LEMONY GARLIC PASTA

Lemony Garlic Pasta made with simple ingredients: cream, butter, garlic, lemon zest, Parmesan cheese & fettuccine pasta. Lovely creamy pasta recipe with incredible flavors!

This quick and easy creamy lemon pasta is the perfect combination of creamy sauce and zesty lemon.  The sauce is incredibly easy to put together, making this the perfect weeknight meal.

Easy Lemon Garlic Pasta Dinner

This lemon and garlic pasta recipe is an inexpensive, yet filling, dish that is great to whip up on busy weeknights or a low key weekend evening. It calls for under 10 ingredients, some of which may already be in your house, making it a great easy dish! The effort needed to make this pasta is minimal as well, but the end results are an extremely flavorful meal that every is sure to enjoy. Garlic lemon pasta is an amazing, light and delicious dish that is great for any night of the week!

HOW TO COOK PASTA PERFECTLY EVERY TIME

Pasta is pretty simple to cook, but there are a few little tricks to making sure it turns out perfect every time!

• Make sure you use a large enough pot to boil your noodles in. If it is too small, you may find that your noodles stick together and you may run out of water before the noodles are completely cooked. To cook one pound of pasta, you should be using at least 4-6 quarts of water. Make sure your pot is big enough to hold the water and the pasta and be able to boil without boiling over. Remember, pasta expands as it cooks!
• Add some salt to the water. Adding salt increases the boiling point of the water, meaning that the water will boil faster and also helps the pasta cook a little bit faster too! I usually add about a tablespoon of salt.
• Test the pasta. Even though there are recommended cooking times for each type of pasta, the only fool-proof method I have found to make sure pasta is done perfectly is to taste test it! About a minute before the recommended cooing time, I use a slotted spoon to get a noodle out of the pot. Rinse with cold water to avoid burning your tongue! If it is still a little crunchy, let it boil another minute or two before testing again.
• Drain the pasta well and rinse with cold water immediately. The cold water will prevent the pasta from continuing to cook and will also prevent the noodles from sticking together.

Garlic & Lemon Pasta Ingredients

Pasta: You will need one 16 oz package of fettuccine, cooked according to package directions (¼ cup pasta cooking water reserved). The fettuccine can be substituted with spaghetti, or any other long pasta.

Butter: Use 1 tablespoon of salted butter to give a nice, rich taste to this pasta dish. Salted butter was used in this recipe, but unsalted butter can be used if you prefer to control the salt content of the dish.  Consider adding a little salt to the sauce if using unsalted butter.

Garlic: Adding in 2 cloves of fresh or packaged garlic, finely chopped or crushed, for a wonderful burst of flavor.

Lemon zest: Finely grated zest of 1 lemon gives this pasta amazing taste that you will absolutely love. You will need one fresh lemon for the sauce, using both the zest and juice of the lemon.

Heavy cream: You need 1 cup of heavy cream to make the sauce rich and creamy. Use a full fat heavy cream if possible. A lower fat cream could be used, but the result may not be quite as thick and creamy.

Lemon juice: Juice of 1 lemon (approximately 2 tablespoons)

Parmesan cheese: Use a ¼ cup of grated parmesan cheese, pre-grated or freshly grated cheese will work great and add amazing flavor.

Parsley: Adding in ¼ cup of lightly packed, chopped fresh parsley, gives this dish a hint of freshness.

Step by step on how to make Lemony Garlic Pasta

Prep

You will want to prepare the lemon zest ahead of time and reserve some fresh lemon juice as well. If you are using fresh garlic cloves, chop or crush them to measure out the required amount. Same this with the parsley, chop it and put aside the called for measurement. Having the ingredients prepped ahead of time makes this recipe super easy to pull together.

Cook the Pasta

Get started by cooking the fettuccine according to package directions, make sure to reserve a ¼ cup of the cooking water before draining.

Simple Sauce-less Sauce

When the pasta has almost finished cooking, melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat.  Then, add in the garlic and lemon zest, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant. Next add the heavy cream, lemon juice and reserved pasta cooking water. Bring this mixture to a simmer and allow to thicken slightly.

Put it all together

Proceed to add in the cooked pasta, parmesan cheese and chopped parsley. Stir to combine and coat the pasta well, then divide between serving bowls. Top with extra grated parmesan and chopped parsley if desired.

Serve and enjoy!

How do you store left over garlic pasta?

You should store any leftover pasta in an airtight container and in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can reheat on the stovetop or using the microwave, add a dash of water to loosen the sauce, if necessary.

Can you freeze this Lemon Garlic Pasta?

This pasta is definitely suitable for freezing. Freeze the pasta in an airtight container and it will last up to 3 months. When you are ready to enjoy, defrost in the fridge, for reheating, use the above instructions.

HOW CAN I MAKE THIS A MORE ROBUST MEAL? 

While this dish is great on its own, we all know that some people do not consider it a meal unless there is meat involved. Thankfully this dish is very versatile and will pair great with many different meat options. To make this a fuller meal consider adding sausage, shrimp, chicken, or pork. Our family is a big fan of chicken, give this marinated grilled chicken a try. Even consider serving a warm this braided garden herb bread along side it too, that would be a great addition to this meal.

Are you a pasta lover like us? Check out more recipes here:

• Mexican Chicken Alfredo Pasta
• Summertime Pasta Salad with Lemon Dressing
• Pasta Caprese
• Easy Zucchini Pasta
• Chicken Pasta Salad
• Fresh From the Garden Pasta Salad
• Pizza Pasta Salad
• Spinach Chicken Pasta Salad
• Fiesta Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad
• Martha’s One Pan Pasta
• Greek Pasta Salad
• Creamy Lemon Pasta with Chicken

Lemony Garlic Pasta is made with very basic ingredients: butter, heavy cream, garlic, lemon juice, & Parmesan cheese. Make this delightful creamy pasta recipe any night of the week for a delicious meal!