Garlic Cream Sauce

Garlic Cream Sauce

My Garlic Cream Sauce is what simple dreams are made of. Not only is it gluten-free and super keto-friendly, but it’s light, bright and a true delight! As if that wasn’t enough, it’s made in under 10 minutes and only requires FOUR simple ingredients and any simple seasonings you may have lying around the cupboard. But perhaps the best part is that it goes perfectly tossed with pasta and/or over rice, veggies or draped over a protein of your choice!

Watch The Video!

Garlic Cream Sauce

Butter Up, Buttercup

Butter
Begin by adding some butter to a 4.5-5 quart sauté pan.
Butter melted in sauté pan
Heat over medium until the butter’s melted.

A Little Garlic Never Hurt Nobody

Minced garlic
Add some crushed or minced garlic…
Garlic sautéd to a light brown in the butter in the pan
…and sauté until lightly browned (don’t burn it).

Let’s Get Saucy

Broth added to pan
Next we’ll begin saucing it up by adding some broth, pasta water, or dry white wine of your choice.
Broth bubbling in pan
Allow it to bubble in the pan with the butter and garlic for a minute.
Adding heavy cream to pan
Then, we’ll give it the creamy treatment! Add some heavy cream to the pan.

‘Tis The Season

Adding seasonings to pan
Then, we’ll season it up with a few basic, choice seasonings and stir them into the sauce.

The Thick Trick

Sauce in pan bubbling
Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the sauce to a bubble.
Stirring pan
Once bubbling, reduce the heat back to medium and let the sauce simmer for a few minutes while stirring occasionally.
Sauce simmering and thickening in pan
As the sauce simmers, it will begin to thicken and reduce slightly.
Sauce thickened in pan and coating the back of a spoon
When the sauce coats and nicely clings to the back of a wooden spoon/spatula, it’s done!

Sauce Away, Your Way

Adding pasta to pan with sauce in it
Now you have options with your sauce! You can either use it on it’s own over chicken, fish, meat, veggies or rice
Tossing pasta with sauce
…OR you can boil a pasta of your choice separately (reserve some pasta water if you do)…
Pasta fully coated in sauce
…and toss it with the sauce directly in the sauté pan!
Plate of pasta and bowl of sauce next to it
Any which way you choose to use this Garlic Cream Sauce, you can’t go wrong!
Man trying sauce with pasta.
Definitely try it tossed with pasta or over my Blackened Chicken Cutlets.
Yield: 6

Garlic Cream Sauce

Garlic Cream Sauce

My Garlic Cream Sauce is what simple dreams are made of. Not only is it gluten-free and super keto-friendly, but it's light, bright and a true delight! As if that wasn't enough, it's made in under 10 minutes and only requires FOUR simple ingredients and any simple seasonings you may have lying around the cupboard. But perhaps the best part is that it goes perfectly tossed with pasta and/or over rice, veggies or draped over a protein of your choice!

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Total Time 13 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) salted butter
  • 3 cloves (1 tablespoon) garlic, minced or pressed
  • 1/2 cup liquid of your choice (any combo of broth, dry wine, and/or reserved pasta water)
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • Seasonings according to taste (See Jeff's Tips)

Options For The Sauce

  • Pasta of your choice, pre-cooked with 1 cup salted pasta water reserved (use 4 quarts of water to boil the pasta with 1 tablespoon salt added to the water)
  • Rice of your choice, pre-cooked
  • Protein of your choice (chicken, fish, or meat), pre-cooked

Instructions

  1. Melt the butter in a 4.5- to 5-quart sauté pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for about 2 minutes, until lightly browned.
  2. Add the liquid of choice and bring to a bubble for 1 minute.
  3. Add the cream and any seasonings (see Jeff’s Tips), increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a light boil.
  4. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5–8 minutes, stirring or whisking frequently, until the sauce is thickened up a bit and decently coats the back of a spoon.
  5. Turn the heat off. If using the sauce for pasta, add 1 pound of any cooked pasta of your choice to the sauté pan and toss until combined with the sauce (NOTE: Feel free to add reserved pasta water in ¼ cup increments for an even creamier sauce). If using the sauce for anything else, simply pour it over a protein (chicken, fish, or meat), rice, or veggies of your choice.

Jeffrey's Tips

For the seasonings, I suggest starting with 1⁄2 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and/or onion powder. You can always add more to taste as well as any other seasonings you wish.

If you want this super saucy, double the ingredients and increase the cook time for a few more minutes for the sauce to properly thicken.

If using the sauce to toss with 1 pound of pasta, feel free to reserve 1 cup of pasta water and add some in ¼ cup increments while tossing with the pasta in Step 5 for an even creamier sauce.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Michelle

    Thank you for sharing. Did you happen to do any testing using half & half vs whole cream? I ask for two reasons.. 1-I’d love to find a little less fat version, and 2-we use half & half for coffee, so it’s always in the fridge if we decide last minute to make the sauce. I don’t buy heavy cream unless I have to, like for homemade whipped cream. (which is rare.)

    • Vicky Merritt

      My thoughts exactly! Have you tried it with the half and half since posting your question? Like you, I also always have half and half in the fridge (coffee snob here)! LOL I would think it would be fine. I’ll have to try it sometime! 🙂

  2. Katie C

    Thanks for this one! I made it, and served it tossed with penne, AND drizzled over your blackened chicken cutlets – A fabulous dinner together!

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