After a mad search on the net for a recipe for this sauce I had to create my own. This can be reheated in the microwave without the usual cream sauce defects. I just love the light green color and how well it displays over tri color or regular pasta, salmon and grilled chicken. I have been putting this on everything.

Basil Cream Sauce

basil leaves

garlic,

olive oil

pine nuts

Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

light cream

In a food processor, combine basil and garlic. Begin processing, and pour in olive oil in a thin stream. Process for about 40 seconds, or until mixture begins to emulsify. Add pine nuts and Parmesan, then blend for 1 minute.


Heat cream in a saucepan over low heat until simmering. Pour 1/2 of the hot cream into the processor with basil pesto, and pulse for 20 seconds to incorporate. Pour mixture back into cream, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until thickened.


Good! I did make some modifications. I melted some butter in a saucepan, and then sauted mushrooms in the butter. Added about a tablespoon or two of flour and cooked for 1-2 minutes. Then I added the cream. I added a couple ounces of grated asiago cheese, too. For the pesto, I reduced the parmesan since I had added some asiago to the cream. I salt and peppered the sauce after I had combined the pesto and the cream. Next time, I will add garlic to saute with the mushrooms because I like a more garlicky sauce. In a separate pan, I cooked cubes of chicken breast seasoned with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning in olive oil. When the chicken was just about cooked, I threw some prosciutto in there as well. I added the chicken and prosciutto to the cream sauce (using a slotted spoon so the sauce woulodn't get too oily) at the end to heat it through again.

my family really enjoys this recipe.  i serve it over chicken and tortellini.  the only thing i do different is i make a rue w/whole wheat flour w/ a dollop of butter before adding the cream.  this thickens it up a bit.  i also use almonds instead of pine nuts...for no particular reason except we like almonds.

this is good, a basic pesto sauce with cream. using a neutral oil will be just as good when making a sauce solely for reheating. if stored in the refrigerator before adding the cream, keeps forever.

I looked at many recipes before I settled on this one. This recipe is quick, easy, delicious, and uses many common household ingredients. I did make made a few changes to the recipe. To the sauce, I added extra garlic and used half parmesean and half romano cheese. I also used heavy whipping cream because that's what I had at home, but will probably use 1/2 and 1/2 next time to make it a little healthier. I used farfalle pasta and added boiled chicken, then poured the sauce over it all, tossed it, and enjoyed. Everyone loved it. Will definitely make again!

Amazing!  Before the last step, (heat &amp; thicken)  I sauteed shallots and baby portabellas in a tbsp. of butter and poured the cream sauce into the pan to heat &amp; mix. I also used only a tbsp. of olive oil &amp; half and half.

This recipe is fabulous and just what I was looking for.  Perfect over pasta with fresh chopped tomatoes on top.

Good recipe to add to.  I made a few additions- sauteed mushrooms, diced tomatoes, cubed chicken, and a little tomato sauce.  I poured it over fettuccini.  I was so pleased with the results, I used the recipe for my wedding entree.

I haven't received feedback from my family yet, but I love this sauce.  I used farfalle pasta. The recipe provides enough flexibility to add other good things, such as chicken, shrimp, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc.  I ate my first bowl without adding anything and it was "just right."  Then, I put an 8 ounce chicken breast in the microwave and tasted a few bites with chicken. Wow.  Even better, it was.  I recommend that you wait until the sauce is almost done before adding salt and pepper.  You probably won't need much seasoning.  It looks like I need to get ready to grow basil again this year.  I can see that I'll be having this recipe again and again!

Yum! Oh my goodness, soo delicious!

I used almonds instead of pine nuts and half and half instead of cream. I mixed the remaining half of the liquid in the pan with a bit of flour and cream cheese to thicken it up. I also added another garlic clove, a few dashes of onion salt, pepper, oregano, and dash of sugar.

I divided the recipe in half and still had plenty for 5 or 6 servings, due to the fact that I kept adding milk and half and half in an attempt to thin it out a bit. . . still very thick. I served it with basil garlic shrimp over spinach pasta from this site. This is one of those meals that makes me wonder why I even bother going out to eat. . . it doesn't get better than this! Try it! Thanks for an amazing recipe! :)

Simple and delicious.  Will make you wish you grew even more basil.  Big hit with the whole family.  Thank you for this wonderful recipe!

