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Home Pasta Recipes

Mushroom Pasta

By:Nagi
Published:3 Sep '20Updated:16 Apr '21
247 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

This is a mushroom pasta that’s nice and juicy, in no way dry and dull even though it’s not made with a tomato or cream sauce like this Creamy Mushroom Pasta. It’s buttery and garlicky, and it’s 6 ingredient magic at its best.

Plus my little trick to make extra buttery mushrooms using LESS butter!

Skillet with spaghetti and mushrooms

Mushroom Pasta

Anyone who has sautéed mushrooms will know that the minute mushrooms hit the skillet, the bottom layer of mushrooms soaks up the oil, leaving the top layer dry.

So I used to think that the best way to sauté mushrooms was with loads and loads of butter or olive oil. As you sauté the mushrooms, they start to leech water, creating moisture. But still! That first layer of mushrooms lucky enough to hit the skillet first stole all the butter, leaving the remaining 80% of mushrooms butter free!

In a bid to even out the butteriness of mushrooms, my solution is to reduce the amount of butter melted in the skillet, add a bit of olive oil (so you can heat the butter more without it burning and get the mushrooms browned faster). Then AFTER the mushrooms are golden (i.e. water leeched so they are no longer butter-sponges), add a small knob of butter.

Boom! A big skillet of mushrooms that look and taste WAY more buttery than if all the butter is melted at the beginning! See??

 

Close up of freshly cooked Mushroom pasta

What you need for mushroom pasta

Here’s what you need for this mushroom pasta. You can use any type of long strand or even short stand pasta you want (like orecchiette, penne, ziti, macaroni). Also, the parmesan is not just for serving. Tossing the pasta with parmesan before serving is a little trick I like to use for an extra flavour boost!

What goes in Mushroom pasta

How to make mushroom spaghetti

Here’s how to make this mushroom pasta:

How to make mushroom pasta

The two key steps here are:

  • Butter added later – Hold back some of the butter until AFTER the mushrooms are golden – for extra buttery mushrooms with less butter!

  • Pasta cooking water – Use some of the pasta cooking water to toss with the spaghetti and mushrooms. The starch in the water will emulsify (thicken) with the butter in the mushrooms, creating a slick juicy transparent “sauce” that clings to the pasta strands. Classic Italian cooking technique used for all pastas.

If you do this key step of tossing the pasta with some of the pasta cooking water, people will think you’ve made a mushroom pasta sauce. That’s how juicy and “saucy” it seems!

Mushroom pasta in a bowl, ready to be eaten

Fork twirling mushroom pasta

I know I keep going on and on about how juicy and slick this pasta is! It’s because this is hard to capture in photos and I feel like people see pastas like this one without a large pot of sauce and assume it’s dry and boring. When in actual fact, this is about as far from that as it can be!

If you’d like to add some extra greens into your meal, try this with a classic (super quick) Rocket/Arugula Salad with Balsamic Dressing. Otherwise, a juicy tomato salad, fresh crunchy cucumber salad, or have a browse through my Vegetable Sides and pick something using vegetables you have!

– Nagi x

PS If you want to indulge in a special Italian pasta meal, add a side of Garlic Bread or Cheesy Garlic Bread, and finish with Tiramisu. Sheer perfection!


Watch how to make it

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Mushroom Pasta

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 20 mins
Pasta
Italian
4.97 from 114 votes
Servings2 -3
Tap or hover to scale
Print
  • 1652
Recipe video above. An incredible way to use mushrooms in a meal - in a mushroom pasta! The tastiness of this pasta lies in the mushrooms you use because it's all about the mushrooms. This pasta is made the proper Italian way so even though it's only made with 6 ingredients, it's saucy and juicy and so incredibly tasty!

