Mushroom pasta with the most delicious garlic butter mushrooms. Thanks to our no-fail method for cooking mushrooms, this easy pasta comes together in under 30 minutes and tastes amazing! Jump to the Easy Garlic Mushroom Pasta Recipe
This mushroom pasta recipe was a long time coming! Over the years I’ve shared many mushroom recipes with you, but have never shared our absolute favorite way to enjoy them.
Here it is. Our mushroom pasta is made with mushrooms cooked in olive oil, butter, garlic, herbs, and a bit of lemon for bright, fresh flavor.
We make this for ourselves on weeknights, but also love to serve it to friends when they come over for dinner. Honestly, I think this might be one of my favorite ways to eat mushrooms.
How to Make the Best Mushroom Pasta
I’ve shared my favorite way to cook mushrooms before and I use the exact same method for this easy pasta. You can use any type of mushroom for this. In our photos, we used cremini and shiitake mushrooms, but feel free to use what you have access to.
For a really spectacular pasta, use wild foraged mushrooms like morel mushrooms or chanterelle mushrooms. (If you do, can you invite us over for dinner, too?)
My Favorite Way to Cook Mushrooms
Our method calls on four simple tricks for browned, flavorful mushrooms:
Keep the mushrooms dry. If you notice any dirt on the mushrooms, use a slightly damp paper towel to brush it off. I don’t submerge them in water or rinse them. Mushrooms act like a sponge so water will be absorbed, which causes the final cooked mushrooms to be squeaky instead of flavorful and browned. (If your mushrooms are extremely dirty, you can quickly dunk them into some water, but make sure you pat them extra dry before cooking them.)
Cut or tear the mushrooms to a similar size. This applies to most things when cooking. If you are using a variety of mushrooms, cut — or if they are more fragile — tear the mushrooms so that they are all a similar size.
Don’t crowd mushrooms in the pan. Have you heard of this one before? Julia Child and other famous chefs have shared this time and time again. There’s a reason for that! If you pile raw mushrooms up on top of each other in a pan, they will steam. If instead, you spread them out so that they are only just touching one another, they will brown and crisp around the edges.
Salt mushrooms at the end of cooking. I know this seems odd, but mushrooms are one of the only things I salt towards the end of cooking. Salt brings out moisture, which in the case of mushrooms, prevents them from browning in the pan. I also love sprinkling a little mushroom powder over the mushrooms for even more delicious flavor! Here’s a link to where we talk all about our love of mushroom powder.
To see these tips in action, we have already shared a quick video showing how we cook mushrooms. You can watch it by clicking over to our blog post, How to Cook Mushrooms.
Adding The Pasta
To speed up the cooking process, I like to get my pasta water boiling at the same time as cooking the mushrooms. By the time the water is boiling, the mushrooms will be close to being done.
When the pasta has finished cooking, I toss it into the pan with the mushrooms along with a splash of starchy cooking water. The water helps the garlic and butter in the pan turn into a velvety sauce. We use the same strategy when making fettuccine alfredo and even these buttered noodles.
Mushroom Pasta Variations
Make creamy mushroom pasta by adding a splash of cream or half-and-half at the end.
For a chicken and mushroom pasta, add sliced grilled or baked chicken breasts to the top of the pasta. I especially love using this tomato basil baked chicken recipe with pasta.
For a shrimp variation, top the pasta with these easy roasted shrimp or for even more garlicky goodness, use our recipe for shrimp scampi!
To make the mushroom pasta vegan, swap the butter for a little extra olive oil. Nutritional yeast is also an excellent substitute for the parmesan cheese.
More Easy Mushroom Recipes
- Here’s our no-fail method for cooking mushrooms on the stove. It uses the same process as this mushroom pasta recipe.
- If you’d like to roast mushrooms, here’s our easy tutorial for roasting mushrooms.
- I love making these roasted portobello mushrooms in the morning. So satisfying!
- For a fun and easy appetizer, try our easy cheese stuffed mushrooms.
- I also love these sauteed mushrooms and truffle salt crostinis. Make them as an easy appetizer, lunch or enjoy for dinner!
