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This recipe hits the refresh button on Spaghetti Aglio E Olio as we know it with the addition of toasted bread crumbs and fresh lemon! This tasty 15-minute dinner will easily become part of your regular rotation thanks to its simplicity.
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Spaghetti Aglio E Olio Ingredients
- Recipe Variations & Modifications
- How to Make Spaghetti Aglio E Olio
- Cooking Tip
- How to Serve Spaghetti Aglio E Olio
- Storage & Reheating
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Easy Weeknight Pastas for You to Try…
- 15-Minute Spaghetti Aglio E Olio Recipe
This unfussy spaghetti aglio e olio steps away from the pasta sauce, but you won’t be mad. It’s perfect for those nights you find yourself in a pinch. It takes 15-minutes from start to finish and calls for minimal ingredients—all of which are pantry staples you likely already have!
Looking for more weeknight pasta dinners that are easy to cook? This clam pasta with tomato sauce and my Mushroom Ravioli With Brown Butter & Crispy Sage are both hasty and delicious. You could also just toss some pasta in this 20-minute homemade marinara sauce!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s flavorful—The lemon does wonders at brightening spaghetti aglio e olio as we know it, and the bread crumbs bring on an awesome toasty crunch.
- It’s quick & easy—This recipe gets dinner on the table in very little time with no hassle.
- It’s light—As much as I love a ricotta-filled lasagna slathered in a ground beef bolognese, or spaghetti and meatballs, this recipe is a fantastic break from heavier pasta dishes.
Spaghetti Aglio E Olio Ingredients
A full ingredient list with exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
- Lemon—A fresh squeeze of lemon juice really brightens the flavors up in oil-based pasta dishes.
- Garlic—Yes, we call for a lot of garlic here. The more the better, to be honest.
- Bread crumbs—Toasted bread crumbs bring an awesome crunch to the pasta.
Recipe Variations & Modifications
- Pasta—You can use any noodle shape, but I do find that spaghetti or long thin pastas hold onto the flavors and coating best.
- Chili flakes—We use just between 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, but if you don’t like heat, you can omit the them completely.
- Protein—You can easily add protein to this dish! Chicken, shrimp, or Italian sausage are great choices.
- Veggies—This will get you farther away from a classic aglio e olio, but that’s ok! Diced or crushed tomatoes, broccoli, onion, spinach, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, or asparagus would make this a heartier pasta for a vegetarian.
- Cheese—You could make this a little cheesy by adding some grated parmesan.
- Italian seasoning—To add an herbaceous flare to the dish, add a tablespoon of homemade Italian seasoning to your bread crumbs.
How to Make Spaghetti Aglio E Olio
Step 1. Toast the bread crumbs by heating a dry skillet over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, bring the heat down to medium-low and add the bread crumbs. Let them toast, shaking the pan every so often to prevent burning. Once they smell nice and toasty and turn golden in color, remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
Step 2. For the pasta, cook until al dente as per the directions on the packaging in generously salted water. (When the pasta is done boiling, reserve 1 cup of the pasta before draining.) While the pasta cooks, heat 1/2 cup of olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and chili flakes and simmer for about 3-5 minutes, stirring often to prevent the garlic from burning. You just want a nice golden color on it, you don’t want it browned.
Step 3. Add the pasta to the pot with the garlic and chili oil. Toss the pasta thoroughly using tongs to evenly coat. Bit by bit, add the reserved pasta water. This water is starchy and will help create a nice sauce out of the oil and will help it stick to the noodles. Taste the pasta. If it seems bland, add a few pinches of salt, bit by bit, until you get the flavor going. This is definitely a dish that needs salt!
Step 4. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, freshly chopped parsley, toasted bread crumbs, and a few cracks of black pepper. If you’re adding any parmesan cheese, now is the time to do that. Toss everything to coat, and serve with extra chili flakes on the side for those who like a little extra heat!
Cooking Tip
Get the pasta started first, then prep all of your ingredients (get everything chopped, lined up, and ready to go). Once you start heating that oil, things move fast and you don’t want the garlic to burn! So timing is crucial.
Note: You could add a bit of chicken broth to your pasta water for extra flavor.
How to Serve Spaghetti Aglio E Olio
A nice fresh hunk of Homemade Dutch Oven Bread with butter and Caesar salad with my homemade Caesar dressing is my favorite way to go. You could also introduce the dish with a bright and refreshing Caprese salad.
Storage & Reheating
- This pasta can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3-5 days.
- To reheat, simply transfer your portion to a microwave-safe dish and reheat in 35-second increments until heated through.
Frequently Asked Questions
This pasta dish is typically kept unfussy by using oil, garlic, chili flakes, and pasta cooked in salted water. My version here amps things up a bit, while still keeping it simple, with the addition of lemon and bread crumbs.
It means “garlic and oil”.
This pasta dish is bright and garlicky with a smidgen of heat. The toasted bread crumbs in my recipe add a bit of a deep and toasty flavor.
It’s hassle-free and made with super simple ingredients that most people likely have on hand on any given day.
More Easy Weeknight Pastas for You to Try…
If you try this spaghetti aglio e olio recipe, please pop back in and leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
15-Minute Spaghetti Aglio E Olio
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti, Or long pasta like angel hair, fettuccine, etc.
