses herself. Not just taste as you go along, which is a ridiculous and stressful way of making anything when you don’t want to ruin dinner for yourself. Give us a baseline, “salt and pepper to taste” is nonsense, the entire recipe is to taste, it’s the authors taste who created the recipe and who made up the ingredient list. Does anyone have any estimate on how much salt and pepper they’ve used in this entire recipe process. Cheers.
This came up on a Google search and I made it — SO good. Awesome way to use extra shredded Parmesan and cream. I used dry parsley as that’s what I had on hand — I just sprinkled some to taste. Thank you for a quick, easy and delicious recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Parmesan sauce, Rachael! Thanks for leaving a review 🙂
Wow, what is that? Who puts cream and Flour in a parmesan sauce? That sauce is really scandalous!
I never knew a sauce could be scandalous! You should really give it a try before you give it a rating, Gio!
The best sauce I have ever made. My question…. How can it be stored ? Do you think it can be frozen. I should have cut the recipe down, only two of us. Next time I will but in the mean time, would love to use the rest up. Ten Stars
Great question! I haven’t tried freezing it yet but I think it could work! Otherwise it should stay fresh in the fridge for a few days also. So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Sandy!
A chef friend told me that a bechamel sauce can be frozen in icecube trays. I haven’t tried it yet but … why not a garlic parmesan as well? Same basic ingredients.
They are not quite the same. Bechamel is made with only flour, milk, and butter. This recipe includes heavy cream, broth, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. You are welcome to try freezing it and see how it goes! Please report back if you do 🙂
I did not like this recipe. It tasted more like white gravy, Because of the flour then creamy white Parmesan sauce.
where the flour is not cooked well it does have a pasty flavor. Try toasting the flour a bit before adding. Its an extra step but worth it.
Great idea!
I took a bite of the sauce with some pasta, OMG! It felt like an o***** in my mouth! 🤤💥💯
It’s the best!
Is there a substitute for the cream? I would love to try this! 😋
You could try half and half (which is half milk half cream) but the consistency is going to be thinner. Cream is what makes it super creamy!
Made this and poured it over left over angel hair and grilled chicken breast, then tossed in broccoli florets to bulk it up. Amazing! Wish I could post a picture.
I wish I could figure out a way to allow pictures when people leave reviews!! That sounds delicious! Thanks for leaving a review, Marie!
Made this recipe tonight to go over fried chicken breast and pesto spinach raviolis! OMG. So delicious, like um WOW!!
Great idea, Debbie! That sounds like such a delicious meal!! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review 🙂
Very easy, quick sauce that is also rich and decadent. I use an aged Parm for the added boost of flavor. The cheap junk in the green, cardboard shaker container has no flavor. The cardboard has more taste than the cheese (if that’s what it is.) Don’t skimp. If using the pasta cooking water for a thickening agent, I simply cook the pasta in less water than I normally would…. like maybe half. Some pastas are starchier than others. What’s more, there’s no law against using a small amount of a cornstarch/slurry mixture as an added thickener. It works almost instantly, is tasteless, and undetectable in the finished dish.
This is my go-to recipe almost every week. I mix it with cooked basmati rice and my husband requests it every time I’m serving rice as a side. It’s so easy and quick and tastes AMAZING! Thanks so much for the recipe!!
That’s such a great idea to mix it with rice, Heidi! I bet that tastes delicious. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review – I really appreciate it 🙂
This looks incredible! I’m just wondering if the Parmesan is measured by weight or volume. I shredded an 8 oz wedge of Parmesan and it seems like a lot, so I wasn’t sure. Thank you!
Hi Rae! That is perfect – 8 ounces is referring to the weight of the Parmesan cheese.
Can I leave out the flour (since I’m doing keto)?
The flour is what helps to thicken the Parmesan sauce. You could try it with a keto flour. I’m not sure what the results would be though as I haven’t tried it.
Awesome Sauce! Literally
I couldn’t agree more, Tracey!
My 6-year-old couldn’t stop raving about this, which is rare for any food! I added a splash of lemon juice because I overdid the garlic, but will DEFINITELY be adding this recipe to my regular schedule.
I am SO glad to hear that!! I know how hard it can be to get littles ones to eat so that’s a huge compliment! Lemon juice was a great idea. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review – I really appreciate it 🙂
This is dangerously good. I could drink it.
Oh my gosh I could drink it too!!!! It really is that good!! 🙂