Garlic Pizza Sauce
This creamy garlic pizza sauce is a delicious, flavorful base for my favorite pizzas, pastas and chicken and sausage dishes.
I created today’s dish to go with the Garlic Pizza recipe, but the more I make it and use it, the more I realize just how versatile this sauce can be. To date, I’ve used it on pizza, like Dill Pickle Pizza, with pasta, meatballs and even in a lasagna.
It is the perfect substitution for any recipe that calls for Alfredo sauce!
When making the garlic pizzas, I always grab a couple extra naan or flatbreads to use up some of the extra sauce. Just spread a few spoonfuls onto a flatbread, top with cheese and bake – super easy cheese bread!
However, when I use this sauce with pasta I prefer to make it a little thinner. This recipe is closer in consistency to gravy. Although awesome on pizza, it can take away from the texture of a pasta dish and make it heavier than usual.
If that’s the case, just use 1 TB of flour instead of 2 in this recipe.
It will make the garlic pizza sauce seem very thin at first, but it thickens as it simmers and cools.
Making the roux
A good start to any yummy, creamy sauce, soup or gravy is with a roux. All it involves is mixing flour with butter or oil and gradually adding liquid.
A very helpful tip I learned from J Kenji Lopez Alt is to let your butter/oil and flour mixture cook for about 60-90 seconds. It cooks off any unwanted flour taste and ultimately makes for a smoother sauce.
Another tip for getting a smooth (and not lumpy) sauce is to gradually add your liquid and whisk constantly. In this recipe, I would add 1/2 c of the half and half at a time.
And if you’re new to making sauces at home, don’t fret! The more you practice the easier it becomes, and once you get a good understanding of roux, you’ll soon be creating your own sauce recipes at home.
What will you use this garlic pizza sauce recipe on? Let me know in a comment below!
Until next time. X
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Garlic Pizza Sauce
Garlic Pizza Sauce
This creamy garlic pizza sauce is a delicious, flavorful base for my favorite pizzas, pastas and chicken and sausage dishes.
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves (2 tsp) garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp All Purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 1/2 cups half and half
- 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, place the olive oil and the minced garlic.
- Cook for 1-2 minutes, whisking constantly so the garlic doesn’t brown.
- Add the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and stir.
- Sprinkle in the flour and whisk quickly until it is a thick paste.
- Let cook and bubble for another 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in the half and half 1/2 cup at a time, whisking constantly.
- Add the Parmesan cheese and stir, then turn the heat to low and let simmer 5-10 minutes to thicken.
- Serve warm or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5-7 days until ready to use.
Notes
tools
- small saucepan
- whisk
- airtight container
Garlic takes on a different flavor when it is browned – be careful not to burn it.
This sauce has a consistency like gravy. If you prefer a thinner sauce, use only 1 Tbsp of flour.
Half and half is half cream, half milk and sold near coffee creamers in US grocery stores. This can be substituted with 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 heavy cream.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Recipe adapted from Nellie Bellie
Thanks for this delightful change from traditional pizza sauce. I use pita that is getting old as mini pizza crusts, and this works beautifully. Toppings are whatever leftovers I have in the frig. Tonight, it was a slice of grilled checken chopped up, some sprinkles og cooked turkey sausage, fresh spinach, a couple of mushrooms sauteed, sliced olives, cooked onion slice.
That sounds fantastic! Thank you for sharing, Paula. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe.
I am alergic to tomatoes and this is perfect
This sauce looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it for my fondue dinners as a dipping sauce! (used to buy one, but can’t find it anywhere lately)
I will be trying this tomorrow! Husband & I love dill. Best part for me no tomatoes. Thanks.
Okay so this is you asked for us to share how we used this garlic pizza sauce. I’ve used it on pizza several times and it’s always a hit. But the best way I used this sauce was with smoked meatloaf.
I took 1 1/2 pounds pounds of ground beef 1/2 pound ground pork and rolled it out flat on a pan (maybe an inch thick and then covered with a thin layer of the garlic pizza sauce, sprinkle with some extra sharp white American cheese, sprinkle with shaved Parmesan onion, chopped peppers, and s&p. Then I rolled it up and put more garlic pizza sauce on top. cooked it at 225 off set with just apple chips for for the first half an hour and just charcoal briquettes for the rest. Ground meat is very porous and you can over smoke it. Once it got up to about 160it I add couple slices of havarti on top for the last 5⁰. Pulled at 155. Let rest under loose foil for 15 mins and chopped into slices.
Holy… Okay, so this sounds amazing. Wow! I’ve never been the biggest fan of meatloaf, but this obviously sounds like the best way to do it. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much! I will be trying this. I have a tomato allergy and have been wanting some meatloaf but didn’t know what to substitute the tomato sauce with. Thanks so much!
What is AP flour? Thank you!
It is All Purpose flour 🙂
All purpose would be my guess!