• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Sweet Little Bluebird
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • About
  • Crazy Cakes
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Home
    • About
    • Crazy Cakes
    • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×
    Home » Recipe

    Creamy Garlic Penne Pasta (Easy)

    by Mary Neumann · 77 Comments

    479213 shares
    • Facebook
    This is a collage photo of creamy garlic penne pasta being made in a black stock pot along with a photo of the pasta served in a white bowl/
    Today’s tried and true recipe is a family favorite, sure to be a hit!

    Creamy Garlic Penne Pasta

    Quick, easy and so delicious, perfect for garlic and pasta lovers and kid approved! This instant family favorite is versatile too – add chicken, veggies, seafood, or serve as a side dish. Perfect for a busy day. Even the pickiest eaters love this budget friendly pasta. Simple to make, so darn good!

     

    Read Rave Reviews from People Who Tried This Recipe on Pinterest!

    Read even more rave reviews.

    More Reviews

    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.
    Pinnable Image 
    Looking for a great creamy pasta dish using spaghetti?

    Here is a family favorite and a must-try from my friend, Brandie, The Country Cook – THE BEST CREAMY, CHEESY CHICKEN SPAGHETTI. “This easy Creamy, Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti recipe calls for chicken, spaghetti, cream of chicken, salsa, sour cream and cheese. No Rotel.”

    PINNABLE IMAGE

    This image shows creamy garlic penne pasta served in a white bowl. The photo has text listing the ingredients needed to make the dish - penne pasta butter garlic, flour, chicken broth, milk, parsley, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

     

    Creamy Garlic Penne Pasta

    Adapted from Food.com
    Print Recipe
    Save Recipe to Pinterest

     

    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 the sauce begins to boil and thicken. Once the sauce thickens, add parsley and Parmesan cheese and blend until the cheese has melted.

     

    Once sauce is ready, pour over pasta, toss and serve immediately. Serve with your favorite veggies and salad.

     

    Tips
    • Great as a main or side dish.
    • Serve alongside or toss with precooked veggies (broccoli is terrific), chicken or seafood (shrimp and pan-seared scallops).

     

    Thanks for stopping by!
    Cheers!

    More Recipe

    • This photo shows Black-Eyed Peas and Corn Salsa in a clear glass mixing bowl.
      Black-Eyed Peas Sweet Corn Dip with Feta (Easy Recipe)
    • Raspberry Jalapeño Popper Dip baked in a clear glass baking dish with a spoon, with a side of Ritz Crackers.
      Raspberry Jalapeño Popper Dip – Sweet & Savory Appetizer
    • A piece of Soda Cracker Pie served on a white plate topped with a whipped cream and a st
      Soda Cracker Pie (Stupid Pie)
    • Slow Cooker Queso Chicken Tacos on a plate smothered in melty. Mexican cheese.
      Slow Cooker Queso Chicken Tacos (Easy 4 Ingredient Recipe)
    479213 shares
    • Facebook

    Dinner Made Easy with Slow Cooker

    Tried-and-true recipes to make cooking in your slow cooker simply & delicious!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Rosallie Hitney

      March 28, 2020 at 3:45 pm

      Where are the seasonings — salt, pepper, oregano I realize the parm has some salt in it but pasta in normally bland and can use seasoning..

      Reply
      • Mary Neumann

        March 28, 2020 at 3:46 pm

        Garlic. You can easily adapt this recipe using your favorite seasonings.

        Reply
    2. kor

      October 29, 2019 at 9:47 pm

      how many servings does it yield?

      Reply
      • Mary Neumann

        October 30, 2019 at 10:52 am

        Around 4-6 servings. Depends on how big the serving are, Kor.

        Reply
    3. Alisha

      June 25, 2019 at 11:29 am

      Best Alfredo recipe ever. Every member of my family loves it, including my son who currently thinks he hates most foods. I do add more garlic than the recipe calls for, but that’s just a personal preference as it’s still amazing with the proper amount. Highly recommend!

      Reply
    4. Robert Longo

      February 19, 2019 at 12:11 am

      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!!.

      Reply
    5. Yese

      March 12, 2018 at 6:55 pm

      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.

      Reply
    6. Yese

      March 12, 2018 at 6:52 pm

      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.

      Reply
    7. Alka

      February 25, 2018 at 12:32 pm

      What can I substitute for chicken broth since I am vegetarian?

