This Creamy Garlic Pasta is creamy, garlicky, and perfectly comforting. Made with heavy cream, garlic, and freshly squeezed lemon juice, it's ready in just 15 minutes! Pair it with this delicious Crispy Breaded Chicken Cutlets recipe for a perfect meal.
This is a great pasta side dish, and I love how simple it is to make. What I love the most about this creamy garlic pasta is that it stays creamy, and makes for great leftovers. If you love lemon and garlic, then you should try this Lemon Garlic Butter Salmon too!
Why This Recipe Works
Often white sauces that are made with a roux often tend to get absorbed by the pasta and tend to dry up really fast. Even though they're delicious and often healthier, I just don't like clumpy, dry pasta.
Enter this creamy and full of flavor pasta. It's easy to make, you don't have to worry about making a roux, and ending up with a lumpy sauce that ends up getting absorbed by the pasta.
This creamy garlic pasta however remains silky and luscious with none of the issues that roux based pasta sauces have. And it makes for great leftovers. It also tastes like it's straight out of a restaurant!
Love comfort food? Also try this Cottage Pie!
Ingredients - What You'll Need
- Penne Pasta (cooked according to package instructions) - or any other type of pasta you like.
- Water + chicken stock cube - you can also use chicken stock or vegetable stock
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice - please don't use the bottled kind, it's not the same!
- Garlic - minced or grated...and lots of it!
- Seasoning - salt, pepper and dried oregano.
- Butter and heavy cream - to make it all lusciously creamy and dreamy!
How to Make Creamy Garlic Pasta
- In a medium sized sauce pan, melt the butter and add the garlic.
- Saute for a few seconds until the garlic is fragrant, but do not let it brown.
- Add water.
- Now add chicken stock cube.
- Then pour in the heavy cream. Cook for a five minutes on medium heat, until slightly thickened.
- Add the lemon juice and stir.
- Now add the seasoning: salt, pepper and dried oregano. Cook for anoter 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
- Finally add the boiled penned (or your choice of pasta), and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Take off heat and serve immediately.
Success Tips
- Quality Ingredients: Since this recipe only needs a few ingredients, I recommend using the best quality you can get.
- Sauce Consistency: The sauce thickens as it cools down, so when cooking it, do not let it get too thick.
- Add Protein: Add some grilled chicken to make it a complete meal.
- Add Veggies: You can also add some frozen veggies or sliced mushrooms in this recipe. Just add the veggies after you saute the butter and garlic, and saute until cooked.
- Make it Vegetarian: Use vegetable stock or stock cube instead of chicken.
- Parmesan: Top with some freshly grated parmesan cheese to add that extra nutty flavor.
FAQs
Heavy cream. You can also substitute with half and half, but the sauce will be thinner.
This pasta keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Use heavy cream or half and half, instead of making a roux based white sauce. Also, the sauce thickens upon cooling, so keep the consistency on the thinner side.
This recipe makes for great leftovers. To reheat simply place in a microwave in a microwave safe bowl, for a minute or two until it's warmed to your liking.
Try it with Crispy Breaded Chicken Cutlets, pictured below. A pairing made in heaven!
Related Recipes
Creamy Garlic Pasta
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Garlic press
- Citrus juicer
Ingredients
- 1 pound penne pasta prepared according to package instructions
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 chicken stock cube
- 1 1/2 cups cream
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt & pepper for seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- In a medium sized sauce pan, melt the butter and add the garlic.
- Saute for a few seconds until the garlic is fragrant, but do not let it brown.
- Add water.
- Now add chicken stock cube and let it dissolve into the water.
- Then pour in the heavy cream. Cook for five minutes on medium heat, until slightly thickened.
- Add the lemon juice and stir.
- Now add the seasoning: salt, pepper and dried oregano. Cook for anoter 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
- Finally add the boiled penned (or your choice of pasta), and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Take off heat and serve with Crispy Breaded Chicken Cutlets.
Notes
- Pasta: I love using penne for this recipe, but you can use any short pasta that you have on hand.
- Garlic: 4 garlic cloves seem like a lot, but it works with the amount of heavy cream in this recipe. However, you may reduce the quantity to tone down the garlic flavor.
- Chicken Stock Cube: You can substitute with vegetable stock cube. Additionally, you can also use 1 1/2 cups of stock instead of using a stock cube. If doing this, do not add the water.
- Heavy Cream: You may substitute with half and half or thick cream, whichever you have on hand.
- Lemon Juice: Please use freshly squeezed lemon juice, as that's what tastes best. Bottled lemon juice just doesn't taste the same.
- Amount of Salt: Since we are using chicken stock cube, watch the salt. You will not need a lot.
- Add ons: add your choice of veggies or grilled chicken to make it a complete meal. You can also serve it with these delicious Crispy Breaded Chicken Cutlets.
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