Easy Parmesan Buttered Noodles

Easy buttered noodles with butter, parmesan cheese, and fresh herbs are one of our favorite dishes to make. See our tricks for making them the best!

Easy Parmesan Buttered Noodles Recipe

Related: Here’s another easy pasta recipe, our quick orzo pasta with parmesan and tomatoes

How to Make the Best Buttered Noodles

Buttered noodles make me happy. They are so simple and taste so good! Eat them as your main meal or serve them on the side with baked salmon, a hearty salad or juicy pork chops.

Now you might be reading this and saying to yourself, isn’t buttered noodles just cooked noodles and melted butter? Well, they could be, but when you stir noodles into a mixture of starchy pasta water, butter, and parmesan, they taste SO much better.

How to Make the Best Buttered Noodles

Remember the fettuccine alfredo recipe that we just shared? Here’s what we said:

“Instead of cream, our recipe relies on the combination of butter, parmesan cheese, and starchy pasta water. The starch in the pasta water thickens the butter and cheese into a velvety smooth sauce that coats the noodles.”

That’s true for fettuccine alfredo, and it’s true for this buttered pasta. Thanks to the combination of butter, cheese, and starchy pasta water, the noodles become lightly coated in a velvety, buttery sauce.

As for the noodles, I love using egg noodles — just like the ones we use in chicken noodle soup. That doesn’t mean you couldn’t replace them with other pasta shapes. Spaghetti, linguini or curly shapes of pasta are perfect for catching the sauce.

How to Make the Best Buttered Noodles

For another cheesy pasta recipe, try our creamy stovetop mac and cheese.

We call for parmesan cheese. It’s salty and flavorful in the sauce. If you don’t have any on hand, swap it for other tasty cheeses like sharp cheddar or Gruyere.

You could even stir in some creamy cheese like goat or mascarpone cheese to make the pasta extra creamy.

Easy Parmesan Buttered Noodles Recipe

For more easy pasta recipes, take a look at these:

  • This Easy Baked Spaghetti made with ground beef, marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and a hidden layer of creamy pesto sauce in the middle.
  • Swap butter and cream for avocado and make our Easy Avocado Pasta. It gets rave reviews.
  • These Easy Lasagna Roll Ups with fresh vegetables, a light tomato sauce, and cheese are a must make. Make them now or prep and freeze for later.
  • Thanks to orzo and a few fresh ingredients, you can make this Easy Orzo Pasta in under 20 minutes. There’s tomatoes, basil, parmesan, and lots of garlic.

Easy Parmesan Buttered Noodles

  • PREP
  • COOK
  • TOTAL

Easy buttered noodles with butter, parmesan cheese, and fresh herbs. Use parmesan cheese or swap it for other flavorful cheeses like sharp cheddar or Gruyere. Stirring in a little goat cheese or mascarpone cheese adds even more creaminess to the sauce.

Makes 4 servings

You Will Need

8 ounces egg noodles or pasta of choice

Salt

1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese plus more for serving

2 tablespoons butter

Handful chopped or torn herbs like basil, parsley or chives

Fresh ground black pepper for serving

Directions

    1Bring water to a boil in a medium pot (we use 6 to 8 cups of water). Add 1/2 tablespoon of salt and the noodles.

    2Cook, stirring once or twice, for 2 minutes less than the suggested cooking time on the package. The pasta will finish cooking when making the sauce. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water then drain pasta and return it to the pot.

    3Add parmesan, butter, a 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking water to the noodles. Set the pot over low heat. Use tongs to toss the noodles, butter, and cheese around the pan for one minute. Take the pan off of the heat then cover with a lid. Leave for one minute.

    4Uncover the pot, toss the noodles a few more times in the sauce. If the pasta looks dry, add a splash more pasta water. If it seems wet, don’t worry, the pasta absorbs some the extra moisture as it cools. Stir in herbs, taste, and adjust with additional salt. Serve with more parmesan and fresh ground black pepper on top.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • To make garlic buttered noodles, mince one (or more) cloves of garlic. Add the garlic and 2 tablespoons of butter to a small skillet over medium-low heat. Cook until fragrant and the butter is bubbling around the garlic. Use this garlic-flavored butter in place of the butter called for in the recipe above.
  • Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1/4 of the recipe / Calories 212 / Total Fat 12.4g / Saturated Fat 7.3g / Cholesterol 46.1mg / Sodium 342.8mg / Carbohydrate 15g / Dietary Fiber 0.7g / Total Sugars 0.4g / Protein 10.2g
AUTHOR:  Adam and Joanne Gallagher
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5 comments… Leave a Review
  • Bonnie L April 22, 2023, 2:14 pm

    I added the garlic in butter. Then added shaved parmesan at the end.Fresh chopped chives, dried parsley and basil. Last I added grilled rotisserie chicken on top. So yummy.

    Reply
  • Kristie Hojara January 4, 2022, 4:38 pm

    Gonna try this but with whole grain noodles can’t have reg

    Reply
  • Sean August 24, 2021, 8:08 pm

    First try we used the fresh grated Parmesan and it was excellent. Second time we used fresh grated pecorino Romano with a little chopped fresh basil which was even better!

    Reply
  • Cynthia June 21, 2021, 5:19 pm

    Just made this for me and my boyfriend. Added spinach, lemon zest and minced onion. So good!!! Thank you.

    Reply
  • DebG February 19, 2020, 10:42 pm

    I suffer from TMJ disorder and often have to resort to a soft diet. Well, this happens to be just what I need tonight. For my husband, I have Costco chicken that I can cut up and throw in. If this works, I’ll add cooked broccoli to add more vitamins and fiber. I’ll keep you posted

    Reply

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