This Lemon Garlic Pasta will be your new favorite weeknight meal. Quick, easy and full of light and vibrant flavors, it’s a great family dinner any night of the week.
Why You Will Love Lemon Garlic Pasta
- QUICK AND EASY – With just a handful of simple pantry staples and a few minutes of prep, this pasta dinner will be on your table in no time! It’s great for busy weeknights!
- LIGHT – Some pasta can get a little too rich and heavy. But not this recipe! Made with no heavy cream at all, we’ve still achieved a nice, creamy sauce isn’t too rich.
- EASY TO ADJUST – While the traditional Lemon Garlic Pasta that hails from Sicily (called Pasta Al Limon) is made very similar to this, there are lots of ways to adjust this recipe. Make it vegan, add proteins, add veggies, make it spicier… read below for some inspiration.
How To Make Lemon Garlic Pasta
This classic Italian recipe is really straight forward and should be pretty simple even for beginner cooks! You really just need to make the lemon garlic butter sauce in a large skillet and then toss in the pasta. Add some lemon zest and the garnishes of your choice! For step-by-step instructions, check out the printable recipe card below. But here is what you’ll need to get started:
- ANGEL HAIR PASTA – This dish is traditionally made with any long, thin pasta noodles like Angel Hair, linguine or Spaghetti, But I’ve seen versions using really any shaped pasta. You can also use Gluten-Free Pasta.
- OLIVE OIL – We recommend using a quality, flavorful Extra Virgin Olive Oil for this dish.
- BUTTER – We used unsalted butter and added more salt to taste at the end. If you use salted butter, you may want to back off the salt later. You can make this with Vegan Butter for a Vegan friendly option.
- GARLIC – We are gonna be using A LOT of garlic here! Find nice, fresh large cloves to mince.
- LEMON – This dish hails from Sicily, where they are famous for their fresh lemons. So make sure you are getting a high quality, organic lemon.
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RED PEPPER FLAKES – An optional garnish to add some kick to this dish. We love them!
- SALT AND BLACK PEPPER – To taste.
- PARMESAN CHEESE – Grated. Use Parmigiano-Reggiano if possible. And we always recommend grating your own cheese instead of buying the pre-grated stuff from the store.
Storage, Leftovers and Freezing
This dish is best served immediately after cooking. But you can keep it in an airtight container in your refrigerator for 3-4 days. You can microwave it or heat it up on your stovetop. Add a bit of water, leftover pasta water or even milk to invigorate the pasta noodles.
We would not freeze Lemon Garlic Pasta. It would not thaw out well.
Additions To Lemon Garlic Pasta
While there are just a few simple ingredients in this dish, do NOT mistake that as being boring. This pasta if FULL of flavor.
But, if you want to add some ingredients to this dish, we’ve got some options:
- VEGETABLES – Broccoli, Asparagus, Peas, Spinach, Bell peppers, Zucchini, Artichoke, Peas, Cherry Tomatoes or Sun Dried Tomatoes.
- PROTEIN – Chicken, Salmon, Shrimp, Prawns or Salmon would all be delicious!
- GARNISH – Fresh Parsley, Green Onions, Red Pepper Flakes, Walnuts, Pine Nuts or a Mint Leaf.
We hope you enjoy this Lemon Garlic Pasta Recipe. We’d love to hear how it turns out in the comment section. Happy Eating!
LOOKING FOR MORE DELICIOUS, EASY PASTA DISHES? CHECK OUT:
- PASTA DA VINCI
- CHICKEN ROMANO
- INSTANT POT CHICKEN AND CHEESE PASTA
- PHILLY CHEESESTEAK PASTA
- RIGATONI ARRABBIATA
Lemon Garlic Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces angel hair pasta
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lemon
- red pepper flakes optional
- salt and pepper
- shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package direction and reserve 1 cup water.
- In a skillet, add oil and butter and heat until melted.
- Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add juice of 1 lemon and zest of half of the lemon.
- Add 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water.
- Add pasta and mix well and heat through.
- Season with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Top with shredded cheese and remaining zest of the other half of the lemon.
Comments & Reviews
Curious says
How much Parmesan; to taste?
Kathy says
Yep!