This Creamy Garlic Pasta is a favorite because it’s so hearty, cheesy, and has a delicious garlic flavor.
Best of all, this pasta recipe is ready in minutes (literally!) Add in some rotisserie chicken or even grilled shrimp or scallops.
20 Minute Pasta
- Short on time? This super-fast pasta dish is restaurant quality without leaving home.
- It’s a really easy recipe that’s budget-friendly for any night of the week.
- The possibilities are endless. Add cooked or leftover veggies like asparagus, green peas or broccoli. Stir in shredded chicken, smoked sausage, or other leftover proteins.
Ingredients for Creamy Garlic Pasta
PASTA: Any medium pasta is great but try to choose one with holes, tubes, or ridges to hold the creamy garlic sauce. Penne, mostaccioli, shells, fusilli, or rotini work well.
GARLIC: Fresh garlic is our favorite in this recipe. The cloves should be minced or use a garlic press to make it fast. If you don’t have fresh garlic, you can use garlic powder but the flavor is more subtle (you’ll need about 1 teaspoon or to taste).
If you want to use roasted garlic, it has a sweeter milder flavor (you’ll want to increase the amount).
SAUCE: Butter, heavy whipping cream, chicken broth, and melted parmesan cheese give this sauce a rich and creamy texture. Ensure you’re using heavy cream (or whipping cream) so the sauce thickens well.
How to Make Creamy Garlic Pasta
- Prepare pasta according to package directions. Do not rinse.
- Meanwhile, cook garlic & flour in butter until fragrant (per the recipe below). Add heavy cream and chicken broth and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add pasta and parmesan cheese.
What to Serve With Creamy Garlic Pasta
Creamy garlic pasta is a crowd-pleasing recipe that goes with so many sides and salads. Garlic Cheese Toast, rolls, or even focaccia bread are always great with pasta.
Since this dish is rich, add in a fresh side salad or some fresh veggies like roasted cauliflower, asparagus, or steamed broccoli.
Our Fave Pasta Dishes
- Cream Cheese Pasta Sauce – served over pasta
- Homemade Chicken Alfredo – restaurant quality
- Baked Feta Pasta – a one-dish wonder
- Spaghetti Carbonara – simple perfection
- Baked Pizza Pasta – a family favorite
- Farfalle with Creamy Bacon Sauce – ready in 30 minutes
- Fettuccine Alfredo – rich & creamy
- Creamy Mushroom Pasta with Bacon – restaurant-worthy flavor!
- Creamy Bow Tie Pasta – easy one-pot meal
Did your family love this Creamy Garlic Pasta? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Creamy Garlic Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound medium pasta such as penne
- ¼ cup butter
- 6 cloves garlic coarsely chopped, more or less to taste
- 1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- salt and black pepper to taste
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water until tender.
- Meanwhile, melt butter over medium-low heat in a 10" skillet. Whisk in garlic and flour and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Quickly add heavy cream and chicken broth. Simmer until heated and slightly thickened, 3-5 minutes.
- Drain pasta but do not rinse. Add to the cream mixture.
- Stir in parmesan cheese and season with salt & pepper to taste.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Entree, Main Course, Pasta
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Can the cheese be omitted? I don’t like cheese.
Thank you
Yes Gina, the cheese can be omitted if you’d prefer!
Tasty, I will some sauteed bell peppers and shallots next time. I used party costo roasted chicken and added it the same time as the pasta. To reheat we just added a bit more low sodium chicken broth.
That sounds delicious, Lori. Thanks for sharing.
This was super yummy! I did not even add any salt as there was flavor from the other ingredients. Thanks!
Disappointing. My pasta came out dry.
Sorry to hear that, Lindag! We cook the pasta first in step one and toss it with the homemade sauce in step 4. If you find it too dry you could add a little more heavy cream or chicken broth and parmesan to your sauce. I hope that helps!
Holly, thank you for this recipe! I made it as written, the first time. So good! Made it again, doubled the pasta, tripled the sauce. Ridiculously good!
So happy to hear that, Jenny!
Hi there! Would this recipe work with vegetable broth instead of chicken? Can’t wait to try this! Sounds so yummy!
Hi Lauren, definitely. You can swap the chicken broth of vegetable and still have delicious results!
Hello Holly! My wife and I are about to try your Creamy Garlic Pasta recipe. We thought it would be good with sausage or brats cut into short rounds (bite sized bits). Could you recommend a type(s) of sausage that may be preferable? Thank you…and we have tried several of your recipes to which we have never been disappointed! Keep up the excellent recipes because I am certain we are going to try more….
I”m so glad you have loved the recipes! I think this would go well with either smoked sausage (sliced and fried) or Italian sausage. Let us know how it goes!
Looks good… Will try these…thank you.
Can’t wait to hear what you think Barbara!