These garlic butter noodles make the perfect side dish that goes well with almost anything. These buttered noodles are made with brown butter, garlic, red pepper flakes, parmesan, parsley, and the perfect butter to noodles ratio. Brown butter really takes them to another level, you need to try this recipe!

You may also like our garlic butter rice!

Garlic butter noodles in a white bowl stuck on a fork.

Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make this easy recipe:

egg noodles – are the best but you can use any type of pasta for this recipe
butter – you can use salted or unsalted, I usually have unsalted in my fridge so this is what I used – you can better control the amount of salt in the recipe
parmesan – real freshly-grated parmesan tastes best
red pepper flakes – optional
fresh parsley
fresh garlic – don’t use garlic powder
lemon juice – just a small amount, is needed to cut through the richness of butter and cheese, a must in this recipe, use freshly squeezed lemon juice
what you could also add: if you’d like to transform this to main dish add pan-fried shrimp or chicken to this recipe!

How to make garlic butter noodles step by step

A collage of 4 photos showing how to make buttered noodles step by step.

STEP 1: Cook the pasta al dente in well-salted water – about 30 seconds less than the instructions on the package (it should have a bite to it). Drain.

In the meantime, make brown butter – add the butter to a medium saucepan and cook over low heat for about 2-3 minutes or until light brown in color and smells nutty. Whisk the butter from time to time to scrape the brown bits at the bottom of the pot. Make sure to not burn it – when it’s done, take the pot immediately off the heat.

STEP 2: Add the garlic and chili flakes (if using) and cook over the lowest heat for about 30 seconds or until the garlic is fragrant.

TIP: Make sure to chop garlic with a knife and not use a garlic press. Garlic chopped with a knife has lots of garlic flavor but it is not harsh. Garlic pressed through a garlic press may make your buttered noodles too garlicky. Reason: garlic press mashes more garlic cells that contain a substance responsible for the harsh taste of garlic. By chopping the garlic with a knife, fewer cells are mashed – so using more chopped garlic we can add more garlic flavor to the dish without it being too harsh.

STEP 3: Add the garlic brown butter to drained noodles and stir until well-coated.

STEP 4: Add lemon juice, parmesan cheese, and chopped parsley. Stir until combined.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Storage

These noodles reheat well. Keep them in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Reheat in a non-stick pan over low heat.

I don’t recommend freezing pasta, it comes out mushy and breaks.

What to serve it with

These buttered noodles go well with almost anything but here are a couple of my personal favorites:

Did you make this recipe? RATE THE RECIPE or tell me in the COMMENTS how you liked it! You can also add a photo of your dish. It would make me very happy and will help other readers. Thank you!!