Creamy Garlic Pasta
Cream, garlic, parmesan, pasta. Four moves, one silky weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
- 200 g Pasta
- 200 ml Cream
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 50 g Hard cheese
- 20 g Butter
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Parsley (optional)
- ½ tsp Black pepper (optional)
Method
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
- Boil the pasta in the salted water one minute shy of al dente (firm to the bite).
- Reserve a mugful of the pasta water, then drain.
- Mince the garlic finely.
- Soften the minced garlic in the butter in a wide skillet over low heat without coloring, about 2 minutes.
- Pour in the cream and simmer gently for 2 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Pull the pan off the heat and melt in the grated cheese until the sauce is smooth.
- Toss the drained pasta through the sauce, loosening with the reserved pasta water to a silky coat, and season with the pepper.
- Plate the pasta with parsley and more cheese.
Tap “Start cooking” for live timers that flag what to get ahead on while something simmers.
About Creamy Garlic Pasta
Creamy garlic pasta is the weeknight workhorse of simple Italian cooking: a handful of ingredients stirred together into a sauce so silky you'd swear there was more effort involved. The key is low heat and patience—the garlic soften in butter without browning so it becomes sweet and fragrant, then the cream barely simmers before the cheese melts through, creating an emulsion rather than a coating. The pasta water, reserved and used sparingly, becomes the binder that makes everything feel integrated rather than separated.
Twenty minutes and you have dinner, the kind where the starch itself becomes the main flavor carrier and where two people can linger over bowls without anyone feeling shortchanged. The parsley and black pepper are essential—they cut the richness with a whisper of freshness and heat. There's no tomato here, no heavy cream dominating; instead, the cheese and butter are the whole story, which means their quality matters. This is a dish you return to because it proves simplicity isn't laziness—it's clarity.
Creamy Garlic Pasta: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Creamy Garlic Pasta?
A serving has about 895 calories — 24.6g protein, 81.8g carbs, 51.5g fat, 3.7g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is Creamy Garlic Pasta gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains Pasta. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for that ingredient to make it gluten-free.
Is Creamy Garlic Pasta dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Butter. Swapping it for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
How long does Creamy Garlic Pasta take to make?
About 21 minutes start to finish, but only around 12 of those are hands-on — the rest is cooking time. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Creamy Garlic Pasta?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out parsley, black pepper — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Creamy Garlic Pasta make?
This recipe makes 2 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.