Ingredients

CHOOSE pasta

  • 200g / 7 oz short pasta like orecchiette, penne, macaroni (Note 1)
  • 160g/6 oz long pasta - spaghetti, fettucine (Note 1)

Garlic Butter Mushrooms for pasta

  • 400g / 14 oz mushrooms , sliced 1/2 cm / 1/5" thick (Note 2)
  • 50g / 3 tbsp unsalted butter , separated
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
  • 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (or 1/4 cup store bought grated)

To serve

  • Parsley , finely chopped
  • Parmesan cheese , grated

Instructions

Pasta

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta into the pot when you start cooking the mushrooms.
  • Cook pasta per packet instructions minus 1 minute. RESERVE 1 mugful of pasta cooking liquid, then drain pasta.

Mushrooms

  • Melt half butter and all oil in a large skillet over heat.
  • Add mushrooms and cook until water has leeched then evaporated, and the mushrooms start to turn golden around edges - around 5 minutes.
  • Halfway through cooking, add salt & pepper.
  • Add garlic and remaining butter, cook for 2 minutes until mushrooms and garlic are golden.
  • Add pasta, about 3/4 cup of reserved pasta water and parmesan. Toss gently or until water reduces and thickens into a saucy glaze that coats the pasta. If the pasta dries out, add more pasta water.
  • Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
  • Remove from stove and serve immediately, garnished with fresh parsley and parmesan cheese.

Recipe Notes:

1. Pasta - you need slightly more if using short pasta for equivalent serving size. Pictured in post: spaghetti and orecchiette.
Orecchiette are shaped like mini bowls and are sold at all major supermarkets in Australia, same price as more common pastas. I like using them for mushroom pasta because I like to scoop up the pasta with the mushrooms - also fabulous with this Sausage Pasta in creamy tomato sauce.
2. Mushrooms - any slicable type fine here. Fabulous with plain button mushrooms, extra good with Swiss Brown/Cremini.
3. Variations: Thyme also goes really well with this pasta because mushrooms + thyme = best mates. Sometimes I will add a splash of cream to the mushrooms, but it's not a make or break, just a "nice to have when you're feeling indulgent".
4. Butter - I provide a range for butter quantities because - well, the more the better. But the minimum is 2 tbsp of butter + 1 tbsp olive oil, otherwise the pasta starts to get dry. No need to measure accurately, just eye ball it!
5. Reheating - Pasta always dries out when refrigerated overnight. For the best reheating option, reserve about 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water. Sprinkle cold pasta with 2 tbsp, then microwave reheat, toss well. Resurrected to near perfect juiciness!
6. Nutrition per serving, assuming 2 (generous!) servings.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 352gCalories: 583cal (29%)Carbohydrates: 64.9g (22%)Protein: 25.5g (51%)Fat: 26.7g (41%)Saturated Fat: 12.2g (76%)Cholesterol: 121mg (40%)Sodium: 352mg (15%)Potassium: 791mg (23%)Fiber: 2.4g (10%)Sugar: 4.2g (5%)Vitamin A: 600IU (12%)Vitamin C: 10.7mg (13%)Calcium: 230mg (23%)Iron: 8.5mg (47%)
Keywords: mushroom pasta, Mushroom Recipe, mushroom spaghetti
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

Originally published October 2016. Updated with sparking new photos and video! 

🍄MUSHROOM LOVE 🍄

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LIFE OF DOZER

I have a 4WD car. It’s pretty big. Dozer is bigger. 😂

Dozer head touching roof of car

And from the original publication date:

There is no such thing as a peaceful lunch in this household. Always eyes on you.

mushroom-pasta-7

A spectacular way to use mushrooms - in this tasty, juicy Mushroom pasta made the classic Italian way. 15 minute dinner! www.recipetineats.com
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Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

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247 Comments

  1. Nat says

    May 26, 2023 at 9:31 pm

    Do you think I can add some bacon to this?

    Reply
  2. Charmaine says

    May 18, 2023 at 8:29 pm

    5 stars
    Such a gr8 easy and healthy meal.
    We luv your recipes.

