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15-Minute Garlic Butter Pasta
The weeknight backstop: pantry ingredients, one pot plus the pasta pot, and a sauce built from starchy pasta water. Undercook the pasta by two minutes — it finishes in the sauce.
01 GET SET
(music on. apron optional.)
THIS RECIPE GOES GREAT WITH
Courtyard Classical
- Starchy pasta water emulsifies with butter into a sauce that clings instead of pooling.
- Finishing the pasta in the skillet lets it absorb flavor during its last two minutes of cooking.
- Adding cheese off the heat in stages prevents clumping.
02 MAKE IT
(check it off as you go.)
Pasta
Sauce
Boil the pasta
Cook the spaghetti in well-salted water for 2 minutes less than the package directs. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining.
1 lb spaghetti1 cup reserved pasta water
Toast the garlic
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until the garlic is pale gold at the edges.
6 tbsp unsalted butter8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced½ tsp red pepper flakes
Marry pasta and sauce
Add the drained pasta and ¾ cup of the reserved water to the skillet. Toss over medium-high heat until the water emulsifies with the butter and coats the noodles.
1 lb spaghetti1 cup reserved pasta water
Finish
Off the heat, add the parmesan in two additions, tossing constantly. Loosen with more pasta water if needed. Season with salt and plenty of black pepper.
2 oz parmesan, finely gratedkosher salt, to tasteblack pepper, freshly ground, to taste
- European-style butter makes a noticeably silkier sauce, but any unsalted butter works.
03 GOOD TO KNOW
(future you says thanks.)
KEEPS FOR LATER
Refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat gently with a splash of water to revive the sauce.
SWAPS THAT WORK
- Any long pasta works — linguine and bucatini are the best swaps.
- Pecorino for parmesan makes it sharper and saltier; reduce added salt.
NUTRITION SNAPSHOT
per serving · makes 4
- Calories
- 650
- Fat
- 23.1 g
- Saturated fat
- 13.8 g
- Carbs
- 88.7 g
- Fiber
- 3.9 g
- Sugar
- 3.3 g
- Protein
- 21.1 g
- Sodium
- 228 mg
- Cholesterol
- 58 mg
(USDA estimates — useful for planning, not medical or allergy decisions.)
04 NEED A HAND?
(ask before dinner becomes a situation.)
Substitutions, timing, "can I use the other pan" — answered for this exact recipe.
05 THE VERDICT
(cooks vote. aunt judges.)
COOK'S NOTES
Notes from people who actually made it. Every note is human-checked.
No kitchen dispatches yet. Yours could be first.
06 COOK NEXT
(keep the good decisions going.)
