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
Just made this and served on Sam's Club lobster ravioli. Incredibly good. I only had 2% milk so substituted a bit of it for heavy whipping cream to beef it up a bit. I will be coming up with more uses for this sauce. Thank you for sharing.
I did the same thing, but did it on Costco's chicken ravioli. It was so delicious.
Made this sauce tonight for my wife and me, with whole wheat spaghetti, broccoli, and chicken. Delicious -- except that I felt I had to add salt and more garlic. Also felt it could do with less butter and be just as creamy and tasty. I threw a little mozzarella on for garnish and gooeyness, tee hee. Wife was very pleased, and we have enough for lunches and dinner tomorrow. Thanks for the recipe! My first time making a roux and a cream sauce, and it came out very well!
RE: Mozzarella. Great idea! I used 3/4 cup milk & 1/4 white wine. Pleased with the result.
I made this for mushroom raviolis and I loved it
less than 5 ingredients. literally has 7.
I love it!
Pantry items usually don't count as "ingredients". Why you gotta be sassy? Lol
In Berlin, we get wonderful fresh ravioli at the outdoor markets, and for most of the varieties, e.g. Gorgonzola with walnuts, sun-dried tomatoes with ricotta; a marinara or Bolognese sauce would overpower them. So I tried your sauce and loved it. It’s easy and robust; I have no good measuring cups or spoons in my temporary home, yet the results were great. Be sure the roux (flour-butter-garlic mixture) is not real hot when you start adding the milk, a little at a time. If it becomes too thick, add small amounts of milk to adjust it. This sauce provides just the right complement to these nicely made pasta delicacies.
Absolutely delicious! So glad I found this recipe
Very easy! Added some Parmesan though to add a little something.
I did too!
This was OUTSTANDING! i made ravioli with a very intersting filling, only saying interesting because I cant remember the name...hint,, its the inside of buratta. Used your cream sauce with fresh tyme
me and topped with ricotta salata. OMG so good. many thanks from Viriginia!
I layered chicken and cheese ravioli from Sams (boiled for 4 mins) with sauteed mushrooms and this sauce in a 8x8 pan, topped with mozzarella and baked at 350 for 20mins. Seriously good.
well that's original. How clever!
How much ravioli do you recommend using for one "batch" of this sauce? 8 oz? 16 oz? Thank you!
Made this tonight for Aldi's shrimp and crab ravioli. Perfect combination. Smell of it cooking is divine.
Oh my, Colleen--
... I just got the Aldi shrimp and crab ravioli this morning and am here looking for a sauce recipe
!!!!!!!
Me too! Making for dinner tonight.
This tastes great but I can never get it thicken without using a whole bunch of cornstarch. Any tips?
It could be that you're not cooking the butter and flour long enough. Be sure to cook it like you're making a roux. Hope that helps. Also after you add the milk cook, while stirring, basically like a cream sauce, which this is.
It’s a long slow process with milk based sauces in my experience. Well worth it though!
Sometimes find warming the milk in the microwave or another pot, careful not to scold it, helps a lot. When the milk is cold it wont start thickening until it reaches a higher temp... otherwise, patience... just keep whisking!
Your butter and flour should be cooked together until the mixture starts thickening and the flour starts Browning. Then you add your liquid.
Use Wondra instead of flour.
So tasty! I have a bit of sauce leftover from when I made it for lunch. Does this keep in the refrigerator?
So good and simple!
Tasty! I made this last night to go on cheese ravioli and my family liked it.
Just made this for lunch. It was delicious! Added a little garlic powder, salt & pepper once it thickened up and poured the sauce over cheese ravioli. Was Amazing! Definitely making again.
I just loved this my husband said this will be on the menu again seeing he can't eat sauce anymore
I didn’t have any fresh garlic so I used garlic powder. I also used all purpose white flour. It turned out a little brown (I’m new at cooking lol) but it tasted so good, almost like Red Lobster’s sauce! Super easy, love it.
Thank you I was looking for a good cream sauce without cheese and I found yours. I tried it and was well please with the results, my husband is on on dialysis and he cannot have dairy so much anymore. He enjoyed it also. Thanks again
This was so tasty! I used a few variations such as used jar minced garlic, 2 % milk and white flour. It was as good as any restaurant sauce.