Great recipe! Omitted the pine nuts and added a bit more garlic in their place (I'm a big fan of garlic); I also used very light olive oil- just my preference. I followed the instructions and it turned out great. It's light, creamy and very 'fresh' tasting (thank you, basil!) 
The perfect compliment to my oven baked salmon- so yummy!

Oh, Caution- this makes a HUGE amount of sauce! Not too much of a problem for us, because it Does reheat without issue and, it turns out, is also tasty on rice and chicken :). Maybe next time I will halve the recipe or just be ready to freeze the leftovers for later.

**And yes, this *is* a basil sauce- naturally the primary flavor is basil, so if you're not looking for that, I'd steer clear. (Not sure why you'd make a basil sauce if you don't like basil, but hey- no judgement here! :) ).

My other half loved this. I took the advice of others and sauteed mushrooms and garlic, then added the cream. Next time we are adding prosciutto.

Waaaaaaaaay too much basil. Ruined my tortellini. Icky

Fabulous!!  This recipe was exactly what i have been searching for. Flavorful, creamy, and fresh!!! I substituted almonds instead of using the pine nuts. This is wonderful over chicken, pasta and even rice.

This was a very tasty, easy sauce to make.  I followed other suggestions here and thickened the sauce with a rue of melted butter and flour.  I also used half and half instead of light cream simply because I didn't have the cream on hand.  Very similar in flavor to Maggiano's Basil Cream Sauce that they serve over ravioli in their restaurants.  I'll be honest and say that next time I believe I will roast the garlic cloves before adding them to the basil since the raw garlic flavor was a bit overpowering at first.  My family loves fresh grated parmesan cheese so I added extra to the sauce and then grated some over top of our ravs.  I could see serving this to guests with pan seared chicken and pasta.

Made this for supper tonight and served it over chicken and rotini.  I followed the recipe to a T and it came out perfect.  Even my picky husband liked it!  Thanks for a great recipe!

Absolutely delicious!!!! and so easy to make :) those fresh basil leaves mixing in with pine nut pieces really created a powerful flavor!

Really tasty, but it came out rather thinner at the end than I would have liked.  Added a flour/butter "clay" to the pot, still simmering, to improve consistency.

I made a few modifications to this sauce; I doubled the garlic and added crushed red pepper and 8 ounces of fresh roasted (and peeled) green chile. The fresh green chile might be difficult to find (the canned stuff is better than nothing, I guess)- it's a staple in New Mexico but rarely anywhere else. I believe the Anaheim green chile is the next closest thing.

I served it over cheese &amp; spinach tortellini with sliced-up grilled chicken from the night before.

It was a definite hit - I'll be making it again soon. Thanks!

Very nice, like basil pesto alfredo combo, loved it!

I grow basil in my Aerogarden, and this is an excellent way to use it. It was a big hit. I added cooked, bite-sized pieces of chicken and served it over spaghetti noodles. Thanks for a great recipe.

very delicious. sooo good. yum. i have never tasted anything so good in my life. i am gonna get some more! ;)

Triple the recipe otherwise it will disappear to fast :)

This was great!  My husband can't have tomatoes so I'm always looking for different sauces to use with pasta.  I made stuffed pasta shells the other night and made this sauce for him and a marinara sauce for everyone else.  When they tasted his, everyone wanted some of the basil cream sauce!  Thanks Ayanna!

Very good! I couldn't find pine nuts in my local grocery store so I used ready-made pesto and heavy cream and it turned out great but seemed to be missing something. We tossed the sauce with tri-color pasta and shrimp and it was very excellent!

I poured this sauce over sauteed procuitto, mushrooms and peas with tortelini. It was WONDERFUL. All my co-workers want the recipe. Instead of warming the cream as desecribed in the recipe, I microwaved small amounts for 30 seconds each as I added it to the food processor.

