Today’s recipe is quick, easy and so delicious, perfect for garlic and pasta lovers and kid approved – Creamy Garlic Penne Pasta!
This instant family favorite is versatile too – add chicken, veggies, seafood, or serve as a side dish. Simple to make, so darn good!
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I found this wonderful recipe on food.com. With over 300 reviews and a 5 star rating, this was one I had to try. I ended up tweaking the recipe a bit, doubling the sauce and adding more garlic. This is a big ol’ pot of creamy, garlicky goodness.

For this dish, I like to toss in some steamed veggies, like broccoli. Delish.
If you are looking for a quick dinner that will satisfy the whole family and those picky eaters, this recipe is for you.
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Creamy Garlic Penne Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound box of Penne Pasta (cooked according to directions on box )
- 1/4 cup salted butter
- 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 4 teaspoons parsley flakes
- 2/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Prepare pasta according to directions on box, drain, set aside and keep warm.
In a medium size sauce pan, over medium heat, melt butter and then add garlic, cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Next, add flour and cook for 1 1/2 minutes, stirring continuously. Slowly add milk and chicken broth, stirring continuously, until sauce begins to boil and thicken. Once sauce thickens, add parsley and Parmesan cheese and blend until cheese has melted. Once sauce is ready, pour over pasta, toss and serve immediately. Serve with you favorite veggies and salad.
Tips
- Great as a main or side dish.
- Serve along side or toss with precooked veggies (broccoli is terrific), chicken or seafood (shrimp and pan-seared scallops).
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Cheers!

I undercooked the Pasta by s couple of minutes & then added it to the sauce & added Italian herbs instead of parsley & finished cooking everything in the sauce. Worked great!!.
Just made this today. Its very good. The sauce takes a while to thicken and found out i needed to make double the sauce . Thats if you want it really creamy. Must try if your into pastas. I made it as a main dish with chiken and brocolli.
Just made this today. Its very good. The sauce takes a while to thicken and found out i needed to make double the sauce . Thats if you want it really creamy. Must try if your into pastas. I made it as a main dish with brocolli.
What can I substitute for chicken broth since I am vegetarian?
use vegetable stock
My family loves this pasta sauce!!
If you don't like the sauce as thick, ease up on the flour. A traditional Alfredo sauce doesn't have any flour at all, but if you are using anything but heavy cream, you'll want to use at least a little little.
I added a sweet yellow onion, some grilled chicken, and Cajun seasoning (just to add a little kick) and it came out fantastic! Well above my expectations.
I used Almond flour, and gluten free noodles. I didn't have chicken broth, so I used 4 chicken bouillon cubes in 1 1/4 clips of water. Then I added 1 1/4 cup whole milk all in a medium saucepan with the 1/4 cup of butter. Then I realized the butter and flour should have been first, rather than chock it, I got out the whisk. I then rinsed off my noodles and steamed some broccoli, then added it altogethe and it was delicious and a giant hit! I added parmesan at the end. Everyone had seconds! Easy Peasy!
I made this today. My wife loved it and so did my 2 year old daughter ☺ I used 8 garlic cloves and mixed broccoli with the pasta. Made garlic bread to go with ithe. I will be making this again.
I tried this, and I decided to play around with it. I took first commenter's suggestion by putting in 6-8 cloves from 1 bulb of garlic.
Secondly, I doubled the sauce mixture (cause if your a fan of really creamy this is it)
Lastly I swapped out penne noodles for linguini noodles, and while still in the process of making the sauce (before adding the cheese) I threw in sliced red peppers, green peas, some shredded chicken, and a few carrots.
I might say with all of that, oh god is it ever filling.
For a family of 6 there is still plenty extra left over.
Looks YUMMY…!!!
Loved it!! Added some garlic powder as well.. And added almost double the butter just to change the consistency up a bit. I'll def be making this again, with any type of pasta & serve with garlic bread 🙂
Did you double the entire recipe or just the butter and garlic??
Can I substitute the Parmesan for mozzarella? That's all I have
Love this recipe!!!! I pan fry 1 pound of chicken, cut into strips, in 2 tbsp butter until brown. Set them aside and add the extra butter and garlic for the roux. The little chicken bits and juice really bring it together.
I also add my fresh broccoli to the boiling noodles for the last 4 minutes of cook time. They come out colorful and tender!! Thanks again!
Sounds good to me.
sounds great and it really looks yummy.
I added chicken and made with spinach basil pasta. It was amazing!
My thought exactly 😉
Sounds like a winner, because my grandsons love a similiar sauce. They love it with lots of boiled baby shrimp. I will have to fix this for them this week. Thank you for posting, and I liked all of the other helpful comments. 😉
A one pound box of pasta serves 8 people – it depends on how large the servings are. For my family, it feeds 4 with leftovers.