Creamy Garlic Pasta Shells - A One-Pot Recipe - Dancing Through the Rain (2024)

This Creamy Garlic Pasta is about to be a dinner win for the whole family! Made with delicious cheese, garlic, and pasta, you can’t go wrong!

Creamy Garlic Shells

There aren’t many foods that I love more than pasta dishes and garlic. If you’re like me, you’re going to absolutely love this homemade Creamy Garlic Pasta recipe!

This one-pot recipe makes it easy to want to ditch the packaged stuff. If you find yourself eating Knorr pasta sides, or more specifically Knorr Italian Sides Creamy Garlic Shells, this homemade version is going to blow your mind. With no artificial flavors and high-quality ingredients that are easy to add to your shopping list, this is one of the delicious side dishes you can make over and over.

This Creamy Garlic Noodles recipe uses small shell pasta, so it’s an excellent choice for little fingers and picky eaters. Plus, it is easy to prepare and won’t take a long time to cook, so it’s a great one to add to your meal plan.

This dish can be whipped up as one of your pasta side dishes, as part of a delicious main dish, or as a meal all by itself. It may just become the best part of your family-favorite meal!

The garlic shells are covered in a creamy garlic parmesan sauce, but there is no meat other than the chicken broth. You can add some boneless skinless chicken breasts if you want to add some additional protein, but it is full of flavor and delicious just as it is.

There is no heavy cream required for this creamy sauce, so you might be surprised at how it is a treat for your taste buds. Choose from skim milk up to whole milk – whatever is in the fridge will work. Also, if you prefer Romano cheese to parmesan cheese, that can be used as a substitute in this comfort food.

Serve your Creamy Garlic Shells with some Crispy Asparagus Fries on the side and call it a complete meal.

Creamy Garlic Pasta Recipe

How To Make:

Ingredients:
8 oz mini pasta shells
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 fresh garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons parsley flakes

Directions:

Add water to a large saucepan and let it come to a rolling boil. Add in the shells and cook pasta for 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain the shells with a strainer in the sink and let them sit there.

Over medium heat in the same empty pot, melt butter, add olive oil, and mix them with a large nylon or wooden spoon.

Add the minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds (do not let the garlic stay still and turn golden brown or else you’ll have to start over, so keep stirring!)

Add your flour and stir for about a minute.

Now, add the chicken stock and milk to your large pot, stirring until thick and bubbly (about 4-5 minutes). Please remember to continue to stir the entire time or your pasta sauce may burn.

Stir the cheese, garlic powder, parsley flakes, and cooked pasta into the creamy garlic sauce, and mix until incorporated. Mix periodically until you see the creaminess you’re looking for.

Serve hot and top with parsley flakes and extra Parmesan to taste, or add some red chili flakes for a little kick. Serve with some garlic bread and enjoy!

Store any leftover creamy garlic shells pasta in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days for best results.

This recipe was adapted from Iowa Girl Eats recipe with minimal changes and it is absolutely delicious!

Can I Cook This Creamy Pasta Dish Without Milk?

Yes! You can replace the milk in this easy recipe with water and add a little bit of extra olive oil, which contains the fat you’d be missing from the milk. You will not have as much of the creaminess in the sauce around your macaroni product, but you will still have a ton of garlic flavor.

Can I Add Anything To This Creamy Garlic Parmesan Pasta?

While this one-pot meal makes for an easy side dish or main meal for a few people, you can also beef it up by adding a few other simple ingredients. Cook a boneless skinless chicken breast in a large skillet over medium-high heat with as much garlic as you’d like, slice it up into pieces, and add it to the pot. This turns your easy pasta recipe into more of a chicken dinner.

You could also slice up some cherry tomatoes or red pepper and roast them in a large skillet or on a sheet pan in the oven before adding them to your creamy sauce for a nice bit of color. Or add some fresh basil for some additional texture and flavor. Just have fun with it!

Can I Use Fresh Herbs Instead Of Dried?

Yes! If you would prefer to use fresh parsley instead of dried, add 2 tablespoons to the white sauce recipe to equal the 2 teaspoons of dried.

Because this recipe includes both garlic cloves and garlic powder, I’d recommend including both. Garlic lovers (like me!) may want to add a few more cloves to get their garlic fix, but keeping both variations of the garlic in this recipe is your best bet.

Are You Looking For MoreTasty Pasta Recipes? Here Are Some Of My Favorites:

• Slow Cooker Chicken Alfredo Tortellini
• Tetrazzini Casserole with Leftover Turkey
• Easy And Classic Chicken Soup
• Spicy Baked Mac and Cheese
• Shrimp And Crab Lemon Garlic Pasta
• Mac and Cheese With French Fried Onions
• Easy Pepperoni Pasta Bake

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