This was amazing. I used heavy cream instead and more garlic. I also garnished with more pine nuts. I will be making this a lot. I love basil and this is fragrant and well infused with the best kind - fresh basil! So good I was eating it before I put it on the pasta!

Not an especially impressive sauce. Good because it's quick and easy, but you may as well buy some pesto.

We thought this was ok but not great.  We served over pasta and with salmon.  I liked it with the salmon although my husband didn't think it 'matched' quite right.

This is an excellent recipe!!  I find that using Romano cheese instead of Parm. works awsome!!  I also love to throw a couple more cloves of garlic gives it an extra bite!

Yum!! Fast and so easy! I used fat free milk instead of cream that I thickened with corn starch in the microwave! Next time I will add a dash of red pepper flakes.  I will be making this again and again.  Perfect for company-just add shrimp or chicken, top with fresh diced tomatoes, chopped basil and a bit of fresh parmesan! Like I said...Yum!!!

simply delicous!  I don't love a lot of garlic, so i cut back on that and added more pine nuts.  My husband and guests loved it!

This was an easy and tasty quick meal to make. My 11 year-old nephew made this for his family, as I assisted him in the kitchen.  I might suggest 3 cloves of garlic for next time, as it was very flavorful.

This was really good.  Added leftover chicken and it was a hit!

Yummy! Yummy! Yummy!  I had a ton of basil from my garden I wasn't sure what to with, when I came across this recipe.  Made it with no changes and is delicious!!  Perfect on pasta!

Absolutley excellent! I was searching for something to pair with my chicken and proscuitto tortellini, and this couldn't have been more amazing. My grocery store didn't have regular basil, so I opted for fresh lime basil, and I added just a touch more oil to get things blended better, since I was using a super small food processor. My dinner guest was thrilled with this sauce, she loved how much you could taste the pinenuts. This is a staple in my recipe box! :) THANK YOU

Good and creamy sauce - my only change was to lightly toast the pine nuts first - this gave it a subtle smokey flavor. Tastes great on tri-color pasta with garbanzo beans; baked chicken; toasted garlic bread; etc.

The sauce had a nice smooth consistency and basil has such a lovely flavor, but I think this is a better starter sauce. . . it was a bit bland for my taste.  will reavulate once i perfect recipe.

This was really delicious!!  Mike and I both loved this.

Great sauce! 2 things that make it WONDERFUL- add lemon zest and nutmeg to the pesto sauce before combining with the cream sauce.

tooo much basil...otherwise, not a bad start for a garnishing sauce

Amazing. Absolutely yummy! Had it over baked salmon and we devoured it! We are using the balance over pasta tomorrow with the balance of the flaked salmon. Healthy and tasty...go figure.

This is GREAT!  I didn't have lite cream so I used heavy cream it was delish!  I just made it for the 2nd time tonight!

This one rocketed instantly to "company fare". I used blanched almonds instead of pine nuts because that's what I had. Likewise monteray jack instead of parmesan. I'm sure it would be fabulous made as posted, though.  I also added a tbsp salted butter. Beautiful.

Great sauce! I blanched it beforehand to retain it's verdant color.  However, I found the sauce to be too thick, so I added some water.  That seemed to do the trick.  Next time, I will substitue with whole milk instead to thin it out.  I would definitely make this again!

I'm only giving this 4 stars because I had to make some adjustments since I didn't have some of the ingredients and so I was never able to make the exact recipe. However, I used most of the ingredients and did the directions and it was very delicious! I didn't have any nuts so I omitted the nuts. I added more parmesan cheese. I didn't have any cream so I ended up making a rue with flour and butter, heating it with a tbsp of cream cheese and added 1%milk. I also added a little cornstarch to thicken it up a little more and it turned out great! I put it over noodles and chicken. So, in the end it was the base recipe with just a few adjustments. I definitely recommend this!

Very good recipe. I blanched the basil first by submerging it in boiling water for 15 seconds, then plunging it into ice water, then draining. This helps to maintain the green color. I'm using it tonight on top of butternut squash. Thanks!

Very nice sauce.  I made the pesto the night before so the flavors could develop.  Used a couple more cloves of garlic as we love it.  My hubby liked this better than just pesto on the rigatoni I made.

