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These One Pot Creamy Garlic Noodles are as easy as they are delicious! No creams or large amounts of butter, makes this meal a winner all-around!
These one pot creamy garlic noodles are a HUGE hit with my whole family. We make them at least once a month with all sorts of variations. My kids are crazy about it and request it all the time (and I am happy to oblige because it’s SO easy)! These noodles don’t use heavy cream or large amounts of butter, but it tastes JUST as good as recipes that do. Cooking the noodles in the chicken broth and milk is like magic. The recipe starts with UNcooked noodles so no draining, and only ONE POT to clean! A total win-win.
Ingredients in Creamy Garlic Noodles
This yummy pasta dish has a very fettucine alfredo texture and flavor, without all the heavy whipping cream. Here’s what you need:
- Butter – just a few tablespoons, divided.
- Garlic – four or five cloves, minced. For a stronger garlic flavor you can even use a dash of garlic powder or garlic salt in the sauce mixture.
- Chicken broth – about 28 ounces or just under four cups.
- Milk – Start with two and a half cups and add more if needed to thin out the sauce.
- Linguini – Cook pasta until al dente, or with a little bite to it, before adding to the sauce. You can use any cooked pasta you like for this dish: penne pasta, spaghetti noodles fettucine, anything you have on hand.
- Seasonings – all you need is some salt and pepper and a little bit of basil, fresh or dried
- Parmesan cheese – I like using fresh grated parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano), you can also use the powdered kind if that’s what you have on hand.
- Broccoli (optional)- about four cups. This is totally optional, and you can add other veggies too!
- Chicken breasts (optional) – two chicken breasts, grilled and cut into strips You can also cook the chicken directly in the pot. See below for more instructions.
Best Noodles to Use
For this garlic noodles recipe, we like to use linguini noodles. They are thick enough to absorb the sauce without getting too heavy. You could also use spaghetti noodles, fettuccini noodles, or even egg noodles. Bowtie pasta or rotini would be fun to try as well. Try to avoid anything thinner than regular spaghetti, like thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta. The noodles will cook way too fast and then get clumpy. No matter what noodle you use, keep checking it until it’s cooked through. You can’t really go by package directions because it is being simmered at a lower heat.
Add Chicken for a Full Meal
To make this a full meal, just add a little chicken. I love adding grilled chicken but you can add baked, shredded, or pan-fried. To keep it a true “one pot” meal, pan frying the chicken is the way to go.
- First, season the chicken with Italian seasoning and cook it up in the same skillet you want to cook the noodles in (before cooking the noodles).
- Then, sauté the chicken until it is cooked most of the way through and remove from the pan, place on a plate, and cover. Wipe the pan out (be careful because the pan will be hot) and make the noodles as per the recipe below.
- Lastly, add the chicken after a few minutes into the noodles simmering and follow the rest of the recipe as directed.
Adding Vegetables
If you want to add vegetables, toss them in 10 minutes or so before serving. You can add veggies like broccoli, peas, asparagus, red peppers, sliced zucchini, etc. You can make these noodles as a full meal or as an easy side dish — totally up to you!
More Add-In Possibilities
This versatile dish can be switched up a million different ways, with just the tweak of a couple ingredients. Try adding some of these next time you need an easy side dish or main course:
- Cooked garlic shrimp (I like using the garlic shrimp from this recipe)
- Grilled Rotisserie Chicken
- Smoked sausage
- Cooked bacon
- Fresh herbs such as parsley or basil
- Peas
- Sautéed mushrooms
- Fresh spinach
- Roasted vegetables
- Lemon zest (if you love lemon flavored noodles try our delicious lemon infused noodles recipe!)
- Onions Рadd saut̩ed onion or green onion for garnish
Tips For Making Garlic Noodles
- Keep it to a simmer – If you cook these on too high of a heat, the noodles will cook too fast and won’t absorb the liquid as well.
- Add liquid – If you noodles look like they are getting too thick, just keep adding a splash or milk of broth to keep the consistency.
