Nutty brown butter is infused with garlic in this incredibly easy pasta side dish. Brown Butter Garlic Angel Hair Pasta is a quick and versatile side dish that you’ll use again and again.
The nutty flavor of brown butter adds a little flair to this simple, easy dish. Toss some grilled chicken (or fish) and veggies over it for a complete meal, or serve it as a simple side. It’s plain enough that the pickiest of child eaters will still eat it, and delicious enough that the grown ups will all be happy too. This has been a go-to side dish for years. It works with practically anything, and we can easily swing it into a whole meal which makes this one a keeper.
You can totally do this without browning the butter, but that brown butter adds such a nice touch, it’s worth the extra few minutes of effort. The garlic cloves infuse the butter with garlic flavor which is just so dang tasty. We love the sediments left in the bottom of the pan after making brown butter. With the garlic, we can’t help but clean off the bottom of the pan with a piece of crusty bread. Stop telling yourself “don’t fill up on bread!” You won’t be able to resist.
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What herbs can I add to this dish?
We highly recommend you play around with changing up the flavors in this dish by garnishing it with a little tarragon. We absolutely love tarragon and it is so fun to use it to switch things up a bit and add a little “gourmet” feel to such a simple dish.
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Pasta Options:
We like to use what we have on hand rather than rushing to the store if it’s not necessary. Angel hair is the preferred pasta for this side dish, but you can always substitute with any long noodle pasta such as capellini, vermicelli, or even spaghetti.
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How can I turn brown butter garlic angel hair pasta into a main course?
This dish calls for such simple ingredients, that you can easily pair it with just about anything. We recommend adding grilled fish or a simple lemon chicken to make this a more filling meal. For a well-balanced dish, add in your favorite roasted veggies with your preferred meat. Zucchini, halved cherry tomatoes, eggplant, green beans, and peas would all complement this dish nicely. Simply grill with your chicken or fish, or roast in the oven and then toss together with the pasta.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious pasta recipes:
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Brown Butter Garlic Angel Hair Pasta
- 1 pound angel hair pasta
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves peeled and halved
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- optional minced chives or parsley, for garnish
- Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add in garlic cloves. Continue cooking over medium heat until butter foams, giving the pan a good occasional swirl. Once butter foams keep a close eye on it. The color will change from yellow to tan and then to brown. Once it reaches brown, remove it from the heat immediately and pour over the cooked pasta, discarding the garlic cloves.
- Stir in parmesan cheese until melted. Serve hot with some minced chives or parsley.
Made this for forty years.
Use red
Pepper flakes to change up. Or add a veggie. Or stew fresh tomato and basil with garlic and top with the cheese ! Love this dish
I’m drooling!!!! Looks great, I would probably double the Parmesan cheese, but that’s just me. 😉
I agree! I haven’t made this yet but I think I’ll do as you suggest. Extra cheese always sounds great to me, too!
Followed recipe as written. Poured butter over pasta and found the lovely, browned pieces of garlic in the measuring cup. Saw no need to throw them out so I added them to the bowl of pasta. By the time the butter and cheese were stirred into the pasta, the garlic pieces had broken apart into little pieces and were spread delightfully throughout the pasta. They were a delicious addition. So you garlic lovers may want to cross out the words, “discarding the garlic cloves” in the recipe.
Totally agree!
I’m addicted to your videos. I’ve been saving the recipes I think I’ll like and experimenting with them. I made the brown butter spaghetti today and it is AWESOME. My husband really loved it. I had never heard of brown butter and it’s a real keeper. Thanks for sharing your recipes.
Looks delicious and tasty, yet very easy and fast to make. Great when in a Rush for a meal. It will be one of my favorites.
Absolutely Delicious Wonderful Recipes!! Thank You So Much keep them coming!! 👍
Just made this for my husband and I . This recipe is amazing !!! Thank you ,glad Im following you lol
I’ve been making this for years! However, in my house, we call it “Pasta Dish” — just a few steps up from “Naked Spaghetti”, which is simply angel hair and butter. I also add Italian seasoning and a dash and a half of red pepper flakes. I always make this when I don’t feel like making a full meal, sometimes with a green salad. So easy — so good and satisfying!
This recipe is so simple yet so delicious!!
I watch your wonderful videos all day, I keep most all them, you are so amazing, my family adored your videos also,thank you
So good
Love your receipts! You make them seems easy and doable. Also you are easy to understand and relate to. Thank you for your continued tips too
Hi Rachel; I made the brown butter pasta last evening for dinner..It was very good & tasty. But question: for a pound of pasta couldn’t the butter & garlic could have been double? … How to re-warm left over pasta?I