Carlo Ancelotti's men headed into the game under pressure after title rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid both moved three points clear with wins on Saturday.
However, Real responded in supreme fashion with an assured performance that condemned relegation-threatened Getafe to a ninth straight league game without a win.
Jese Rodriguez opened the scoring for the visitors with the first opportunity of the game before Karim Benzema scored the second on 27 minutes to bring up a century of goals in Ancelotti's 38th game in charge.
A straightforward triumph was wrapped up shortly after the hour mark as Luka Modric netted the third to make sure of the points and move Real back level with Barca and Atleti on 60 points.
Jese came back into the visitors' attack in place of the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo and opened the scoring after just five minutes as he collected a pass from Gareth Bale before surging his way into the box and curling a fine effort beyond Getafe goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya.
Real struggled to create chances to add to that lead though, with Getafe displaying considerable resolve despite the evident gap in quality.
However, Ancelotti's men were always dangerous on the counter-attack and needed just one opportunity to double their lead midway through the first half, Benzema firing home from Angel Di Maria's pinpoint cross.
And Real should have added a third just after the half-hour mark when Bale somehow dragged his effort wide of the near post following a sweeping move that sliced through the home defence.
Getafe wasted an opportunity to get back into game immediately after the break as Adrian Colunga fired well wide following excellent work from Jaime Gavilan.
Yet it was Real who continued to craft the better openings, Di Maria twice drawing smart saves from Moya with a pair of long-range drives.
Getafe did come back into the game and enjoyed a prolonged spell of pressure in the early stages of the second period.
But any hopes of a comeback from the hosts were put to bed after 66 minutes as Modric's strike from the edge of the area crept beyond the grasp of Moya.
From there Real were able to take their foot off the gas, although substitute Isco had a late effort deflected on to the crossbar, as they cruised to victory ahead of a UEFA Champions League last-16 clash with German side Schalke on Wednesday.
