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Home » Pasta and Rice » Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta

Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta

18 April, 2019 by Tara 17 Comments

Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta

My recipe for the Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta was first published on Life Tastes Good where I am a contributor.

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 and fresh parsley or pair with grilled chicken or seafood for a flavorful side perfect for weeknights.

Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta

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 to fit your palate.

How to make Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta

Making a sauce for pasta doesn’t get much easier than this! With only two basic ingredients, the 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, 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 pan 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.

Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta

WHAT TYPE OF PASTA PAIRS WITH GARLIC BUTTER SAUCE?

I paired the garlic butter sauce with one of my favorite pasta shapes, Bucatini. Becoming more and more available in larger supermarkets, Bucatini is a tubed pasta 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 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.

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.

You can also brown the 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 sauce recipes?

Try these…

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

Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta

Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta Recipe

Adapted from Pinch of Yum

Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta
Print Pin
5 from 2 votes

Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta

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!
Course Side Dish
Keyword butter, garlic, pasta, sauce
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 4 Servings

Ingredients

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

Instructions

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring often, until al dente, just tender. Drain and set aside.
  • While the pasta is cooking, place a large pan over medium heat. Add the butter and melt.
  • 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.
  • Toss the garlic butter sauce with the al dente pasta. Top with Parmesan, parsley, and additional salt and pepper if desired. Serve immediately.

Related

Filed Under: Pasta and Rice Tagged With: butter, garlic, parmesan, pasta, sauce

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Andrea Metlika

    18 April, 2019 at 2:18 pm

    This Garlic sauce is awesome! Perfect for pasta and other things too!

    Reply
  2. Beth Pierce

    18 April, 2019 at 5:01 pm

    I love garlic and this sounds amazing! I am excited to give this a try!

    Reply
  3. Alexandra

    18 April, 2019 at 7:57 pm

    This is beautiful – simple and delicious. Garlic and butter works perfectly with pasta.

    Reply
  4. Diana

    19 April, 2019 at 2:41 am

    I’m a huge fan of garlic and I think that I tend to add too much garlic to my cooking! This pasta sauce is so simple and easy, perfect for a quick midweek dinner.

    Reply
  5. Mikayla

    19 April, 2019 at 12:37 pm

    I do love garlic, this is a perfect easy topping for a quick bowl of pasta!

    Reply
  6. Madcitymomma

    21 April, 2019 at 2:34 pm

    I think I will try this sauce on a grilled steak. I know, not heart smart.
    Mushrooms sautéed in the sauce. Yum

    Reply
    • Tara

      21 April, 2019 at 2:47 pm

      Sounds perfect with steak!

      Reply
  7. Amethyst211

    31 December, 2019 at 4:54 am

    Can this be used in lasagna

    Reply
    • Tara

      31 December, 2019 at 11:40 am

      Hi! Unfortunately this sauce is made to just lightly coat pasta, so it is not really sturdy enough to hold and layer in a lasagna.

      Reply
  8. Roses

    6 July, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    I am a fan of garlic. Your Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta recipe is great. My son likes it too. Thank you for sharing it.

    Reply
    • Tara

      14 July, 2020 at 12:01 am

      So glad you enjoyed it!

      Reply
  9. Ronda

    13 July, 2020 at 7:02 pm

    Ooooh la la! This simple dish just looks so delicious and FRESH! Gorgeous photos, as always!

    Reply
    • Tara

      14 July, 2020 at 12:01 am

      Thank you Ronda!

      Reply
  10. Janelle

    12 August, 2020 at 2:48 am

    This looks so delicious and beautiful! Can’t wait to make it! 💚
    Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply
  11. Becky

    25 October, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    5 stars
    Delicious!!! I did what the others suggested and added more garlic and less of the herbs and my picky eater loved it! I added frozen veggies to make it a meal in one dish.

    Reply
    • Tara

      25 October, 2020 at 7:16 pm

      Thanks so much Becky! So glad you all enjoyed it 🙂

      Reply
  12. Becky

    1 November, 2020 at 5:52 pm

    5 stars
    This was fast and easy and infinitely better than the italian diner on the corner. Thank you for this easy recipe. My daughter loves it!!!

    Reply

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