How to make lemon garlic pasta sauce? – Food 4 Kitchen

Lemon garlic pasta is a kid-friendly and delicious meal that your children will love. It’s easy to make the sauce taste better. All you need is lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt and black pepper. These ingredients are great on their own – a little too sour for me, but I suppose it depends on what you like – so keep it in mind as well.

Lemon garlic pasta

How to make lemon garlic pasta sauce?

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp of olive oil.
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced.
• 1/4 tsp of salt.
• 1/8th tsp of black pepper.
• 20g butter (about 2 tbsp).
• 2.5 tablespoons of lime juice (about a large lemon).

Useful knowledge: How to make garlic sauce for pizza

Instructions

• Melt butter in a small frying pan and then add the garlic, salt and pepper. Golden brown the garlic by stirring constantly.
• Set aside after removing from heat, stirring in lemon juice.
• Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to your saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the sauce thickens slightly.
• Pour pasta into boiling water until it reaches around 80% of al dente (about 10-15 minutes). Drain the pasta and set it aside in a large bowl or on a plate to cool down slightly before adding it to the saucepan with your lemon garlic pasta sauce.
• Add the pasta to the saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes or until pasta is cooked al dente (about 2-3 minutes less than your original recipe).
• Add the garlic butter sauce on top of the pasta and mix until well combined, then serve and enjoy!

Instructions for lemon garlic pasta sauce

Note: I found that adding a little more lemon juice while cooking the lemon garlic pasta made it taste better. It’s also warm. The sauce doesn’t last too long as it starts to lose its flavour after about 5 hours in my experience, so it’s best served the day of.

Popular lemon garlic pasta recipes

Lemon garlic pasta with shrimp

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil.
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped.
• The following ingredients are needed: 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined;
• 3 cloves garlic, minced.
• 1 (5-ounce) package sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped.
• Use 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Information not to be missed: Directions for garlic cream sauce

Instructions

• A skillet over medium heat should be used to melt the olive oil.
• About 5 minutes later, add the onion and saute until softened. Stir in the shrimp, garlic, tomatoes and basil; season with salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes or until shrimp turn pink.
• Ladle into bowls and serve warm with lemon wedges.

Lemon garlic pasta with shrimp

Lemon garlic pasta with chicken

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil.
• 2 cloves garlic, minced.
• Cubed 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, minced.
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped.
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped.
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, minced.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Instructions

• When the oil is hot, heat it in a medium skillet.
• About a minute later, add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
• Add the chicken, green pepper, onion and rosemary and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste (I used some of this homemade salt, which is very tasty).
• Add the pasta to the saucepan with your lemon garlic pasta sauce and cook over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes or until pasta is cooked al dente (about 2-3 minutes less than your original recipe).
• Add the lemon garlic pasta sauce and mix until well combined, then serve and enjoy!

Lemon garlic pasta with chicken

Lemon garlic pasta with scallops

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound medium scallops, chopped.
• 1/2 cup lemon juice.
• 2 cloves garlic, minced.
• 4 tbsp olive oil.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Instructions

• Follow the instructions above to cook the pasta. Set aside to cool.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and saute the garlic until it is lightly browned about 1-2 minutes. Add the scallops and cook for 3-4 minutes. You can season it with pepper and salt. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice before serving with your lemon garlic pasta sauce.

Lemon garlic pasta with scallops

Cooking notes for lemon garlic pasta

• Stay away from heavy cream.
• Be careful of the butter, you don’t want your sauce to taste salty if you use too much.
• If you are using fresh herbs (instead of dried), save them for garnish and add just before serving.
• Don’t forget to show off that lemon wedge! It’s nice to serve with the meal and it also tastes good by itself!
• Use any type of pasta as long as it fits in your saucepan – I usually use about 1lb uncooked pasta (pasta shells). I sometimes use whole wheat pasta with great success; anything that will break down while cooking will do fine (as long as you overcook it!).
• If you don’t like really garlicky food, just take out half the garlic. It’s a good idea to start with half then add more if you want.
• If you are using shrimp, make sure they are deveined (the shell is white and looks like it has a backbone). I always start with the shell off – it’s easier to say which way they are defined. When cooking shrimp, usually only the tail is eaten – the other parts have a consistency of rubber so I’m guessing it’s not very tasty! Make sure your saucepan is large enough to handle all the pasta together with sauce after cooking – about 12 inches wide by 4 or 5 inches deep is fine.
• If you are using large shrimp, start with just half a pound and add more if needed.

Use half a pound of shrimp in this dish

Some questions about lemon garlic pasta

Is pasta gluten-free?

Yes. Pasta is made from semolina which consists of 99 per cent durum wheat, a high-protein, low gluten content grain. The durum wheat used to make pasta is different from the one that’s used to make bread.

Information not to be missed: Cooking notes for garlic butter for pizza crust

What is a roux? 

A roux is a mixture of butter and flour that’s cooked together until it gets thick enough to make the base of the sauce. I normally use a teaspoon of butter and then dump in enough flour to coat all the clumps in butter (so I usually use 2 tablespoons). Then I add the rest of my ingredients (butter, salt, pepper, garlic etc. and cook it until it’s thick and bubbly). If you add too much flour, your sauce will become very stringy after cooking and you will have to add more liquid.

Why do chefs add raw garlic to pasta?

This is a question that often comes up – because the garlic flavours are so strong! It’s the same reason why steak is often cooked with salt, pepper and other spices. Garlic has a very strong flavour and if you leave it in its raw form, the aroma and flavour completely overwhelm any other ingredients in a dish. But when the garlic is cooked, its flavour becomes more subtle and the flavour of other ingredients in the pasta sauce shines through.

Can I use frozen spinach?

Yes, you can use frozen spinach in this recipe. When it’s thawed, it will be very watery so make sure you drain it well before adding it to your pasta sauce. 

Can I add other vegetables? 

Yes, feel free to add any vegetables that you like – cauliflower, peppers etc. But make sure they are chopped into tiny pieces so that they cook quickly and mix with the lemon garlic pasta sauce. 

Can I use fresh herbs?

Yes, you can use fresh herbs in place of the dried garlic, basil and rosemary. Simply add 1 tsp dried herbs to the saucepan and stir. Add your lemon garlic pasta to the saucepan with the rest of your ingredients. Make sure you check out my housemade salt tutorial at my blog post – so easy and convenient!

Is lemon juice an alternative to lemon zest?

No, lemon juice is very acidic and will cause the cheese topping to burn if it’s too concentrated (like a squeeze bottle). Lemon zest is much milder, so it won’t burn as quickly or as easily.

Let me know how it goes and if you’re a fan of lemon garlic pasta. Below is a comment section where you can share your thoughts. I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I did writing about them. Thanks for reading!

Note: Lemon garlic pasta is best served warm, so make sure you cook it enough. I also added in an extra tbsp of butter before serving each time, along with a strip or two of fresh lemon peel.