This lemon asparagus pasta recipe is full of fresh flavor and only has 5 ingredients! It's ready in about 30 minutes and makes for an easy vegetarian meal.
Oh the joys of asparagus season! This asparagus pasta, bursting with fresh lemon flavor and coated with a buttery parmesan sauce is the best way to take advantage of it.
Lemon and asparagus love each other, as you well know if you've made my Roasted Vegetable Salad with Charred Lemon Vinaigrette or my Asparagus Tart. So for this pasta, we're going to make lemon a key component of the sauce to keep it light and bright!
You only need 5 ingredients and a couple of pans to make it, and you'll have dinner on the table in about 30 minutes to boot!
Keep the asparagus love flowing all spring and summer long and make my Asparagus Quiche, Asparagus Risotto, or try Baked Asparagus with Parmesan.
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Ingredients for lemon asparagus pasta
You only need 5 ingredients to make this light, lemony asparagus pasta!
- Fresh asparagus: Choose asparagus that is firm, not limp. The tips should be tight, and dark green or purple in color. Any yellow or brown means it's gone bad.
- Pasta: Choose a good quality pasta brand. You want it to look nice and yellow. I like DeCecco which is affordable and readily available in many supermarkets.
- Lemon: We'll use the lemon zest and lemon juice. Asparagus and lemon love each other and this combo will give our pasta amazing flavor!
- Parmesan cheese: Use real parmigiano reggiano. We only have 5 ingredients, so let's make sure they are the best!
- Butter: Butter will be the base of our light, lemony parmesan sauce.
- Kosher salt: To season the pasta water.
How to make asparagus pasta with lemon
Step 1: Grate the parmesan
Use a box grater to grate the parmesan cheese and set aside.
Step 2: Zest and juice the lemons
Use a microplane grater to zest both lemons and set aside. Slice the lemons and juice them, removing the seeds.
PREP TIP Always zest the lemon before you juice it. It's next to impossible to get the zest off once it has been squeezed.
Step 3: Trim and cut the asparagus
Trim the asparagus by bending it gently near the bottom of the stalk. It will naturally break in the right place. You can learn more details about how to trim it in my Baked Asparagus with Parmesan post.
Cut asparagus on the bias!
For this recipe, we're going to cut the asparagus into short pieces on a bias. This gives a nice texture and helps it to nestle into the spaghetti noodles once it's all put together.
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Step 4: Start cooking the pasta
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti and cook until just shy of al dente.
PREP TIP Never break your spaghetti!!!! We want those nice long noodles! To avoid sticking, hold the spaghetti perpendicular to the pan and drop in vertically, allowing the noodles to fan out in a circle around the pan. Once they soften they'll sink in and won't be stuck together on the ends.
Step 5: Cook the asparagus and assemble the pasta
- Once the pasta is almost al dente, melt the butter in a skillet over medium low heat. Add the asparagus and cook for about 1 minute, until it turns a bright green, add lemon juice and stir.
- Use tongs to transfer the spaghetti directly from the boiling water into the skillet with the asparagus. Add about ¼ cup of the pasta water. Stir to coat with the lemon butter sauce. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
- Turn off the heat and gradually add the parmesan, stirring constantly. Add a little more pasta water if necessary. You might need another ¼ cup or so. We want all of the cheese to melt and coat the spaghetti which will continue to absorb the liquid and cook a bit more. We don't want gloppy cheese, but we also don't want it swimming in sauce.
- Add ¾ of the lemon zest and stir. Transfer to a serving bowl and top with remaining lemon zest and a bit more parmesan for serving.
Tips for best results
- This asparagus pasta recipe goes FAST! So it's important to have all of your ingredients prepped and ready before you start cooking.
- I always prefer to grate my own cheese. Pre-grated cheese loses its moisture quickly. We want freshly grated cheese so it will melt readily, as soon as we add it to the pan.
- Don't drain the pasta! We need pasta water for the lemon parmesan sauce, so we want to keep that pasta water that's already clinging to the noodles.
- Don't overcook the asparagus in the butter. It's going to continue cooking when we add the pasta, so it really only needs a minute. We want to keep that bright green color!
- Don't add too much pasta water to the pan before you add the cheese. If you do, the cheese will not melt and create a sauce, it will just glop together in melted blobs. Start with ¼ cup and then see if you need more.
- You don't have to cut the asparagus on the bias, but it really looks pretty and means better overall texture if you do.
