This Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce with Gnocchi is incredibly decadent and rich with so much flavor thanks to a whole head of roasted garlic, bacon, fresh parsley, and plenty of parmesan. The gnocchi are cooked right in the sauce making it an easy one pan meal. 

Ingredients 

Check out the ingredient list below for what's needed to make this white sauce recipe.

• Garlic: The star ingredient and the best part. You want a decently sized head of garlic (the full garlic bulb, not just a few cloves). This is going to be roasted so the flavor will be mellowed out. 
• Bacon: Sautéing some bacon is the first step of this dish because then the shallot gets sautéd in the leftover bacon fat which adds a ton of flavor. The crispy bacon then is sprinkled on top of the finished dish for a nice textural element. 
• Shallot: The onion’s more mild sister. Shallot is ideal in this recipe because the flavor is mild but still present, while not overpowering the roasted garlic. 
• Chicken broth: This is to initially thin out the sauce so that it’s not too thick when cooking the gnocchi - once the gnocchi are added it thickens up nicely. 
• Heavy cream: The heavy whipping cream makes up the creamy base of the sauce. 
• Parmesan cheese: This helps emulsify the sauce and adds so much flavor with a sharp nuttiness. 
• Parsley: Adds a hint of freshness that this creamy sauce needs to help balance it out. 
• Gnocchi: Shelf-stable gnocchi or fresh refrigerated gnocchi are ideal for this recipe. The gnocchi cooks right in the sauce, so frozen would not defrost and cook in time. Also, the residual starch from the gnocchi helps to thicken the sauce. 
• Butter: Unsalted butter – it gets added to the bacon fat to sauté the shallots. 
• Olive oil: Just a little bit to drizzle over the garlic before we roast it. 

Ingredient substitutions

• Bacon: to make this vegetarian you can leave out the bacon all together. 
• Shallot: while shallot is preferred because it’s a bit more mild, a yellow onion very finely chopped can be used in its place. 
• Chicken broth: vegetable broth can be used in place of chicken broth
• Heavy cream: full fat coconut milk can be used to make it dairy free (also would need to use a dairy free parmesan cheese substitute if this is what you’re going for).
• If you don’t have either of these, you can use whole milk to make the cream sauce but you’d need to make a roux to thicken it. So before adding any of the liquid, stir 1 tablespoon all purpose flour in with the sautéd shallot. Let that soak up the liquid and become golden by cooking it for about 2 minutes. Then add in the milk/broth/garlic and continue with the recipe. 
• Parmesan cheese: pecorino romano cheese would be a good substitute.

Step by step instructions

This creamy garlic sauce has so much flavor people will think you’ve been slaving away for hours, when really it’s just a few simple steps (and roasting garlic is very hands off!). Check it out below, with the full recipe card at the bottom of this post. 

1. Roast the garlic. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Chop off the top quarter of the garlic to expose the cloves. Place the head in the center of a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Wrap the aluminum foil up over the garlic and roast for 50 minutes. 

Let the garlic finish roasting before continuing on with the recipe.

2. Cook the bacon. In a large skillet (such as a cast iron or stainless steel), cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove onto a paper-towel lined plate and set aside. Leave the bacon fat in the pan. 

3. Sauté the shallot. Add the butter to the leftover bacon fat. Let it melt then add the chopped shallot and cook for 2 minutes until gently softened and fragrant.

4. Add the liquid and garlic. Squeeze the roasted garlic out into the pot and add the broth, heavy cream, salt, and black pepper. Mix together until it’s a homogeneous mixture and bring to a rapid simmer. 

5. Add the gnocchi. Add the gnocchi right into the simmering sauce. Keep it at a simmer and cook, stirring often, until the sauce is thickened and the gnocchi are cooked through – about 8 minutes.

6. Add the fresh parsley and parmesan. Once the gnocchi are cooked and the sauce is thickened, reduce to medium-low heat and stir in the fresh chopped parsley and grated parmesan. 