      Reply
      • Donna

        August 19, 2018 at 10:18 am

        use vegetable stock

        Reply
    8. Anonymous

      August 07, 2017 at 9:34 pm

      My family loves this pasta sauce!!

      Reply
    9. SusieC

      July 30, 2016 at 11:38 pm

      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.

      Reply
    10. Katelyn Thille

      June 03, 2016 at 4:50 pm

      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.

      Reply
    11. maggymaes

      May 04, 2016 at 12:05 am

      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!

      Reply
    12. Anonymous

      March 21, 2016 at 12:33 am

      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.

      Reply
    13. Anonymous

      March 04, 2016 at 9:47 pm

      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.

      Reply
    14. Anonymous

      February 08, 2016 at 12:59 am

      Looks YUMMY…!!!

      Reply
    15. Anonymous

      February 04, 2016 at 7:55 am

      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 🙂

      Reply
    16. Anonymous

      February 03, 2016 at 7:13 pm

      Did you double the entire recipe or just the butter and garlic??

      Reply
    17. Anonymous

      January 24, 2016 at 1:46 am

      Can I substitute the Parmesan for mozzarella? That's all I have

      Reply
    18. Natasha Butler

      January 22, 2016 at 12:13 am

      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!

      Reply
    19. Cristina Aleman

      January 17, 2016 at 2:37 pm

      Sounds good to me.

      Reply
    20. Cristina Aleman

      January 17, 2016 at 2:36 pm

      sounds great and it really looks yummy.

      Reply
    21. Lauren Johnson

      January 03, 2016 at 6:06 pm

      I added chicken and made with spinach basil pasta. It was amazing!

      Reply
      • Anonymous

        February 13, 2016 at 6:32 pm

        My thought exactly 😉

        Reply
    22. Deanie

      December 30, 2015 at 8:02 am

      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. 😉

      Reply
    23. marysweetlittlebluebird

      December 17, 2015 at 2:18 am

      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.

      Reply
    « Older Comments
    Newer Comments »

    Trackbacks

    1. EASY BAKED ZITI CASSEROLE (+Video) | The Country Cook says:
      June 13, 2019 at 9:28 am

      […] recipe is versatile and you can use almost any other pasta noodle you prefer. I love it in this CREAMY GARLIC PENNE PASTA.WHAT YOU’LL NEED:ground beefspaghetti sauce*alfredo saucepenne pasta (or ziti or […]

      Reply
    2. 40 Easy pasta Dishes - Simple Pasta Dishes to make - Karluci says:
      December 28, 2018 at 7:08 pm

      […] From: Sweet Little Bluebird […]

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Or, you can subscribe without commenting.

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I’m Mary, the face behind the food blog Sweet Little Bluebird. I am a Michigan girl, born and raised in Flint, and currently living outside of Atlanta, Georgia. I am married to a great guy from Northern California, together we have two sweet girls.

    More about me →

    Popular

    • Four image collage showing a photo of each recipe featured this week — Southern Potato Salad, Ham and Dill Pickle Roll Ups, Fresh Cherry Pie with Crumb Topping, and Flank Steak Pinwheels.
      Southern Potato Salad — Weekend Potluck 733
    • Four image collage showing a photo of each recipe featured this week — Fire and Ice Pickles, Butterscotch Coffee Cake, Easy Vegetable Salad, and Pound Cake Banana Pudding.
      Fire and Ice Pickles — Weekend Potluck 732
    • Four image collage showing a photo of each recipe featured this week — Sheet Pan Steak Fajitas, Dr Pepper Brownies, Chewy Oatmeal Cookies, and Bakery Style Blueberry Muffins.
      Sheet Pan Steak Fajitas — Weekend Potluck 731
    • Four image collage showing a photo of each recipe featured this week — Sugar Cookie Peach Cobbler, Rotel Chicken Pasta, Sheet Pan Taco Pizza, and Oatmeal Cream Pie Bars.
      Sugar Cookie Peach Cobbler — Weekend Potluck 730

    Amazon Associates Disclosure

    Mary Neumann of Sweet Little Bluebird is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Me
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Accessibility Statement

    Copyright © 2011-2026 · Mary Neumann · Sweet Little Bluebird · All Rights Reserved
    Copyright Protected Under The Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Any And All Use Of Photos Is Prohibited Without Written Permission.