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The best White Wine Pasta Sauce recipe is so easy to make with just 5 simple ingredients. Light, full of flavor and absolutely irresistible; this white wine sauce is ready to enjoy in just 15 minutes!
If you need a quick and easy dinner idea that your whole family will enjoy, this white wine sauce served over pasta is the recipe for you! It’s easy enough for a weeknight meal, yet elegant and flavorful enough for entertaining. It’s one of those recipes you totally need in your back pocket! Trust me, it will come in handy when you can’t think of what to make for dinner and want something tasty and on the table in a flash.
The best thing about this recipe (other than how tasty it is) is that it takes about 15 minutes to make! Top it with a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and you’ll have a restaurant-quality dish that everyone will be begging for. Let’s get to the details!
Ingredients needed
Nothing too fancy in this delicious white wine butter sauce recipe. All you need are good-quality, basic ingredients. Here’s the lineup:
- Olive oil. Adds great earthy flavor and helps prevent the garlic from burning.
- Garlic. A delicious flavor component in a white wine sauce. I highly recommend using fresh garlic and mincing it yourself – it really makes a difference.
- Dry white wine. I used a Sauvignon Blanc, but Pinot Grigio or Sancerre would also work. Just make sure to avoid anything too sweet like a Riesling or Moscato. You do NOT need expensive wine for this recipe!
- Unsalted Butter. Adds richness and creaminess to this white wine sauce. Make sure to add it slowly and whisk constantly, so it can fully emulsify, otherwise your sauce may break!
- Parmesan cheese. For delicious nuttiness and saltiness in the dish. Feel free to use a non-dairy parmesan or substitute it for nutritional yeast, if you prefer.
How to Make White Wine Pasta Sauce
This white wine sauce recipe couldn’t be more simple! It’s ready in three easy steps! Here’s a quick rundown of the process, but for full instructions, reference the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- While your pasta cooks, make the sauce – add the olive oil and garlic to a cold skillet. Then, over medium heat, cook garlic for 2 minutes, or just until fragrant.
- Slowly add the white wine to the pan and whisk to combine. Add one tablespoon of butter and whisk until the butter has been fully incorporated. Repeat adding one tablespoon of butter and whisking until all of the butter has melted smoothly.
- Over low heat, stir in parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, or until you have a smooth sauce that has thickened to your desired consistency. Serve tossed with pasta (and a little pasta water as desired) and garnish with fresh parsley or basil!
Flavor Variations & Recipe Ideas
This simple sauce is delicious as-is, but feel free to change things up to customize it to your family’s taste preferences.
- When serving this recipe with seafood or tofu, I like to add lemon and capers. Add 1 tablespoon of capers to the cold skillet in step 1 and add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice with the parmesan in step 4.
- For a bit of spice, add red pepper flakes or calabrian chili paste to taste in step 4.
- For an easier twist on cacio e pepe, add 2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper with the garlic and olive oil in step 1.
- For a creamy white wine sauce, you could also add in a splash of heavy cream! I’ve tried this before and ended up adding in a few tablespoons of cream.
- If you’d like to add fresh herbs, thyme, rosemary, or sage can be added in step 1. You could also add parsley or basil on top for garnish.
More quick + easy pasta recipes
If you love this white wine sauce and you’re looking for more easy dinner recipes, here are some of our favs:
As usual, PLEASE let me know if you make this recipe and how you like it! You can come back here and leave a comment or tag me on instagram (@foodwithfeeling).
White Wine Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ pound pasta of choice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese, optional
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions.½ pound pasta of choice
- Add the olive oil and garlic to a cold skillet. Then, place the skillet over medium-low heat and cook for 2 minutes, or just until the garlic is fragrant. Slowly add the white wine to the pan and whisk to combine – it may pop a bit at first!1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 cloves garlic
- With the pan still over medium-low heat, add one tablespoon of butter and whisk until the butter has been fully incorporated. Repeat adding one tablespoon of butter and whisking until all of the butter has melted smoothly.4 tablespoons butter
- Add the parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened to your desired consistency. Toss with pasta, serve immediately and enjoy.¼ cup parmesan cheese
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Absolutely Loved this!!
I can’t Not tweak a recipe so I used shaved blend of cheese from Sam’s
And put fresh basil when serving and lemon zest and capers
So Good and easy!!
Loved this recipe. Got to the perfect consistency until I add the cheese – split instantly. I think next time I will try adding the Parmesan on top of the finished dish rather than putting in the sauce. Made with grilled salmon, added the capers too. Tasted delicious.
Yes – VERY hard to head parm and not break it. Cook sauce., add pasta to sauce, skillet off heat sprinkle parm while tossing.
This sauce is super simple but wow. This is a very yummy recipe and I will definitely be keeping this one! I did add more wine and a splash of heavy cream to add more liquid but it was still awesome!
This was so flavorful, delicious and easy. It’s a recipe I will keep and make again!
I was just telling my friend about that.