- Add other flavors – Boost the flavor by adding Cajun seasoning, oregano, Italian seasoning, or lemon pepper.
- Reheating leftovers – Store leftovers in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. When reheating leftovers, add a splash of milk a little at a time until you reach your desired creamy consistency.
Frequently Asked Questions
For this recipe the answer is simple: add a splash of milk. You’ll be amazed at how a little milk will loosen a thick sauce and make it super creamy once again.
If you find you need a little more kick or flavor to this dish, add some lemon zest or black pepper. If you want to add a little spiciness, you can add some Cajun seasoning like Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning.
Yes, using milk makes the noodles creamier. Plus because you don’t drain the pasta in this dish, the starch remains, giving the sauce an extra creamy texture.
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More Easy Noodle Recipes
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One Pot Creamy Garlic Noodles
Video
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoon butter divided
- 4-5 cloves garlic minced
- 28 ounces chicken broth (3 ¾ cups)
- 2 1/2 cups milk add more if needed
- 1 pound linguini
- kosher salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
- 4 cups broccoli optional
- 2 chicken breasts grilled and cut into strips (optional. See notes above on how to make chicken part of the “one-pot” meal if you don’t want to grill)
Instructions
- In a large, 5-6 quart skillet, heat 2 Tablespoons of butter over medium heat. If you don't have a large skillet, a stock-pot works well, too. Add garlic and cook for about a minute.
- Add chicken broth, milk, remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter, pasta noodles, salt and pepper, and basil. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer stirring occasionally for 16-20 minutes or until noodles have cooked through. If you are wanting to add broccoli, add it after about 10 minutes into the simmering process.
- Stir in Parmesan when noodles are finished cooking and add a little milk if necessary if necessary to reach your desired consistency.
Notes
- Keep noodles to a simmer – If you cook these on too high of a heat, the noodles will cook too fast and won’t absorb the liquid as well.
- Add liquid – If you noodles look like they are getting too thick, just keep adding a splash or milk of broth to keep the consistency.
- Add other flavors – Boost the flavor by adding Cajun seasoning, oregano, Italian seasoning, or lemon pepper.
What if I don’t have Chicken stock? Can I use water?
You can use water and salt (for seasoning) but it won’t taste quite as rich
Calorie content?
we don’t provide nutritional information, sorry! You will have to input the recipe on a nutritional calculator like FitBit or Livestrong.
omg this is sooo cheap, easy and delicious! – thank you!!!
I’ve just moved out of home, and am on a pretty strict (self imposed) budget, so this was great, it yielded 6 (large) servings for me, a whole weeks dinner in one simple meal!
Way to stretch it out! They heat up great, right? I always have to add a little splash of milk but I eat it for leftovers all the time 🙂
What about for people with dairy allergies? What would you suggest as a subsitute?
I’m not sure what to suggest because we haven’t made it any other way. Using Lactaid might work but I honestly have no idea. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful!
Hi there, I know this question is a couple months old but as the mom of a toddler with serious daily allergies I thought I might have an answer for you! I’ve made dishes similar to this and in place of the butter I use earth balance whipped dairy free butter spread and I use original UNSWEETENED coconut milk as my milk substitute. I haven’t made this particular dish but that combo seems to go well with any savory dish. You can’t really taste the coconut and most people can’t even tell that it’s dairy free.
Hope that helps a little. ????
Thanks! I have a milk allergy and was planning to use Ripple, which has a higher protein content than coconut milk. It’s really reassuring to hear that this works with coconut milk, because then I KNOW it will with Ripple and non-dairy subs for the Parmesan. Thank you!
in the recipe you say to add the cheese when the noodles have cooked, but in the video it shows you adding the broth, milk and cheese all at the same time….which is correct?
I have done it both ways and both ways turn out great. Typically I will add it at the end so it is a little thicker but if I am in a hurry and want to just throw it all in– I will just throw it all in at the first
Its just my husband and me, how many servings does this recipe yield?
It will probably feed 3-4– but it re-heats great if you save any for leftovers. Just add a little milk when re-heating
Great, thank you!!
