Angel Hair Pasta with Lemon Sauce cooks up very quickly! This simple lemon sauce that requires no cooking, only warming helps make dinner come together in a snap! Angel hair pasta is tossed with a warm lemon sauce made with extra olive oil, fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
Light, fresh-tasting, and delicious! A quick and easy pasta dish you can make in less than 15 minutes and it gives you that refreshing essense in flavor every time!
What is Angel Hair Pasta?
Angel Hair Pasta is also called capellini pasta in Italian. It resembles spaghetti, only it is a much thinner noodle, with a delicate texture when cooked.
And, it cooks much faster than regular spaghetti. In fact, angel hair pasta will cook (in boiling water) for about 3 minutes or less, for it to be al-dente texture. You can find angel hair pasta in the pasta section of every supermarket.
Lemon Sauce is bright, fresh-tasting, easy to make and healthy…
We love lemons all year long, and especially during the summer months. We try to incorporate them into our recipes as much as possible.
The health benefits of incorporating lemons into our diets are huge!
Besides all the meals we cook with lemon, some of our favorite recipes happen to be with desserts, like our raspberry lemon crumble bars, and our Italian lemon cookies with lemon glaze just to name a few.
HOW TO MAKE ANGEL HAIR PASTA WITH LEMON SAUCE? (full recipe card below!)…
For our recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
Ingredients Needed for Angel Hair Pasta with Lemon Sauce ( Spaghetti al Limone):
-
1 pound Angel Hair or Capellini pasta
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4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
-
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
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1 Tbsp. lemon zest
-
1 large lemon juiced
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1/2 tsp. salt
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Optional: 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
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Optional: 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
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fresh cracked pepper to taste
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few stems of fresh basil, for garnish
Directions to Make this Pasta Dish…
1. In a large pot of boiling water, add 2 teaspoons of salt. Add in angel hair pasta and cook until “al dente,” about 3 minutes or less. Reserve 1/4 cup of salted water, and set aside. Drain
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saute pan. Add olive oil, zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Heat gently for 1 minute. Toss with pasta (and if you need more liquid, add in the reserved 1/4 cup of salted water).
3. Add fresh basil and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and toss until angel hair pasta is evenly coated. If you need to add some extra virgin olive oil, please do so. Drizzle some in to keep the pasta extra moist.
4. Serve in warm bowls and garnish with some fresh basil, lemon zest, and fresh cracked pepper on top. Serve with extra grated Parmigiano cheese at the table.
Serves 4 to 6
TIPs for Success!
- For this pasta, we highly recommend that you “under”cook the angel hair pasta slightly, to a very al-dente.
- Because the pasta is so thin, it actually continues to cook while draining, and continue internally. It might overcook, and you might end up with pasta that is too starchy and mushy.
- Also, it’s optional if you want to add in or leave out the grated Parmigiano cheese. Just serve the grated cheese on the table for everyone to help themselves. Not everyone is a fan of cheese all the time.
Sides to serve with Angel Hair Pasta with Lemon Sauce:
You will enjoy our Angel Hair Pasta with Lemon Sauce with any of these sides to choose from:
- Chicken Tenders Smothered in Lemon & Parsley
- Grilled Ginger-Lime Chicken Kabobs
- Best Salmon Piccata
- Easy Baked Shrimp Scampi Dinner
- Chicken Rollatini with Prosciutto and Cheese.
- Mom’s Best Chicken Piccata.
A pasta dish like this one is very easy, simply because you can add more or less lemon juice, zest, and even extra virgin olive oil to suit your taste.
Also, you may even add some crushed red pepper flakes (about 1/8 tsp.) to give it some heat.
Keep in mind, nothing in this recipe has to be the exact amount to make it perfect, just like some of the photos I make for Pinterest – they’re not perfect!
With the picky eaters in my family, it was a nice surprise to see how they all loved my pasta with lemon sauce!
Try this recipe with Gluten-Free Angel Hair or GF Capellini Pasta.
ENJOY!!
DON’T forget to PIN and Share!! Thanks again…
MORE EASY and TASTY PASTA RECIPES!
-
Bucatini with Truffle Oil and Ricotta Salata
-
Vegetable Bolognese with Pappardelle
-
Spinach Ravioli with White Cream Asparagus Sauce
Yield: 4 to 6
Angel Hair Pasta with Lemon Sauce
Angel Hair Pasta with Lemon Sauce cooks up very quickly! With this simple lemon sauce that requires only warming, no cooking, helps make this pasta dish come together in a snap!
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
5 minutes
Total Time
10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 pound Angel Hair or Capellini pasta
- 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
- 1 large lemon juice (about 2 Tbsp.)
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- Optional: 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
- Optional: 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- fresh cracked pepper to taste
- few sprigs of fresh basil for garnish
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling water, add 2 teaspoons of salt. Add in angel hair pasta and cook until "al dente," about 3 minutes or less. Reserve 1/4 cup of salted water, and set aside. Drain
- Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saute' pan. Add olive oil, zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Heat gently for 1 minute. Toss with pasta (and if you need more liquid, add in the reserved 1/4 cup of salted water).
- Add fresh basil and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and toss until angel hair pasta is evenly coated. If you need to add some extra virgin olive oil, please do so. Drizzle some in to keep the pasta extra moist.
- Serve in warm bowls and garnish with some fresh basil, lemon zest, and fresh cracked pepper on top. Serve with extra grated Parmigiano cheese at the table.
- Serves 4 to 6
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4 to 6 servingsServing Size:
1 servingAmount Per Serving: Calories: 319Total Fat: 1gCarbohydrates: 41gProtein: 7.1g
12 Comments
Sharon
December 2, 2021 at 8:58 pmI can’t wait to try this! I plan on sauteing some large shrimp and pea pods, or asparagus to toss in.
by Anna and Liz
December 3, 2021 at 10:45 amAw, that sounds AMAZING, Sharon! .. and welcome to our blog, it’s so nice to meet you! Angel hair pasta with lemon sauce is our favorite and we combine it with a lot of our seafood dishes. We’re so glad we inspire you to try our recipe and we hope you will continue to try more! Have a great weekend! 🙂
handmade by amalia
August 10, 2019 at 1:08 amOne of my favorite dishes.
Amalia
xo
by Anna and Liz
August 13, 2019 at 9:23 amOurs too! thank you Amalia!
Sandra
July 19, 2018 at 1:58 amThis sounds so delicious and I love anything with citrus flavouring! Perfect for the hot summer months!
2sisters Recipes
July 19, 2018 at 8:27 amThank you Sandra! Hope your summer is going well!
Xo
Marin mama cooks
July 18, 2013 at 4:54 amI love simple an easy weeknight pasta dishes like this one. Lemon sauces pair so well with pasta and just keeps it light and fresh. I could totally see adding some cherry tomatoes, asparagus or broccoli rabe to this pasta to make it a one-bowl meal. xoxo, Jackie
annaliz
July 19, 2013 at 3:56 amOh Jackie you are so on it! Adding some asparagus, cherry tomatoes and even broccoli rabe would be terrific with this lemon sauce. Great ideas!! Even though my family loves it plain, I would love it with the added greens..for sure!! Have a great day!
Mary Callan
July 17, 2013 at 11:01 pmPasta with lemon sauce is one of my favorite things! yours looks so light and delicious 🙂
Mary x
2 Sisters Recipes
August 6, 2019 at 10:45 amThank you Mary
cquek
July 17, 2013 at 12:06 pmI just love your posts. They're so entertaining!
annaliz
July 17, 2013 at 1:00 pmOh thank you! You are so sweet!