It’s so difficult to make a delicious creamy garlic sauce without using non-paleo-friendly ingredients. Most of the ones bought in the store are packed with butter, cheese, cream, and even flour sometimes to thicken it up.
All of which just won’t sit right when you’re following a paleo diet.
We’ve spent years trying to nail down the perfect paleo and dairy-garlic cream sauce so we don’t have to miss out on the creamy goodness.
Over the years, we’ve seen so many recommendations of people using coconut milk as an alternative for dairy creams in recipes, but we never thought it would work.
Coconut has an overwhelming flavor sometimes that can completely readjust the dynamic of a recipe and sometimes ruin it.
Then we had a thought… surely, we’d need another ingredient that’s just as or even strong in flavor to combat it.
That’s when we thought of garlic. We’re not sure how we forgot it as it’s an ingredient we try to stick in literally everything we make, from guac to garlic seasoning on our eggs to creating garlic chicken.
We have both garlic powder and minced easy garlic that comes in a jar at all times in our household, so we’re never short of it. You can buy garlic powder in the seasoning section and you’ll also find the easy minced garlic down the same aisle.
Once opened, it’s kept in the refrigerator.
Enough about garlic and back to the recipe, if you’re interested in making this dairy-free garlic creamy sauce then keep on reading.
How To Make This Delicious Dairy-free Garlic Cream Sauce
This recipe is super easy to make, so don’t worry if you’re not a pro in the kitchen (we’re not either) but whipping up this recipe is an absolute dream and won’t take long either so is ideal for quick midweek recipes.
Obviously, the star of the show in this recipe is garlic.
You can choose to use fresh garlic cloves and mince them yourself, easy minced garlic in a jar, or even a tonne of garlic seasoning or even garlic paste if that’s all you’ve got lying around in the kitchen.
It just needs to be enough garlic to overpower the flavor of the coconut.
Now on to how to make this delicious sauce.
You can make this sauce on the night that you’re cooking the recipe, or make it for another time and store it in the refrigerator for a few days until you’re ready to use it.
You’ll need to get a saucepan and melt your ghee in the pan on low heat on the stove.
Then add in your diced shallot and your choice of garlic, we’d recommend 6-8 cloves of fresh garlic (or 6-8 teaspoons of easy minced garlic).
Then let it simmer on low heat and stir occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking or burning to the pan.
Once the ingredients are all soft, you can now add the coconut cream from the can into the saucepan and allow it to heat up and mix with the other ingredients.
You can also use coconut milk if you can’t find coconut cream in the store. Just put the can in the refrigerator an hour before you begin making the recipe and when you come to cook, the water and the coconut cream should be separated.
Don’t waste the leftover water, keep it in the refrigerator and use it to make a refreshing iced smoothie another time.
Once all your ingredients are melted down, you can consider adding some additional ingredients like onion powder, salt, pepper and even some fresh or dried basil if you want to.
If you are going to use fresh basil, don’t worry about dicing it up beforehand, just rip the leaves off and add to the creamy sauce.
When you come to blend, the leaves will also break up into tiny pieces.
What Equipment And Tools Do I Need?
You’ll need a chopping board and a knife if you’re going to dice up your shallot and garlic before putting it in the pan.
We’ve covered our bases with the saucepan and the stove so now it’s time to move on to using a blender to whizz all your ingredients together.
Remove the pan from the heat and then grab your immersion blender (handheld blender) to blend everything into a smooth consistency.
If you don’t have a handheld blender, then you could always use a stationary one like a NutriBullet or a Ninja, whatever you have that will blend it into a creamy sauce.
You can serve it up with a meal straight away if the sauce is still hot or you can store it for a later day.
How To Store The Sauce & How Long It Will Last
If you plan to use this sauce for another day, or maybe you’ve got lots of leftovers for another recipe, then you’ll need to properly store it to make it last as long as possible.
You can store this creamy garlic sauce in an airtight container or a jar for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator, ideal for drizzling over a salad or warming up for a hot meal.
Before putting the sauce in the refrigerator, make sure you allow it to cool down properly.
Dairy-free Garlic Cream Sauce Recipe Card
Yields: 10 servings Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 10 mins Total Recipe Time: 20 mins
This dairy-free garlic cream sauce is the perfect addition to any meal.
It’s so versatile that you can eat it hot and cold, with meat, vegetables, and potatoes, whatever your heart desires. It has lots of flavors and is a lot healthier than any creamy garlic sauce you’d buy in the store.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons grass-fed ghee
1 thinly sliced shallot
6-8 cloves of minced garlic
1 can of creamed coconut milk
Salt & pepper to season
Onion powder optional
Basil (optional)
Instructions:
Dice your shallot and garlic cloves with a knife on your chopping board (optional)
On the stove, melt your ghee on low heat in a saucepan
Add in your shallots and garlic cloves and leave to simmer for 15 minutes (stirring occasionally)
Then with a separated can of coconut milk or a can of coconut cream, add to the saucepan and stir
Keep stirring until the cream has melted and mixed with the other ingredients
Now add in any optional ingredients such as fresh basil leaves, salt, and pepper, or onion seasoning to give the sauce some extra flavoring
Stir any additional ingredients and then remove the pan from the heat
Use an immersion blender or any other kind of blender you have to blend all the ingredients until there are no chunks present and you’re left with a creamy, smooth consistency
Serve with your meal or leave to cool and then store in a sealed container/jar in the refrigerator for 2 weeks
What To Serve With This Dairy-free Garlic Cream Sauce
This sauce is super versatile and can be paired with a wide selection of meals depending on how hungry you are that day.
It makes a great salad dressing to pair with some fresh crunchy lettuce, arugula, baby tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, and red onion.
Just make sure you add a little at a time as you don’t want to make your salad components soggy.
You could even just use it as a creamy sauce with some grilled chicken and vegetables, just remember a little goes a long way and you don’t want your chicken and veg to be swimming in the sauce (unless that’s your thing).
Just because you’re paleo, doesn’t mean you have to miss out on creamy pasta dishes.
Granted, you won’t be eating real pasta or cream, but this is just as good and even healthier.
Use zucchini or spaghetti squash noodles that you’ve made yourself along with tons of vegetables like green beans, peas, peppers, and any meat you would like (chicken or bacon is recommended) and pair it with your dairy-free garlic cream sauce to make a carbonara-esque dish.