    Reply
  3. Ann Tipler says

    May 11, 2023 at 6:47 pm

    5 stars
    I wanted to try this but honestly thought it would taste bland. How
    Wrong was I! Have made it 3 times now and it is just packed full of flavour. Not only that, it is a simple recipe that delivers every time. Can’t ask more than that…

    Reply
  4. Wilhelmina Pieren says

    April 18, 2023 at 11:43 pm

    5 stars
    Hi Nagi,
    This recipe is amazing but I have one question, why does my Parmesan go gluey and not melt properly into the pasta? I’ve made this twice now and will continue to but would love to know the secret, I am using perfect Italiano grated Parmesan.

    Reply
  5. Kaz says

    March 28, 2023 at 7:41 am

    5 stars
    oh my, I loved this so much!

    Reply
  6. lyn says

    March 26, 2023 at 1:40 pm

    5 stars
    fabulous tasty easy recipe!

    Reply
  7. Sandra says

    March 12, 2023 at 6:55 pm

    5 stars
    Amazing. We’re travelling on Tassie & I got a box of fancy mushrooms & 8;cloves of local organic garlic, paired with my hand made fettuccini. Tossed some local freeze dried truffle after taking it off the heat & then drizzled with amazing local truffle oil. Can’t beat that!
    And I made the almond coconut lemon cake for afters 😋

    Reply
  8. JuliaLala says

    December 8, 2022 at 4:12 pm

    5 stars
    Thanks Nagi! Using Olive oil was great idea! I didn’t need to use lots of butter. It turned out moisture, juicy mushrooms! You can check my Youtube short. http://www.youtube.com/@julialala16 Thanks again !

    Reply
  9. Marbleless says

    November 19, 2022 at 10:49 am

    5 stars
    I didn’t think this was going to be as tasty as it is! I did add in one chicken thigh that was hanging out in the fridge (I don’t know what I was thinking either), and my pasta was a mix of ends of boxes. Terrific dinner!

    Reply
  10. Emma lisa Whinnery says

    November 16, 2022 at 11:23 pm

    5 stars
    Sorry, I forgot to give the 5 star rating ❤️

    Reply
  11. Karz says

    November 8, 2022 at 5:13 pm

    5 stars
    Yessss! I am a mushroom fanatic especially mushroom
    Cooked in butter and garlic. Just made this and it’s a 10/10 for me! So easy, I was suprised how tasty it was! Followed method exact and it turned out delicious!

    Reply
  12. Joanne says

    October 26, 2022 at 4:25 pm

    5 stars
    Made this for my sceptical, meat loving bf. It was a big hit and will go into regular rotation!

    Reply
  13. Diane says

    October 23, 2022 at 7:47 pm

    5 stars
    Made this mid week for a group of girls for lunch, another awesome recipe so easy and full of taste, thank you again for making me look like a star in the kitchen xx

    Reply
  14. Fiphy says

    October 21, 2022 at 8:22 pm

    5 stars
    This is as good as any fungi pasta I’ve had at good Italian restaurants. I added a dash of truffle oil and it was fantastic!

    Reply
  15. N says

    September 15, 2022 at 9:48 pm

    5 stars
    This recipe turned out brilliantly! It was very tasty, I’ll definitely be making it again in the future. I added in a bit of broccoli that I had cooked before hand since I didn’t have quite enough mushrooms, and the broccoli florets held on to the buttery glaze beautifully.

    Reply
  16. Julia says

    August 23, 2022 at 4:19 am

    5 stars
    Pasta was a hit! highly recommend 🙂

    Reply
  17. Anita says

    July 31, 2022 at 3:20 pm

    5 stars
    The garlic infused mushrooms are absolutely delicious. I now make this recipe weekly as it’s in my opinion, restaurant quality 😋 👌 🙌

    Reply
  18. Wendy Tubman says

    July 7, 2022 at 5:36 pm

    5 stars
    I loved this – and I am a pasta tragic!

    Reply
  19. Marcie says

    July 5, 2022 at 5:27 am

    Had this tonight, another one of your delicious recipes. X

    Reply
  20. Dawn says

    June 22, 2022 at 9:15 pm

    4 stars
    Cooo… that was rather yummy! I did replace half the mushrooms with leeks because we had leeks that needed using. That’s another easy and satisfying mid-week meal for the list. Hubby highly approves. Thank you 🙂

    Reply
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Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

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