#1 recipe on our website for over 5 years! Simple, creamy garlic parmesan noodles made in 10 minutes.
Have you ever had those garlic noodles from the box? The ones with the angel hair? I think Rice-a-Roni makes them. Well, that’s what these garlic parmesan noodles taste like, only better.
It shouldn’t surprise me that a recipe this simple has been at the top of our website for over 5 years. It’s pure comfort food. It’s simple. It’s fast. It cooks in one pot, including the pasta.
What’s not to like?
I used angel hair pasta which only takes 4 minutes to cook, and yes it is a white pasta. I searched high and low for whole wheat angel hair and couldn’t find it. 🙁
You start by making the sauce which has 6 cloves of garlic in it! I told you it was garlicky and add chicken stock, half and half (or whole milk) and parmesan cheese.
These parmesan garlic noodles are the ULTIMATE comfort food! I served these noodles with my Baked Garlic Chicken and the marriage was fabulous! Both dishes had ample amounts of fresh, wonderful garlic permeating through them!
Feel free to substitute the angel hair pasta with your favorite pasta. Whole wheat shells are a great choice because the creamy garlic cheese sauce gets all inside the shells!
PrintParmesan Garlic Noodles
Ready in 10 minutes, these garlic parmesan noodles are the perfect side dish !!
Ingredients
- 3 teaspoons olive oil
- 5-6 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 box angel hair pasta
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 3/4 cup half and half (or whole milk)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1-2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped fine
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute. Season with some salt and pepper.
- Add the chicken stock.
- Turn the heat up to high and let it come to a boil.
- Add the pasta and cook according to directions.
- Take the saucepan off the heat and add the parmesan cheese and stir until completely melted.
- Add the half and half (or milk) and parsley.
- Add more cream or milk if necessary.
- Serve immediately
Recipe Source: HappilyUnprocessed.com
I used all organic ingredients when making this recipe, and hope you do too! 😀
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I make it with shrimp sautéed in olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper. Fabulous!
★★★★★
I made this recipe for my picky husband and he loved it. He said it’s better then the box ones.
I KNOW RIGHT!!!! 😀
Very yummy and can you add chicken and broccoli to the dish?
★★★★★
absolutely !
This is EXCELLENT! I used some dried sweet potato pasta instead of angel hair pasta. The pasta actually had a bit of (unexpected!) sweetness to it, so I was a little concerned. However, the savory deliciousness of the sauce complimented it nicely. I look forward to making this again with a different pasta.
★★★★★
Thanks Tara! I’ve never heard of sweet potato pasta before. I’ll have to check that out
I’ve been making this recipe on the stovetop for a year now, and the family loves it. Tonight I ate it in my Instant Pot, adding the half and half along with the broth at the beginning, and it was just as wonderful, but with even less pot-watching. Cue the band of angels!
★★★★★
My 16yr old cooked this for supper tonight ( i helped her). It was pretty good but we used Gluten Free Fetticini noodles and found in the end that it was very liquidy. The noodles did not fully absorb the liquid and feel it left it more bland than when we tried the noodles before adding the milk. Gonna try again and maybe use less milk.
How do you feel about adding chicken and asparagus to this? Would I then double the sauce amount? Thank you!
I think that’s a great idea. I don’t think I would change the amount of sauce though.
Half of what size box of pasta?
Made it, awesome
★★★★★
The cheese ends up as a big glob every time. Suggestions?
I make this recipe all the time! Do not use any sort of canned/pre-grated parmesan. It has to be fresh wedge of parmesan that you grate yourself. I tried using pre-shredded/grated and unfortunately there is no regulation on them and can contain wood pulp/shavings. Which is why it clumps. If you are using freshly grated parmesan, add it in batches instead of all of it at once.
★★★★★
Well said Lisa Marie!
I used pre-shredded parm (from a package) and it was fine! Grated parm from a can/jar has a lot of thickeners/fillers in it, so I definitely wouldn’t use that. I did keep mine on low heat until the milk (2% worked great) and cheese were fully incorporated. Hope that helps!
sprinkle it through slowly and mix, so sprinkle half a cup or even a 1/4 cup at a time and stir then more then stir and keep doing that until all mixed in.
Debi. thank you so much for this recipe. It is amazing! I try not to use processed foods and this is so much better and easier to make. Thanks again!
You are very welcome Tina. Thank you for taking the time to tell us. This recipe remains in the Top 3 b/c it’s so easy to make.
Can I make this without putting pasta in so its just a sauce? What would I need to change?
