How to use SqlClient in ASP.NET Core?

Try this one Open your projectname.csproj file its work for me.

<PackageReference Include="System.Data.SqlClient" Version="4.6.0" />

You need to add this Reference "ItemGroup" tag inside.

I think you may have missed this part in the tutorial:

Instead of referencing System.Data and System.Data.SqlClient you need to grab from Nuget:

System.Data.Common and System.Data.SqlClient.

Currently this creates dependency in project.json –> aspnetcore50 section to these two libraries.

"aspnetcore50": {
       "dependencies": {
           "System.Runtime": "4.0.20-beta-22523",
           "System.Data.Common": "4.0.0.0-beta-22605",
           "System.Data.SqlClient": "4.0.0.0-beta-22605"
       }
}

Try getting System.Data.Common and System.Data.SqlClient via Nuget and see if this adds the above dependencies for you, but in a nutshell you are missing System.Runtime.

Edit: As per Mozarts answer, if you are using .NET Core 3+, reference Microsoft.Data.SqlClient instead.

For Dot Net Core 3, Microsoft.Data.SqlClient should be used.