This simple lemon dill pasta features tender bucatini pasta in a flavorful browned butter lemon dill sauce. – ready in minutes with only 5 ingredients and makes the best spring side dish!
Spring is here and it’s time for your pasta game to start looking like it!
And what better way to make it happen than throwing together a batch of this lemony carb goodness in only 30 minutes with literally just a handful of pantry ingredients.
Turns out lemon + dill + browned butter play veeeeery well together when we’re talking about pasta. Shocking, I know.
This pasta has definitely stood the side dish test of time in our house the last couple of weeks and pairs well with just about anything!
Pssst…we personally recommend serving this pasta alongside a batch of these meatballs. TO DIE FOR!
This Lemon Dill Pasta features…
- Tender bucatini pasta
- A flavorful lemon browned butter sauce
- Lots of fresh dill and grated Parmesan cheese
Making the Lemon Dill Pasta
(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)
Ingredients You Will Need
- Pasta
- Unsalted butter
- Lemon
- Parmesan cheese
- Dill
Choosing Your Pasta
The beauty of this dish is that it works well with a variety of pastas! We typically go for a good bucatini or rigatoni, but the sky’s the limit for what you can use.* We’ve also had success with the following pastas.
- Penne
- Spaghetti
- Angel hair
- Cavatappi
- Rotini
*be aware that different shapes of pasta will have different cook times.
Tips for Perfect Lemon Pasta
- Don’t overcook pasta – it’s absolutely essential that you don’t overcook the pasta while boiling it. We actually recommend draining it just slightly before pasta reaches al dente – don’t worry, it will finish cooking in the sauce.
- Reserve pasta cooking water – the pasta water is actually the bulk of the sauce in this recipe! Reserve 2 cups of pasta cooking water before draining pasta – set a reminder for yourself so you don’t accidentally throw it out.
- Brown butter slowly – the trick to browning butter is letting it cook slowly. Melt your butter over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally until butter is a light golden brown and fragrant.
- Finish cooking pasta in sauce – once the sauce is clinging to the pasta and the pasta is tender, you’ll know it’s done.
- Thin sauce with pasta water – once the pasta is cooked through, toss in a few extra splashes of pasta water to thin the sauce and help the pasta get creamy.
- Use freshly-grated Parmesan – pre-grated Parmesan doesn’t melt as well as fresh so it’s especially important you use fresh with this recipe.
- Add fresh dill, salt, and pepper – the black pepper and fresh dill are especially key for adding one last little pop of flavor to the pasta.
Recipe Variations
Try these ideas for a different spin on this pasta!
- Add meat – seared chicken sausage, cooked chicken cubes, or torn pieces of smoked salmon would be great meaty additions to this pasta.
- Make it veggie – sauteed spinach, mushrooms, sweet pepper, or asparagus would be wonderful veggie additions.
- Try a different cheese – try grated asiago, crumbled goat cheese, or feta.
- Use different herbs – fresh minced chives, parsley, or basil would be fantastic in place of the dill.
What to Serve with Pasta
While this pasta can definitely be served on its own for a quick + cheap dinner or lunch, it also goes very well as a side dish with a variety of items!
We love serving this pasta alongside a big green salad for a meat-free dinner. It’s also great alongside grilled chicken, seared fish, steak, or meatballs.
For how simple this pasta is to throw together, the flavors are just something else! It’s so incredibly creamy, bursting with fresh lemon + dill flavor, and the subtle hint of browned butter flavor is just fantastic.
Promise there’s no going wrong pairing this pasta with literally any dinner plans!
Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.
Watch this pasta made step-by-step on Google web stories.
More easy and fast pasta side dishes to try next!
Browned Butter Lemon Dill Pasta
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Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta (bucatini, rigatoni, etc.)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 medium lemon, zested and juiced
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh dill
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
- Additional grated Parmesan for topping
Instructions
- Boil pasta in salted water until nearly al dente (pasta will finish cooking in the sauce) and reserve 2 cups pasta cooking water. Drain pasta and set aside for a moment.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 4 tablespoons butter, swirling pan occasionally until butter is a deep golden brown, about 3-5 minutes of cooking.
- Add 1 cup pasta cooking water to butter mixture and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add remaining butter, 1 tablespoon at a time stirring constantly until sauce is creamy.
- Add cooked pasta, Parmesan, lemon juice, and zest to sauce and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until sauce is thickened and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Add a few splashes of remaining pasta water as needed to thin sauce.
- Remove pasta from heat, stir in dill, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed. Serve pasta warm with additional Parmesan on top and enjoy!
sb says
The dill and Parmesan clumped together.
Sarah says
Hi there – was the pasta hot when you added the Parmesan? Sometimes Parmesan has a harder time melting, especially if it’s pre-grated but it should if you folded it into the pasta while it was hot.
Tania says
I thought it was really great! You are not kidding when you said take the pasta out of the water BEFORE the al dente stage. The sauce was thin when I added the pasta, but became thicker once I popped the pasta in and stirred for a few minutes. It turned out creamy and al dente!
It’s not a recipe you can walk away from though. Browning the butter, watching the pasta – timing is everything.
And for God’s sake, readers, use real Parmesan!
Sarah says
Thanks for reporting back and I’m so happy you enjoyed, Tania! Definitely agree with you on the Parmesan haha! 🙂
Bob says
Loved the simplicity of the recipe. Browned butter and pasta water. Brilliant! Thank you.