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 8 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced, Add more if you want more heat
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- 1/2 cup toasted breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
Instructions
- Heat a dry pan over medium heat and, when the pan is hot, reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the breadcrumbs to the pan and let them toast, shaking the pan every now and then so they don't burn. When the breadcrumbs start to become aromatic and turn a light golden color, remove them from the heat and set them aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once you have a rolling boil, toss a generous amount of salt into the water. Add the pasta and, going by the instructions on the packaging, cook it to al dente.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-low heat. When it's hot, add the garlic and chili flakes, giving them a good stir to prevent burning. Stir them often to keep them moving. (Avoid browning thr garlic.)
- When the pasta is ready, reserve 1 cup of the starchy pasta water; drain the rest.
- Transfer the pasta to the garlic and chili oil and, using tongs, toss the pasta thoroughly until it's all covered. Add the pasta water bit by bit to create a sauce out of the oil. This will also help the sauce stick to the noodles.
- Do a taste test with the pasta and, If it seems bland, add a few pinches of salt until you get the flavor going. This is why salting the pasta water enough is so important.
- Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, fresh parsley, toasted bread crumbs, and a few cracks of black pepper if you're so inclined. If you're adding any parmesan cheese, now is the time to do that.
- Toss well to coat and serve with extra chili flakes for those who like a little extra heat.
Didn’t think it would be so easy, but it really was. Going into the weekly rotation!
Sometimes the simpler recipes are the best ones! I love this texture combination you’ve got going on- breadcrumbs, cheese, pasta, parsley, chili flakes… YUM! Right up my alley. My go-to pasta dish: hot pasta, egg whisked with a bit of the pasta water, chopped walnuts, chopped cilantro (oh wait- you hate cilantro don’t you? Replace with parsley!), a generous dose of good quality olive oil and some S&P. SO good!
Oh girl. Your go-to pasta dish sounds incredible! I love the addition of walnuts! I have to give that a whirl sometime. Also, I’m impressed by your memory regarding my hatred toward cilantro ;) I guess I do tend to be pretty vocal about it, haha.
You are 100 per cent right, Dana: pecorino romano makes EVERYTHING better. And toasted breadcrumbs?! Bring on the gluten. This is such a perfect dish for when you have nothing in pantry and need to get food on the table ASAP. No one will say no to pasta with oil, garlic, cheese and breadcrumbs!
The bread crumbs are LIFE. I can’t imagine this dish without them anymore. I mean hey, it works and it’s still delicious, but once you get a taste with those crispy toasted bits… damn.
Cheese please! Oh. And garlic. And all the chili flakes. I’ll just sub in some g/f pasta and we’ll be good to go! Yum.
I hope you love it :)
The best pasta dishes are always the simple ones that let the ingredients shine. This looks beautiful and so yummy. Definitely worth all the carbs ;)
Thanks, Nathalie! It’s true! It’s amazing how simple you can keep things with pasta and somehow have it turn out to be pretty elegant.
While I’ve been known to craft the occasional complex pasta dish, I have to say that I hold a deep love for recipes like this. First of all, I’m a self-confessed carb fiend, so yayyyy to the breadcrumbs on pasta. Also I have to agree with you – everything’s better with cheese. But honestly, pasta dishes like this are such a great way to demonstrate the value and flexibility of really good ingredients. There’s no trickery or hiding behind big flavours – it’s just simple and amazing stuff. And I LOVE it. I’m so glad you posted this – and so glad that you put useful and detailed instructions in. After all, if you’re going to rock an elegant, minimalist pasta, then you need to know what you’re doing! Cheers!
Thanks, Sean! Couldn’t agree more. Once I grew more interested in Italian cuisine and started to eat at more authentic Italian restaurants, I quickly learned that 1. fresh pasta is everything, and 2. you really don’t need to add much to a pasta dish if you have a solid homemade sauce. I do enjoy the odd crisp-cleaning pasta bake to get rid of veggies before the turn, but if I’m planning a solid Italian meal, simple is the way.
Spaghetti aglio olio (e peperoncino) is a staple in our house. we love it and make it often. It is simple yet complex and full of flavors. The addition of the toasted breadcrumbs makes it even yummier! And the parsley (we never make it without), it goes very well with all the flavors. Love your pictures, Dana, you captured the essence of this pasta :-) .
P.s. There is a “blogger recognition award” kind of chain going on. We were nominated by some blogger and in our turn, we nominated some blogs we love, including yours. Here is the link to our post (participation is optional): http://www.sugarlovespices.com/sour-cherry-mini-galettes/
Oh peperoncino, how I love thee. Thanks so much for the kind words, and gosh, thanks so much for the nomination! How amazing are you? That made my day. Really. I am so fortunate to have a tightly knit circle of friends and creatives in this overly saturated food blog world. <3
Oh yes! I’m a sucker for angel hair pasta! Knowing me, I’d most likely end-up adding roasted veggies to it, but what a lovely classic dish! Yum! Gimme garlic over everything!
It’s hard to go wrong with some roasted veggies. I think roasted broccoli would turn this into an even bigger winner. Noms.
First of all, Thanks you for not forgetting the cheese;) and second I love the added breadcrumbs it bring a nice complementary texture to the pasta! Love this dish, simple, elegant and cheesy tasty;)
It will be a cold day in hell if I ever snub cheese :) Thanks, Marie!
Mmmm…garlic simmered in olive oil. How amazing! I love dishes that are quick and easy to prepare with few ingredients, and this one looks like a wonderful treat!
Thanks, Cathy! It’s definitely one of those weeknight wonders.