This simple, delicious Artichoke Pasta is made with lemon, butter, and plenty of Parmesan. And it’s made with frozen artichoke hearts so you can enjoy it year-round.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Fettuccine: Or substitute linguini, spaghetti, or your other favorite pasta.
- Water: A little starchy pasta water helps bring the sauce together. If you’re worried you might forget to reserve pasta cooking water (it happens to the best of us), put a measuring cup in your colander. That way, when you go to drain your pasta, you’ll see the measuring cup and remember.
- Lemon: Zest the lemon before you juice it.
- Artichoke hearts: Use frozen artichoke hearts that have been thawed and drained well. Do not substitute canned artichoke hearts here.
Step-by-step-instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until al dente, usually about 9 to 11 minutes. Reserve one cup of the cooking water to use later, then drain the pasta well.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, heat butter and oil until melted together. Stir in onion, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of black pepper. Cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Stir in artichokes and sauté until heated through, about 3 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and remove from heat.
- To a large serving bowl, add drained pasta, artichoke mixture, ½ cup reserved cooking liquid, and cheese. Toss until combined, adding more liquid if needed to bring the sauce together. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 6 generous servings.
- Make ahead: This recipe tastes best the day it is made.
- Spinach: Add a handful of baby spinach to the skillet with the artichokes for extra color and flavor.
- Goat cheese: Instead of Parmesan cheese, make artichoke pasta with a creamy goat cheese that melts into the dish. Tastes fabulous with the lemon!
- Chicken: Leftover rotisserie chicken adds protein to the recipe and tastes great, too. Add cooked chicken when you add the artichokes.
- Bacon: Cook some chopped bacon or pancetta in the butter/olive oil mixture until crispy, then proceed with the recipe as written.
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Artichoke Pasta
Ingredients
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound fettuccine (1 cup pasta water reserved, see notes 1 and 2)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 onion large, chopped
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (see note 3)
- 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 18 ounces frozen artichoke hearts thawed and drained (see note 4)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water and 1 tablespoon salt to boil. Add fettuccine and cook until al dente, about 9 to 11 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water and then drain well.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, heat butter and oil until melted and combined. Add onion, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of black pepper. Cook until softened, about 8 minutes.
- Stir in artichokes and sauté until heated through, about 3 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and remove from heat.
- To a large serving bowl, add drained pasta, artichoke mixture, ½ cup reserved cooking liquid, and cheese. Toss until combined, adding more liquid if needed to bring the sauce together. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Fettuccine: Or substitute linguini, spaghetti, or your other favorite pasta.
- Water: A little starchy pasta water helps bring the sauce together. If you’re worried you might forget to reserve pasta cooking water (it happens to the best of us), put a measuring cup in your colander. That way, when you go to drain your pasta, you’ll see the measuring cup and remember.
- Lemon: Zest the lemon before you juice it.
- Artichoke hearts: Use frozen artichoke hearts that have been thawed and drained well. Do not substitute canned artichoke hearts here.
- Yield: This recipe makes 6 generous servings.
- Make ahead: This recipe tastes best the day it is made.
- Spinach: Add a handful of baby spinach to the skillet with the artichokes for extra color and flavor.
- Goat cheese: Instead of Parmesan cheese, make artichoke pasta with a creamy goat cheese that melts into the dish. Tastes fabulous with the lemon!
- Chicken: Leftover rotisserie chicken adds protein to the recipe and tastes great, too. Add cooked chicken when you add the artichokes.
- Bacon: Cook some chopped bacon or pancetta in the butter/olive oil mixture until crispy, then proceed with the recipe as written.
Wow, loved this recipe. My frozen artichokes were only 10oz from Trader Joes so I added one can of TJ’s canned artichokes and they held up great. Loved the layers with the sweet onion flavor, tart lemon and slight heat from pepper flakes. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Gretta, so glad you enjoyed! – Meggan
So surprisingly delicious 😋 and so easy.
Thank you Ivon! – Meggan
Delicious!
Brazilian mother and daughter were reading your recipe! We are going to cook this past now. I wanna thank you!
Greetings from Rio de Janeiro.
I am on low sodium, low oxalate diet. Would using mozzarella cheese be ok. Can have lemon juice but on zest. Never made anything with artichoke hearts before.
Thank you
Jeff
Hi Jefferson, are you looking to substitute the parmesan with mozzarella? – Meggan
This is such an incredible dish. I will make it over and over again!