Should I use whole milk in this, or will my 2% work? And also, would crumbled bacon be a good add in?
Bacon would be delicious! 2% totally works. I actually used 1% in the video.
The bacon was awesome! And instead of grilling the chicken, I cut them into bite sized pieces, lightly floured and cooked them in them bacon grease! This meal passed the picky 9 year old boy test! I went ahead and used whole milk, next time will definitely use my 2%! It was delicious
Just made this, but with bowtie pasta!!! Delisj!!!!
I’ve made this, it’s fantastic,
Thank you, I make this tonight and man was it delish, next time adding mushrooms and bell peppers. Thank you again
Oooh those are great add-in ideas! So glad you liked it! 😀
I used graded garlic n butter fried the chicken..set aside..cooked broccoli a lil with garlic powder butter n olive oil, oyster sauce and dill..added Romano cheese at the end amd used multigrain linguine..was amazing!! Tks for the recipe…
Great ideas for add-ins! Glad you liked it!
Have you ever frozen this after you’ve cooked it?
They usually don’t last long enough that we would need to freeze. Because there is some dairy in it, it probably won’t freeze great but you can definitely try it!
Just made this for dinner! It was delicious!! 🙂
Made for dinner last night, cut the recipe in 1/2… as it makes quite lot. Used Italian sausage and broccoli. It was amazing. Creamy, but very light. Used whole wheat pasta and the directions were perfect.
Can’t wait to share this with every busy mom/dad/kid I know. A great weeknight dinner!
So glad you liked it!!! Italian sausage is a great idea.. same with whole wheat pasta! Thanks for the suggestions!
Could I use canned tuna instead of chicken? TY
I guess you COULD.. I can’t promise that it will taste very good though :S but I’m not a huge fan of canned tuna
I don’t like tuna…the smell of it turns my stomach…but I bet you could add canned chicken
Made it all one pot. Since I didn’t have enough broccoli, I also added left-over green beans and frozen peas and carrots. It was kind of bland so I also added a half-can of cream of chicken soup. I didn’t have linguine pasta, so I used large egg noodles that were over-cooked but edible. Next time I would add the egg noodles about halfway through instead of at the beginning. Was actually pretty tasty after I added the c of c soup.
Glad you liked it! If you decide to use a different kind of noodle you will definitely need to alter the cooking times. Just keep testing the noodles until they are just done. Thanks for the comment!
Instead of using cloves of garlic why can’t I use the minced garlic in the jar. How much is equivalent to 4-5 cloves of garlic. I want to make this sounds really good.
I don’t typically use the minced garlic in a jar so you will have to check on the label to see how it converts. You can definitely use the kind in the jar, it just might not taste as fresh
Minced garlic in a jar converts to 1t. = 1 clove.
Looks delicious. Is the chicken added right before serving or before that? Thanks.
If you do grilled chicken you will add it right before serving. If you cook the chicken in the skillet you will put it in before that (a few minutes into the simmering process)
At What point is the chicken added?
taken from paragraph above recipe.
If you want to add chicken but don’t have a grill or don’t want to bother with grilling, you can season the chicken with Italian seasoning and cook it up in the same skillet you want to cook the noodles in (before cooking the noodles). Just saute the chicken until it is cooked most of the way through and remove from the pan, place on a plate, and cover. Wipe the pan out (be careful because the pan will be hot) and make the noodles as per the recipe below. Add the chicken after a few minutes into the noodles simmering and follow the rest of the recipe as directed.
Thank you
I didn’t wipe out the pan, and let all that flavor stay in the pot…DELICIOUSNESS!!! This was a hit tonight. I didn’t have Parmesan, so I used Romano, but it was still fantastic. I didn’t have basil either, so we left it out. Next time, I’ll make sure to grab some basil.
Sounds nice. Thank you and have a great weekend.
Im trying this tonight although mine probably isn’t as “skinny” I added a lot more butter , seasoning & milk than the recipe called for ..I may recommend you steam your broccoli before hand
Let us know how you like it!