Can I use grated parm?
Eww …. LOL. Sorry Lisa, but nothing beats fresh parm cheese
I made this for my family And they loved it totally going to make this again
★★★★★
thanks you Isabella
I have made this 3 times now and it is delicious. I do have problems with the Parmesan cheese becoming a big glob! I have used fresh Parmesan that I grated myself and bought Parmesan already and it doesn’t seem to make a difference. I was careful to stiir and stir once I added it to the hot pasta and I did take it off the burner. Suggestions or help? Please
Definitely use the fresh parm. Let the pasta cool for about 2 minutes. Add the parm a quarter cup at a time, stirring until it’s fully melted after each addition. Mine has never clumped in over a year of making this.
Love it
★★★★★
I have made this twice now and my family loves it. I make it pretty much to the exact recipe ingredients with the substitution of the type of pasta & I make my own chicken broth by just adding water with the chicken bouillon that I always have on hand just in case you don’t have the chicken broth on hand that’s what you can do it comes out just as good but you can’t go wrong on this recipe it’s delicious thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
Can you use noodles that are already cooked?
no Heather that will not work as the noodles absorb all that liquid that it’s in the pot.
This is the easiest and tastiest parmesan noodle recipe. I used whole milk instead of half n half.
★★★★★
These are amazing! We make this all of the time for our family and serve with salmon most of the time. Kids and adults love it equally! We normally don’t use all of the butter and it’s still just as good. Barilla makes whole wheat angel Hair pasta that I find in Safeway and use for this all the time. Thanks!!!
★★★★★
I must have made this 4 or 5 times since I first saw the recipe last summer. The first time I served it, it was such a hit that I had to add it to regular rotation. It is perfect as written and bullet-proof, it just works, every time. Use freshly grated real parm and it can’t fail.
I usually serve it with chicken meuniere or chicken Milanese, and double the garlic-infused oil, pouring half into a skillet to sauté the chicken, My family loves the way it flavors the chicken, and I love that the chicken and pasta are done at the same time, making an easy dinner. Thanks for a great recipe!
★★★★★
wow SandyToes (love that name) thank you! It makes me so happy to hear how our recipes are filtering their way through other peoples homes and great memories are being made around the table. Thanks for writing! 🙂
I make this all the time. One of my boyfriend’s favorite noodle dishes. The only thing I change is I use minced garlic in a jar and only about a teaspoon, raw garlic makes it way too pungent for me. Otherwise, delicious!
★★★★★
Hello,
I would like to give this recipe a try but my daughter is a vegetarian and won’t eat it if I use chicken stock. What can I substitute it with?
Thank you!
Sure Sadie, try half water half veg stock
You do realize that this “garlic and permesan noodles” have an actual name right, it’s called Aglio-e-olio.
I did not know that … thank you.
You realize Pink that what Debi made is NOT Aglio-e-olio – she has a lot of other ingredients that we do NOT add to. To make it we only use the following
spaghetti
olive oil
garlic cloves
crushed red pepper flakes
minced fresh parsley
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Bam! 😉
I just made the dish and I used the right amount of liquids for the dish and it is way too liquidly why won’t it evaporate?
it should thicken as it stands Alyssa
I had the same problem. We used the amount of liquids it said but ours ended up way to liquidy even before adding the milk. Also, we used gluten free fetticini noodles.
Made it for the first time tonight. Was very good but WAY to salty. Would definitely cut back by not addicting additional salt and using 1/2 the cheese.
For the Parmesan Garlic Noodles — how many people does this recipe feed? I don’t know whether to double the recipe or not.
it feeds my family of 4 Christie
I wonder how this would be with spaghetti squash instead of pasta.
Thank you so much for this! Our 3 year old son is on the spectrum and will only eat pasta at dinner. I generally rotate between mac & cheese and pasta-roni, but hate myself for giving him so much packaged foods. I’ll be trying this tonight, and I’m sure he will love it. Thank you!
Let me know how your son likes this Song!
Hi there! Confused on amount of pasta used, as I get pasta in a bag not a box. Excited to try but scared about pasta amount! 🙂
I have a question about the cooking process, after the noodles/pasta is cooked are they drained?
No they are not drained, they will absorb all the liquid
Use 8 oz. dry pasta.
Very good. We used linguini pasta.
