Creating tasty lemon pasta is one easy way to bring the taste of Italy to your dinner table. You can transform a regular pasta dish into something lovely and bright with a few ingredients and boiling water.

First, let’s sort out some of the ingredients you will need to make a tasty lemon pasta, then we’ll go over the process, and finally will talk through some tips and tricks to ensure your lemon pasta recipe comes out perfectly every time.

What Is Lemon Pasta?

Pasta al limone or lemon pasta is a simple side dish from the Amalfi coast. You only need a very small list of ingredients to accomplish it, but it’s not less flavorful because of that. Some people include cream in the recipe but the one that we will be sharing today doesn’t include it. We will be thickening the sauce with the water from cooking the pasta.

What Are the Lemon Pasta Ingredients?

The two primary ingredients are lemon and pasta, but because both have so many variations, selecting which type of lemon and which shape of pasta requires some consideration.

Home cooks can use fresh lemon, Meyer lemon, or preserved lemon in their lemon pasta dish. While fresh lemon is most easy to access at a grocery store, many Italian recipes may call for preserved lemon, which can be stored in a glass jar, usually in the Italian section of your grocery store.

A preserved lemon has been stored in salt, so when using it in a dish, note that it brings the critical citrus flavor and a distinct saltiness.

When it comes to pasta, many people are comfortable working with spaghetti or macaroni shapes. Still, when it comes to creating your own signature lemon pasta dish, you may want to try a new variety or find fresh pasta from the deli counter. Fresh fettuccine or bucatini work really well in a lemon pasta recipe.

One great thing about making lemon pasta is that you can use whatever type of pasta you have on hand, and the dish will be delicious.

In addition to those two essential ingredients, you might also need garlic, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, basil, and fresh parsley. Depending on your recipe, you may also want to pick up some red pepper flakes for a bit of spice or shrimp to add a light protein to your dish.

Some specific kitchen utensils will also be required, like a pot big enough to boil pasta in and a skillet to prepare your sauce and then subsequently toss your spaghetti or pasta. Home cooks might also need a cheese grater to sprinkle Parmesan on top of their finished dish.

Tasty Lemon Pasta Recipe

Pasta al limone or lemon pasta is a simple side dish from the Amalfi coast. You only need a very small list of ingredients to accomplish it, but it’s not less flavorful because of that. Some people include cream in the recipe but the one that we will be sharing today doesn’t include it. We will be thickening the sauce with the water from cooking the pasta.

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Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 20 mins

Course Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine Italian

Servings 6 Servings

Calories 260 kcal

Ingredients

  

• Pasta 
• A small amount of white wine or chicken broth to deglaze the pan
• Lemon
• Garlic
• Parmesan Cheese
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh Basil
• Fresh parsley
• Pepper flakes
• Shrimp

Instructions

 

• The first step to making a tasty lemon pasta recipe is to boil water and add salt. Following the package instructions, you will cook the pasta in boiling water. For fresh pasta, it usually only takes three or four minutes, and for dry pasta, it takes approximately seven minutes for it to be the perfect al dente texture.
• The next step would be to prepare the sauce. To deglaze a pan to prepare the sauce, pour a scant amount of white wine or chicken broth into the pan and allow it to simmer for a few minutes.
• You'll need about half a cup of lemon juice, which is approximately the juice from two lemons. Combine the lemon juice with olive oil, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.
• When your pasta is al dente, reserve a half cup of pasta water, drain the rest, add your spaghetti or pasta into your sauce, and toss. Add small amounts of the reserved pasta water until your sauce is thickened and your pasta is coated.
• To finish the dish, sprinkle more cheese on top, along with fresh herbs like basil or parsley.
• If you are adding a protein to your pasta, like shrimp or chicken, you can cook the protein in the skillet where you plan to make your sauce. Cook the shrimp or chicken until they are done in the skillet, then remove them and set them aside.

Tips & Tricks for Lemon Pasta Recipe

When to remove the pasta from the water: because you are finishing your pasta in your lemon sauce, you want to make sure you remove the pasta from the boiling water while it is still al dente so it can finish cooking in the sauce.

Save pasta water: always save pasta water when you drain your noodles to thicken in your sauce. When you cook pasta in boiling water, the starch from the pasta will create a new viscous liquid that can be used to accent most sauces in Italian cooking.

Original name: call your dish pasta al Limone to add a bit of flair to its presentation. Lemon pasta likely originated in southern Italy, where we get the term “pasta al Limone.”

Olive oil alternative: if you are out of olive oil, simply melt butter and mix it with lemon juice to create your lemon butter pasta.

Use heavy cream: Adding a small amount of heavy cream to your lemon pasta sauce can make an interesting twist on an alfredo sauce. The citrus from the lemon brings a lightness to the creamy pasta dish. Creating something familiar but new can help picky eaters try something new.

Nutrition Information of Lemon Pasta

If you’re using a traditional recipe with lemon, olive oil, Parmesan, and spaghetti, then a serving size is about 260 calories.

There are many ways that you can decrease the calories and increase the protein in this dish. Try using spinach fettuccine instead of regular flour-based pasta, or try adding shrimp or chicken for increased protein.

Generally speaking, fresh pasta has less saturated fat than packaged pasta. Still, both are perfectly fine for this lemon pasta recipe, and it makes a little difference in the grand scheme of nutritional information.

Final Thoughts for Lemon Pasta

Finding a lemon pasta recipe that fits your taste and budget is simple, and every recipe can be amended to fit your specific likes. My favorite variation is lemon garlic pasta with an extra garlic flavor. The lemon pasta sauce is simple but an important part of the success of this dish.

Making lemon spaghetti with a rich citrus lemon sauce, topped with Parmesan, is one tasty lemon pasta dish. Be creative in your kitchen; this recipe is a great starter for cultivating your personal culinary style!