Bursting with fresh flavor, this is an incredibly easy white wine sauce recipe that is perfect for pasta, seafood and chicken dishes. It’s light and refreshing for spring, summer and fall! Make it tonight – start to finish in less than 15 minutes!
I can’t resist lightening up our meals once it warms up outside. While pasta is a staple in our house throughout the year, my simple sauce recipes tend to change seasonally.
This simple white wine sauce recipe is delicate and mild, making it a favorite base for shrimp, scallops, classic baked chicken, mussels, mushrooms, my favorite roasted Italian veggies and other summertime favorites.
This sauce recipe is also what I based my chicken in white wine sauce recipe on, and that’s an equally delicious way to enjoy a light and tasty meal!
Best of all, this easy pasta dish is also super speedy to prepare, which means it’s a great weeknight dinner.
For the girls, this is an upgrade from their coveted favorite, buttered noodles. (Psst… if you’ve never had my version of this classic kid favorite, you’ve got to try this Mizithra Cheese and Browned Butter.)
You’ll also love my lemon basil pasta, another light and easy dish that’s just as pretty as it is delicious. It’s so easy, you’ll want to add this one into your dinner rotation for sure!
This has been a staple in our home for 10+ years. One bite and you’ll know why! 
Major bonus? This white wine sauce recipe is full of flavor, but light on calories so I can get my pasta fix without the guilt.
You can watch the video in this post to see how just how quick and easy my white wine sauce is!
As much as I enjoy cooking, I prefer to spend my time soaking up a little sunshine and fresh air while watching the girls play, vs slaving over the stove while making dinner.
I like to give a lot of detail in my recipe posts to guide readers through any questions. If you’re just here for the printable recipe, feel free to click “jump to recipe” right under the title of this post and you’ll head straight there!
Table of Contents
White Wine Sauce Ingredients
- Olive Oil – High quality extra virgin olive oil adds a hint of flavor.
- Minced Garlic – You can freshly mince, but I just use minced garlic purchased in the produce aisle of the grocery store. You’ll never notice the difference and it’s one of my favorite shortcuts.
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes – Adds a little heat to this simple sauce.
- Salt – I like to use salt from a grinder for thick flakes, but table salt works well, too.
- Pepper – Fresh ground black pepper adds beautiful thick flakes and a subtle spicy flavor.
- Butter – The base for this delicious sauce. Salted or unsalted, your choice.
- White Wine – Use your favorite crisp white wine or white cooking wine.
How to Make White Wine Sauce
- Sauté – In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium. Add garlic, red pepper and sauté until golden (about a minute).
- Make Sauce – Add salt and pepper, wine and butter.
- Simmer – Stir two minutes, remove from heat and toss with pasta, chicken breasts, shrimp, or scallops.
Tips and Variations
- Reserve a little of your pasta water after cooking. This is always a good idea to help thin sauces if they thicken too much while cooking – just add a little of that warm, starchy water (up to 1/2 cup) for the perfect way to thin your sauce down, if needed.
- Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice over your pasta! The vibrant bright flavor of lemon compliments this dish beautifully.
- Instead of pre-packaged dry pasta, consider making fresh. It’s not as hard as you think, I promise – especially not with this pasta attachment for your KitchenAid mixer! Try my easy three ingredient egg noodles, or learn from all my best homemade pasta tips right here.
- Want even more vibrant flavor? Add a handful of shallots! Just a half of cup of shallots equals a major additional burst of yumminess. Instead of adding the shallots and garlic at once, I’d add the shallots first to the olive oil to soften before you add the other listed ingredients.
Making this white wine sauce for pasta? Use your favorite noodle. I typically use fettuccine, but any noodle pairs well with this sauce because it clings to the pasta so well.
Garnish with freshly chopped parsley for a little color and fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Who can argue with that simple, delicious flavor combination?
Mussels in White Wine Sauce
This classic French inspired version of a white wine sauce is a perfect flavor match.
You’ll add the mussels after beginning the sauce process. Refer to Ina’s delicious version of this recipe for a more detailed step by step, including the cleaning process for mussel shells, how long to cook, etc.
What an incredibly fragrant seafood pasta dish!
What’s the Best White Wine to Cook With?
There are a few types of white wines that will be perfect in this pasta dish.
- Chardonnay
- Sauvignon Blanc
- Pinot Grigio
The goal is to choose a crisp, dry white wine that won’t overpower the delicate flavors of whatever you’re pairing the sauce with… be it chicken, seafood, or veggies. Don’t choose a sweet wine like Riesling or something similar!
