Lemon Garlic Pasta delivers bold, vibrant flavor with minimal effort. It's the kind of pasta dish you turn to on busy weeknights when you want a satisfying dinner on the table in 20 minutes flat.
Think of this as a lighter, brighter version of the classic Italian pasta recipe, Pasta al Limone. Here I've swapped out heavy cream for a mixture of olive oil and butter, to add richness without dulling the vivid lemon flavor. I've also added a touch of crushed red pepper along with traditional black pepper for extra kick.
Jump to:
You'll toss hot pasta in a simple lemon garlic butter sauce. A rich blend of olive oil and butter, punched up with lots of garlic and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Then fold in fresh parsley, lemon juice and zest to add lively freshness and zing. A final shower of nutty parmesan cheese rounds everything out.
Ingredients you need for lemon Garlic pasta
- Dry Spaghetti Noodles: Or any long, slender dry pasta.
- Olive Oil: Use a good, flavorful one as it's a major component of the sauce.
- Butter: If you use unsalted butter, you'll want to add a little extra salt at the end.
- Lemon: You'll need a whole lemon, ideally organic since you'll be using the zest.
- Fresh Parsley: Look for a perky, bright green bunch of flat leaf (Italian) parsley.
- Garlic: Get the freshest, plumpest head you can find. You'll be using 5 cloves of it!
- Parmesan Cheese: Ideally Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano
For this Lemon Garlic Pasta, you want a pasta shape that's easy to slick with sauce. I've called for spaghetti, but any long, slender pasta will do nicely. Linguine or angel hair pasta (Capellini) are good options. Adding a splash of the starchy cooking water toward the end helps the sauce adhere. This serves 4 as a hearty main course or 6 as a side dish to meaty main dishes like Chicken Kabobs in the Oven, Bacon Wrapped Pork Chops, or Baked Lamb Chops. (Round out the meal with this simple Arugula Salad and Chocolate Panna Cotta or Affogato for dessert.)
Lemon and garlic work beautifully together either raw or cooked! In their raw form, they go well in salad dressings, particularly when mellowed by fruity olive oil. When cooked, garlic loses its pungency and turns mild and buttery. Again, a perfect compliment to lemon's bright acidity.
More must try pasta dishes
- Pasta Aglio e Olio (Perfect for date night!)
- Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta (Like this recipe, but embellished with succulent shrimp!)
- Bucatini all'Amatriciana (Another delicious classic that's easy enough for a weeknight.)
- Broccoli Rabe and Sausage Pasta (This is a go-to for us and is a meal on its own - no side dish required!)
How to Make Lemon Garlic Pasta
Step 1: Cook pasta until al dente, according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid.
Step 2: For the lemon garlic butter sauce, heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat until sizzling. Stir in garlic and red pepper flakes; cook and stir 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
Step 3: Once pasta is cooked and drained, return skillet to medium heat. Add pasta and ¼ cup of cooking liquid; stir until heated through, adding more cooking liquid if pasta is too dry.
Step 4: Remove skillet from heat and stir in parsley and lemon juice and zest. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving platter or bowl and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serve.
Lemon Garlic Pasta Recipe Video
Lemon Garlic Pasta
Ingredients
- 12 ounces dried spaghetti
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 5 large garlic cloves minced
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or more
- 1 large lemon juice and zest
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 ounces parmesan cheese freshly grated
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook spaghetti until firm to the bite (al dente), about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.
- Meanwhile, heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat until sizzling. Add minced garlic and red pepper flakes; cook and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
- Once you've drained the pasta, set skillet with the garlic mixture over medium heat. Add drained, cooked pasta and ¼ cup of reserved pasta water; toss to coat. Cook and stir until heated through, adding more pasta water if pasta seems too dry.
- Remove pasta from heat and stir in lemon zest and juice, and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowl or platter; top with grated parmesan cheese and serve.
Notes
- Use any long, slender pasta you like for this recipe.
The best!! Packed with flavor, delicious, and easy to make.
Thank you SO much for sharing! New family favorite:)
I'm so glad that you and your family are enjoying this recipe, Bianca!! Thank you for coming back to let me know.