It's good! Mine turned out a little too chunky, but I might have over-measure the nuts or under-processed. I will process more thoroughly next time, everything kept sticking to the sides of my processor so it was tough to get the right consistency. I've been mixing the leftover sauce with mayo and using it as an aioli spread.

not too bad not too bad! It does taste a little flat to me, but its highly likely that I ended up substituting some of the fresh basil with dried (oops!) it did take more than 5 minutes to thicken up for me though.

Really good sauce!  I served it over chicken stuffed with mozzarella and tomato

Easy and delicious. I cut down the garlic, but other than that it was perfect

This was a great sauce, I made a few modifications- Half &amp; half instead of cream which I used about 8oz + 2T of butter.  Also, I threw everything in the food processor at once except for the olive oil, it didn't seem necessary to do it in 2 steps.  Added more garlic because I always add more garlic :)  Tossed it with fusilli, some of the pasta water and two large, diced, tomatoes.  My boyfriend and I loved it.

Thank you for this recipe. My herb garden is overrun with basil, and I have been lookig for some new ways to use it up. This sauce is so flavorful. I will make this again and again. It also freezes great, I defrosted a bag yesterday and served it over sausage tortellini. With a mixed salad and some garlic bread it tasted like I spent hours in the kitchen :)

Bland.  Looks good on pasta so it gets 3 stars.  No flavor.  Consider adding salt.  Regardless of processing time, there is a gritty/chunky texture in the sauce.  Would not make this again.

OOHHH so good. I think you could great away with half the cream. It was still good and better the next day.

GOOD JOB CREATING THIS SAUCE...IT IS FABULOUS!!!I SERVED THIS OVER CHICKEN AND PASTA WITH GUESTS AND WE ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!

IT WAS GREAT!!! I loved it, very very good.
I will use this one over and over again!!!

This was great! Added some garlic powder instead of garlic since that's what I had. As suggested, made a roux from butter and flour and then added the cream and whisked often until thickened. This will be my new go-to white sauce.

I made some changes... I used half the amount of basil and used sage, artichoke hearts &amp; a couple green olives. When the sauce came together I served it with sausage and ravioli. It was AMAZING!

I was really looking forward to this dish.Unfortunately I was very disappointed.In my opinion the sauce had a foul taste as well as a foul odor.My husband who eats everything said he did'nt think it had any flavor--will not make this again.

It was so simple and completely delicious.  Not too heavy, but rich with flavor.  We had it over a squash ravioli, which was fab. Can't wait to try it other ways!

This was tasty served over whole wheat pasta and diced chicken. I found it to be a bit bland. Next time I'll toast the pine nuts first as well as add an extra clove of garlic. I also think that cooking pancetta with the chicken would increase the oomph of this solid basic sauce.

Sorry, we didn't really enjoy this. It was pretty bland. At the end, I added lemon juice and salt in an attempt to give it more flavor-still wouldn't make again. Loved the spring green color though!

good!  I added a touch of flour to thicken it.

Very time consuming. Followed directions except used less cream. Extra parmesan cheese and cayanne pepper will help the bland taste. I ran out of parmesan so I used alfredo sauce which is parmesan and cream and it worked perfect. I sauteed mushrooms with chicken. I topped it off with drained diced can tomatoes.

I've made people into pesto believers with this sauce (though when you add cream to anything, it's pretty much a winner).  Awesome with chicken, could even work with italian sausage.  So good and well worth the work!!

Excellent recipe. I added it to bite size chicken pieces and artichoke hearts in fettuccne noodles. Love it! I used 6 cloves garlic and half &amp; half.  Sent hubby to store for light cream, he couldn't find it so got this. PERFECT

A great basic pesto recipe (which can be modified to your taste) with cream. I add some heavy cream (for flavour) and top up the rest with milk, to make it a little healthier. It's very rich!

great but very rich.  Added some yogurt and skim milk to the mix.  Probably was better before I did that!

Oh boy, this was good! I made the sauce for company and they were asking for the recipe. I liked this creamy pesto more than any version I've had in a restaurant. I look forward to making it again soon.

Excellent recipe!  I found my new pesto sauce!