Easy Garlic Mushroom Pasta
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Our easy mushroom pasta is made with mushrooms — a variety of mushrooms work — cooked in olive oil, butter, garlic, herbs, and a bit of lemon for bright, fresh flavor. For a really spectacular pasta, try wild foraged mushrooms like morel mushrooms or chanterelle mushrooms. There’s no cream in this recipe. If you would like to add some, add a splash at the end of cooking (when you add the pasta).
You Will Need
8 ounces pasta like spaghetti, pappardelle or linguini
10 ounces mushrooms such as cremini, shiitake or Portobello (about 3 cups chopped or sliced)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 tablespoon fresh grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon mushroom powder, optional, see our recipe here
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Directions
- Prepare Mushrooms
1Using a damp paper towel, brush all dirt from mushrooms. Cut away and discard any hard stems. Chop into 1/4-inch slices or, if there are larger mushrooms like portobello, cut into 1/4-inch cubes.
- Cook Pasta
1Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1/2 tablespoon of salt and the pasta.
2Cook, stirring once or twice, for 1 minute less than the suggested cooking time on the package. The pasta will finish cooking when making the sauce. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water then drain pasta.
- To Finish
1Heat olive oil in a large, wide skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and spread into one layer. Cook, without moving, until browned on one side, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir then cook another 3 to 5 minutes or until mostly golden brown on all sides.
2To the mushrooms, add the butter, garlic, thyme, mushroom powder, lemon zest, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and the butter absorbs into mushrooms, about 2 minutes.
3Turn the heat to low and add the drained pasta, 1/4 cup parmesan, and 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water. Use tongs to toss the pasta, cheese, and mushrooms around the pan for one minute.
4If 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.
5Taste then adjust seasoning with salt and/or pepper. Stir in the lemon juice. Serve with parmesan and fresh ground black pepper on top.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Instead of regular salt in this recipe, try truffle or porcini salt: If you can find it (we buy it online or in specialty kitchen shops), swap regular sea salt for truffle or porcini salt. This deepens the mushroom flavor and tastes incredible!
- 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
Delicious
Deeeeeelicious. Thank you.
It was so quick and easy and absolutely delicious!! I’m making this again tomorrow. LOL!
Easy , quick and so tasty , so l was not in the kitchen too long as it’s hot here in Spain and frozen some of it too . Excellent
I cook a lot of pasta, and like to think I don’t need recipes, but I have just made this and thought it was a wonderful way to cook pasta ai funghi. I think the magic ingredient is the lemon. I used wholemeal pasta (I have to, my wife’s a dietitian!) I will certainly do this again.
This is one of my favorite recipes ever. So easy and practical. I usually use around 5 garlic cloves but I do love garlic hehe.
I loved this recipe. My daughter who never ever eats mushrooms had thirds. I did add more garlic than called for and a couple of tablespoons of ricotta cheese to make this extra creamy. My husband who is the only non-vegetarian got chicken on top of his and also loved.
I made this tonight and was underwhelmed. Even though I used 2 cloves of garlic there wasn’t any noticeable garlic flavor. The flavor was so bland that I added some red pepper flakes and some nutmeg, which helped a bit. I also added asparagus, to give the dish some color.
Can’t wait for the next mouth-watering recipes!
Thank you so much for sharing! This is an amazing recipe! Kids will definitely enjoy this and it is so much healthier. This is another way for me to persuade them to eat the healthy type of foods!
What a wonderful recipe and super informative about mushrooms, My favourite tip was to salt mushrooms at the end of cooking.I hear you saying mushrooms are one of the only things you salt towards the end of cooking. I salt scrambled eggs at the end of cooking as this stops them discolouring, Just throwing that out there as another thing that needs salting at the end 😛 Anyways, Wonderful Recipe Have a great week
Your recipes are always inspiring. Simple, delicious, real food that doesn’t take forever to prepare. With all the cooking shows on TV featuring contestants crying, sweating over their “masterpiece” not going as planned…it’s so refreshing to have the both of you help get me back into the kitchen and not feel intimidated!!! Good cooking should be enjoyed by both, in the cooking and eating…no need for ridiculous kitchen “Olympics”!! Thanks