Pizza and pasta sauce aren’t just for tomatoes. This garlic parmesan sauce recipe, based on a classic bechamel sauce, is the perfect way to spice up your next pizza or pasta night sans tomato paste. It’s full of creamy, parmesan flavor and spiked with garlic throughout.
Growing up with an Italian grandmother meant we prioritized pizza night. In fact, my grandmother started “Pizza Friday” in her Midwest home in the 1960’s and 1970’s!
This sauce was inspired by my desire to make a garlic-forward white pizza sauce. My potato leek pizza was in need of some supporting flavor and I knew classic tomato sauce wasn’t the vibe I was going for. Thankfully, this garlic parmesan sauce was up for the job, and my very own Pizza Friday was saved. 🥳
why this garlic parmesan sauce recipe works:
🧄 garlic-packed. You can live out your truest garlic girl dreams with this sauce! It uses fresh cloves of garlic chopped roughly, so you get REAL chunks of garlic in each bite.
🧀 real parmesan. This sauce is packed with parmesan which gives it great depth and flavor! As a bonus, it’s another layer of cheese on your pizza!
⏱️ simple to make. This sauce is a riff on a classic “mother sauce,” the bechamel sauce. It uses a simple technique for maximum flavor. Plus, then you get to tell your friends and family you know about mother sauces!
🛒 ingredients you need
See the recipe card for the exact quantities.
🥫 what’s a bechamel sauce, anyway?
This garlic parmesan pizza sauce is based on a bechamel sauce, but what does that even mean?! A bechamel sauce is considered one of the “mother sauces” in French cuisine.
These mother sauces are called so because they are the starting point of nearly any sauce you could want to cook up in the kitchen. A bechamel sauce is a white sauce that has three basic steps:
- Combine a fat and a starch, usually butter and flour, and lightly cook over medium heat.
- Add in a warmed liquid, usually milk or stock.
- Flavor as you like.
The first step is also known as making a roux, which is a mixture of equal parts butter and flour. This mix acts as a binder, or a thickening agent when combined with a liquid like milk, cream, or stock. The wonderful part about making your own sauces at home is you can completely customize them to your liking. Add whatever you want, make them as thick or thin as you like, and add as many or few spices as you like!
🍳 how to make garlic parmesan sauce for pizza or pasta
1: Melt the butter and add the flour to the pan to begin making the base of the sauce, called the roux.
2: Continuously whisk the roux as the flour and butter cook, keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn.
3: Once the butter and flour have been combined and have cooked for a few minutes, add in the minced garlic and allow it to cook for a minute or so. This helps take a bit of the sharpness of the garlic away, and adds a nice depth of flavor to the garlic.
4: Slowly add in the milk while whisking. You may need a cooking partner to help with this step, depending on your motor skills. I always end up shouting for my husband’s help. 😂
5: Once you whisk in all the milk, add in your cheese and stir to combine.
6: Give your sauce a taste and then season with salt and pepper, then you can use it in any recipe you like!
Hint: If your sauce is too thick, you can add in more milk. If it’s too thin, you can allow it to cook a bit longer at a low simmer until it thickens up.
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💡tips & tricks for getting it right
🍽️ serving tips
- pizza sauce – the original vision for this garlic parmesan sauce was for pizza. Go the extra mile and make your own pizza dough from scratch for a pizza night that folks will beg to be invited to again!
- pasta – this sauce is similar to an Alfredo sauce but much heartier. It would work wonderfully in a baked pasta dish, too.
- casserole – while this sauce began as a pizza sauce, you can also use it in baked casserole style dishes, like chicken parmesan!
- dipping sauce – you can even use this sauce as a dipping sauce for your favorite appetizers! It would pair perfectly with a platter of pan-fried meatballs at a party!
ℹ️ troubleshooting tips
- freeze the leftovers – freeze any leftover sauce in ice cube trays to make perfectly portioned amounts of sauce that defrost quickly!
- beware of the burn – the key to making a bechamel sauce is using gentle heat, constantly whisking, and keeping a good eye on it. The roux can easily go from being perfectly browned to burned in a short amount of time!
