Creamy Basil Sauce

A light fresh Creamy Basil Sauce that’s filled with summer basil. Perfect for serving over shrimp, fish, chicken, or pasta.

 
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This is a nice simple summer sauce. A basic white sauce that’s been taken up a notch or two with the addition of a little garlic and basil.

I love fresh basil, and it’s great in sauces.

Sometimes though, I find pesto to be a bit heavy. That’s when this sauce is perfect. You still get the basil flavor without the oily pesto sauce.

So if you have a basil plant in your garden, and it’s growing like crazy. You might be looking for fun new ways to use that basil. This Creamy Basil Sauce is just the ticket.

What milk to use?

This is a pretty simple sauce, so I recommend going with whole milk. But, if you want a sauce that’s lighter in calories, you can use a lighter milk. Some of the flavor will be missed.

And, although I haven’t tried making this with a plant-based milk, I think it could work. Go with a more neutral flavored milk like almond, soy, or oatmilk. Don’t use a sweetened or vanilla flavored milk, unless you want vanilla basil sauce.

You could also try bumping up the creaminess by using half and half or whole cream in this sauce. I bet that would be lovely.

Use your favorite broth

What already tastes good to you is what will end up being your favorite.

I use Better Than Bouillon vegetable base for pretty much all of my cooking (if it’s not homemade broth). I like that it isn’t too salty, and how little space it takes to store so much broth.

Oh, and by the way, they have lots of different flavors of Better Than Bouillon to choose from.

If you aren’t used to vegetable broth, and you prefer chicken broth, use that.

The saltiness of the broth you use will decide how much salt to add at the end of the cooking. If you have a salty broth, you may not need to add any salt at all. But do taste the sauce and see if you need to add more salt and pepper.

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Creamy Basil Sauce Recipe

5 from 3 votes

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Creamy Basil Sauce

A light fresh creamy sauce that’s filled with summer basil. Perfect for serving over shrimp, fish, chicken, or pasta.

Course Sauce

Cuisine American

Keyword basil, creamy

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 1 cup

Calories 267 kcal

Author Debi

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 garlic clove finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup broth
• ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves crushed
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in flour to form a paste. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
2. Gradually and slowly stir in milk and broth, and cook stirring constantly until the mixture comes to a bubble on the edges.
3. Stir in basil, wine, salt, thyme, and pepper. Cook 1-2 minutes more. Serve over pasta, toast, shrimp, chicken, or fish.

Recipe Notes

Makes about 1 cup of sauce

Nutrition Facts

Creamy Basil Sauce

Amount Per Serving

Calories 267 Calories from Fat 135

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 15g 23%

Saturated Fat 9g 45%

Cholesterol 42mg 14%

Sodium 1689mg 70%

Potassium 161mg 5%

Total Carbohydrates 21g 7%

Sugars 7g

Protein 5g 10%

Vitamin A 22.3%

Vitamin C 2.4%

Calcium 14.8%

Iron 8.4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.