This creamy garlic butter sauce comes together in less than 10 minutes with butter, garlic, flour, and milk. It is rich, smooth, and versatile enough for pasta, ravioli, shrimp, seafood, chicken, steak, or vegetables.
It is similar to a light garlic cream sauce, but it does not require heavy cream or Parmesan cheese. The flour and warm milk create a smooth, creamy texture without making the sauce too heavy.
A great example is butternut squash ravioli, which pairs especially well with a sauce that adds richness without overwhelming its slightly sweet filling. While marinara often works for meat or cheese ravioli, butternut squash calls for something smoother and more balanced.
Butter, garlic, and cream come together here for a simple sauce that complements stuffed pasta beautifully.
Ingredients for Creamy Garlic Butter Sauce
- Butter - Salted butter adds flavor, but unsalted works too.
- Garlic - Fresh garlic gives the best flavor, but jarred minced garlic works too. Garlic powder can also be used in a pinch.
- Flour - A small amount of flour helps thicken the sauce. White whole wheat or unbleached all-purpose flour both work well.
- Milk - Whole milk creates a creamy, smooth sauce. Lower-fat milk will also work, but the sauce may be a little thinner. Warm the milk before adding it to the saucepan to help the sauce come together smoothly.
- Spices - Oregano, basil, and parsley add extra flavor.
How to Make Creamy Garlic Butter Sauce
This sauce comes together in about 10 minutes and only takes a few simple steps.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Once melted, add the garlic. Avoid letting the butter boil or brown.
- Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute over low heat to remove the raw flour taste.
- Whisk in the warmed milk, then add the spices.
- Let the sauce simmer gently until thickened and heated through.
FAQs
Is Creamy Garlic Butter Sauce the Same as Alfredo Sauce?
- No. Alfredo sauce is typically made with parmesan cheese and heavy cream, so it is usually richer and thicker. This sauce does not contain cheese and uses milk instead of cream.
Is This Similar to a Béchamel Sauce?
- Yes, it is similar. Béchamel is one of the classic mother sauces and serves as the base for many dishes, including lasagna, macaroni and cheese, and other creamy sauces.
How Long Will This Sauce last?
- Stored in an airtight container, it will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Ways to use Creamy Garlic Butter Sauce:
- Ravioli or other stuffed pasta
- Broccoli and other vegetables
- Steak and shrimp
- Fish or other seafood
Looking for more easy sauce recipes?
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Creamy Garlic Butter Sauce
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 ¼ cups sauce 1x
Description
Every cook needs a staple recipe and this one is it! A versatile creamy garlic butter cream sauce that uses few ingredients and comes together in minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 /3 cup butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon flour, 1 ½ tablespoons for thicker sauce
- 1 cup warm whole milk
- ¼ teaspoon dried parsley
- ⅛ teaspoon dried oregano
- ⅛ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Once melted, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring constantly so it does not brown.
- Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute to remove any raw flour taste.
- Slowly whisk in the milk, a little at a time.
- Add the spices and continue cooking over low heat for a few minutes, until the sauce is smooth and thickened. Keep warm until ready to serve.
- Serve over ravioli, steak, fish or chicken.
Notes
This makes about 1 ¼ cups of sauce, enough for about 8 ounces of pasta or ravioli. Double the recipe for 1 lb of pasta or for extra-saucy servings.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 5 min
- Category: Dinner, Sauces
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
About how much pasta could you serve with the recipe above? Hosting Thanksgiving (15 people) and want to make sure I have enough sauce for 2-3 pounds of ravioli. Thank you!
Tried this today and it was a hit. Luckily I had some left over chicken fricasse so just made some pasta and served. The kids (2 & 1) ate it up, the husband was impressed. Definitely a good go to recipe. Can't wait to try this with seafood.
Hi Renia - it's one thing when the hubs and wife like something, but when the whole family likes it then it's a HIT ! And like you said, this sauce is one of them in our family too! It's just so versatile and I'd love to hear back from you when you try it over seafood. Are you thinking shrimp and angel hair pasta or linguini like I am?? 😉
I try to keep on hand 2 or 3 cans of minced clams and it never hurts to have a bag of raw shrimp in the freezer, as well. Simply saute the peeled shrimp in butter first, then set shrimp aside. I double the recipe above, add the clam juice from the cans of clams, herbs, pepper flakes and stir until the sauce is thickened. Add the minced clams and sauted shrimp at the end just to heat through. During the Summer months, some lemon zest and lemon juice can lighten up the recipe. Serve over the pasta of your choice.
Debi, THANK YOU!! Good god that was good, had it with Pork medallions, chat potato's and asparagus!
Love comments like yours Dan! Glad you liked it!
I'm going to try this tonight for my parents! They love garlic. I'm making it with chicken and fresh garden picked zucchini and organic carrots! Wish I could add a picture!
oh that sounds so good! I wish you could take a picture too! LOL
I made this Friday night and it was delicious. The only sad part? I should have doubled the recipe. Next time! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it Amber! It's a quick and easy sauce I use all the time.
Totally didn't have many groceries for dinner today so I threw some pancake mix in for flour and garlic powder for minced garlic. By adding 1 more tsp of garlic, it came out great! Served with fish, I'm in heaven for a last minute no ingredient dinner!
Way to improvise Dee !!!! Love it!
WOW! just the thing I was looking for. I guess just adding fresh cream instead of making the cream sauce is also an option right?
Is it possible to add ground beef while making the pasta sauce? If so, do I put it in first before the butter and garlic or pour it after it's finished? 😐
I think what I would do Lynelle is maybe cook up the ground beef with some onion and garlic. Then make the sauce in another small saucepan. Then I would even combine the two and serve it over whole wheat penne pasta. Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
This looks FABULOUS!! I'm going to be making this tonight and mixing it with ozoro noodles and sauteed mushrooms!! Can't wait to try this!!
let us know how it turns out Kristyn!
Made this tonight and couldnt believe how something so simple could taste soooo good !!!
!!!! Thanks for the recipe
your welcome Bea ~ glad you enjoyed it!
I am making it tonight to add some kick to boiled cabbage that my husband loves!
Let me know how that turns out Bobbi!
I made this sauce with 3 -4 teaspoons garlic & to give sauce a thicker consistency, used 4 Tablespoons of flour. Found that a whisk worked well while adding flour in by the Tablespoon. I opted for ground black pepper & parsley. Loved the flavor, recipe was very easy to make & all ingredients were on hand.
Made this sauce tonight and it's a keeper. I ended up adding lemon juice to it because originally it was just going to top our shrimp. I ended up cooking the shrimp in butter and garlic as well which thinned out the sauce a little and added the whole mixture into a cup of cooked jasmine rice. It turned out amazing (it kind of reminded us of Risotto) and it's definitely a sauce to keep in my book.
My additions:
A pinch of salt.
A pinch of pepper.
1 tsp of lemon juice.
Yippee!!
I just made this for the second time, this is definitely my go-to quick pasta sauce! Thank you so much!
Oh my DELISH!!!! Topped spinach raviolis with this wow super tasty and as if cooked all day. I was in a bind, all I had was raviolis for a quick dinner, 2 kids begging for "plain" pasta....perfect compromise. 🙂
Thank you!
I will be making this again and again!
So happy you liked it Kristen!
I'm literally about to make this sauce right now. Sounds delish!
Hi, I made this recipe tonight to go on our linguini noodles and it was absolutely awesome! Thank you so much and I will definitely be making this one again. I also make a homemade alfredo sauce, but this one is just as good, a LOT easier, and probably a whole lot less calories!
Thanks Lora - I'm so glad you liked it. It really is an easy sauce to make isn't it?