Tips and tricks

• Wrap the garlic tightly before roasting it, this will trap the heat and roast it evenly – if you don’t do this, any exposed parts might burn.
• Use a block of parmesan and freshly grate it yourself! Pre-grated or shredded parmesan cheese likely has fillers and won’t melt as smoothly.  
• Use a slotted spoon to lift the bacon out of the pan – it’ll help grab just the bacon and leave the bacon fat in there. 
• Once you add the gnocchi to the sauce, really stir frequently. This will prevent the gnocchi from sticking together but will also evenly disperse their natural starches throughout the sauce to thicken it. 
• You could boil your gnocchi separately and add it to the sauce after, the sauce will thicken on its own, it’ll just take a little more time. 
• You can use any pasta you want.Ravioli would be outstanding with this sauce. If you use something other than gnocchi, cook the pasta separately then add to the cooked pasta to the sauce once it’s thickened. 
• This sauce is very similar to an alfredo sauce, so anyone who loves a creamy cheesy sauce should love this! 
• Stir in some homemade pesto to transform it!
• You can easily grate a large batch of parmesan cheese by using a food processor – just cut it into chunks and pulse until grated. Use what you need for this recipe, and save the rest for something else! (some of my favorite parmesan recipes are air fryer garlic parmesan smashed potatoes, asiago creamed spinach, spinach and ricotta puff pastry pinwheels.

How to roast garlic 

• Remove excess skin of the garlic just by giving it a gentle rub. 
• Carefully cut the top quarter of the garlic off to expose the cloves. 
• Place the garlic cut side up on a piece of aluminum foil that is large enough to wrap around it fully.
• Drizzle the garlic with olive oil and sprinkle it with kosher salt.
• Wrap the aluminum foil all around the garlic, completely covering it. 
• Place either directly on your oven rack or on a sheet pan. 
• Roast until your desired done-ness. 50 minutes at 400°F is my sweet spot. 

Other ways to use roasted garlic cream sauce

If you have leftover sauce, there are so many other ways this creamy roasted garlic sauce can be used:

• Serve on top of some steak or chicken 
• Serve with really any kind of pasta (spinach and cheese ravioli would be delicious) 
• Add as a béchamel layer in a lasagna 
• Pour over some potatoes au gratin 
• Use as a sauce on your favorite sandwich 
• Use it as pizza sauce in place of a traditional red sauce to make white pizzas

FAQs

Storage and reheating

Storage: allow the dish to cool and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Reheating: if there’s pasta in with the sauce, warm in the microwave in increments, stirring between each. If you just have the sauce, warm it in a pot over medium low heat, whisking often, until warmed through.  

More creamy pasta dishes

Did you make this recipe? Leave a rating and review below and tag me on social!

📖 Recipe

This Brothy Beans recipe is so undoubtedly comforting and delicious, and so easy to make. Creamy white beans are braised with garlic, onions, fresh herbs, and a parmesan rind that all simmers together to make a homemade vegetable broth infused with a ton of flavor. Not to mention it’ll make your kitchen smell heavenly.

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Note: this recipe is an adaptation of Alison Roman's.

Ingredients

• Bacon: thick cut bacon is best for this recipe but really any bacon will do. The bacon gets cooked up all crispy, then the onion and garlic are seared in the residual bacon fat for extra flavor. 
• White beans: I like cannellini beans or navy beans. They have a luscious creamy texture. This recipe uses a full pound of beans.
• Onions: two small yellow onions are perfect for this recipe. 
• Garlic: plenty of garlic brings so much flavor. Two heads of garlic is ideal. 
• Parmesan cheese rind: this will bring a residual nutty cheesy depth of flavor that’s so good. You want to use a rind that says “Parmigiano-Reggiano” on it as that’s the good stuff. 
• Bay leaves: these bring the kind of flavor that is subtle but adds a lot of depth. 
• Herbs: a mixture of fresh oregano, fresh thyme sprigs, and fresh rosemary to flavor the broth. 
• Water: the liquid base of the broth. 
• Lemon: a squeeze of lemon juice at the end adds a bit of acidity and balances out the flavors. 

White beans 101 

Check out the quick list below for some of the most common types of white beans.

• Navy beans (aka pea beans): The smallest white bean. They get creamy and tender on the inside when cooked, and can hold up well being simmered for a while, which is why they’re great for this recipe. They’re also relatively mild in flavor.
• Cannellini beans: a very common white bean and one of my favorites – slightly larger than the navy bean. They are a bit more tender and delicate but still keep their shape. They have a bit nuttier of a flavor.
• Lima beans (aka butter beans): Flatter in shape and the most mild in flavor compared to navy beans and cannellini beans but still have that buttery silky texture (hence the butter beans name).

