Cream Sauce Recipe (15 Minutes + 6 Ingredients!)

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Chicken or white fish served with rice and vegetables makes a fine dinner, but add this homemade cream sauce and it becomes a highly requested favorite! This delicious cream sauce recipe is quick and easy to whip up and takes any meal to the next level!

Magical White Cream Sauce

I still remember my first dinner at Olive Garden when I was around 12 years old. We were with my volleyball team at a tournament and I was overwhelmed by the menu. Someone suggested that I try the fettuccini alfredo. This was my first encounter with such a delicious sauce and I was an instant fan!

“How come I hadn’t been introduced to this earlier,” I thought!

Fast forward to 2019 when we purchased Thimble, our family milk cow. Recreating that classic alfredo sauce like an Italian restaurant was one of my top priorities!

It is now one of our favorite ways to use heavy cream (along with butter and ice cream, of course) and I was shocked that it is such an easy sauce to make.

Alfredo Sauce vs. Bechamel Sauce

There are a lot of names floating around for this white creamy sauce (what it’s referred to in our house). From what I could find, the main difference is that alfredo sauce is richer using cream as its base and usually contains parmesan cheese. Bechamel sauce uses whole milk instead of cream as a base.

Based on those definitions, our simple recipe would fall more in line with an alfredo sauce and it’s definitely one worth adding to your meal repertoire.

How to Use Garlic Cream Sauce

Our favorite ways to use this creamy garlic sauce are to add it to noodles or drizzled over a dish of meat and vegetables with rice. If we have leftover alfredo sauce, it’s great as a pizza sauce with chicken instead of your traditional tomato sauce or homemade pesto.

What Do You Need?

I’d always placed this delicious garlic alfredo sauce in the category of “fancy foods” which in my mind equated to difficult to make.

That couldn’t be farther from the truth. With only a handful of ingredients, a sauce pan, and a wooden spoon, you can make your own with a few simple steps!

This is especially important because storebought alfredo sauce usually contains unwanted vegetable oils and other preservatives. But when you make it yourself, you get to be in control and use quality ingredients in your homemade sauce.

6 Simple Ingredients:

Butter – You could substitute coconut oil or tallow in a pinch, but really nothing beats butter when you are making a creamy white sauce.

Heavy Whipping Cream – We just skim the cream off of the top of our fresh milk for this. Otherwise, heavy cream or heavy whipping cream from the store would work perfectly for this sauce.

Garlic – We like to use minced fresh garlic for this but garlic powder would work as well.

Freshly Shredded Parmesan Cheese – Our shredded farmhouse cheddar works perfectly for this recipe, which we think tastes pretty similar to parmesan. If you are buying cheese from the store, I’d go with parmesan. See note below on why to avoid buying pre-shredded cheese.

Salt & Pepper

Italian Seasoning – We like this “Herbs of Italy” blend from Frontier Co-op but anything similar or just adding oregano, thyme, and basil would work well.

How to Make This Basic White Sauce

Begin by mincing fresh garlic using a garlic press or chef’s knife. Let the garlic sit for 10 minutes while you gather the rest of the ingredients. 

Tip: Garlic contains the highly beneficial compound allicin. As you let the garlic sit after chopping, it greatly enhances the amount of allicin you receive from consuming it. We always love to get the most nutrition out of what we are consuming!

Melt butter over medium-low heat. Once the butter melts, add minced garlic, salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings.

Mix together for 1-2 minutes until aromatic.

Pour in heavy cream and stir mixture together over medium heat.

Bring to a gentle simmer, then stir in shredded cheese in small increments (1/2 cup at a time) making sure it’s melting completely before adding more.

Continue to stir together for 5-10 minutes until the sauce has thickened and is the consistency you want it.

For a thicker sauce, stir longer. It will also continue to thicken over time and as it cools.

Garlic Cream Sauce Recipe

Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper (optional)
1 tsp Italian herbs
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups freshly shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Melt butter in small saucepan on stove with the temperature at medium-low heat.

2. Add garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes.

3. Then add salt, pepper, and seasonings to the garlic and stir together.

4. Pour heavy cream into the sauce pan.

5. Heat on a medium heat to a gentle simmer.

6. Add shredded cheese in ½ cup increments so the cheese is fully incorporated and melted before adding more.

7. Continue to simmer, stirring regularly until cream sauce reaches desired thickness*.

*Note – The sauce may seem to be on the thinner side after a few minutes of cooking but it continues to thicken over time. It’s also very flexible. If you want an even thicker sauce, you can reduce the amount of cream to 1.5 cups. 

Can you use store bought cheese instead of freshly shredded?

I’d advise against using pre-shredded cheese for this recipe. When cheese is shredded in advance for packaging, they add anti-caking ingredients to the cheese. This keeps the cheese from clumping together but it also prevents it from melting properly. For best results, buy a block of cheese and shred it yourself or make your own. Our farmhouse cheddar works perfectly in this recipe!

How do you store garlic cream sauce?

Store this cream sauce in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.

Can you freeze this cream sauce recipe?

Yes! This cream sauce freezes well and is a great sauce to prep in advance for easy meals later.

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For more of our favorite sauce recipes:

5 Minute Homemade Pesto
Sugar Free Tomato Sauce
Homemade Enchilada Sauce
Easy Rhubarb BBQ

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