Boursin Cream Sauce
This Boursin Cream Sauce transforms simple fettuccine into an elegant, restaurant-worthy meal, offering an irresistible combination of velvety texture, rich flavor, and effortless preparation. The ingredients are simple, with the final dish garnished with fresh chopped basil. Ready to be enjoyed in just 20 minutes!
This luxurious Boursin cheese cream sauce is surprisingly simple, made from just five key ingredients and ready in about 20 minutes. Its elegant decadence instantly elevates any choice of pasta for an easy vegetarian meal. It’s also wonderfully versatile – perfectly paired with a side salad, veggies, sliced chicken breast, or shrimp for a complete dinner. Easily double this Boursin pasta sauce to serve a crowd!
We served this Boursin cheese cream sauce over pasta last night alongside garlic-Parmesan baked cod, and it was a hit with everyone. It’s amazingly quick to make and so delicious! Make the recipe for four or double for eight!
What is Boursin cheese cream sauce?
Boursin cream sauce is a luxurious pasta sauce made by melting creamy, herb-seasoned Boursin cheese into a base of warm butter, garlic, and heavy cream.
This simple combination yields an incredibly rich and velvety sauce, infused with the signature garlic and fine herb flavors of the cheese, which clings beautifully to fettuccine or your pasta of choice.
It’s the ultimate quick gourmet meal, transforming just a handful of ingredients into a restaurant-quality dish in about 20 minutes. The fresh chopped basil is the finishiing touch!
Ingredients needed to make this Boursin pasta sauce
- Pasta: This recipe is made with fettuccine pasta which is cooked separately, according to the package directions. Feel free to also experiment with spaghetti, rigatoni (great for holding sauce), or penne.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter to make the creamy Boursin pasta sauce if you want to keep the overall level of salt under control in this dish. TIP: Did you know that Costco now sells Golden Irish spreadable, grass-fed butter? This is what I use for quick recipes!
- Garlic: Freshly minced garlic is infused into the melted butter as the fragrant foundation of the sauce.
- Heavy cream: Key for adding to the luxuriously creamy Boursin sauce.
- White wine: A splash of wine adds the right amount of acidity to cut through the richness of the sauce. We recommend using Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, or Chardonnay (unoaked).
- Boursin cheese: A brand of creamy, spreadable cheese from France. It’s known for its rich, crumbly-yet-creamy texture and is pre-seasoned with herbs, garlic, and other flavors.
- Salt and pepper: This simple seasoning is all that’s needed to enhance the flavors of this simple Boursin cream sauce.
- Fresh basil: Finely chopped and sprinkled over the assembled dish.
How do you make this Boursin pasta?
Cook the pasta
- Add the pasta to a salted pot of boiling water and cook according to package directions, until al dente.
- Drain the pasta, keeping about 1 cup of the pasta water aside for later use, if needed.
- Set the cooked and drained pasta aside while making the sauce.
Make the cream sauce
- Melt the butter over low heat in a large saucepan together with the minced garlic for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Make sure it doesn’t brown!
- Add the heavy cream and wine to the melted butter and stir to combine.
- Simmer the sauce for 5-7 minutes until a thick consistency is achieved.
- Reduce the heat to low and add in the soft Boursin, stirring continuously until fully melted and incorporated.
- Season the Boursin cream sauce with salt and pepper as needed.
Assemble and serve
- Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss to combine.
- Sprinkle with freshly chopped basil and serve with chicken, fish, or beef!
Serving
This simple Boursin cream sauce with fettuccine pasta is a comforting and satisfying meal as is if you want a no-fuss lunch or dinner. That said, we love to serve this saucy pasta with Coconut Crusted Fish or store-bought rotisserie chicken when in a rush.
If you’re looking for a light contrast to this Boursin cream sauce recipe, you can’t go wrong with a side serving of Greenhouse Salad, Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan and Lemon, or Oven Roasted Broccoli.
A slice of crispy garlic bread or Quick Dinner Rolls is perfect for scooping up any leftover Boursin pasta sauce!
This refreshing Coconut Sorbet Dessert with Mango or homemade fruit salad offers a nice break from all the creamy decadence from the main meal while still providing the satisfaction of a post-dinner sweet treat.
Sandy’s tips and substitutions:
- Storage: Leftovers keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. I don’t recommend freezing this Boursin cream sauce as it is likely to separate and alter its creamy texture.
