Copycat Olive Garden Creamy Mushroom Sauce

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One of my favorite Olive Garden dishes is their mushroom cream sauce. It’s basically an alfredo sauce, but with the added meatiness of button mushrooms. It’s creamy, a bit garlicky, and oh-so-delicious!

There was a night when I was really craving this dish but I didn’t feel like going out, so I decided to try to make it at home, and it was delicious!

Plus, it’s the easiest sauce to make! The whole dish comes together in under 15 minutes, a perfect week night dinner when you need something quick but you’re still wanting to feel a bit fancy.

This would be a great dish to make for having friends over for dinner, and it serves great with a light salad, bread, and a bottle of wine.

How To Make Copycat Olive Garden Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Step 1

Assemble your ingredients.

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Salt the water before boiling.

Cook the mushrooms. You can either add butter or water to a skillet before cooking the mushrooms until they are seared. Remove the mushrooms from the skillet and set them aside.

Linguine boiling in salted water and sliced button mushrooms cooking for copycat Olive Garden creamy mushroom sauce

Step 2

Add the butter to the skillet. Chop the garlic cloves (or use a garlic press if you have one) and add the garlic to the skillet.

Cook until the garlic becomes fragrant and almost browned.

Butter and chopped garlic cooking together in a skillet

Step 3

Once the garlic is almost browned, add the flour and whisk it to make a roux. Gradually whisk in the heavy cream and milk until smooth.

Let the sauce reach a gentle simmer, then take the pan off the heat. Add the Parmesan in small handfuls, stirring until each handful melts before adding the next.

Whisking flour, heavy cream, milk, and parmesan into a smooth sauce

Step 4

Strain the pasta noodles and add the mushrooms and alfredo sauce into the pasta pot.

Strained linguine tossed with mushrooms and the creamy parmesan sauce in the pasta pot

Step 5

Serve in a large bowl and enjoy!

Finished creamy mushroom sauce pasta served in a bowl

What Mushrooms Work Best For This Sauce?

This version uses sliced white button mushrooms. Cremini mushrooms are another option if that is what you have. Use the two cups called for in the recipe.

Whatever you use, don’t crowd the pan. The first time I made this sauce I dumped a full pound of sliced mushrooms in at once, and they steamed gray in their own liquid instead of browning. Cook them in two batches if your skillet is on the smaller side.

Why Did My Sauce Break Or Turn Grainy?

High heat when the cheese goes in, or adding it all at once, can leave the sauce grainy or separated. For the freshly made sauce, take the pan off the heat before adding the Parmesan.

Stir in small handfuls, letting each melt before adding the next. If the sauce has already separated, whisking in a splash of cold milk off the heat can sometimes help, but it may not recover its original texture.

Can I Use Pre-Shredded Parmesan Cheese?

Use freshly grated Parmesan for this recipe. If you buy pre-shredded cheese, check its ingredient list; products and additives vary.

Pre-shredded cheese is not automatically unusable, but it may give a different texture. Add either version in small handfuls after taking the pan off the heat.

A block of Parmesan lets you grate what you need. Compare prices where you shop rather than assuming a block and a pre-shredded package cost the same.

Do I Have To Use Whole Milk?

I did use whole milk for this recipe for the fat content and flavor, but if you only have nonfat or 2% milk, that will still work for this recipe!

Plus, you can also substitute the heavy cream for half-and-half if that is what you have on hand, or if you want to save on some calories.

And if you want to skip the cream entirely, I have a full mushroom sauce without cream that gets its body from a roux instead.

Can I Use Other Pasta Noodles?

Linguine is traditionally used for an alfredo sauce, but the beauty about pasta is that you can switch up any sauce or pasta shape you’d like! I would actually love to try this recipe with a shell noodle; I think it would be delicious! And if you’re buying pasta for this anyway, a bronze-cut noodle is worth the extra dollar, since the rougher surface grabs a creamy sauce better than the smooth budget stuff. I ran through the best Italian pasta brands if you want specific names.

What Is Linguine?

Linguine is a long noodle that is flatter in shape, which makes it different from spaghetti noodles.

Why Do I Need To Add Flour To The Sauce?

Flour is used in this recipe as a thickening agent. A lot of sauces start with butter and flour (called a roux) to ensure that the sauce thickens.

Changing the flour alone does not make the full dish gluten-free: check the pasta as well. Use ingredients labeled gluten-free if you need to avoid gluten. Cornstarch uses a different method from a butter-and-flour roux; mix it with cold liquid before adding it, following the product directions. This recipe has not been retested with that substitution, so the card keeps its original flour and pasta.

Why Do I Need To Add Salt To My Pasta Water?

One of the best tools chefs have in their kitchen is adding salt to their cooking water. Adding salt to the water perfectly flavors the pasta noodles.

If you haven’t tried it, go ahead and try and see how much it changes the flavor profile of your dish!

Can You Make This Sauce Ahead Of Time?

Refrigerate leftovers in shallow containers within two hours, or within one hour if the temperature is above 90°F. Keep the fridge at 40°F or below and use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days.

Reheat leftover pasta to 165°F, checking with a food thermometer. For sauce stored on its own, USDA advises bringing sauces to a rolling boil when reheating. Stir and add a little milk or cream if needed for consistency; the texture may change. Food safety takes priority over keeping the sauce perfectly smooth.

I once tried reheating leftovers on high to save five minutes and watched the sauce split into greasy puddles before the pasta was even warm. That is a texture issue, rather than a reason to serve leftovers without reheating them thoroughly.

For storage and reheating temperatures, see USDA’s leftover guidance.

Freezing can change the texture of a dairy sauce. It may separate after thawing and may not return to its original smoothness. For the best texture, make it fresh.

If you want to try anyway, my guide to freezing creamy mushroom sauce covers what survives the freezer and what does not.

What To Serve With Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Tossed with linguine, this is a full dinner on its own, but it plays well with company. A crisp salad cuts the richness, and something crusty for dragging through the leftover sauce is non-negotiable in my house (here’s what to eat with garlic bread if you want to build the meal around it). Grilled chicken or shrimp on top turns it into something closer to the restaurant entree.

And if you want the full Olive Garden dinner at home, finish with my copycat Olive Garden tiramisu.