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!
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.
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).
Sharing this recipe at Weekend Potluck.
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers!
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?
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.
Can you use gluten free flour
Can this be done with gluten free flour
Anonymous – The sauce will thicken if it's allowed to cool to room temp.- when ready, you should serve it and not wait too long. Have your pasta ready ahead of time and keep it warm, then mix the sauce and pasta and serve right away. If for some reason the sauce it too thick before adding the pasta, add a very small amount of chicken broth, a little at time, until you reach desired thickness.
Anonymous – As for the flour not dissolving, you can use a whisk and slowly add the flour – if you have lumpy flour, make sure you are using all purpose flour and not self-rising flour. You can also sift your flour first.
How do you get the flour to dissolve. Mine came out all lumpy and wouldn't dissolve
Always mix the flour in melted butter first,till all lumps are gone!
I have made this twice and followed the recipe precisely. And when its cooled down the sauce its extremely thick. Doesn't look like the pictures. Please help!
This is my 4th time making this dish. I either use whole milk or heavy cream, it comes out great both ways. I Also use homemade pesto instead of parsley but otherwise I follow the recipe to the T and I serve it with grilled chicken. Great recipe!
so i made this and while delish, my sauce wasn't creamy, more bechamel-like. Did I over stir it? Tips? thanks!
Vegan broth and non GMO Soy Milk, steamed veggies on side, definitely more garlic, and Romano cheese for more flavor using less cheese, I'm going to think on less butter too much fat maybe substitute some low fat cottage cheese in stead.
I have made this three times now and still love it and so does my family. I started the first and second time with just adding some chicken and this last time I've also added broccoli to make it more of a meal than a side dish. It is an amazing recipe! I highly suggest it and I suggest spinning it and making it your own!
Thank you for posting this recipe!
Have you ever tried making extra sauce and freezing it in jars for a quicker meal when you have zero time? I do that with my tomato based sauces but have never tried it with alfredo. Maybe I'll try and let ya'll know how it turns out!
Did you try? Would love to know….
Recipe is a perfect sauce to add whatever you want. My family loved it.
Yum, really tasty. Top marks for this, and thanks for sharing.
Simon
This dish looks delish! Any recommendations on how to make it dairy free? My toddler is allergic to cow's milk. I know I can sub in vegan butter and goat cheese, but can I use almond milk? Thanks! 🙂
My son is also allergic to dairy. I was thinking of replacing milk with some dairy free cream cheese. (Have you heard of Daiya? Check it out) I would make the recipe just like above but melt the cream cheese by Daiya into it.
I was just thinking the same thing as I was reading this Tonya! My son also has a dairy allergy and I use Daiya!! All the time! This might just turn out pretty good. ;).
Use goat milk 🐐
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! My son and husband both went back for seconds and now there's just enough left for my lunch. I added roasted shrimp to it and instead of using chicken broth I made my own shrimp stock from the shells and tails. I wanted to really be able to taste the shrimp flavor. Next time I think I will try adding some chicken to it. This recipe is so versatile and you can create tons of different flavors just by adding any protein and vegetables you want. Thanks so much for sharing with us.
To Neeasha Pancham you can use store bought or homemade vegetable broth instead of the chicken broth. Hope this helps!
How many servings does it make?
What can be use in place of the chicken broth for vegetarians
Neeasha. You can use vegetable stock 😉
What's the serving size? And how many does it serve?
How many serves is it
Delicious! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Yes you can use any milk, even evaporated if that's what you have on hand, or half & half. Same goes for the butter, olive oil or any fat will do
How many servings does it make ?
I made it tonight (family of 5) along with chicken breasts and we have some left over.
I made this tonight, it was great! I used non fat milk instead and used better than bullion chicken base because that's all I had. Threw some chicken beast on the panini grill and steamed some broccoli, wow it was yummy!
How much water and bullion did you use ? I.have the bullion cubes
Can you use 2% milk?
Looks darn tasty. I cant wait to try it with chicken breast and onions!!
The first rule of trying any new recipe is to add more garlic!
1st rule for making a new recipe … add more garlic!
Yum Mary! Looks pretty awesoME!