This Baked Lemon Spaghetti is a delicious twist on traditional spaghetti. The lemon flavor gives it zing, and plenty of Parmesan cheese finishes it off nicely.
Looking for an easy dinner idea? Grab a rotisserie chicken, throw together a green salad, and bake up this simple and delicious pasta dish for dinner tonight. This one is family-friendly, and it doesn’t have any funky ingredients in it either.
Here’s the how-to:
Melt butter in a medium skillet.
Add minced garlic and let it sizzle away in the bubbling butter.
Remove the pan from heat and stir in 2 cups of sour cream (I used light and all turned out just fine).
Add the zest of a lemon- about a Tablespoon.
Pour in juice from 1 1/2 lemons- about 1/3 cup.
Place cooked spaghetti in a large bowl- I like to use Barilla Plus Multigrain. My family doesn’t notice the difference, and it’s (hopefully) a bit healthier than plain white pasta.
Pour in your lemony sour cream sauce.
Stir it up.
Add a handful of finely chopped Italian parsley….
…and 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan Cheese.
Stir it up again.
Pour the lemony spaghetti mixture into a greased casserole dish.
At this point you’re going to cover the dish with foil and bake it at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
After baking- take it out of the oven, take off the foil and sprinkle another 1/2 cup or so of Parmesan cheese on top.
Squeeze the juice from half a lemon all over the top of the pasta.
Sprinkle on some freshly ground black pepper…
…and add a good dose of kosher salt too.
Place the dish back into the oven for 7 or 8 more minutes, just until the cheese gets melty and toasted on top.
Serve this baked lemon spaghetti it up on its own with a crisp little side salad, or grab a rotisserie chicken and add that to your dinner table too. My market sells a “lemon-garlic” roasted chicken, so that one is just perfect to go with the spaghetti. The pasta comes out of the oven with a light Parmesan crust baked on top. The lemony flavor in this spaghetti is wonderful on its own, but lemon-lovers may wish to squeeze an extra wedge or two on individual servings, as desired. The sauce is not overwhelmingly creamy- just a light coating to give the pasta a bit of flavor and zest. I envision adding mushrooms or BACON too. Enjoy 🙂
Great to serve with roasted chicken and a vegetable for an easy and delicious dinner idea.
Recipe Details
Prep Time: 25 minutes mins
Cook Time: 45 minutes mins
Total Time: 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Lemon, spaghetti
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 431kcal
Author: RecipeGirl.com
Ingredients
LEMON SPAGHETTI:
- One 14.5-ounce package spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter
- 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
- One 16-ounce carton sour cream (light is fine)
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (1 lemon, zested)
- ⅓ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed(about 1½ medium lemons)
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
TOPPINGS:
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- juice from ½ lemon
- freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400℉.
Cook the spaghetti + olive oil according to package directions (minus a couple of minutes). You want it to be al dente. Drain spaghetti and place in a large bowl.
Melt the butter in a medium skillet. Add garlic and cook until sizzling and lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream, lemon zest and ⅓ cup lemon juice. Pour lemon sauce over the spaghetti and stir. Add Italian parsley and ½ cup Parmesan and stir some more. Pour lemony spaghetti in a greased 1.5 quart casserole dish.
Cover dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Take dish out of the oven and remove foil. Sprinkle ½ cup Parmesan on top. Drizzle juice from ½ lemon over the top of the pasta. Sprinkle pepper and salt on top. Place dish back into the oven for 7 or 8 minutes, just until cheese is melted and noodles have begun to turn golden in a few places. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Serve pasta with lemon wedges, for those who like some extra tang in their pasta.
- Try adding sliced mushrooms into the dish...sauté them with the butter and garlic.
- Try adding cooked bacon. Everything is better with bacon!
- This spaghetti is also great when served as a side dish to roasted chicken.
- If you'd like the finished dish to turn out a little bit creamier just use less pasta.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 431kcal, Carbohydrates: 44g, Protein: 11g, Fat: 24g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 0.3g, Cholesterol: 62mg, Sodium: 333mg, Potassium: 236mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 883IU, Vitamin C: 10mg, Calcium: 160mg, Iron: 1mg
