I have a tendency to go overboard.
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I made this tonight and it was AMAZING. Such stunning flavors with the basil, butter and garlic. So tasty.
Carol
And food blogging only exaggerates it.
How To Make Our Garlic Butter Spaghetti (50 SEC):
For example. That one time. Did I really need to add the grated apple, caramelized onions, butternut squash sauce, and crumbled bacon to what started as a simple mac and cheese? Actually, yes. That was a bad example.
But my over-zealous inner food blogger loves adding extra, sometimes unnecessary, and dare I even say distracting? ingredients to recipes that should be left alone. Simple. Un-messed with. Like homemade brownie batter with a spoon and a glass of milk: basic and perfect.
In way too recent memory, Ginger Coconut Jalapeno Sweet Potato Cabbage Lentils almost became a real recipe name on this blog. Delicious and yet another example of overboard. Instead I named it Creamy Thai Sweet Potatoes and Lentils, because I have a bad habit of naming any recipe with curry paste and coconut milk in it “Thai”, and it’s totally yum. But it was almost annoying.
One thing I’ve really tried hard to do as a food blogger is KEEP THE FOOD SIMPLE.
As in buttered noodles simple.
Part of my Pinch of Yum “job”, whatever that means, is creating recipes that are fun and unique and different and inspiring to all you lovely friends who read my blog, and I truly LOVE FOOD, all the delicious food across the whole wide Earth, so experimenting with new ingredients is reallyreally fun for me.
At the same time, simple and familiar is really my favorite.
Basic dishes with fresh ingredients that people feel comfortable making? I feel so good when that is what comes across through this little internet space.
This garlic butter spaghetti is that, in a nutshell.
How good does that smell?
It’s like this. –> Butter (I splurged on the expensive stuff, which still isn’t as good as my favorite Market Pantry butter at home, but it’s butter and it’s delicious) bubbling on the stove with a pile of minced garlic and chopped fresh greens. Soft, sticky, carby whole wheat noodles boiling extra long in the pot because al dente isn’t going to cut it for this one. My tiny apartment smelling heavenly. Sea salt sticking to my fingers. My plate heaping with noodles. More butter. More herbs. Searching the fridge for Parmesan cheese. My fork winding its way through a pile of noodles.
Basics like this are why I love food.
And I mean Love. Food.
Garlic Butter Spaghetti with Herbs
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
This garlic butter spaghetti with herbs is a simple twist on the traditional. Made with a garlic butter sauce, fresh basil and spinach, and Parmesan cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. whole wheat spaghetti
- 6 tablespoons butter + more for serving
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large bunch basil, chopped
- 1 large bunch baby spinach, chopped
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- Parmigiano Reggiano cheese for topping
Instructions
- Cook the spaghetti according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, heat the butter together in a large nonstick skillet over medium low heat. Add the minced garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes, until soft and fragrant. Be careful not to burn or over-brown the garlic because it will taste bitter. Low and slow is the winner here.
- Chop the spinach and basil (I had about 5 cups total – it reduces quite a bit as it wilts) into small bite-sized pieces and add to the skillet, stirring for just a minute or two to get the greens softened slightly. Season with salt.
- Add the spaghetti to the skillet (or vice versa depending on pan size) and season with salt and pepper. Toss well to combine and let it all rest for a few minutes to stick together a bit. Serve with an additional pat of butter and/or fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
Notes
For the leftovers, I added a can of roughly chopped fire-roasted whole tomatoes and about 1/2 cup of vegetable broth and simmered for an additional 10 minutes. The noodles were thick and saucy and loaded with vegetables. So good!
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition Facts
- Daily value: 12% Total Fat 9.5g
- Daily value: 8% Cholesterol 22.9mg
- Daily value: 30% Sodium 685.5mg
- Daily value: 7% Total Carbohydrate 19.5g
- Sugars 0.8g
- Daily value: 10% Protein 4.8g
- Daily value: 31% Vitamin A 280.2µg
- Daily value: 15% Vitamin C 13.4mg
Keywords: garlic butter spaghetti, spaghetti with herb, butter spaghetti
Q: Do I recommend eating the leftover noodles straight out’the fridge after a long day at work?
A: Have you been spying on me?
Delicious and easy to prepare. Added some lemon zest at the end once served. Awesome.
I made this tonight and it was AMAZING. Such stunning flavors with the basil, butter and garlic. So tasty.
So glad you enjoyed this, Carol!
I love this dish, also great with some corn kernels and diced bacon
YUMMY! Thanks for the tips, Lucy!
This was fabulous! I did add toasted pine nuts at the end. It was a delicious and quick meal. Thank you for sharing 😊
Toasted pine nuts sound perfect here!
I had left over spaghetti and whipped this up in about 5 minutes! It was amazingly simple, delicious and will be a go to meal in a pinch!
Surprisingly good! I made this recipe for one person. I thought at first that it was bland but as I was eating it I started to taste the subtle notes of garlic and butter. My only quarrel with this recipe is that it’s more like 370 cals, 20gs of fat and 45g of carbs (which isn’t terrible) but whoever estimated was way off. Girlfriend thought they were pretty good and simple and I totally agree.
Can I add sausage and a little olive oil to this recipe?
Definitely!
I’m going to make this Thursday for a “pot luck” dinner. I have never done this and, it’s at my house. I will let you know how it was when I make it.
I am also want to try to make such types of delicious FOOd, thanks for giving me best-making instruction through your this post,
Such a delicious dish and I like your making recipe for such types of food, my mouth has water after coming to this food, I hope it is very tasty to eat also.
It looks so yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe, I am gonna give it a try!
https://couponseye.wordpress.com/
It’s tasty and so good for me. I will try to cook it. Thanks your review.
Delicious and quick pasta! This is all I need today 🙂
I made this last night and it was sublime! Crazy good.
I was looking for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe (and I WILL be making yours soon!) and saw this recipe on the sidebar. OMG. So simple and tasty! I had to make a few substitutions since it’s winter and my basil is long gone, not to mention my spinach didn’t do well this year …. So I had to use what I had available-kale, it’s still growing like crazy in my lettuce garden. I’m sure the basil would have really brightened up this dish but it was wonderful with just baby kale. I think it was the garlic. I love garlic. Thanks for a great, easy recipe! I’ll make it again in the spring once I have the “proper” ingredients 🙂
Glad to hear it, Cat!
YUM
I was excited to find this recipe as it sounded just like a dish I get at my favorite restaurant. It turned out just as good, I’ll definitely be making it again! Thanks!
Glad to hear it, Bethany!
Hi Lindsay,
I like spaghetti recipe. I will try this soon. Thank for share it here!
I made these last night and it was delicious!!! I grew up making a very similar dish with parsley instead of spinach but I love the spinach more! You can totally use a whole bag of baby spinach and it would not be too much. SO much flavor for so few ingredients. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!