If you need a quick, easy, no-fuss dinner, buttered noodles will be your life-saver! All you need is simple pantry ingredients and 20 minutes! It’s perfect for dinner or as a side dish.
If you like Asian flavors, try these 15-minute chili butter garlic noodles and 10-minute chili oil noodles.
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Buttered noodles recipe
- These are a life-saver when you want a quick and simple dinner after a long busy day.
- This dish is a crowd-pleaser with gentle flavors from garlic and herbs and richness from butter! Even picky eaters love it.
- The recipe is very versatile. You can add your twist and change things up to suit your palate!
- Every carb lover’s dream! Butter + garlic + pasta + Parmesan is a heavenly combination.
- Egg noodles work great, feel free to use pasta like pappardelle, tagliatelle, or spaghetti.
For a meatless quick meal try creamy corn pasta.
Ingredients
- Noodles – Egg noodles are the best choice, feel free to substitute them with pasta like pappardelle, fettuccine, tagliatelle, and spaghetti. Depending on the type of noodles or pasta you use, cooking time will vary.
- Butter – Use salted butter. I used 4 tablespoons of butter, you can reduce the amount of butter to your preference.
- Parmesan – I always recommend you use freshly grated parmesan from block cheese over pre-grated cheese from a bag.
- Seasoning – salt is only added to pasta cooking water to season pasta. Salt from salted butter and Parmesan cheese will be enough, taste and add salt only if necessary. Don’t skip on pepper, it adds flavor and taste.
- Spices & herbs – I used garlic powder for flavoring. You can also use fresh minced garlic if you like. Dried oregano and dried parsley add a subtle herby flavor to the pasta which is crucial to balance the richness of butter and cheese. I also prefer to add a slight kick with red chili flakes. Kick from red chili flakes balances the dish.
Recipe Variations
This recipe is so versatile you can easily tweak the ingredients.
- Add cooked shrimp, sausage, chicken, and sautéed asparagus.
- Sauteed peppers and onion make it taste great.
- Frozen peas and frozen corn can be added.
- A bag of baby spinach stirred at the end is great.
Step-by-step Instructions
Step 1: Bring a large pot of water to boil. Once the water begins to boil, add a couple of generous pinch of salt to the water (I used about 1 tablespoon of salt). Add noodles(or pasta) and cook according to packet instructions. Cook pasta al-dente.
Step 2: Drain pasta, do not rinse it. Reserve ¼ to ¾ cup pasta water to be used later.
Step 3: Add salted butter to a pan. When butter begins to melt add garlic powder and ground pepper.
Step 4: Add cooked pasta to the pan.
Step 5: Pour some of the pasta water into the pan.
Step 6: Grate parmesan cheese directly over hot pasta.
Step 7: Add in dried oregano, dried parsley, and fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
Step 8: Give it a good stir until cheese and pasta blend.
Serve hot with extra parmesan cheese grated on top, sprinkle red chili flakes, and dried or fresh parsley. Enjoy.
For a crunchy texture, consider adding baked Parmesan crisps, crumbled homemade croutons, or Italian Pangrattato sprinkled on top.
Recipe Tips
- The quality of butter and parmesan cheese is crucial. Use good premium quality ingredients to make it best-tasting noodles.
- Cooking time for noodles will vary depending on the type.
- Add a generous amount of salt to boiling water before boiling pasta. The flavors are subtle, you want the dish to be seasoned perfectly in every step.
- Reserve pasta cooking water. Adding starchy pasta water will create a creamy sauce for the noodles.
- I always recommend you use freshly grated parmesan from block cheese over pre-grated cheese from a bag.
- For extra flavor, cook pasta in vegetable or chicken stock. You can use bouillon cubes in the water before cooking pasta.
- Taste after adding Parmesan cheese and adjust salt and seasoning according to your palate.
Storage
Leftover noodles can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5 days.
To reheat, add noodles to a pan and reheat with a dash of water or milk on the stovetop or microwave.
Recipe FAQs
Egg noodles are classic, but feel free to substitute them with pasta like pappardelle, fettuccine, tagliatelle, and spaghetti.
Use freshly grated parmesan from block cheese instead of using pre-grated cheese from a bag.
If you use pre-grated parmesan it won’t melt properly and will turn into a glob.
No. The starch from the pasta is crucial. Adding starchy water will create a creamy sauce for the noodles.
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📋Easy Buttered Noodles
Ingredients
- 8 oz egg noodles or pasta pappardelle, fettuccine, tagliatelle, spaghetti works
- 4 tablespoon salted butter
- ¼ cup pasta water
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice fresh squeezed
- ⅓ cup Parmesan freshly grated from a block
- ½ teaspoon red chili flakes optional
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Once the water begins to boil, add a couple of generous pinch of salt to the water (I used about 1 tablespoon of salt). Add noodles(or pasta) and cook according to packet instructions.
- Cook pasta al-dente. Reserve ¼ to ¾ cup pasta water to be used later. Drain pasta.
- While pasta cooks in water, heat another pan side by side.
- Add salted butter to the pan. Add garlic powder and pepper. Give it a mix.
- Add cooked pasta to the pan. Pour pasta water.
- Grate parmesan cheese directly over hot pasta. Add in dried oregano, dried parsley, and fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
- Give it a good stir until cheese and pasta blends together.
- Serve hot with extra parmesan cheese grated on top, sprinkle red chili flakes and dried or fresh parsley. Enjoy.
Video
Notes
-
- The quality of butter and parmesan cheese is crucial. Use good premium quality ingredients to make it best-tasting noodles.
- Cooking time for noodles will vary depending on the type.
- Add a generous amount of salt to boiling water before boiling pasta. The flavors are subtle, you want the dish to be seasoned perfectly in every step.
- Reserve pasta cooking water. Adding starchy pasta water will create a creamy sauce for the noodles.
- I always recommend you use freshly grated parmesan from block cheese over pre-grated cheese from a bag.
- For extra flavor, cook pasta in vegetable or chicken stock. You can use bouillon cubes in the water before cooking pasta.
- Taste after adding Parmesan cheese and adjust salt and seasoning according to your palate.
Nutrition
Created by Jyothi Rajesh
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I’m Jyothi Rajesh (Jo for short) and I’m the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail where I share my culinary Adventures. I live in Bangalore, India. I’m a mom of two beautiful kids. My passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. I have been blogging since 2014 and many of my recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.
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