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Learn how to perfect a classic with our Buttered Noodles recipe. With only 5 ingredients, you can create the ultimate nostalgic comfort food.
Featured with this recipe
Take yourself back to the simplicity of childhood with the deliciousness of buttered noodles. Although, these noodles taste anything but simple. Cooked in rich chicken stock to infuse with layers of savory flavor, dressed with melted butter to create the perfect buttery noodle, tossed with garlic for a kick, and enhanced with freshly grated parmesan cheese makes these cooked noodles a delicacy! Enjoy this comfort meal any night of the week, you’ve earned it.
Ingredients in Buttered Noodles
- Noodles – I like to use wide noodles like fettuccine, pappardelle, or egg noodles.
- Chicken Stock – Cooking pasta in chicken stock gives it such a rich, savory flavor.
- Butter – Since this recipe has so few ingredients I like to use a high quality butter for the best flavor.
- Garlic – Grating the garlic releases the oils and adds flavor.
- Parmesan Cheese – Freshly grated tastes best and has the best texture.
Finishing Touches
Garnish your pasta:
- Squeeze of lemon
- Red pepper flakes
- Fresh herbs- chopped parsley, basil, oregano, chives, and thyme
- Cracked black pepper
What to Serve with Buttered Noodles
Serve as a main dish by adding a protein like sautéed or grilled shrimp, chicken, or salmon on top. Serve with broccoli or another favorite vegetable on the side.
Turn this dish into a side and a part of a trio by adding a fresh salad and a soup. This will make a fun meal a la Olive Garden.
Using Pasta Water
Reserving and using about a cup of pasta water is an important step in the cooking process of pasta with any type of sauce. When you add pasta water back into the sauce you are creating, the starchy water helps to thin out the sauce to a good consistency. It also helps the sauce cling to the pasta better and helps mix and combine the fats and cheeses you are adding to the sauce for a more cohesive sauce with a delicious consistency.
Recipe Tip
Use the smallest side of a box grater to grate the parmesan cheese. The finer you grate the cheese, the smoother texture your butter sauce will have.
Frequently Asked Questions about Buttered Noodles
The origins of buttered noodles are highly contested, but one thing for certain is that Italians DO eat them, just not with Parmesan (they eat it with Parmigiano Reggiano).
Try adding about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil or butter to a pan on the stove on medium heat and sauté your noodles until heated through. This will help them from drying out or becoming clumped together.
This recipe uses fettuccini, but any wide noodle works great. Some people like the taste, flavor, and texture of egg noodles in a buttered noodles recipe. It comes down to preference.
Read Next: The Old Spaghetti Factory’s Mizithra Pasta
More Easy Pasta Recipes
How to Make Buttered Noodles
Buttered Noodles
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 8 ounces fettuccine noodles
- 3 cloves garlic grated
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated, plus more for serving
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring water and chicken stock to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve about ¼ cup of the pasta water and then drain the pasta. Set aside.
- Add butter to the pot and heat over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the pasta, reserved pasta water, and parmesan cheese. Stir to combine.
- Serve immediately with extra parmesan cheese and pepper.
Notes
- Squeeze half a lemon into the pasta before serving for a bright zing of flavor!
- This pasta is best served immediately. Leftovers will not have the same texture as the butter and cheese can split.
- You shouldn’t have to add any salt at the end since the chicken stock and parmesan cheese are quite salty.
- This recipe makes 4 smaller side dish servings – if you are wanting to serve this as a main dish, I would double the recipe.
Simple And so easy to prepare, but looks yummy. I love this one.
These buttered noodles, the best I’ve ever had!!! Five *