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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.
Table of Contents
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!)
- Lemon Garlic Chicken Pasta (One more riff on this recipe for chicken lovers!)
- Gemelli Pasta with Lemon and Garlic (If you haven’t tried this pasta shape, you must!)
- 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 1/4 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
Video
Ingredients
- 12 ounces dried spaghetti
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 5 large garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or more
- 1 large lemon juice and zest
- 1/3 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 1/4 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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Easy recipe and very delicious.
So glad you enjoyed this, Delena!
Super tasty! Just one thing, if you have a slightly more sensitive palette, I’d advise 3 cloves at most. My family is wincing with every bite 😅😅
Hi Lauren! Glad you’re enjoying the recipe and thanks for your cooking notes. You can also mellow the garlic by cooking it a bit longer before adding the pasta.
Very good. Easy and delicious
So glad you enjoyed this, Jeannette! Thank you for coming back to let me know.
hi may i enquire if each serving is 530 kcal or is 4 servings a total of 530 kcal?
Hi Jia! The nutrition information is per serving.
Made this for the first time tonight. Had broiled lemon chicken ,salad and breadsticks. My 7 year old grand daughter took one bite and said Yum.
aww, I love to hear that, Laura! And what a great dinner combination.
Made tonight to accompany leftover Chinese 5-spice chicken drumsticks. My foodie teenage son can’t stop eating. Two thumbs up, will add into dinner rotation- thank you!
So glad this was a hit with you and your son, Jennifer! Very sweet of you to come back and let me know.
Just made this tonight, I accompanied it with light fish and sauted broccoli. Everything was delicious.
Sounds like a wonderful combination, Marilyn! So glad you’re enjoying the recipe.
What would the recipe be using 16 oz of pasta ?
Hi Linda! I’d increase the olive oil to 4 tablespoons and the butter to 2 1/2 tablespoons, add an additional clove of garlic and up to an additional 1/2 lemon and up to a total of 1/2 cup parsley. You may want to increase the parmesan to 2 1/2 ounces as well. Hope that helps!
Made this recipe for my mum and i for her birthday lunch and it turned out BEAUTIFULLY!!! I made 2 changes though, added some lightly seasoned boneless chicken tossed in herbs and butter, and added a 2 tablespoons of sugar.
So glad you enjoyed it and made it your own, Reece!
Delicious and easy! We added fresh tomatoes and chicken/mushroom sausage. Loved it and will make again.
So glad you enjoyed it and made it your own!
Hi There,
This was delicious and I even made this with Shrimps and it was Great
Husband liked it a lot. He Loves Garlic so this was a Hit .
Thank You for this recipe.
My pleasure, Sonia! So glad you and your husband enjoyed this!
Delicious, lots of flavour and easy to make. I added some roquette just before serving. A lovely recipe which I will be making regularly. Many thanks! Gail
My pleasure, Gail! So glad you’re enjoying the recipe and adding your own touch.
Thanks for this great recipe. It was light and didn’t require any cream. Yeah it was it still creamy tasting. Unfortunately I did not have any parsley handy but I just had some cilantro so I went ahead and used that. It was different. I thought it might be a little pungent but It added a fresh flavor. Thanks again I will make it over and over
So glad you enjoyed it, Sam! Good thinking swapping in the cilantro.
Great easy, light, quick weekday meal! I’m a mom of 4 so I appreciate when I come across recipes like this 🙂 also it’s easily adjustable for taste/likes.
I’m so glad this is a hit for you and your family, Sonya! Sweet of you to come back and let me know.
This is a great light pasta recipe. I ‘ve made this a couple of times and add sauted vegetables (cauliflower, mushrooms, broccoli, spinach). I also use a bit of chicken stock rather than just added the 1/4 c of water.
I’m also trying to limit my gluten and wheat intake, so have made this with brown rice pasta. Very good.
So glad you’re enjoying this and making it your own, Debbie!