This Garlic Parmesan Sauce has a mellow garlic flavor and a good punch of parmesan but really comes alive with tangy dijon mustard. It can be used for a whole variety of things. It’s brilliant as a salad dressing, a base for garlic bread, a veggie dip, and a chicken marinade.

How to Make Garlic Parmesan Sauce
This is a wonderful sauce that uses fresh garlic instead of dried garlic or garlic powder. You can use it in lots of different ways. If you find a favorite use for it, please let me know in the comment section below!
Parmesan Garlic Sauce Ingredients
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a small saucepan of boiling water, boil 3 garlic cloves for 10 -15 minutes.
- Add garlic plus 1 fresh garlic clove, parmesan cheese, pepper, salt, mustard, and vinegar in a small blender or mini food processor and blend until smooth.
- Slowly add the olive oil while blending until completely emulsified.
Garlic Parmesan Sauce Recipe Notes:
How to Make Garlic Parmesan Sauce By Hand
To make this without the assistance of a small appliance, mash the boiled garlic into a paste. Then mash a clove of freshly minced garlic into the paste.
Add this garlic paste to a large bowl and whisk in the parmesan cheese, ground pepper, salt, dijon mustard, and white wine vinegar. Slowly (drop by drop) add the olive oil and vegetable oil white continuously whisking until an emulsion is created.
How to Take the “BITE” Out of Garlic
There are 3 ways to take the “bite” out of garlic, without losing flavor.
- BOIL IT – Boiling garlic until it is soft really takes the edge off. Boil the cloves for about 10 minutes for best results.
- ROAST IT – Cut an entire head of garlic in half, rub it with olive oil, put the halves back together, and wrap it with aluminum foil. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until the cloves are soft and spreadable.
- CUT THE HEART OUT – The “heart” of a garlic clove is its germ. Slice a garlic clove lengthwise to expose the germ and pry it out.
Any one of these methods will mellow the garlic. However, if you want extra insurance against a powerful garlic taste, cut the germs out of the cloves then boil them. There’s no need to cut the hearts out if using roasted garlic.

How to Use This Garlic Parmesan Sauce Recipe
- Simple Salad Dressing: toss into shredded lettuce with toasted pine nuts (or toasted sliced almonds). Then sprinkle an extra 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan over it and several shavings of thinly sliced red onion.
Pine nuts are expensive and go rancid quickly. Taste them before adding them to the salad. Rancid pine nuts taste slightly like varnish.
- Grilled Salad Dressing: Cut a head of Romaine lettuce lengthwise, drizzle it with the garlic parmesan sauce, and lay the halves face down on a hot grill until the leaves are charred. Plate the lettuce and finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

- Pasta Sauce: Toss the parmesan garlic sauce into your favorite cooked pasta.
- Garlic Bread: Mix with shredded mozzarella cheese. Spread over split French bread and toast under the broiler until golden brown.
- Chicken Marinade: marinade chicken wings, chicken breasts, and/or chicken thighs for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours.
- Sous Vide Chicken Wings: sous vide wings with marinade at 145F for 1-4 hours, then grill or broil until nicely charred.
- Dipping Sauce: use to dip sliced veggies or focaccia bread
How to Make a Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce
To turn this into a creamy garlic parmesan sauce make the recipe as written above. Then whisk in 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. Taste it and adjust the seasoning by adding more salt, pepper, or cream as you like.
Other Sauces You Will Love

Garlic Parmesan Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- fresh ground pepper
Instructions
-
In a small saucepan of boiling water, boil 3 garlic cloves for 10 minutes.
-
Put the boiled garlic, 1 fresh garlic clove, parmesan cheese, pepper, salt, mustard, and vinegar in a blender and blend until smooth.
-
Slowly add the olive oil while blending until completely emulsified.
Recipe Notes
Ways to use this Parmesan Garlic Sauce:
- Salad dressing: toss into shredded lettuce with toasted pine nuts and extra parmesan sprinkled over it.
- Garlic bread: Mix with shredded mozzarella cheese. Spread over split French bread and toast under the broiler until golden brown.
- Chicken Marinade: marinade chicken wings, chicken breasts, and/or chicken thighs for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours.
- Sous Vide Chicken Wings: sous vide wings with marinade at 145F for 1-4 hours, then grill or broil until nicely charred.
- Dip: use to dip sliced veggies or focaccia bread
This is the best salad! My husband loved it and we will be sure to keep trying your amazing recipes.
BEST SALAD EVER!!! I’ve taken to making my own dressings all the time now and this one is so tasty!
This looks and sounds perfect!
This sounds delicious, I will make this next week for a special anniversary dinner.