Brown Butter Mushroom Pasta

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.

Brown Butter Mushroom Pasta- A quick and easy pasta dish that comes together in a snap with mostly pantry ingredients! Mushroom fans rejoice–this is going to become your new favorite pasta! The brown butter is AMAZING!

Brown Butter Mushroom Pasta

This Brown Butter Mushroom Pasta takes less than 30 minutes to make. And the best part? It tastes like a pasta dish you would order at a fancy Italian restaurant. This pasta recipe tastes SO gourmet but can easily be made at home with only a few ingredients. It is one of my all-time favorite pasta recipes and I think you will love it too.

So what’s the secret? The brown butter! It really does make everything better, even pasta! The brown butter sauce is what dreams are made of. This is a great quick and easy weeknight meal or perfect for entertaining because your guests will ooh and aah over every bite.

Brown Butter Mushroom Pasta Ingredients

Ingredients

This is a pantry friendly pasta! You only need a few ingredients so make sure you use high quality ingredients. For example, use GOOD freshly grated Parmesan cheese and not the stuff in the shaker jar:)

  • Your favorite pasta (I like Rigatoni for this recipe!)
  • Butter
  • Cremini or baby bella mushrooms
  • Garlic
  • Thyme
  • Salt and pepper
  • Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • For serving: chopped fresh parsley, crushed red pepper flakes, extra Parmesan cheese…all optional, but really yummy!
Brown Butter Mushroom Pasta Recipe

How to Brown Butter

Browned butter has got to be one of the best smells in the whole world. It’s a comforting, nutty aroma that just makes your kitchen smell nostalgic! It’s one extra step that only takes a couple minutes and gives this pasta the BEST flavor!

  1. Get medium-high heat going under a large skillet.
  2. Melt the butter, giving it an occasional swirl, until the top gets a little foamy and brown bits form at the bottom. You’ll notice a nutty aroma! This means your butte has browned and is ready to go for this recipe.
Brown Butter Pasta

How to Make Brown Butter Mushroom Pasta

  • Get your pasta going! I always start with very salty water at a rolling boil before adding pasta in. Cook until al dente, according to package instructions. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta water, don’t forget this step, and drain the pasta.
  • Brown the butter in a large skillet. Once the butter is browned, add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. You’ll want the mushrooms to be tender and browned before you add in the thyme and garlic and cook it all for an additional 2 minutes. Add a little salt and pepper, to taste.
  • Remember that reserved pasta water? Add that into the skillet here along with the cooked pasta! Cut the heat to low and stir in half of the Parmesan cheese, stirring gently until it’s nice and melted.
  • Add the rest of the cheese and continue that gentle stirring until the cheese is all melted. You can use tongs to toss the pasta. You need to make sure you stir so the cheese doesn’t clump up.
  • Plate the pasta and garnish with parsley, crushed red pepper, and Parmesan if you’d like. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Easy Brown Butter Mushroom Pasta

Serving Suggestions

I could eat a big bowl of this pasta and be completely content, but if you want to serve something on the side, these side dishes go great with the brown butter pasta.

How to Make Brown Butter Pasta

More Easy Pasta Recipes

We love a pasta night around here! Tried and true favorites:

Email Yourself This Recipe
Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus, you’ll get NEW recipes from us every week!

Brown Butter Mushroom Pasta

A quick and easy pasta dish that comes together in a snap with mostly pantry ingredients! Mushroom fans rejoice–this is going to become your new favorite pasta! The brown butter is AMAZING!
4.83 from 45 votes

Ingredients
  

  • 12 oz Rigatoni pasta (or your favorite pasta)
  • 8 tablespoons salted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
  • 12 oz cremini or baby bella mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • For serving: chopped fresh parsley, crushed red pepper flakes, extra Parmesan cheese, optional

Instructions
 

  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season generously with salt. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta water and drain.
  • In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Cook, swirling occasionally, until the butter starts to foam and smells slightly nutty, this should take about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme, cook for 2 more minutes. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste.
  • Add the pasta to the skillet and stir in the reserved pasta water. Reduce heat to low and add half of the Parmesan cheese, stirring gently until melted. Add the remaining cheese and stir until melted. You can also use tongs to toss the pasta and cheese, so it doesn’t clump. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.
  • Transfer the pasta to plates or bowls and garnish with parsley, crushed red pepper flakes, and extra Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 396kcal, Carbohydrates: 46g, Protein: 12g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Cholesterol: 47mg, Sodium: 268mg, Potassium: 399mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 539IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 123mg, Iron: 1mg

Have you tried this recipe?

