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Lemon Butter Garlic Pasta Sauce Recipe

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This lemon butter garlic pasta sauce is light, zesty, and ready in 20 minutes. A perfect weeknight dinner that’s bursting with flavor!

  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 300 g (10.5 oz) linguine or spaghetti
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 40 g (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
  • 6 garlic cloves, finely sliced
  • ½ teaspoon red chilli flakes
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 50 g (½ cup) grated Parmesan (or veggie hard Italian cheese)
  • A handful freshly chopped parsley
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Cook your pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook your pasta until al dente. The key here is to salt the water generously—it should taste like the sea. Al dente means the pasta still has a bit of a bite, which is perfect since it will finish cooking in the sauce. Don’t forget to reserve 1-2 cups of pasta water before draining.
  2. Start the sauce: While the pasta’s cooking, heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat and melt the butter into it. Once the butter’s melted, add your garlic and chili flakes. Cook for about 1-2 minutes, just until the garlic turns golden. Be careful—garlic can burn quickly, and burnt garlic is not what we’re going for!
  3. Toss the pasta: Transfer your drained pasta into the pan with the garlic butter sauce and toss everything together. If the sauce looks a little too thick or dry, add a splash of the reserved pasta water. This helps loosen the sauce and makes it cling to the pasta like a dream.
  4. Add the lemon and cheese: Stir in the lemon zest, juice, and Parmesan. Toss again so everything’s evenly coated. The cheese will melt into the pasta, making it creamy without needing any heavy cream.
  5. Finishing touches: Sprinkle in the chopped parsley and give it one last toss. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and freshly ground pepper, then serve it up immediately!

Notes

This recipe is easy to scale up or down depending on how many people you’re feeding. For a large group, just double the ingredients, but be mindful that you’ll need a bigger pan to toss everything together. If you’re cooking for one, simply halve the ingredients. Just be careful not to skimp on the lemon juice and zest—those are the key flavor makers!

  • Author: Nora
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Category: Dinner

Find it online: https://recipevibe.com/lemon-butter-garlic-pasta-sauce-recipe/