Easy Creamy Lemon Caper Pasta (Without Wine)

4.80 from 5 votes

Easy Creamy Lemon Caper Pasta (Without Wine)

This creamy parmesan lemon caper pasta only needs 5 ingredients to make the sauce, and 15 minutes to make! Packed with tangy, crispy capers, zesty garlic, and the heat of red pepper flakes, this sauce is packed with flavor with such few ingredients that you probably already have on hand in your pantry.

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Total Time15

Course: Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Creamy caper pasta, Creamy lemon caper pasta, Lemon caper sauce

Servings: Serving

Calories: 546kcal

Author: Sunena Anand

Equipment

Ingredients

2 oz Spaghetti
1 tablespoon Capers packed in brine, drained
¼ teaspoon Red chilli flakes
3 cloves Garlic finely minced
½ Lemon juiced
¼ cup Heavy cream
¼ cup Parmesan cheese grated

Instructions

Boil the spaghetti to package instructions until al dente, which means it is cooked through with a slight bite to it. Reserve a ¼ cup of pasta water, and drain the pasta. Set the cooked spaghetti aside.
2 oz Spaghetti
While the pasta cooks, heat a large skillet over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the drained capers to the skillet, and let them crisp up until lightly golden brown. Toss the capers occasionally to prevent burning. Remove the crisp capers, and drain on a paper towel.
1 tablespoon Capers
To the same hot pan, add the minced cloves of garlic and chili flakes. Sauté until the garlic has lightly softened, but 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 cooked 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.
½ Lemon, ¼ cup Heavy cream, 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. The pasta water will be salted, along with capers and parmesan which are all naturally salty.
Do not burn the garlic: When garlic gets too brown, it becomes bitter and overpowering. To avoid this, I recommend slightly lowering the heat when cooking the garlic and keeping a close eye on it.
Give the pasta time to thicken: You may find that the creamy 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.
Prevent a curdled sauce: Cream sauces can curdle if the heat is too high. Keep the heat low when adding the parmesan cheese to the cream, and stir the lemon juice and cream consistently to prevent curdling.

Nutrition