- Make-ahead: You can prepare the Boursin cheese cream sauce and store it in the fridge in an airtight container for 1-2 days, ready to be reheated with a splash of pasta water and freshly boiled fettuccine.
- Double the recipe: This recipe serves 4, but you can easily double the ingredients if you have a larger family or are catering to a crowd.
- Boursin cheese: Boursin cheese comes in various flavors – we love “the one with “shallots “shallots and chives” but you can use your favorite flavor. TIP: If you want it really cheesy, you can double the amount of Boursin cheese (or if you are doubling the recipe, add 3 boxes of Boursin!)
- Don’t overcook the pasta: I like to cook the pasta for this recipe until al dente, shaving about 2 minutes off the recommended package directions as it will continue to cook slightly when set aside and when tossed in the pan of warm Boursin cream sauce.
- Avoid browning the butter: It’s important that the melted butter doesn’t brown to preserve the delicate, creamy profile of the sauce, preventing a competing, nutty flavor.
- Reserve pasta water: When draining the pasta, make sure to reserve about a cup of the pasta water. It’s a great option to have for adjusting the consistency of the sauce without diluting the flavor, like regular water would.
Variations:
- Add a protein: As already mentioned, this Boursin cream sauce recipe is perfect with sliced chicken breast, although it also pairs beautifully with seared scallops, shrimp, salmon, crispy pancetta, or bacon.
- Gluten-free Boursin cream sauce: Use certified gluten-free fettuccine pasta when making this dish. The rest of the ingredients are already gluten-free.
- Types of pasta: While fettuccine is perfect for creamy sauces, other shapes work well too, such as short, textured pasta (rigatoni, penne, or farfalle) or long ribbons (tagliatelle or pappardelle). What brand did I use? I used Dececco Linguine no. 7 (made in Italy).
- Alcohol-free cream sauce: Swap out the white wine for low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth if you don’t like cooking with alcohol. A mixture of fresh lemon juice and water best replicates wine’s brightening effect, if preferred.
Discover how you can transform more simple dishes with creamy, herb-infused Boursin cheese, such as this Boursin Appetizer and Roasted Mini Peppers.
More quick and easy pasta recipes you may want to try:
Get the Recipe:
Boursin Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 oz fettuccine pasta, I used Dececco Linguine no. 7 (made in Italy
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- Splash of white wine, or more as needed
- 4 ounces Boursin Shallot and Chive Cheese
- kosher salt and fresh pepper to taste
- Fresh finely chopped basil for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Add the pasta to a salted pot of boiling water and cook according to package directions, until al dente.
- Drain the pasta, keeping about 1 cup of the pasta water aside for later use, if needed.
- Set the cooked and drained pasta aside while making the sauce.
- Melt the butter over low heat in a large saucepan together with the minced garlic for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Make sure it doesn’t brown!
- Add the heavy cream and a splahs of wine to the melted butter and stir to combine.
- Simmer the sauce for 5-7 minutes until a thick consistency is achieved.
- Taste the sauce and see if you want to add more white wine.
- Reduce the heat to low and add in the soft Boursin, stirring continuously until fully melted and incorporated.
- Season the Boursin cream sauce with salt and pepper as needed.
- Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss to combine.
- Sprinkle with freshly chopped basil and serve with chicken, fish, or beef.
Notes
Sandy’s tips:
- Storage: Leftovers keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. I don’t recommend freezing this Boursin cream sauce as it is likely to separate and alter its creamy texture.
- Make-ahead: You can prepare the Boursin cheese cream sauce and store it in the fridge in an airtight container for 1-2 days, ready to be reheated with a splash of pasta water and freshly boiled fettuccine.
- Double the recipe: This recipe serves 4, but you can easily double the ingredients if you have a larger family or are catering to a crowd.
- Boursin cheese: Boursin cheese comes in various flavors – we love “the one with “shallots “shallots and chives” but you can use your favorite flavor. TIP: If you want it really cheesy, you can double the amount of Boursin cheese (or if you are doubling the recipe, add 3 boxes of Boursin!)
- Alcohol-free cream sauce: Swap out the white wine for low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth if you don’t like cooking with alcohol. A mixture of fresh lemon juice and water best replicates wine’s brightening effect, if preferred.
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
this sauce sounds excellent can I make it and put it over chicken
Yes you can!