This recipe is perfect! I love, love, love pasta (even though my scale screams at me, “STOP IT!!!!). And, your recipe is exactly what I’ve been trying to produce for three years. I am positive it is because the angel hair is cooked in the chicken stock along with the butter/garlic mixture. My hubby is not a pasta lover–perhaps he would chow down if I added a top layer of those French-fried onions, but I just can’t ruin the flavor of this dish. I make this for just myself, though; that way I don’t have to watch the man I love practically starve.
I added a little less than a 1/4 cup of finely diced onions, which my made my palate extra happy (and my scale calmed down a bit, too). I added basil tonight instead of parsley, which I didn’t have handy (tasted awesome, too!).
Debi, I have tried several of your recipes, which are all so tasty and easy to prepare. You are very talented in your kitchen. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes.
You made my day Elaine! Thank you so much for leaving that comment. It warms my heart to know I helped you be a success in your kitchen!
Just made this for dinner with chopped spinach anf shrimp. So delicious! My family,including my 4 &6 year old noys cleaned their plates
I used 1% milk and it you couldn’t tell the difference
What’s the nutrition value on this
I just fixed this tonight and added grilled chicken. I used skim milk and did as you recommend and reduced the chicken broth by one half cup. It was wonderful. It will be in my go to menu. Thanks!
Hi! How many does this serve?
in my house? LOL It serves 4 Kaitlyn
Can this be frozen after its cooked because I never have any luck trying to half recipies and I live by my self.
I am making this for dinner tonight but had a question do u cook pasta according to instructions on the box then toss in the sauce
No Lorena you cook the pasta in the sauce
Just made it, not really my cup of tea. Which is shocking because I normally LOVE pasta dishes, maybe I just didn’t add the seasonings to taste.
The same thing happen to me with the clumping but I think it’s because your adding the cold milk to the got ingredients. All I did was turn it back on low around 4 and kept stirring until the clumps dissolved. Also you could just measure out the milk ahead of time so it won’t clump. But this turned out sooooo good the whole family loved it including my 3 year old. I will definitely be making this again adding grilled or baked chicken… Yummmm along with some bread!!! Reminds me of Olive Garden!
*hot ingredients I meant
When I am adding a liquid dairy product to an already hot mixture, I usually heat the milk/half & half/cream on 30-40% power in my microwave for 45-60 seconds or maybe a little longer. When it is what I call “cozy warm”, I pour it gradually into the hot mixture stirring continuously until all the milk, etc. is incorporated. With this recipe one needs to be gentle with this step because the pasta is already cooked!
I have made this recipe. Just the thought of it makes my mouth water. I misplaced the recipe, though, and ran across it on Yummly.com just now. I have added fresh basil and/or spinach to this beautiful pasta to step it up a little when I feel the need! My hubby would not be happy if I made it for both of us (he is a meat and potatoes/rice guy), so I make it all for myself.
I only have two cups of chicken stock, what do i do?
What size box of pasta? Thanks!
This recipe is AMAZING!!!!!
thanks Liz! 🙂
I made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious so easy to make 5star!
5 stars??? WOW! thank you!
I dont know why, but mine turrned out very salty. I didn’t even use as much salt as it calls for!!
Gee I’m not sure what happened there. Do you normally use very little salt? I know each person can be very different with salt sensitivities. I tend to use more salt in my pasta water instead of at the end that way it’s seasoned but blends in if that makes sense. I hope you’ll try it again (saltless) next time. 🙂
the chicken broth sodium count might have been really high and the dish didn’t need any additional salt.
Parmesan is very salty. So try and cut that down.
I’m planning on making this dish tonight for the main course. How do you recommend adding in veggies and pancetta? Would I cook them separately and then add once the noodles are cooked?
This was so easy to make. I used minced garlic instead of garlic cloves. It turned out so good my family loved it!!!
I just started making this recipe and realized I only have 1/4 cup of the cheese could I use another type of cheese?
I just started making this recipe and realized I only have 1/4 cup of the cheese could I use another type of cheese?
Angel hair pasta made from edamame in Costco. Works with any regular pasts recipe. Fewer carbs and gluten free!
Can I do this w/o milk lactose hubby
there are many lactose free milk products in your super market
this may sound dumb to ask but do we drain the broth after or does it need to soak in?
Hi Molly. The noodles will soak up all the liquid.
I had the same question about the liquid to drain or not! Sounds delish!
If I were to double the recipe, would you still double the chicken stock? Or will that make it too soupy?
Hi Jenny! I would double the liquid if you are going to double the noodles.
Turned out great!! I made the mistake of using the green container grated parm too. I don’t know why I did that because I have learned the hard way on a previous recipe that freshly grated works way better! So, what I did was add my milk and heat it back up and it all melted nicely. Turned out amazing! Thank you!