If you don’t drink white wine (or cook with wine at all) or simply don’t want to purchase a bottle to make this dish, I have found that white cooking wine (found in the salad dressing/vinegar area of your grocery store) works equally as well.
However, I like to give myself an excuse to have a glass or two, so I almost always use a Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay.
To Store
Refrigerate – This White Wine Sauce keeps incredibly well in a jar, refrigerated for up to a week. Simply warm and toss with your favorite pasta, chicken or seafood.
This post was originally published in April of 2013 and updated with fresh details in February 2020.
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If you try this recipe, please come back to share using my 5 star rating in the comments below! Not only do I appreciate it, but I know readers do, too!
More Easy Pasta Recipes
I’ve got more pasta ideas where this one came from! You’ve got to check out these recipes for more of our household faves.
- Lemon Spaghetti
- Easy Pasta Bolognese
- Pasta con Broccoli
- Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Pasta Aglio e Olio
- Broccoli Pasta
White Wine Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 5 tablespoons butter
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper fresh ground
- ½ cup white wine
Pasta (optional)
- 1 pound pasta
- ½ cup parsley for garnishing
- ½ cup parmesan fresh grated
Instructions
- In large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium. Add garlic, red pepper and sauté until golden (about a minute).
- Add salt, pepper, wine and butter.
- Stir 2 minutes, remove from heat and toss with pasta, chicken, scallops or shrimp.
Pasta
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Prepare noodles al dente.
- Garnish with parsley and fresh grated parmesan.
Video
Notes
Recipe Notes, Substitutions and Variations
- Minced Garlic - Fresh minced or from a jar
- Butter - The base for this delicious sauce. Salted or unsalted, your choice.
- White Wine - Use your favorite crisp white wine like chardonnay, sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio or white cooking wine.
- Pasta - Use your favorite noodle or make homemade Egg Noodles.
Mussels in White Wine Sauce
- Clean and prepare mussels. Add to the sauce.
My husband brought home some scallops for me and my first thought was fettucini with white wine sauce — I’d never made it before but do love my pasta and wine! I tried this recipe out and it was an easy one for a “beginner”. I picked up a delicious and affordable Chardonnay and also added shallots, because I’m an onion-aholic. No complaints here! Absolutely delicious recipe, easy, and re-heated well. Will cook again!
ME, TOO! Thanks for sharing! I hope you try more of my easy recipes.
im not a drinker or have any idea about wines what kinds are good to use in this recipe?
You can use Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio or white cooking wine. Enjoy!
Super easy and quick to make and easily one of my favorite pasta sauces so far! I’m lactose intolerant so it’s hard to find a yummy sauce that doesn’t have milk or cream in it and this is so yummy! Very light tasting! I only did about half the amount of red pepper flakes though just for my own tastes
Oh my gosh, thanks for making my day! You may want to try my Pesto Pasta and Broccoli Pasta as well. Enjoy!
Excellent and easy.
Thank you!
This was much better then I expected and was perfect with my King Crab legs. I didn’t have garlic, but used elepahnt garlic from my garden and added sun dried tomoatoes (Trader Joes in Oil) for the heck of it. They gave it just a little extra tang.
Delicious & easy to make. I used a little less than 1/4 tsp of the red pepper flakes & it was just enough heat for me. I put it over angel hair pasta & shrimp – my boyfriend loved it too!!
Thanks, Cat! So glad you enjoyed it!
My son asked for pasta with Gypsy sauce. I couldn’t find a recipe so I used a description from the menu of an Italian restaurant . I used your wine sauce recipe. The dish was delicious. I will definitely use your wine sauce recipe again.
Thank you, Veronica!
My whole family loved it! Amazing recipe!
Thank you, Tiana! I have yummy garlic shrimp coming Monday – hope you’ll come back to check them out!
Amazing! 2nd week in a row with this recipe. It’s very versatile. My 13 year old daughter said, “This is what they make in all those fancy restaurants!” My husband, who typically loves a chunky sauce with his pasta raved about this. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Oh my gosh, that is the ultimate compliment! Thank you for sharing!
Little hot for me but my husband enjoyed it and he’s the pasta expert!
You can definitely reduce the amount of red pepper flakes in the future. Thanks for taking the time to rate!
My 12 year old made this with shrimp and capellini and we loved it. It’s a win for everyone involved 🙂
Aw! The sweetest memories in the making! Glad you enjoyed it!
