Fragrant garlic, earthy mushrooms, silky ribbons of pappardelle; there isn’t a better combination of ingredients for an easy, quick, and inexpensive meal that will fill bellies, stick to ribs, and delight taste buds. My creamy garlic mushroom pasta is perfect for busy weeknights when you just need an easy but satisfying dinner!
This post may contain affiliate links. Our disclosure policy.
A Sip and Feast oldie
My creamy garlic mushroom pasta is one of the very first pasta recipes I published here nearly 7 years ago!
It’s been a reader favorite for a while now, and for good reason! The Pecorino Romano, garlic, and mushrooms complement each other perfectly, and when tossed together in the cream sauce with pasta, it’s pure magic!
This dish is wonderful as a pasta course, but is also great as a full meal because it’s hearty and filling. I like to serve it alongside some roasted broccoli or garlic sauteed spinach.
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Pasta. I love to use pappardelle with creamy garlic mushroom sauce. It’s thick enough to hold up to the heft of the ingredients. You could also use tagliatelle, rigatoni, or penne pasta.
- Cheese. I’m using Pecorino Romano, a salty sheep’s milk cheese. If you can’t find Pecorino, you can also use Parmigiano Reggiano.
- Mushrooms. Cremini mushrooms, sometimes called baby bellas are great here but white button mushrooms, or other more exotic mushrooms would also work well.
- Cream. I use heavy cream for the sauce. I don’t recommend using milk or half and half as it has a tendency to break.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Want To Save This Recipe?
Enter your email and we'll send it to you. Plus, get great new recipes from us every week!
How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Saute the garlic until golden with olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.
- Add the mushrooms and turn the heat to medium-high.
- Cook the mushrooms until they release their water and start to brown, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until 1 minute away from al dente. Turn the heat on the pan down to medium and add the cream and Pecorino and bring to a simmer.
- Add the pasta plus one cup of pasta water to the saucepan and mix well to combine.
- Once the pasta reaches al dente, add the parsley. Taste test and adjust salt and pepper as needed. If the sauce is too thick, add a touch more pasta water. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Top tips
- Browning the mushrooms. When cooking mushrooms, it’s important to cook them long until until they release their water. Only then can they begin to brown.
- Save your pasta water. For nearly every pasta recipe here on my site, I recommend saving pasta water. It’s even more important with creamy pastas as they have a tendency to dry out. Be sure to save about 2 cups worth, though you may not need it all.
- Customize! Feel free to make adjustments and experiment with this creamy garlic mushroom pasta. If you want to use more or less garlic, go for it! It’s also great with sliced grilled chicken or steak added!
More creamy mushroom pastas
If you’re looking for more creamy pasta recipes, give these favorites a try!
If you’ve enjoyed this Garlic Mushroom Pasta recipe, give it a 5-star rating.
Watch us on YouTube, follow along on our Facebook Page, and become a Patreon member to receive access to exclusive full-meal videos and content.
Creamy Garlic Mushroom Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound pappardelle pasta
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 10 cloves garlic sliced or chopped
- 1 pound mushrooms sliced
- 1 salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup Pecorino Romano grated
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups pasta water will most likley not need all of it
- 1/2 cup minced flat-lead Italian parsley
Want To Save This Recipe?
Enter your email and we’ll send it to you. Plus, get great new recipes from us every week!
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to boil.
- Heat a large pan to medium heat with the olive oil and add the garlic. Once the garlic turns golden, add the mushrooms to the pan and turn up the heat to medium-high. Cook the mushrooms until they release their water and start to brown. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta until it reaches 1 minute less than al dente. Make sure to reserve at least 2 cups of pasta water.
- Turn the pan to medium and add the cream and grated pecorino. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the pasta and 1 cup of pasta water to the sauce pan and mix well to combine. Once the pasta reaches al dente turn off the heat and mix in the parsley. Taste test and adjust salt and pepper as required. If the sauce is too thick use a little bit more pasta water to thin it out. Enjoy!
Notes
- Salt levels. Only 1 teaspoon of kosher salt was used because of the salty Pecorino Romano cheese, but adjust according to personal taste.
- Pasta water. It’s good to have extra pasta water on hand for thinning since cream sauces have a tendency to dry up quickly right before serving.
- Pasta. Most thick pasta shapes work well for this recipe.
- Leftovers. Creamy garlic mushroom pasta can be saved in the fridge for up to 3 days. Cream sauces will tend to break when reheated. For a creamy consistency upon reheating, simply mix in a bit of cream and cheese to re-emulsify.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Follow Me
The Sip and Feast Cookbook
- 100+ recipes
- Essential tools and ingredients
- Entertaining ides
- Stunning photography
This recipe was originally published on November 28, 2018. It was completely updated on October 10, 2025.
I’ve made this a bunch of times. Always turns out great, especially with the addition of a little brandy.
We’re so happy you’ve been enjoying this one, Bob!
Just made for dinner, unbelievably delicious recipe. All the favors married together perfectly. Will definitely be making this again. Thanks
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Patrick!
Excellent
Can’t wait to try this! 👌🏼😊
I cook a lot. I cannot believe how tasty and easy this recipe is thank you for my new favorite.!!!!!!
So glad you enjoyed, Gaby!
Sounds absolutely delicious. My kitchen remodel is almost done, and I am going to make this next week. Thank you Jim
I’ll come back to rate. I’m so thrilled to see this recipe pop up in my email today. I invited friends over for lunch on Sunday. She doesn’t eat “flesh”, he does! My brain was going around and round.
Then I saw this – YAY! I then also saw your creamy brandy mushroom sauce. Question – could I make this and add a shot of brandy after the mushrooms are done, before continuing?
can you add chicken thighs?
Yes.
This is a fantastic recipe – simple prep, everything came together perfectly, and it was delicious!
So happy you enjoyed, Karen!
Made this for my family of 6 tonight and it was a huge hit. I doubled the recipe and used large rigatoni noodles and hardly had anything leftover. Definitely will be making this again. Thank you for this yummy recipe.
We’re so happy you enjoyed!
This recipe didn’t work for me – the mushrooms need to be cooked for a long time on high heat, but with the garlic in first it got super burnt whilst the mushrooms cooked.
Also the cup of pasta water made the sauce super watery, I had to add cornstarch in to save it.
Hi Mara, we’re sorry to hear you had some trouble with the dish. Adding the mushrooms to the pan lowers the heat of the pan and shouldn’t cause the garlic to burn. The mushrooms should cook on medium-high heat, so if you had it at high heat, that could have been what caused the garlic to burn. Did you add the pasta to the sauce and allow it to cook together for 1-2 minutes? During that time the pasta soaks up quite a bit of sauce and normally a touch more pasta water is needed to to loosen it up.
Hi Jim and Tara, I made this tonight and wasn’t sure what to expect flavor-wise. Boy was I surprised. A few simple ingredients really make for a quick and tasty new favorite pasta for me. I cut the recipe in half because I cook for one with a leftover serving for tomorrow.
Thanks for the great recipes. Keep up the good work.
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Linda!