Garlic Cream Sauce is an easy creamy sauce, great for pasta and for veggies!

Just a handful of ingredients including butter, cream, and of course lots of garlic, this sauce takes just minutes to make.

Garlic Cream Sauce on asparagus

What is Garlic Cream Sauce?

  • Garlic cream sauce is an easy-to-make sauce with a rich creamy texture and a nice garlicky flavor.
  • This sauce is creamy like alfredo sauce or cream cheese sauce, but has more garlic flavor and doesn’t have a strong parmesan cheese flavor.
  • This sauce is great on pasta, served with seafood or over cauliflower.

Garlic cream sauce ingredients

Ingredients & Variations

INGREDIENTS: Garlic, butter, flour, cream, some parsley, are all the simple ingredients needed for this recipe. There are no artificial ingredients in this homemade sauce, unlike store-bought brands. It calls for light cream, but heavy cream can also be used.

VARIATIONS: Add some bacon bits or crumbled cooked bacon to the sauce. Add a splash of white wine, a pinch of cayenne, or a dose of parmesan or swiss cheese.

process of whisking ingredients together to make Garlic Cream Sauce

How to Make Garlic Cream Sauce

A few minutes to make this garlic cream sauce!

  1. Combine garlic and butter in a pan and cook just until fragrant.
  2. Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute more.
  3. Wisk in cream and simmer until thickened (as per recipe below). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This creamy garlic sauce can be used for drizzling over asparagus, potatoes, or air fryer cauliflower. Stir it into macaroni and cheese, leftover mashed potatoes or add it to a favorite zucchini recipe.

Garlic Cream Sauce in a jar

Tips for a Great Garlic Sauce

  • Use fresh garlic and be sure it doesn’t brown.
  • Season generously with salt and pepper.
  • Parmesan cheese is a great addition to this recipe.

The white sauce will last in the refrigerator for 5 days. It will need to be reheated gently. This sauce can also be frozen in freezer bags or small containers for up to 6 months. Freeze in usable portions.

More Quick Pasta Sauces

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pouring Garlic Cream Sauce over pasta
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Garlic Cream Sauce

Garlic cream sauce is a quick and simple sauce that's perfect over pasta, seafood, or sauteed veggies!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 servings
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Ingredients  

  • cup butter
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • cup half and half or light cream
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions 

  • Combine butter and garlic in a small skillet and cook over medium low heat until the butter is melted and you can begin to smell the garlic.
  • Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute more. Stir in cream, a bit at a time, whisking after each addition. Simmer 2-3 minutes or until thickened.
  • Remove from heat and stir in parsley. Season generously with salt & pepper to taste.
  • Serve with pasta or as a dipping sauce for chicken, shrimp or steak.

Notes

Be sure to cook garlic just until fragrant, do not let the garlic brown.
1/3 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese can be added. Whisk in once the sauce is thickened.
This sauce can be served with pasta or over seafood or steamed vegetables.
Store sauce in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave until heated through, mixing occasionally. 
5 from 69 votes

Nutrition Information

Calories: 206 | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 63mg | Sodium: 143mg | Potassium: 44mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 760IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

Course Sauce
Cuisine American
close up of a jar of Garlic Cream Sauce with a title
close up of Garlic Cream Sauce in a jar with writing
jar of Garlic Cream Sauce with writing
Garlic Cream Sauce cooked in the pan and jarred with a title

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About the author

Holly Nilsson is the creator of Spend With Pennies, where she creates easy, comforting recipes made for real life. With a passion for nostalgic flavors and simplified techniques, Holly helps busy home cooks create delicious meals that always work. She is also the author of “Everyday Comfort,” which promises to inspire even more hearty, home-cooked meals.
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5 from 69 votes (58 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  1. Love this sauce. Quick and easy to make. My only negative would be that I feel the amount of butter could be cut down.5 stars

  2. This is why I turn to your site over and over again for easy, tasty recipes. The sauce is great. Sometimes I add a tiny bit of crumbled herbs de Provence. Thank you.5 stars

  3. Finally found the perfect Garlic Sauce recipe. Most others have alot of parmesan cheese. Your’s is perfect. I might add a tiny amount of chives. ** This sauce will work on steak, potatoes, veggies and pasta. I definitely will be making this asap. Thanks for sharing this recipe. **5 stars

  4. Easy, quick, and delicious! Being the garlic lover I am I added an entire bulb plus some finely chopped onions. It went great with fettuccine. I will definitely make this with a splash of white wine. This really is fantastic for meal prep. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe!5 stars

    1. It could be that your heat is too high when adding the cream. You could also try using a higher fat percentage cream which will help prevent this from happening.

  5. Amazing recipe thanks. I added sliced (cooked) sausage and served it with pan fried Gnocchi. Plus green veg.5 stars

  6. Made this tonight & used some pasta water to thin the sauce, added fresh pasta and blackened chicken. It was so good! Definitely a restaurant worthy sauce.5 stars

    1. Made this tonight for wife’s bday. Added the whites of green onions to garlic. Cooked shrimp in butter, garlic & onion. Removed shrimp as SOON as it was done. Added cream. Omitted* the flour (*forgot). Reduced sauce by at least half. Added grated parmesan cheese & ground black pepper. Poured sauce over rigatoni. Added shrimp, crispy cooked bacon & sliced green onion tops. She LOVED it, as did everyone else! Excellent sauce!5 stars

  7. So good! I caramelized onions and yellow bell peppers then sautéed the garlic before adding the other ingredients (doubled the recipe). Used half and half instead of cream; adding additional half/half until desired consistency. Added a bag of steamed sweet peas. Tossed in package of cooked pasta. Turned out amazing!5 stars