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This garlic mushroom pasta recipe is easy to make and incredibly delicious! The garlic butter parmesan sauce is freshened up with a touch of lemon and parsley.
You may also like my Easy Pink Sauce Pasta or this Creamy Spinach Bacon Orzo next.
Why you’ll love it
This dish is made with simple ingredients. Garlic butter mushroom pasta is great for a quick weeknight dinner but also perfect for serving company. Lemon and mushrooms is such a good combo that you don’t see too often. Let me know how you like it!
I rarely cook with pappardelle, but whenever I do decide to use it, I think to myself that I should do it more often. It just feels fancy, but it’s not any more difficult to boil than any other pasta shape. Those ribbons go perfectly with the buttery mushroom sauce.
What you’ll need
- Pasta – I like a longer shape like pappardelle, but serve with whatever pasta you prefer
- Olive oil and butter – for sautéing and the base of the sauce
- Onion and garlic – tasty aromatics. I like using sweet onions.
- Mushrooms – I chose cremini/baby bellas
- Chicken broth – for more savory depth
- Dijon mustard and lemon juice and zest – for brightness and enhancing flavor. You don’t taste them individually.
- Parmesan – use a good-quality block and grate it yourself. It melts better and has the best flavor.
- Parsley – a pop of freshness
Pro tip
I try to eke out as much flavor as possible by making sure the mushrooms and onions get a good sear. Don’t rush this step!
How to make garlic mushroom pasta
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Cook the pasta. Meanwhile, sauté the mushrooms and onions in the oil and some butter in a skillet, stirring occasionally, until the water is cooked off and they’re nicely seared. Add in the remaining butter, the garlic and Dijon, and cook for a minute.
Pour in the broth, and add the lemon juice and zest. Let it bubble for another minute. Remove from the heat, and stir in the parmesan and parsley. Add a splash of pasta water to the sauce, drain the pasta, then toss it with the sauce. Season with salt & pepper.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- I use one of my fav kitchen tools to zest the lemon, my Microplane zester/grater. It’s also great for grating cheese. 😉
- This skillet is the one I use.
- A pair of kitchen tongs makes it simple to toss and serve this pasta.
Substitutions and variations
- Use vegetable broth if you’re vegetarian. Dry white wine also works great for this dish. I typically cook with either sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio. I don’t really have any brand preference.
- If you’ve got other fresh herbs on-hand, feel free to add them in!
- You can definitely try a different kind of mushroom for this recipe (white mushrooms come to mind). Just be sure to brown them well!
What to serve with mushroom pasta
- A slice of fresh crusty bread or a dinner roll is a good idea, or try Garlic Bread.
- I like this Super Simple Parmesan Arugula Salad for an easy and elegant pairing, or try spring mix with this Homemade Italian Dressing.
Leftovers and storage
- Store leftovers for 3-4 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
- The pasta can dry out over time, so you might want to add a splash of white wine or broth when reheating. Do so slowly over a low heat.
- I don’t recommend freezing leftovers.
Love mushrooms and pasta? Try these
If you made this easy mushroom pasta recipe, let me know in the comments below! Or tag me #saltandlavender on Instagram.
Garlic Mushroom Pasta
Ingredients
- 4 ounces uncooked pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter divided
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup chicken broth or veg broth or white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice + zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil a salted pot of water and cook the pasta al dente according to package directions.
- Add the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter to a skillet over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the onions and mushrooms. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the water has been released from the mushrooms & cooked off and everything gets a good sear and is browned/caramelized (this gives a ton of flavor). It'll take 8-10 minutes or possibly a bit longer.
- Stir in the rest of the butter, plus the garlic and Dijon mustard. Cook for about a minute.
- Add in the broth and lemon juice + zest, and let it bubble for about a minute or so.
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the parmesan cheese and parsley. Add a splash of the hot pasta water prior to draining the pasta (a couple tablespoons) and then toss the pasta with the sauce. Season with salt & pepper as needed and serve immediately.
Notes
- You could stretch this recipe to feed 4 people (just add more pasta) if you’re serving it with something else. This recipe can be easily doubled, but the mushrooms and onions will likely take longer to properly sear since there will be more in the pan.
- This recipe also appears in the Salt & Lavender: Everyday Essentials hardcover cookbook.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
I read above in the description of the garlic mushroom pasta. The use of Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio wine in the sauce labeled as Brands. FYI these are not brands. They are grape varieties. This doesn’t look good coming from Chef’s recipe. Lol
You misread. I know they’re grape varieties. I list my preference of grape variety to use for the recipe, and then I indicate that I don’t have a preference of what brand of wine to buy e.g. Oyster Bay. Readers often want to be told exactly what to buy, so I am giving a general guideline on what grape varieties to look for. But thanks for the mansplaining!
Cooking his now, smells amazing. ..
I usually hate the word mansplaining, but in this case it was really warranted!!
Right?! Same.
Before you decide to correct someone, maybe you should read and reread what you think needs to be corrected. Then, read it one more time for good measure and after you’ve done that, its really quite simple. Just keep your opinion to yourself.
Great rules to live by! 🙂
What type of pasta did you use for the recipe?
I mention it in the post – pappardelle. 🙂
I have some frozen lasagna sheets to use up. I am going to slice them up and make this dish tonight. Thank you for the recipe!
You’re very welcome! Enjoy!
I made this with gnocchis. Delicious!
Wonderful!! 🙂
This turned out to be yummy. I think it’s because the lemon and Dijon mustard add a sharp astringent edge to the softness of the mushroom plus onion base.
Second time I made it I added porcini mushrooms – wild mushrooms – to it, and a bit of mascarpone (thick cream) to soften it further.
This is now going to be one of our standard dishes in this house. Thanks.
I’m so glad you liked it!
Not sure what I did wrong but when I added the grated Parmesan cheese everything clumped together and it was no longer a sauce for the pasta. It was clumps of mushrooms cheese, garlic and parsley together and the noodles were separate. The flavor of the clumpy chunks were good and some of it went on the pasta. But I wouldn’t make it again because the pasta hardly had any sauce on it.
Shel, you might want to change the cheese, mainly the type shred. If you have the tools, buy a wedge of cheese and grate it yourself! Or the deli at your local market can perhaps help you to shred a wedge of cheese… The packaged shredded cheese will clump up as you describe in your post… so it’s not the recipe but rather the cheese. 🙂
I just bought some lemon parsley pasta made by Pappardellle and was looking for a sauce to try. I was excited when I saw lemon and parsley in the ingredients. Was wanting something that didn’t overpower the flavor in the pasta. This sound so good but maybe too much flavor for this particular pasta? Guess I should try it with some egg noodles first.
I think it’s worth a try! But yeah, if you’re worried, you could always do a test run with a plain pasta first. Let me know how it goes! 🙂
I went for it tonight and it was delicious. A perfect complement to the pasta. Thank you for posting!
You’re very welcome!
I’ve made this several times now. It’s a marvellous, tasty and quick meal.
Recommend use of mushys with big flavour- swiss brown or shitake or a mix.
I routinely add some fried off chopped bacon or prosciutto. Prosciutto delivers a lovely smokey taste.
Oh….and definitely use egg pasta or homemade. Yumm.
Happy it’s a hit! 🙂
I made this for tonight’s supper and it was so GOOD!
So glad to hear it, Alisa! 🙂
Sooooo 😋 absolutely delicious loved it.
Thank you!!!
Could I use freeze dried morels? Thank you.
I haven’t ever tried doing that, but let me know how it goes!