Came out delicious! Had to  keep it old school and use a mortar since I don't own a food processor. Even my picky mother that only admits to liking her own cooking told me it was delicious and cleaned her plate. I'm looking forward to making it again.

Good...reminded me of a creamy pesto sauce.  It makes a LOT!

This was phenominal! My fiance didn't care for it very much, but I thought it was awesome. I've never had pesto before, and I'm in love with it now! I followed the recipe exactly and used 12 oz of linguini. The only thing that was difficult is that I do not have a food processor. I used a blender, and it was a bit time consuming, as I had to keep shutting it off and pushing the leaves down to try and chop them up.

I made this for dinner for a diverse group of all ages. My husband was skeptical but it was DELICIOUS!!!! It was a little hard to thicken, so I recommend stirring in some cornstarch, but put it over any kind of pasta. We grilled chicken and sliced it up too, and it was wonderful! 

Very good, basic recipe. You may find yourself adding more of this and that for the flavor and consistency to get exactly where you want it, but it's also very good as written. Thanks for the recipe!

Tried it this weekend with one chopped roma tomato, 1/2 a red pepper, one can of artichokes, fresh baby spinach sautéd in olive oil and grilled chicken over fettucini noodles. Should have been the spinach fettucini, but could not find at the super market I was at. The added ingredients meant I had to cook sauce a bit longer for it to thicken, but it was a hit and I'll definitely make it again.

Very tasty, but it's a tad bit bland. I've only made this once and my family enjoyed it, but it could definitely be improved. I'm not experienced enough with sauces to say exactly what would do the trick.

I loved this recipe, I made the mistake of putting the cream in before the nuts (I used roasted almonds) which messed a bit with the consistency but delicious. I like others had to thicken the sauce with a flour rue but this is a suject of personal preference. Although in doing this I should have put in additional garlic clove, more basil and a touch more parm. My boyfriend and I put this over homemade pasta for lunch the next day. He really liked it and this man doesnt fib when it comes to food. YUM

Loved this. Even my very fussy husband likes it. I've made it a few times and most recently was a hit with the in-laws. I didn't even get to have seconds because it was GONE!

Have made this twice now....once over the Christmas holidays for family and another just for a casual dinner with friends.  Rave reviews both times....will definitely put this in the regular rotation!  Thanks for the recipe :)

I used roasted almond slivers instead of pine nuts and an Italian cheese blend.  My whole family loved this.  Served with Italian chicken.  Good Stuff!

This was a perfect side dish to a stuffed chicken recipe we made. I wanted something creamy yet zesty to go with it. It was just right!

I love this recipe. It was easy to make. The only thing I didn’t add was salt and that’s because it was flavorful enough without it.

This sauce was great! I needed a good, easy, recipe to make with my girlfriend since we were both not happy with store-bought sauces. We only did one cup of basil because 2 cups seemed like a bit much and we forgot to add the pine nuts but it was still great. id recommend this to anyone who wants to have a "make it yourself" date night. (If you LOVE basil, do the full 2 cups. If you just LIKE it, only do 1 cup.)

Awesome.  I did not add the cream, as I was freezing my sauce for later use.  I can not wait to use it w/ cream.  I did use the Basil Pesto w/ the Pesto-Stuffed Pork Chop w/ Carmelized onion recipe and it was really good. I am planning on making more to freeze before the weather turns.

I didn't have pine nuts, so it missed that flavor that it typical with pesto, but still good.  Easy to make.

I didn't have a food processor, so I used the magic bullet and it worked perfectly! This sauce is AMAZING!  We put it on Gnocchi!  Mmmmmm!

I halved the recipe and used a mini-processor.  I used jarred garlic and mostly half-and-half with a little milk. Nice flavor and went well over angel hair pasta. Will be good over ravioli gnocchi another time.

I added about 1/2 cup more Parm because my family is cheese crazy, but it retained the basil flavor and was a wonderful sauce. Perfect for Lenten Friday, a nice change of pace from tomato based sauces.

basil cream sauce

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total: 25 minutes

Servings: 6

Author : MESSY

Ingredients

Instructions

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