Easy Lemon Garlic Pasta
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Weeknight dinners don’t have to be boring. In less than 30 minutes, you can have a delicious pot of Easy Lemon Garlic Pasta on the table! Your whole family will appreciate this tasty lemon pasta dish!
It seems like everyone has insane schedules these days! Quick and easy recipes are a key to getting everyone around the dinner table. This easy lemon garlic pasta is packed with flavor in an easy to follow recipe that is ready super fast.
This brightly flavored pasta is a total crowd pleaser. It is the perfect dinner option for a busy weeknight!
Why You’ll Love This Lemon Garlic Pasta Recipe
- Simple & Easy! This recipe requires only a few simple ingredients…most of which you already have at the house.
- Side Dish or Main! This recipe is perfect for a meal or even a light side dish.
- So Much Flavor! This is the ultimate combination of bright lemon, earthy Parmesan, and rich olive oil.
Easy Lemon Garlic Pasta Ingredients
- Pasta – I typically use spaghetti or angel hair pasta. Any long, slender dry pasta works well in this recipe.
- Salt and pepper
- Olive Oil
- Lemons – You will need the juice and the zest from the lemons. Fresh lemon juice offers the best flavor.
- Fresh Garlic Cloves
- Italian Seasoning
- Crushed Red Pepper – This is optional but adds a small amount of spice to the pasta dish.
- Butter – I typically use salted butter (Kerry Gold is my favorite).
- Baby Spinach
- Parmesan – Be sure to use a high quality Parmesan.
Essential Items for This Recipe
Pasta Variations
Some other variations of this recipe that would be delicious include:
- Lemon garlic capellini (look for capellini sold in little pasta nests)
- Garlic shrimp pasta with lemon
- Lemon garlic chicken pasta
- Parmesan garlic spaghetti with mushrooms and lemon
- Lemon garlic kale pasta
One thing that really helps take the flavor of this dish up a notch is lightly toasting the spices in a little bit of olive oil along with the garlic. Lemon zest from fresh lemons really help give the pasta that citrus punch.
How to Make Garlic Lemon Pasta
Step 1: Cook your pasta in a large pot of salted water. When you are boiling your pasta, be sure to save about 1/4 cup of pasta water before draining the noodles. The starchy water from the pasta will help your lemon garlic butter sauce for pasta come together perfectly and cling to the pasta. This step ensures your lemon garlic pasta is perfect every time.
Step 2: Start making them lemon garlic butter sauce by heating the olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic, lemon zest, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper. Add butter and, once melted, add baby spinach, cooked pasta, pasta water, and fresh lemon juice. Once the spinach begins to wilt, stir in the cheese.
My family loves this recipe and I love how simple and easy it is to make. It is so perfect for a quick weeknight meal and, since it is pasta, it is a great way to feed a crowd too. Want to add some protein? Shrimp and pasta go perfectly together. Or, try lemon garlic chicken pasta!
If you want to try a lightened up version of this dish, be sure to check out my recipe for easy lemon garlic vegetable noodles. The recipe has the same lemon garlic butter sauce for pasta from of this recipe but with zucchini noodles in place of traditional pasta.
If you make this easy lemon pasta recipe or any other recipe from the blog, I’d love to hear about it! Let me know in the comments or snap a photo and tag it #MySuburbanKitchen on Instagram or Twitter. Also, try these other great dinner ideas for tonight.
More Great Pasta Recipes
- Summer Squash Pasta Salad with Prosciutto
- One Pot Greek Chicken Pasta
- One Pot Spinach Artichoke Pasta
- Spinach Sausage Pasta
Easy Lemon Garlic Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 ounces box angel hair or spaghetti
- Salt and pepper
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 5 Tablespoons butter
- 2 cups baby spinach torn
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add 1 Tbsp salt and pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water and then drain pasta.16 ounces box angel hair or spaghetti
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and lemon zest. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in Italian seasoning and crushed red pepper and cook for an additional minute.2 Tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, 5 cloves garlic
- Add butter to pan and, once melted, add baby spinach, pasta, reserved pasta water and lemon juice. Once spinach begins to wilt, stir in Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.5 Tablespoons butter, 2 cups baby spinach, 1/3 cup grated Parmesan, 2 teaspoon lemon juice, Salt and pepper
Nutrition