Wholly moly this was yummy. Easy too. Thank you
Thank you, Nancy! I truly appreciate you taking the time to share and glad you enjoyed it!
Just wondering when to add in the Parmesan? The recipe doesn’t specify!! Looks delish though can’t wait to try!!
My apologies – it’s a garnish. Enjoy!
I have been looking for a light sauce to put over a pasta dish that has sausage and peppers. I didn’t want it to be too heavy or citrusy. This was spot on! I will try with my other pasta dishes like shrimp and chicken. Thanks for the recipe!
How perfect! Thanks for sharing – sounds like a delicious combo!
Tried making a version of this for the lactose intolerant. Used Earth Balance dairy-free butter and nixed the cheese… obviously didn’t come out the way it was intended but it was still good and easy to make and was nice with pasta. Although I will say: I thought I ought to add some of the pasta water, since often that helps sauces adhere to the noodles—wrong choice. The sauce became overly watery and didn’t stick the way it should have. Additionally, I should have gotten a nicer white wine. While the flavor was great, I definitely have a few things I’ll do differently next time.
how much sauce does this make? Would it be enough to toss with chicken, broccoli, and ziti? Or should I double the recipe?
It’s plenty to do that for 4. Enjoy!
Awesome and I cook worth a lick.
Ha! I love it! So glad you enjoyed it and found it easy to make.
Going to try this recipe on spiral cut veggies instead of pasta ! Sounds amazing !
I loved that it is so easy to make and so delicious! Perfect for weeknights!
That sauce is so silky smooth!
Love everything about this sauce!
I made this with chicken and mushrooms and it was SO good! Going to try shrimp next!!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth!
This is the best sauce for pasta! It was so easy to make and goes with just about any kind of pasta we make!
This sauce! I want to put it on everything!! Thank you for the yummy recipe.
So simple and perfect for a date night! Thanks for sharing!
So simple and perfect for a date night!
Thanks for sharing this!! It sounds perfect & easy!
This is the perfect excuse to get a bottle of wine this weekend. Looks amazing!
Gave this a try for dinner with some shrimp and it was a hit all around the table! Delicious!
This sauce is so delicious! Perfect with chicken too!
This light, white wine sauce goes with everything! Such a great recipe!
I love how quick and easy this sauce is to prepare. We love it on chicken, pasta, and fish!
That sauce is amazing, it could easily become my favorite!
So glad you love it, too!
That white sauce sounds so amazing. I can just imagine the many delicious ways I can use it. Yum!
Great sauce, thank you!
Such a great way to add so much wonderful flavor to a dish! Can’t wait to try it!
This looks like a delicious way to make pasta differently! I will be adding it to my list of things to try!
What a perfect recipe for a date night in!
I use a touch of flour to thicken it up a bit, seems to really work great! Thanks for the recipe!
Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for taking the time to share!
I made this the other night. Added chicken, chopped basil to garnish w/the parmesan cheese as well as some chopped tomato. It was very good and nice and light and coated the pasta well. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing, Terrie! That sounds like a fabulous way to enjoy it!
Hi, just wondering what the c stands for when you say 1/4 c.
cup – enjoy!
Absolutely delicious
Thank you, Cienna! Hope you have a great week!
So quick….so good!
Thanks, Jody for taking the time to share, I really appreciate it!
Would lemon juice and white cooking wine be okay to use in it? I want to make thdon’t sauce with penne pasta, chicken, and broccoli,
Yes, enjoy!
I tried for the first time as I am just learning to cook with wine. Wow easy peasy and so delish!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to stop baby and share.
What is best wine type to use with this recipe?
Your pick, but I use Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.
I used your recipe for my first attempt of cooking with wine. I added red onion when cooking the garlic. Also, tossed in some capers and sun dried tomatoes with the pasta! Sooo good? Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Sounds fantastic! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Can I use an onion instead of red pepper?
Of course, but I highly recommend using a shallot in lieu of an onion. SO good!
Delicious! I made the sauce and then poured over chicken breasts in crock pot. Cooked for 4 hours. After taking chicken from pot I stirred in the Parmesan cheese. Added 3/4 cup of water and salt because of broth that had cooked from chicken. Great addition to recipe box!
That sounds incredible, Lana! Thanks for sharing!
Sound absolutely delicious, Julie! Pinning to try soon.
You can’t go wrong with this sauce! Love!