More on beans here

Ingredient prep

For this brothy white beans recipe you do not need to soak your beans. However, there is a specific way to cut the onions and garlic for maximum surface-area flavor. For the onions, cut them in half from root to top (this will help keep them intact). For the garlic, cut the top off deep enough for all the cloves to be showing (similar to what you would do if you’re roasting garlic). 

Step by step instructions 

This is a pretty simple dish to prepare but it does require a longer cooking time to transform the dried beans into delicious silky creamy beans, so keep that in mind!

1. Cook the bacon. In a large pot or dutch oven, cook the bacon on medium heat until crispy, about 8 minutes. Remove the cooked bacon and transfer it to a paper-towel lined plate. Leave the bacon fat.

2. Sear the onions and garlic. Place the onions and garlic cut-side down in the residual bacon fat. Sear them until deeply golden and caramelized, about 5 minutes. 

3. Cook the remaining ingredients. Along with the garlic and onions in the pot, add the dry beans, parmesan rind, herbs, bay leaves, and water. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer on medium-low heat. Cover and simmer for 1 ½ - 2 hours  until the beans are your desired tenderness. Stir occasionally. Cooking time will vary depending on the bean used. 

4. Add lemon juice and serve. Once the beans are done cooking, squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon. Add salt and black pepper to taste (I added roughly 2 teaspoon of kosher salt). Ladle into large bowls and serve with the leftover crispy bacon, crusty bread, and a drizzle of good olive oil. 

When serving, you can completely discard or simply avoid the large pieces of onion, or you can serve them into the bowls, it’s personal preference! I added them to my bowls because I love onions. 

Tips and tricks 

• Leave all the bacon fat in the pot after you’ve cooked it, that’s pure flavor that will be used to caramelize the onions and garlic! 
• Leave the skins of the garlic and onion on, they’ll add more flavor. Just discard before serving or scoop around them. They’re pretty easy to spot. The garlic cloves will basically melt into the broth as it cooks, so you’re just left with the “shell” which you should also discard.  
• If you’re really adverse to this you can remove the skins. For the garlic just keep the cloves whole. 
• Wrap the herbs with kitchen twine if you want to make sure you get all of the stems out.
• Add some greens (spinach, kale, swiss chard, etc.!) to the broth the last few minutes to wilt for extra nutrients. 
• Make sure your dry beans aren’t expired. I know beans are one of those ingredients we (me) thought never expired, but they do! And if they are expired they’ll never cook to be tender. 
• To test beans for doneness, try a few! They should be very tender but still a little firm. They should not be falling apart or disintegrating. 
• Make it spicy by adding a Calabrian chili into the broth

What to do with the cooked beans 

My first choice is to scoop the beans with the broth into a bowl and dig into all of its coziness. But if you don’t want the broth and just want the cooked beans, there are tons of ways to use them (although, the broth is amazing so you should keep it). 

• Make into a veggie burger 
• Serve over toasted bread 
• Put into a wrap 
• Make a bean salad 
• Blend them into a creamy soup with the broth, garlic, onion, and herbs
• Blend them without the broth plus a bit of olive oil into a delicious dip 
• Serve with some seared white fish and more fresh herbs 

Alternate cooking methods

Slow cooker instructions

Add everything except the bacon into the slow cooker and cook on low 8-10 hours until the beans are tender. Cook the bacon separately and use as a garnish. Alternatively, you can cook the bacon separately then add it to the slow cooker with everything else to allow the bacon flavor to infuse with everything else. 

Instant pot instructions

Follow the same instructions but use the sauté function on medium heat for the first two steps. Then add everything in as written in step 3 and select the beans/chili setting (high pressure for 30-40 minutes). Let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes, then release the remaining (if any is left) manually. Squeeze in the lemon juice and serve.

Storage and reheating

These beans store SO well they are equally as delicious and comforting after being reheated. 

To store: let the beans and broth cool a bit. Discard the shells of the onions and garlic, and any big herb stems you can find. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 5 days.

To reheat: warm in the microwave for a few minutes or put it back on the stovetop and heat it gently until warmed through. 

To freeze: cool to room temperature, pour just the beans and broth into an airtight freezer safe container. Freeze for up to 2 months. Reheat on the stovetop over gentle heat until warmed through. I like to freeze into single servings! 

FAQs

More bean recipes

📖 Recipe