Linguine With Lemon Sauce Recipe (2024)

By Pierre Franey

Linguine With Lemon Sauce Recipe (1)

Total Time
About 20 minutes
Rating
5(4,203)
Notes
Read community notes

The beauty of this recipe lies in its simplicity. All you need is pasta, a lemon, a knob of butter, a generous pour of heavy cream and a hunk of the best Parmesan you can get your hands on.

Featured in: 60-MINUTE GOURMET

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 2tablespoons butter
  • 1tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest, plus more for serving
  • ½pound fresh or dried linguine
  • 4tablespoons heavy cream
  • 2tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra cheese to serve on the side

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

333 calories; 13 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 44 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 63 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Linguine With Lemon Sauce Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    Bring a pot of salted water to boil.

  2. Step

    2

    Heat the butter in a skillet and add the lemon zest.

  3. Step

    3

    Drop the linguine into the boiling water. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

  4. Step

    4

    Add the cream to the butter and lemon zest mixture. Add the pasta and lemon juice and stir until just heated through. Add the Parmesan and toss. Serve with additional Parmesan and lemon zest on the side.

Tip

  • If fresh linguine is purchased in 9-ounce weight, use this in lieu of the half pound.

Ratings

5

out of 5

4,203

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Heather

THANK YOU!

I may have seen one too many recipe adjustments to make things "healthy" recently, but the spate of "can we make this without the cream and butter?" questions made me roll my eyes like a teenager.

Eat cream and butter and cheese, people. These are real food. Entire countries eat these foods daily, in reasonable amounts, and are far healthier than we are.

DJ

It is only 4 Tbsp of heavy cream people. And calories per Tbsp of cream versus oil? There are 51 calories per Tbsp of heavy cream, versus 119 calories per Tbsp for olive oil. The dish is wonderful using that small amount of heavy cream, using an oil changes it, and is also more caloric.

FRD

This was delicious!! A perfect spring recipe I'll pass to everyone I know that cooks.lol
Increased sauce by about 50%. (3 T butter/ 6T cream etc.).Added 1/2 lb shrimp and roasted asparagus. Not a drop left in anyones bowls.

Karyl Severson

I have to admit that I get a little irritated by people freaking out about butter and cream. French and Italian cooks use both, and those countries do not have the obesity problem that we have in the US. If you read the latest research about fats you will see that much of what was forced on us for decades is outdated.

kathyinct

Make it with Skim milk or hot water. Save a few calories, feel trendy and virtuous and it will taste awful.

Stan Lewiecki

Please dear friends. Make it as recited. It is a perfect recipe: simple, foolproof, and delicious. I regret to say this, perhaps but not really, as it is likely unpopular: if you are confronted with good recipes that feature things you don’t eat or of which you are afraid, move on. There are cookbooks of every stripe these days. You can find a good recipe that fits with your regimen.

Q.

I had buttermilk in the refrigerator, not cream, so I made it with that. I loved it! The buttermilk and lemon each amped the other up, at least to my taste buds.

Paula

I agree! I'm definitely down with the small amount of cream and butter in this recipe. This is a wonderful and simple recipe and shows perfectly how just a bit of cream, butter and good cheese can make a dish. This is like indulging...without really going totus porcus. People! Enjoy!

Pamela LaMay

Superb recipe, why are ppl so concerned with "real" butter and "heavy cream". Unless you don't know when to push the plate away you shouldn't even want to think of swapping out these ingredients.
Enjoy life GEEZ....

Natalie

Try using pasta water in the sauce. It really helps the dish come together nicely. My boyfriend does this all the time

Phydo76

Stick to the rx measures for proper balance of flavors. If you don't have fresh lemon or Reggiano Parmigiano don't make it. Flavors are very transparent, so it needs the pungency of fresh lemon and nutty bite of RP cheese. Very satisfying on its own, with a grating of fresh black pepper, but it begs creativity. Try a handful of peas, crisp sautéed leeks, mb fresh thyme/chix or sauteed shrimp/garlic. Recipe reports 4 servings, but it will yield only 2 main servings.

MM

I'm in chemo treatment and it's hard to find tummy satisfying meals. Pasta has been a mainstay for me, maybe it's comfort food and starchy so it rests well in the digestion. This recipe was perfect for me. Yes it was calorie dense but so tasty. I read the comments and doubled the recipe and glad I did so I can have left-overs. I just didn't have the energy to adapt for calories or tweaking but I'm ok with that. Thanks Pierre!

Babu Mandel

this recipe is flawless.. and if you had a few hazelnuts,
i won't tell a soul..

Sean

Followed the recipe as written except that I added finely chopped roasted hazelnuts to the butter (thanks to whoever suggested that below) and added a bit of reserved cooking water before the parmesan. My GF said it was the best meal I've ever made her (a pretty low bar, but still!).

Keith

There was another lemon pasta recipe posted in this column fairly recently which didn't have the parmesan but did call for lots of black pepper. When I tried that one I added the cheese anyway and it tasted great. To me the cheese and the lemon flavors don't compete and I think its a better lemon pasta as a result. Without a doubt add black pepper to this one. The only other variation is I used tagliatelli instead of linguini.

scraps

I made this as written; it was lovely, although a touch on the dry side. I’m glad I saved some pasta water— I ended up using about 3/4 cup of it to get the pasta glossy and tossable. Lovely, easy recipe though, and a hit with my whole family. (Looking to add to it? I’d suggest a lemon rotisserie chicken from your grocery store)

Tesabeth

my cream had gone bad. made with half and half. still really good.

Susan

Topped this delicious and easy to make pasta with seared sea scallops. AMAZING!

leslie

Tried this tonight but added in Italian sausage and roasted broccoli. It was excellent. The crunch from the broccoli with the lemon was really perfect.

Roni Jordan

So disappointing and boring. Tried a half recipe for my quick dinner last night. Not creamy. Won’t repeat.

mert

I make this with oat milk since that’s what I have. I don’t like wasting a whole container of heavy cream. I make it with chickpea spaghetti & add chili flakes on top too. It’s the easiest satisfying pasta dish!

Ashley J

Added more cheese than the recipe called for and this was a winner!

Bret

Surely simple and quick. I added sliced mushrooms that I'd cooked in a dry pan.

SEA

This is a superb recipe that comes together quickly and easily. Be sure to save some of the pasta water. I needed about a half a cup in the final step. Cracked pepper on top finishes it off, and we had it with halved cherry tomatoes and arugula tossed with olive oil and vinegar on the side. Leftovers were not as good as the day it was made, so next time I will adjust the recipe.

Laura

Add chicken to cream sauce along with Kalamata olives &/or capers plus cherry tomatoes, basil and parsley. Yum!!

Rebecca R.S.

Great with some leftover roasted salmon.

Bonnie

Delicious! And try it as a side to Chicken-Zucchini Meatballs with Feta, also a New York Times recipe. Wow! A fantastic, lemony, yummy meal.

Jim G.

Thank S. Sifton for reminding us about this recipe.

Sharri

Delicious recipe. But add black pepper.

Jan

Delicious! Made this with whole grain pasta and the lemon still came thru loud & clear. Sautéed shrimp, mushrooms, green onion, added a splash of white wine, used a tad more lemon juice than called for. Oooohhh baby! We loved it!

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Linguine With Lemon Sauce Recipe (2024)
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