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Home » Recipes » Food

Published: May 17, 2023, By: Melissa, Updated: Oct 15, 2023

White Wine Garlic Butter Sauce For Pasta

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If you are looking for a quick and easy butter sauce for pasta that is absolutely delicious, look no further than this white wine garlic butter sauce for pasta, seafood, or vegetables. This creamy and flavorful white wine butter sauce is perfect for a weeknight dinner or even a fancy dinner party. Enjoy it as is or with your favorite additions.

closeup of white wine garlic butter sauce

This easy-to-make white wine butter sauce with garlic is one of my favorite budget-friendly recipes. It uses the techniques that you use to make a beurre blanc sauce. In a sense, you can call this a beurre blanc pasta.

If you have never made this type of sauce before, it is very easy! The idea is you are whisking the butter portion of this sauce into the wine and garlic which helps thicken the sauce and makes it delicious and creamy.

My family calls this an elevated butter pasta. I love that it's fancy enough to serve to guests and easy enough for a weeknight meal. My kind of pasta recipe!

What You Will Need

white wine butter sauce ingredients

This is such an easy butter sauce recipe for pasta. You only need a few ingredients:

  • Unsalted butter: The butter is the creamy base of this pasta sauce.
  • Garlic: Fresh garlic is important as it gives flavor to the sauce.
  • Dry white wine: like Gavi, Pinot Grigio, or Sauvignon Blanc works best since they will not be too sweet.
  • Olive oil: I like to use Extra virgin olive oil which lends a fruity flavor to the sauce.
  • Kosher salt and pepper: Add this to taste
  • Freshly grated Parmesan cheese: This is for topping the pasta after it is tossed in sauce and it adds a light nutty flavor. (optional)
  • Chopped parsley: Parsley gives a pop of color to the dish. Use this for garnish. (optional)

How to make this butter white wine sauce for pasta

reducing wine for white wine butter sauce
cooking garlic for butter sauce

The first part of the white wine garlic butter sauce:

  1. Reduce the wine.
  2. Cook the minced garlic until fragrant, but not browned.
whisking butter for white wine garlic butter sauce
white wine garlic butter sauce for pasta

Whisk in the butter:

  1. Now add a few cubes of butter at a time to the pan and whisk it until the butter melts.
  2. Keep doing this until all the butter is used.

By whisking in the butter in this white wine sauce, the butter sauce becomes nice and thick. This is the beurre blanc method I mentioned earlier.

cooking pasta for butter sauce
adding pasta to white wine garlic butter sauce

Assemble it:

  1. Cook the pasta until al dente. Reserve some of the pasta water for the sauce.
  2. Add the cooked pasta to the white wine garlic butter sauce and toss well. Add in Italian parsley if you are using it.
  3. Serve with fresh Parmesan at the table.

This white wine garlic butter sauce for pasta is sure to become one of your go-to recipes when you need something that is both quick and satisfyingly delicious!

Best white wine to cook with

One of my favorite white wines from Italy is the Gavi wine and it makes a really nice white wine to cook with as well. If you love Pinot Grigio, you will love the Gavi varietal of wine. I find it is smoother and lighter.

Here are some more great white wines to cook with:

  • Pinot Grigio
  • Chardonnay
  • Sauvignon Blanc

Of course, always make sure that whatever wine you cook with is one that you love to drink.

If you are not a wine drinker, you can ask someone at your local wine store for some recommendations. If you have extra wine left over, pour it into ice cube trays and freeze for later meals.

Best Pasta For This Sauce

For this white wine pasta sauce, you can use any shape of pasta that you prefer. I love using Casarecce (what you see in the pictures), Cavatappi, bow tie pasta (also called Farfalle) or penne pasta.

Storing

This white wine butter sauce is best made right before you are ready to eat it.