- too garlicky – if your sauce is too sharp in garlic flavor, you can mellow it out by adding more milk, cheese, and another pinch of salt.
🔆 top tip
How you chop your garlic matters! When you grate it on a microplane, it will be VERY sharp in taste. When roughly chopped, it will be less intense in flavor. You can also cook it down longer to help lessen the intensity of the garlic, or you can roast it before adding it to the sauce.
♻️ customize your garlic parmesan sauce!
Missing an ingredient? No problem. Check out these tried-and-true substitutions, or comment below with your question. I’m here to help you troubleshoot!
- olive oil – you can swap the butter in this recipe for another fat like olive oil!
- alternative milk – cashew milk is one of my favorite alternative milk to use for pasta sauces, but you can use whatever milk you like. Just make sure it’s not flavored. Vanilla garlic parmesan sauce doesn’t have the same ring to it. 😅
- spicy – add red pepper flakes to the sauce for a spicy kick!
- roasted garlic – roast your garlic before adding it in to the sauce for a sweeter, less intense garlic flavor.
🧰 equipment needed & storage tips
Thankfully, this sauce comes together without the use of any extra-fancy kitchen equipment. You can blend the sauce to make it smoother with an immersion blender or high-powered blender, but it is not necessary. Besides, I love the small pieces of garlic throughout the sauce!
🫙 how to store your homemade sauce
Once the sauce has cooled, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week. It can also be frozen for longer-term storage of up to three months.
💬 q+a
How can I use this garlic parmesan pizza sauce?
You can use it as a sauce on pizzas, pasta, or casseroles! You can even use it as a dip for your pizza crust!
Can I make this without dairy milk?
Yes, you can use a dairy alternative milk. Just be sure it is not flavored. I have made this sauce with both regular milk and cashew milk.
Can I freeze this sauce?
Yes! You can portion this sauce out and freeze it for up to three months. I love freezing it in ice cube trays because when placed in a saucepan on low heat, it defrosts quicker than a large block of sauce.
If you make this recipe, please leave a review in the comments and a star rating!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Garlic and Parmesan Sauce (Easy Garlic Parmesan Sauce for Pizza and Pasta)
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Equipment
- 1 heavy-bottomed saucepan 1.5 quart
- 1 cheese grater
- 1 wire whisk
- 1 chefs knife
Ingredients
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tbsp butter unsalted
- 3 tbsp flour all purpose
- 1 cup milk reduced fat
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ⅔ cup parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
- Prep garlic. Peel and roughly chop or mince 4 cloves of garlic. Chopping the garlic this way gives it a stronger, more intense flavor, but not as sharp as grating it with a microplane.
- Shred cheese. Grate 2/3 cup (55g) of parmesan cheese.
- Get milk to temperature. Gently heat 1 cup of milk to take the chill off, if it's straight out of the fridge. You can heat it in 30-second intervals in the microwave, or on the stovetop in a separate pan. Alternatively, you can allow the milk to come to room temperature before preparing the rest of the ingredients.
- Melt butter. In a heavy-bottom saucepan over medium-low heat, melt 3 tbsp of unsalted butter.
- Add flour. Once the butter is melted, whisk in 3 tbsp of all-purpose flour.
- Make the roux. Stir the mixture for 2-3 minutes over medium-low heat to help cook out the flavor of the flour. This step is also known as making a roux. Keep an eye on the mix as it can brown or burn quickly.
- Add garlic. Add the 4 cloves of minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Whisk in milk. Slowly pour the milk into the roux, and whisk constantly as you add the milk.
- Fold in cheese. Once all the milk has been incorporated, add in the parmesan cheese. Allow the mixture to cook over medium heat at a low simmer for about 5 minutes until the cheese has melted and the sauce has thickened.
- Taste and season. Give the sauce a taste, and season with salt and pepper. If your sauce is too thick, you can add more milk. If it's too thin, you can let it simmer longer to thicken up.
- Use or store. Use the sauce in the recipe of your choice. Store any leftover sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week, or freeze for longer storage.
Nutrition Information
The information provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition facts calculator and actual nutrition facts may vary.
