This creamy lemon caper pasta takes only 5 ingredients to make the sauce, 15 minutes to make, and is full of flavour. Packed with tangy, crispy capers, zesty garlic, and the heat of red pepper flakes, you'd be surprised that the sauce has such few ingredients. If you love quick, easy and minimal ingredient pastas, you'll love my lemon garlic bucatini, or spicy chilli garlic noodles! If you love the citrus notes in this recipe, my creamy chicken al limone is a must try!
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🥘Ingredients
- Parmesan cheese: I always recommend using freshly grated parmesan cheese for the best flavor in the sauce. Because there are so few ingredients in this pasta dish, quality ingredients matter.
- Capers: Capers have a briny, salty flavor to them, which give this pasta dish its distinct savory flavor. I recommend draining your capers from the briny solution they are packed in, to get rid of the extra salt. The capers on their own are salty enough, and do not need the added brine.
- Fresh lemon: Fresh lemon is always the best choice when you are making a sauce, as it will always have a brighter, zestier flavor. Bottled lemon juice tends to be more muted, and sometimes have a metallic taste that is not ideal for a fresh, bright sauce like this one.
- Heavy cream: It is important to use heavy cream for this sauce, as the fat content will thicken up into a sauce better than a lower-fat cream or milk. Heavy cream is sometimes referred to as heavy whipping cream, or 35% cream.
A full list of ingredients with measurements is located on the recipe card, below.
📖Substitutions
- Spaghetti: Feel free to use any kind of long pasta, such as bucatini or capellini instead. If you prefer shorter pastas like penne, fusilli or even stuffed pasta like cheese ravioli, those will all work well with this sauce.
- Capers: You can leave the capers out if you are not a huge fan of them. You will have a delicious, zesty lemon cream sauce instead.
- Red chilli flakes: Substitute cracked black pepper in place of red chilli flakes.
🔪Variations
- Wine: Add some white wine to the sauce for a fancy twist - I recommend using a dry white wine, and always make sure it's a wine you like to drink.
- Seafood: Top with pan seared scallops or salmon to make add some protein to this pasta.
- Butter: If you don't want a cream-based sauce, you can make this recipe with butter, capers and lemon for a lighter version.
⏲️ Step-by-Step Instructions
Prep Work Before Cooking
Collecting all your ingredients - This will make cooking so much easier. Gather all the spices you will need, and keep them nearby.
Boil water - Bring a pot of large water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, salt liberally.
Boil the pasta until al dente, or until it is cooked through with a slight bite to it. Reserve a ¼ cup of pasta water before draining the pasta, and set aside.
Heat up a skillet over medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil. Crisp the capers in the heated skillet. Remove the capers once they are crispy, and drain on a paper towel. [photo 1]
To the same skillet, add the minced garlic and chilli flakes. Sauté until fragrant, but the garlic is not browned. [photo 2]
Add the heavy cream and lemon juice to the skillet. Let the heavy cream cook down for 1-2 minutes. Top with the pasta, pasta water and parmesan, and toss. Let the mixture cook together for another 2 minutes, to allow the sauce to thicken and cling to the pasta. [photo 3]
Top the pasta with crispy capers, and serve. [photo 4]
💭 Expert Tip
Be mindful of extra salt: You will likely not need to add any extra salt to this pasta. Capers and parmesan are inherently salty!
Do not burn the garlic: When garlic gets too brown, it becomes bitter and slightly inedible. Because of this, I recommend either lowering the heat when cooking the garlic, or keeping a close eye on it.
Give the pasta time to thicken: You may find that that the sauce looks like it is on the thinner side. As the sauce cooks with the pasta and parmesan, it will thicken up with the starch and fat from both.
🍽 Make Ahead & Storage
- This pasta is eaten best when made fresh.
- Cream sauces do not heat up as well as tomato-based sauces.
- If you have leftovers, store in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Reheat leftover pasta on the stove and add a touch of heavy cream to loosen the sauce if needed.
⭐ Recipe FAQs
Capers are actually a bud from a plant. They do not have the same vibrant taste when they are fresh, but when they are pickled they have a bright, salty and briny flavor.
Yes - jarred sauce will work in a pinch. You can crisp the capers, and jazz up the store-bought sauce with garlic, lemon and the capers.
Your sauce is likely runny because you did not give the cream time to thicken with the pasta and cheese. Be sure to allow the cream to cook down, and allow the pasta to cook with the cream sauce too.
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Easy Creamy Lemon Caper Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 oz Spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon Capers
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- ¼ cup Heavy cream
- ½ Lemon juiced
- ¼ teaspoon Red chilli flakes
- 3 cloves Garlic finely minced
Equipment
Instructions
- Boil the pasta until al dente, or until it is cooked through with a slight bite to it. Reserve a ¼ cup of pasta water before draining the pasta, and set aside.2 oz Spaghetti
- Heat up a skillet over medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil. Crisp the capers in the heated skillet. Remove the capers once they are crispy, and drain on a paper towel.1 tablespoon Capers
- To the same skillet, add the minced garlic and chilli flakes. Sauté until fragrant, but the garlic is not browned.3 cloves Garlic, ¼ teaspoon Red chilli flakes
- Add the heavy cream and lemon juice to the skillet. Let the heavy cream cook down for 1-2 minutes. Top with the pasta, pasta water and parmesan, and toss. Let the mixture cook together for another 2 minutes, to allow the sauce to thicken and cling to the pasta.¼ cup Heavy cream, ½ Lemon, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- Top the pasta with crispy capers, and serve.
Notes
- Be mindful of extra salt: You will likely not need to add any extra salt to this pasta. Capers and parmesan are inherently salty!
- Do not burn the garlic: When garlic gets too brown, it becomes bitter and slightly inedible. Because of this, I recommend either lowering the heat when cooking the garlic, or keeping a close eye on it.
- Give the pasta time to thicken: You may find that that the sauce looks like it is on the thinner side. As the sauce cooks with the pasta and parmesan, it will thicken up with the starch and fat from both.
Gillian
Thanks so much for including a single serving. Planning to make it tonight, and will pump up the vegs by adding sautéed mushrooms and broccoli rabe.
Sunena Anand
I hope you love it, Gillian! Great idea to add in some veggies - that sounds delicious!