Thought it was too lemony on its own(Maybe because I used a giant lemon from my tree, and squeezed all the juices using a citrus juicer). But, in the end, I found it was the perfect amount of lemon eating with a baked pc of salmon. Thank you for the recipe, I will make this again and again.
haha...I love it! So glad this ended up being a hit, Pauline!
Made this lemon garlic pasta for dinner, it was simple and came together in a flash. I’ve never had this dish before, was just overrun with lemons and needed to use them. What a wonderful surprise to learn this recipe is absolutely delicious, it is restaurant quality. Poured a glass of white wine with this pasta and I was in heaven. Thanks!
This is wonderful to hear, Victoria! Thank you for coming back to let me know.
Dear Marissa
Thank you for this recipe. So simple and so, so delicious. Mary
My pleasure, Mary. So glad you're enjoying this recipe!
So, so good!!!
So glad you enjoyed this, Michelle!
Added tomatoes, asparagus and peas. Was a hit! Total winner!! Will definitely make this again.
This is so great to hear, Jennifer. Thank you!
I love this lighter version so much!
Thanks so much, Naomi!
I love, love, love lemon with pasta! Delicious! 🙂 ~Valentina
Thank you, Valentina!
This is a perfect pasta dish for busy weeknights or even a date night at home. Love lemon and garlic together!
Simple pasta dishes like this are the very best, in my opinion! I adore lemon and garlic together - such beautiful and fresh flavours!
Hi Marissa,
I want to try your Lemon Garlic Pasta.
What is LEMON ZEST ?
Thanks.
Ron
Hi there, Ron! Lemon zest is the yellow, outer part of the lemon peel (once you hit the white part it's bitter pith). To 'zest a lemon', you can use a fine grater, microplane grater, or even a vegetable peeler (taking care not to go so deep that you get into the white part). I used a microplane grater and you'll see the little pile of zest to the right of the parsley in the first photo under step 4. Hope that helps and hope you love the dish!
That is just gorgeous! I could just make it and stare at it! Nah, I’ll eat it.
haha...you make me smile, Mimi!
I'm a big fan of lemon pastas, so I'm absolutely loving this lightened up one!! Plus, you gotta love how quick and easy this is to prepare!! I'm definitely adding this to the weeks meal plan!!
Love to hear that, Cheyanne! Thank you.
While I love some complex pasta combinations and flavours every now and then, there's nothing better than simple (doesn't mean boring!) recipes like this one. Perfection!
Well said, Ben! Thank you so much.
Such a fresh and light pasta dish, Marissa. Yum, yum, yum! I had everything on hand, including linguine from our local Italian market. Though my parsley was on its last leg, it worked. Thank you for rescuing an I-don't-know-what-to-cook-tonight dinner with this simple recipe!
I love that you already made this, Kim!! Thank you! 🙂
I've been making lemon-garlic pasta just like this for years, except that I thinly slice the garlic and cook it, with the chilli, very slowly until it's pale gold. It's also a fantastic base for seafood - I often throw in some raw shrimp towards the end of the garlic cooking.
Sounds amazing, Elyss! I do the same thing with shrimp in this - so good.
It likely won't surprise you to know that this is one of my favorites! Lemon Garlic pasta is in repeat at our house. Thanks for sharing, my friend!
My pleasure, Annie! I bet you make a mean version of this.
Ah! This is such a classic combination. I love all sorts of pasta recipes, and this one ranks pretty high up there. Lemon + garlic is a delicious combo, and I love how easy this recipe is, too! It's been a bit since we've had pasta for dinner...I think I need to fix that!
Thanks, David! I hope you'll give this one a try! 🙂
This is something like hubby and I would whip up on Saturday night when we want something yummy, but don't want a lot of fuss! Love all the garlic and lemon in here. Such a fabulous pasta dish, my friend! I could eat this for breakfast right now, actually 🙂 !!
Perfect for Saturday night, Dawn! (or breakfast 😉 )
This looks so GOOD and very comforting. I want mine with extra portion of Parmesan, please :-))
Yes! Parmesan definitely adds that extra something.
Marissa I used to love just eating my pasta plain with butter and a bit of Parmesan (I still do), so this makes me think of that, but a more sophisticated version haha! I will be trying this one soon for a quick and delicious easy dinner!
Same here, Katherine! So excited for you to try this. 🙂