Easy Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta in just 15 Minutes

Garlic is the star in this quick and easy Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta!

Toss this sauce with your favorite pasta and enjoy simply with grated Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley or pair with grilled chicken or seafood for a flavorful side dish. This is the perfect recipe for busy weeknights.

This Garlic Butter Sauce is a dream for garlic lovers with EIGHT cloves of minced garlic. Don’t love garlic as much as I do? Play around with the amount of garlic to fit your palate.

I'm a HUGE fan of garlic & always recommend using fresh garlic in sauces whenever you can. It's pretty typical of me to add at least 1 tablespoon of fresh garlic to sauces like I do in my easy slow cooker Red Sauce recipe.

Garlic Butter Sauce Ingredients

• Unsalted butter
• Fresh garlic - fresh ingredients are always best
• Salt & Pepper
• Pound of pasta noodles

How To Make Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta

Making a simple sauce for pasta doesn’t get much easier than this! With only two basic ingredients, this simple Garlic Butter Sauce comes together in less than 15 minutes including the time to cook the pasta!

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling add 1 tbsp of kosher salt
2. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Drain the rest and set aside.
3. While the pasta is cooking, place a large skillet over medium heat and melt butter.
4. Once the butter is melted, add the garlic cloves and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds to one minute. Do not brown. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
5. Toss the garlic butter sauce with the al dente pasta and 1/4 cup reserved pasta water. Top with Parmesan, parsley, and additional salt and pepper if desired. Serve immediately.

Mix-ins you can add to this buttery sauce

• Parmesan cheese is almost a required topping for garlic butte noodles
• Add a splash of white wine to the garlic butter sauce for more interesting flavor - be sure to reduce it a little before serving.
• Fresh herbs such as parsley or basil make a great addition to any easy pasta recipe
• A drizzle of olive oil adds great flavor
• 1/4 teaspoon (or more) Red Pepper Flakes add a little spice to this pasta sauce
• A touch of lemon juice changes things up to make a lemon butter sauce recipe. Just be careful to add a teaspoon at a time and taste before adding more. You don't want to overdo the lemon.
• Vegetables such as spinach or steamed broccoli are a great addition. If you want a mix of veggies, try my Steamed Vegetables recipe
• Sauteed mushrooms are the perfect addition to this garlic butter sauce recipe
• Add protein such as shrimp, chicken, or sliced sausage for a complete meal that will please the meat eaters in your family!

What type of pasta noodles pair with Garlic Butter Sauce?

I paired the garlic butter sauce with one of my favorite pasta noodles, Bucatini. Becoming more and more available in larger supermarkets, Bucatini is a tubed pasta noodle similar in shape to spaghetti, but it has a hole running through the center that is perfect for soaking up the garlic butter sauce. You can of course also use spaghetti, penne, rotini, or a personal favorite.

Do I have to salt the pasta water?

YES! It's that simple. Always salt the pasta water with kosher salt. WHY? Because as pasta cooks it absorbs the water, right? By cooking pasta in salted water you are infusing the pasta with seasoning to enhance the flavor of the pasta. Salting the pasta water adds another layer of flavor to your dish, so always salt the pasta water.

Why reserve pasta water after cooking pasta?

The addition of pasta water helps to thicken the garlic butter sauce while keeping it smooth and creamy. The starch in the pasta water will also give the garlic butter sauce a deeper, richer flavor. 

Why use unsalted butter?

I use unsalted butter in cooking and baking almost exclusively mainly because it allows me to control the amount of salt I add to the food. Different butters have different salt levels, so by using unsalted butter it gives me the control over how much salt is added to my dish. By seasoning the food and tasting as I go, I can add just the right amount of salt for our tastes.

Secondly, salt is a preservative, so salted butter has a longer shelf life than unsalted butter. In my mind, unsalted butter is fresher than salted butter.

Serving Ideas

I often have a bowl of just this garlic butter sauce with pasta. It is quite good on its own, but also pairs well with grilled chicken and seafood. Mushrooms, asparagus, spinach, other greens like basil or arugula, and caramelized onions would be wonderful additions to incorporate some vegetables.

For an even more decadent garlic butter sauce, you can also brown the melted butter a little before adding the garlic. As the butter darkens, it takes on a nutty quality to give this dish an extra boost of flavor. Definitely keep an eye on it though, because butter can quickly go from browned to burnt.

Looking for more pasta dishes?

Try these…

• Homemade Garlic Alfredo Sauce
• Homemade Basil Pesto
• Bechamel Sauce Recipe
• Šalša (Croatian Tomato Sauce)
• Pasta con Salsa Caruso (Uruguayan Pasta with Caruso Sauce)

****PIN MY GARLIC BUTTER SAUCE for later****

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Garlic Butter Sauce

Main Course, Side Dish, Easy Dinner Recipes

American

Yield: 4

Author: Life Tastes Good

Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 10 MinTotal time: 15 Min

GARLIC BUTTER SAUCE FOR PASTA makes a QUICK & EASY dinner recipe the whole family will love. Garlic butter sauce is also perfect for VEGETABLES and DIPPING too!

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried pasta
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 8 garlic cloves peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling add 1 tbsp of kosher salt
2. Add the pasta and cook, stirring often, until al dente, just tender. Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Drain the rest and set aside.
3. While the pasta is cooking, place a large skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and melt.
4. Once the butter is melted, add the garlic cloves and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds to one minute. Do not brown. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
5. Toss the garlic butter sauce with the al dente pasta and 1/4 cup reserved pasta water. Top with Parmesan, parsley, and additional salt and pepper if desired. Serve immediately.

Notes:

1. Always salt the pasta water for maximum flavor when cooking pasta 2. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water to add to the pasta with garlic butter sauce for a creamy sauce with and added flavor 3. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days 4. Garlic Butter Sauce is a great recipe for a dipping sauce to pair with pizza or garlic bread as well as a topping for vegetables

Nutrition Facts

Calories

368.34

Fat (grams)

20.12

Sat. Fat (grams)

11.92

Carbs (grams)

38.14

Fiber (grams)

2.29

Net carbs

35.85

Sugar (grams)

0.73

Protein (grams)

9.00

Sodium (milligrams)

2391.19

Cholesterol (grams)

51.15

Nutrition label disclaimer: Nutrient values are estimates only. Variations may occur due to product availability and food preparation. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.

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