What would happen 8 I use 1 0/0 milk instead of half and half? Would I be better to do the cream of chicken suggestion in instead ?
Hi Ali, I just made these last night as a matter of fact… lol Skim milk would be fine I would just reduce the chicken stock by 1/4 cup so it isn’t too thin.
What do you think about using heavy cream?
I think half and half would work Leah, but heavy cream might make it a little thick
Is there going to be a broth or sauce left over? I just want the noodles. This looks good!
the noodles will absorb all the sauce Autumn
I tried this tonight and my girls absolutely loved it!! How do I follow you?
I’m so glad Alisha. To follow me look on the right hand side where it says “subscribe’ and just put in your email. I send out monthly newsletters. Thanks!
I found your recipe on Pinterest recently and followed it to your blog. Love your blog!!! I am seriously trying to take my family off processed foods and your blog is filled with valuable information and great recipes. With that said, I made this recipe for my family last night and everyone wanted more and there wasn’t more. So, next time I plan on doubling the recipe. It was so good and my kids didn’t mind that I added a salad. Now my son wants recipes for unprocessed hamburger helper. Will definitely be making this dish again!!
yay Monica! I’m so happy for you!!! Here’s our homemade version of the Beef Stroganoff from Ham Helper and I make this ALL the time for the kids. https://happilyunprocessed.com/2014/04/30/homemade-hamburger-helper-beef-stroganoff/. Give it a try and let me know what you think! So glad you enjoyed perusing our recipes and blog.
Another epic Pinterest recipe fail. Doubled recipe and it was more like soup. Disgusting.
sorry it didn’t work out for you Sharon. Did it end up thickening as it sat?
User error
I wish it was more specific on how much pasta I used too much and didn’t have enough juice I added more chicken stock but idk
I have a quick question. should you cook the pasta before adding it to the chiciken stock? it didnt seem like enough liquid to cook the pasta in
This recipe made me look like a gourmet chef! Absolutely delicious! However, while I was at the store buying the ingredients and trying to decide between the FOURTEEN different types of chicken stock, I noticed the sodium (of course!) not bashing it, I love salt – but I just couldn’t bring myself to get the regular with 570mgs of sodium. If you saw me, you would probably laugh – I frequent McDonalds, and consider chips & microwave popcorn to be power foods. BUT, I try to make the healthier choice when given the option “either/or”, i.e., regular cheeseburger or double 😉
Anyhow, I chose the chicken stock with no salt (only 170mgs of sodium) and used salted butter. I added a little garlic salt to it to help compensate for the lost salt and it was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. I’ve literally eaten it three times this week for dinner. This Pinterest Pin was NOT a Pinterest Fail! It was so easy and it tasted just as good as the picture looked! (How often does that ever happen?!) Thank you SO much for posting. Can’t wait to check out your other recipes!
What a great comment Katie! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave us a comment and I hope you find other recipes that you enjoy just as much!
Hi, looks simple enough to cook, which I will try on Wednesday! But before I do that, pls, what is half and half? (Sorry, a noob in cooking!)
LOL !! It’s a legitimate question. Half and half is half milk and half heavy cream. You can either buy the 2 ingredients separately and measure it yourself or buy it that way in the supermarket.
Can’t wait to make this tonite to accompany my crunchy honey garlic pork chops. I have all the ingredients except for the parsely. Could I substitute cilantro?
I am personally not the biggest fan of cilantro Debbie. You can use dried parsley if you have it or leave it out all together. It will come out just as good. Let me know what you thought of it!
Hi, this pasta looks amazing! What size box noddles did you use, 1lb? Thanks
Hi Claudia – I used a regular size pasta box, but I think I only used half of it. It will be very liquidy at first, so don’t be alarmed. It thickens up!
Hi Debi – it’s a legitimate question. I don’t live in the same country as you. Need more precision on what a half a box represents? Grams or ounces please!
A typical box of pasta in America contains 16 ounces of pasta by weight, half the box would be 8 ounces or 226.80 grams.
This is one my top 5 favorite pasta dishes of all time. Amazing. Also, you can substitute half of the noodles for zucchini noodles and it’s fantastic. My husband loves this recipe.
Thanks so much for the compliment Jen! I have to admit my family loves these noodles too!
Zucchini noodles? Do you put the zucchini in one of those spiral cutters?
What size is the pasta box
I make a variation of this that may help if you don’t have all of the ingredients.
