Garlic Parmesan Sauce

This super flavourful Garlic Parmesan Sauce makes a wonder dip or spread. It’s delicious paired with wings and pizza, great served with veggies for dipping, and even better when tossed with pasta! Make this sauce in about 10 minutes!

I think of Garlic Parmesan Sauce as a jacked up béchamel. It’s very similar to my White Pizza Sauce, but I’m not sure I would use this one as a pizza sauce simply because it has a brighter and fresher flavour with the addition of the fresh lemon juice.

It’s a very thick and creamy sauce that starts with butter and garlic. Most really good recipes start that way, don’t they? Flour is then cooked into the butter and garlic mixture. The flour is not cooked too long, because you don’t want it to brown like you would if you were preparing a proper bechamel. Next, milk is whisked into the flour mixture and heated until it all comes together into a thick sauce. Lastly, while the sauce is still hot, freshly grated parmesan cheese is stirred into the sauce until it’s melted.

The little bit of fresh lemon juice at the end makes this a wonderfully tasty sauce, but if you prefer to leave the sauce with just a garlicky, cheesy flavour, you can omit the lemon juice completely. Use that garlicky, cheesy sauce as a dip for pizza crust or garlic bread. It’s really good with veggies too. But, one of my favourite ways to use it is as a sauce for pasta. Oh my God, it’s so deliciously addictive!

DIPS, SPREADS, AND SAUCES

In our home we dip just about everything in a sauce of some type. It can be regular ketchup, a home ranch dressing, or my cheddar green onion dip. It depends on what we’re eating. If anything like pizza or cheesy bread sticks are involved, we always want a big helping dip to go with it and for me, it’s one of two – this Garlic Parmesan Sauce or this Sweet Jalapeno Pizza Dip!

This particular sauce is thick and lucious. It is great served at room temperature or hot. Please be advised that even though you can store any leftovers in the fridge, you will need to reheat it to bring it back to its full flavour potential. Bechemel-type sauces can become rather glutinous and gummy when cold. Reheating with a little splash of milk will bring it right back to life!

Another great thing about this recipe is that you will most likely have all of the ingredients on hand because most of them will be found right in your pantry or fridge.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Salted Butter – This recipe works best with salted butter. If you only have unsalted, you can use it, but you may need to add a little dash of salt once you finish the recipe. Taste it and adjust it according to your preference.
• Garlic – Fresh minced garlic only please!
• Flour – Just regular all-purpose flour is all you need.
• Milk – I always use whole milk unless otherwise stated.
• Parmesan Cheese – I love to use freshly grated parmesan whenever possible, but I’m not against the kind bought in a can either if that fits better into your grocery budget. However, with that said, this sauce will always work best and taste better with freshly grated parmesan.
• Ground Black Pepper
• Lemon Juice – Use freshly squeezed lemon juice. This is optional.

HOW TO MAKE GARLIC PARMESAN SAUCE

Over medium heat, melt the butter in a saucepan. Once the butter is melted, add the garlic to the pan and stir into the butter. Cook the garlic for 2 minutes. Add the flour and whisk into the butter and garlic mixture. Cook the mixture, whisking often for 1 minute.

Next, pour in the milk 1/4 cup at a time, whisking well between each addition. The sauce will be thick. Remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in the parmesan cheese and ground black pepper. Whisk in the lemon juice just before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

PARMESAN CHEESE

I know a wedge of parmesan – even a small one – can be anywhere from 12 to 20 dollars. So, you can use other cheeses that will save you a few bucks. My go-to cheese if I can’t get good parmesan is pecorino romano. It has a very similar taste and texture.

I have another option that’s a little outside the box, but don’t knock it until you try it! Have you heard of nutritional yeast? It’s quite good and is an ingredient many vegans will use as a parmesan alternative. Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast commonly used as an ingredient in creamy, dairy-free cheese substitutes. You can often find it used as a topping for foods like my Doritos Cool Ranch Popcorn.

I’ve also used it in my Homemade Ranch Seasoning, which is great stirred into buttermilk to make a salad dressing. Or into sour cream for a very tasty ranch dip! I’ve also used it in this Garlic Bread recipe. Honestly, Dear Reader, it’s delicious!

MAKE THE MOST DELICIOUS PASTA

Once your Garlic Parmesan Sauce is prepared, you can use it to make the most wonderfully delicious pasta! Cook your pasta and reserve half cup of the pasta water before draining the rest away. Transfer the cooked pasta to a large mixing bowl along with the still warm sauce. Use tongs to toss the pasta with the sauce to coat. To thin the sauce, pour a quarter cup of the reserved pasta water in and toss to mix through. You can add more of the pasta water if needed, but don’t exceed the half cup, otherwise the sauce will lose its thickness and it’s cheesy, buttery, garlicky intensity. Enjoy!

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!