If you do have any leftover pasta that you mixed into this white wine sauce, go ahead and store that in a container with a lid in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Pairing Ideas

Here are some of our favorite things to serve with this white wine sauce:

  • Cooked spinach in a large bowl.
    Spinach with Crispy Pancetta and Shallots
  • spinach and mushroom salad in a white bowl with a lemon on the side.
    Spinach and Mushroom Salad (Easy 10-Minute Recipe)
  • peans with pancetta and shallots
    Peas and Pancetta
  • Italian Peas with garlic and parsley
    Italian Peas with Garlic and Parsley

More easy pasta recipes like this

If you love this white wine garlic butter sauce, you may also like these:

  • spaghetti aglio e olio
    Spaghetti with Olive Oil and Garlic (Aglio e Olio)
  • Pasta Nerano mixed together in a stainless steel frying pan
    Spaghetti with Zucchini (Spaghetti alla Nerano)
  • pasta with pancetta
    Pasta with Pancetta and Mushrooms
  • ricotta pasta with mushrooms and asparagus
    Asparagus and Mushroom Pasta with Ricotta
closeup of white wine garlic butter sauce
Print Recipe
5 from 8 votes

White Wine Garlic Butter Sauce for Pasta

This simple and delicious white wine garlic butter sauce makes the perfect ssauce for pasta and is perfect for a quick meal or for entertaining.
Prep Time5 minutes mins
Cook Time20 minutes mins
Total Time25 minutes mins
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Melissa Oleary

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Pasta Casarecce, penne or your favorite pasta.
  • 12 tablespoon unsalted butter cut into small cubes
  • 4 cloves of garlic finely minced
  • 1 cup dry white wine like Gavi Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc.
  • 1 teaspoon Olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt plus more to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon Ground black pepper
  • Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for topping optional
  • Chopped parsley for garnish optional

Instructions

  • Heat a large pot of water for the pasta then cook pasta until al dente according to the manufacturers instructions.
    1 lb Pasta
  • For the sauce, add olive oil to medium sauce pan over medium heat.
    1 teaspoon Olive oil
  • Add garlic and cook for about 2 minutes or until the garlic just starts to soften.
    4 cloves of garlic
  • Add white wine and reduce by almost half.
    1 cup dry white wine like Gavi
  • Now with a whisk, add 2-3 cubes off butter into the pan and whisk until the butter melts
    12 tablespoon unsalted butter cut into small cubes
  • Add 3 more cubes of butter and repeat the whisking.
  • Keep doing this until all of the butter is used.
  • Season with salt and pepper to taste.
    ½ teaspoon Kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon Ground black pepper
  • If using, stir in fresh parsley.
    Chopped parsley for garnish
  • Toss in your favorite pasta.
  • Garnish with Parmesan.
    Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Nutrition

Calories: 391kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 836mg | Potassium: 403mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1542IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition Values are estimates only.

See full nutrition disclaimer here

Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!

Course :entertaining, Main Course, quick meal

Reader Interactions

Comments

    5 from 8 votes (6 ratings without comment)

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  1. Wendie says

    January 06, 2024 at 5:52 am

    5 stars
    I just wanted to say thank you for the way you wrote your recipes. I love that you put the ingredients you use in the instructions!

    Reply
    • Melissa Oleary says

      January 06, 2024 at 12:40 pm

      Hi Wendie. I am so glad to hear that you found it helpful 🙂

      Reply
  2. MC Otterson says

    July 02, 2023 at 2:52 am

    5 stars
    This is a very good light white wine sauce. Tried it for the first time with long time friends. They absolutely loved it. I made the sauce for the linguini with scallops and shrimp. Excellent!

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      July 02, 2023 at 11:38 am

      I am so glad everyone enjoyed it! It sounds perfect with the seafood 🙂

      Reply

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I am so excited you are here. My name is Melissa and I started this recipe website to share easy recipes that I have been cooking for years. I have written hundreds of easy recipes that are tested and perfected. Some of the recipes I learned during my years of working in restaurants, some from owning my own food company, and others from friends and traveling.

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