Boil pasta of choice in water, but reserve the water and cook it until it still has a bit of a bite to it. Drain and set aside. In same pan melt butter/oil with garlic (or garlic salt), fresh cracked pepper and for us a pinch of red pepper flakes. Put pasta back in the pan and add pasta water a few tablespoons with the Parmesan. Let that bubble and thicken a minute or two, if needed add some more of the water until it is the consistency you prefer.
I always save some of my pasta water, the starch helps sauces thicken without milk or cream.
I just made this dish and followed the recipe exactly. Oh my!!!!! So delicious!! Came out perfect. Thanks for the recipe!
glad you liked it Jana!
Used all natural garlic butter in place of the butter, almond milk and threw in some sautéed mushrooms; it was amazing!
WoW Adri! That sounds delish!
Just made this and I could not believe how fast and yummy it is! I realized right before adding the milk that it had spoiled since literally this am, so I improvised with sour cream and it was still delicious! Thanks for this recipe its a keeper!!
Love the substitution Sam!
This recipe saved my neck! Have to leave for VBS in 45 minutes and am out of EVERYTHING except 1/2 + 1/2, pasta, and various herbs (parsley and garlic included of course). I was this ___ close to going out for a few frozen pizzas. I’ll serve a few sliced tomatoes on the side and we’ll be outta here on time!
I’m so glad you found the time to leave such a funny comment Georgia! 😉
I subsituted wheat linguine for Angel hair, and topped it off with mozarella right before serving. Delish!
i read many of the posts before making this. I took my time stirring in the cheese and it was perfect. Tasted way better than the box. I loved it and will make it again.
Hi I have a question when I made the pasta I didn’t have Parmesan cheese so I used Mexican blend organic cheese instead. Is it ok?
How did it turn out for you Keerthi?
my kids liked this, but for me, not enough Parmesan. The cheese only clumps right at first, but keep stirring and it blends in. I found it to be bland.
perhaps more spices would do it for you Taz, more garlic perhaps?
I made these last night and they were fabulous. I didn’t have some of the ingredients like chicken stock and half and hlalf/milk. I used a can of cream of chicken and grated parm cheese. I cooked it all in a sauce pan…although clumpy once I boiled the noodles and mixed it all together it was awesome. I added sundries tomatoes and mushrooms. We are on a budget so I used what we had. We had a nice meal. Thank you!
Can you use almond milk in place of whole milk or half and half? Can’t wait to try!
I would love to know how that turns out Terry b/c I’ve been shying away from animal products and have fallen madly in love with almond milk! Please let me know how it turns out if you decide to try it.
Almond milk will be thinner and not so creamy, it doesn’t coat the noodles as well.
Another thing that isn’t quite clear….. Are you draining the chicken stock from the noodles after they are cooked, and before you add the parmesan cheese? I had the same trouble as the others of the cheese clumping. But, grated the cheese, myself! Great flavor, tho!
no De, the liquid is not drained. The noodles absorb it all believe it or not and I’ve still never had the problem of the clumping cheese. Maybe people aren’t grating it finely enough.
I’ve always found that sprinkling and stirring works great when adding Parm to recipes. Perhaps people are dumping all the cheese in at once. Also, the dreaded green can Parm is not the best choice; freshly grated works best. If I don’t have the funds for Parmigiano Reggiano, domestic works too.
I agree! I don’t encourage the canned Parm cheese either. Freshly grate the Parm cheese as fine as you can and add it in one or two batches. I’ve really never had a problem.
Hello,
Can I use chicken broth instead of chicken stock?
yes Adrienne they are interchangeable 🙂
This recipe was delicious, however when I added the cheese and parsley it all clumped together and didn’t distribute into the pasta. Any way to prevent this?
I have never had that problem Hannah. All that comes to my mind is maybe the cheese was (a) too cold or (b) pre shredded. If it was pre shredded sometimes it has a caking agent in it (to prevent clumping funny enough). My suggestion would be to add the cheese slowly and stir. Maybe add a little milk as you go too until the cheese is all incorporated.
Or try melting the cheese in millk in a separate sauce pan on low heat
Are the noodles cooked in the chicken broth or separate? The directions are slightly unclear on that.
they are cooked in the broth jamie
Making this right now…but I too am a bit confused. Are you supposed to then drain the pasta and then return to the pot? It seems like a lot of liquid, on then present in your photo.
Hi Staci ~ how did the noodles turn out for you? There is a lot of liquid but as they sit they absorb it.
This noodles recipe sounds delicious. Thanks for making so we can PRINT it. So much easier.