Ways to serve asparagus pasta
Honestly, a big bowl of lemon asparagus pasta makes a perfect light meal on its own, but here are some ideas for sides, starters and added protein.
- While strawberry and asparagus seasons are colliding, try it with this Strawberry Salad with Fresh Basil and Mint.
- Start with this easy Crostini with Peas for added spring flavor, substitute sun dried tomatoes for the 'nduja to keep it vegetarian.
- Top with grilled chicken or Garlic Shrimp.
Other pasta shapes to try
I love to make this lemon asparagus pasta with spaghetti, because spaghetti noodles have a hefty bite and chew, and it's the perfect vehicle for the parmesan sauce. But here are a few other ideas:
- Linguine
- Farfalle (bowtie)
- Fusilli
- Rotini
- Cavatelli
I don't recommend hollow shapes like penne or rigatoni, because although they would be about the same length as the sliced asparagus, those shapes are designed for pasta recipes that have heftier sauces, so it can get up inside the opening. We don't need that here since our lemon parmesan sauce is very light, we just want it to coat the spaghetti.
FAQ
Either will work. Since we're cutting the asparagus on a bias, the thickness of the stalk doesn't matter at all.
Because we want the parmesan to melt into the butter to create a light sauce. It won't do that as readily with olive oil. If you like, you can add a drizzle of olive oil before serving.
Please NEVER use bottled lemon juice! Always use fresh squeezed because it tastes so much better and pre-bottled can take on other flavors in your fridge that you don't want showing up in your pasta!
This asparagus pasta is lemony, light, and easy to make in 30 minutes!
- We'll cook asparagus very lightly in lemon butter, so it retains its beautiful color and texture.
- We'll use spaghetti for our pasta noodle for a great al dente bite.
- Fresh lemon juice + lemon zest = maximum lemon flavor!
- Parmesan cheese adds umami and creaminess, while keeping the sauce light.
- It's vegetarian!
More vegetarian pasta recipes
- Creamy Zucchini Pasta has you covered when summer's most prolific vegetable is overflowing from the garden.
- Linguine with Olives, Capers and Herbs is loaded with freshness!
- If red sauce is your jam, you'll love Penne all'Arrabbiata, which gets a spicy kick from crushed red pepper flakes!
Recipe
Asparagus Pasta with Lemon
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese about 3.5 ounces
- zest of two lemons divided
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 pound spaghetti
- kosher salt for the pasta water
Instructions
- Put a large pot of salted water on high heat and bring to a boil while you are prepping the other ingredients.
- Use a box grater to grate the parmesan cheese and set aside. Use a microplane grater to zest both lemons and set aside. Slice the lemons and juice them, removing the seeds.
- Trim the asparagus by bending it gently near the bottom of the stalk. It will naturally break in the right place. Cut the asparagus stalks on a bias into 1-inch long pieces.
- Add spaghetti to the boiling water and cook until just shy of al dente.
- Once the pasta is almost al dente, melt the butter in a skillet over medium low heat. Add the asparagus and cook for about 1 minute, until it turns a bright green, add lemon juice and stir.
- Use tongs to transfer the spaghetti directly from the boiling water into the skillet with the asparagus. Add ¼ cup of pasta water. Stir to coat with the lemon butter sauce. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
- Turn off the heat and gradually add the parmesan, stirring constantly. Add a little more pasta water if necessary. You might need ¼ to ½ cup or none at all. We want all of the cheese to melt into the liquid and coat the spaghetti. We don't want thick gloppy cheese all over the noodles, but we also don't want it swimming in sauce. You should have just enough sauce to coat all the noodles. Add ¾ of the lemon zest and stir to combine.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and top with remaining lemon zest and a bit more parmesan for serving.
Notes
- This asparagus pasta recipe goes FAST! So it's important to have all of your ingredients prepped and ready before you start cooking.
- I always prefer to grate my own cheese. Pre-grated cheese loses its moisture quickly. We want freshly grated cheese so it will melt readily, as soon as we add it to the pan.
- Don't drain the pasta! We need pasta water for the lemon parmesan sauce, so we want to keep that pasta water that's already clinging to the noodles.
- Don't overcook the asparagus in the butter. It's going to continue cooking when we add the pasta, so it really only needs a minute. We want to keep that bright green color!
- Don't add too much pasta water to the pan before you add the cheese. If you do, the cheese will not melt and create a sauce, it will just glop together in melted blobs. Start with ¼ cup and then see if you need more.
- You don't have to cut the asparagus on the bias, but it really looks pretty and means better overall texture if you do.
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