Easy Creamy Lemon Pasta
This easy creamy lemon pasta uses pantry ingredients, tastes so delicious, and is on the table within 30 minutes.
Al dente pasta tossed in a lemon, garlic, and parmesan cream sauce? Yes, please! I found a recipe for this decadent pasta on Salt & Lavender that looked super tasty. I surprised my kids with this creamy lemon pasta for their lunch recently. They ate every single bite and deemed this pasta a new favorite. This dish paired nicely with my house salad with Fran’s vinaigrette and some freshly baked bread.
How to Make Easy Creamy Lemon Pasta
Cook your pasta of choice in a pot of salted boiling water until al dente, per package instructions. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the flour and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Add the minced garlic & a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the wine, lemon juice, & zest and let it bubble for 1 minute.
Add the heavy cream and cook, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes until a bit thickened. Whisk in the finely grated parmesan cheese and season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste.
Add the drained pasta and the fresh parsley to the sauce and toss to coat evenly; simmer for a couple of minutes to allow the pasta to soak in some of the lemon cream sauce. Add reserved pasta water as needed. Taste and re-season with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, or lemon juice, if needed.
Pour into a serving bowl and serve immediately with fresh parmesan and extra lemon wedges on the side.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 oz pasta of choice, cooked per instructions
- 2 tbsp butter
- ½ tbsp flour
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
- ¼ cup wine **You can also use vegetable broth
- Juice & zest from 1 lemon, additional wedges for serving **My kids like it really lemony. Use less lemon juice & zest if you don't.
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup parmesan, freshly finely grated
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste.
Instructions
- Cook your pasta of choice in a pot of well-salted boiling water until al dente, per package instructions. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the flour and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Add the minced garlic & a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the wine, lemon juice, & zest and let it bubble for 1 minute.
- Add the heavy cream and cook, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes until a bit thickened. Whisk in the finely grated parmesan cheese and season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste.
- Add the drained pasta and the fresh parsley to the sauce and toss to coat evenly; simmer for a couple of minutes to allow the pasta to soak in some of the lemon cream sauce. Add reserved pasta water as needed. Taste and re-season with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, or lemon juice, if needed.
- Pour into a serving bowl and serve immediately with fresh parmesan and extra lemon wedges on the side.
Easy, simple and very tasty!
This recipe looks wonderful and we love the lemon flavor,
We love lemon, butter, garlic sauce and just had it with fish last night. I can imagine how great it is turned into a cream sauce and will plan on making this.
Amazing photos of an amazing recipe! I am all about the lemony creamy pasta dishes lately and need to try this one.
Love this! I like serving this with salmon or scallops. Such delicious flavors!