Leave a comment below and share a photo on Instagram. Tag @twopeasandpod and hashtag it with #twopeasandtheirpod

Photos by Dishing Out Health

Thanks for Sharing!

If you make this recipe, please leave a star rating and comment below! You can also share a picture on Instagram! Tag @twopeasandpod and use the hashtag #twopeasandtheirpod.

Get the best of the best!
4 Recipes Guaranteed to be New Favorites

Maria

I'm Maria and my husband is Josh. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. We love sitting around the table with good food, good conversation, and good friends and family! Our kitchen is always open!
Read More

Vegetarian Summer Fall Spring Winter

Other recipes you may like

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Comments

Leave a comment

  1. 5 stars
    So yummy! My 10 year old and I loved it and were upset when my husband (who professes not to like mushrooms) dug in!

  2. 5 stars
    This was delicious!!! We had to substitute garlic powder due to low groceries and added some frozen peas as well (to use them up) with the mushrooms, and it was still amazing. My husband was very impressed that something so simple was so good. I’m excited for leftovers today:-)

  3. My husband saw the recipe on FB and asked me to make it. I was shocked that he wanted that for dinner and nothing else. He almost always has to have some kind of meat for dinner. We absolutely loved it and had the leftovers with salmon and broccolini last night. This is a new favorite and I can’t wait to make it again. Thank you for all of the yummy recipes.

  4. Dear Maria,
    I am so thrilled that your lovely family remains healthy during this unfortunate crises. I want to let you know I am a Nurse Practitioner working full time in Pennsylvania. I, along with so many others, have been working overtime to meet the medical needs of so many people. Quite frankly I am exhausted. Tonight is my day off and as tired as I am, I was bound and determined to make this browned butter pasta. Brown butter and garlic, what could be more amazing??? I was able to whip it up in no time at all, and I took the liberty of adding a bit of fresh dill and lemon rind to make the flavor pop. WOW!!! For once, I will be heading to bed with a full tummy (I ate too much) and I look forward to the little bit of leftovers I have. FANTASTIC RECIPE! Thank you so much for making my evening.

    1. Hi Cindy-thanks for all of your hard work. I am so glad you enjoyed the pasta. I love your additions! Get some rest and stay safe!

  5. 5 stars
    Absolutely delicious! I love mushrooms so this was a A+ recipe. Even my husband who is finally coming around to liking mushrooms thought it was a hit.
    I thoroughly enjoy all your recipes!

  6. 5 stars
    I made this last night. So delicious! An easy and quick recipe to make. I am a Type 1 Diabetic and decided to use Banza Chickpea Rigatoni Pasta which keeps my Blood Sugar from rising too high. If you use this pasta, reserve a little more cooking water because this pasta absorbs a lot of the water and you want the pasta to be moist. I used almost a cup of the reserved water.
    I also sautéed some Aidells Chicken Apple Sausage to add a little protein to the meal. Absolutely delicious and another great recipe. Love everything I make from you Marty!! Thank you!

    1. 5 stars
      HA HA!! Sorry! Meant to say Thank you MARIA! Couldn’t get back in to edit! Love all your recipes Maria!!

  7. 5 stars
    Easy, delicious, forgiving, and versatile. Can’t ask much more from a recipe! I saw an earlier comment about using peas but didn’t have any available and substituted several large handfuls of arugula. Wilted slightly right before serving, it added a nice balance to the buttery richness. Already wondering how early I can call it lunchtime tomorrow and enjoy the left-overs.

  8. 5 stars
    So delicious and super easy to prepare. I sliced the mushrooms in advance and cooked the butter and mushrooms as the pasta was cooking. I followed the recipe but forgot to save 1/2 cup pasta water (I just drained the pasta as I usually do, and didn’t think about it). I added 1/2 cup buttermilk which I had on hand and followed the rest of the recipe. The buttermilk gave the pasta a little tang along with the Parmesan cheese. The recipe fed my husband and me as our one pot meal, with a little leftover. If I had served the pasta with a side salad, it would have fed ~4 adults. Add this to the list of our favorite pasta dishes!

  9. 5 stars
    Hi! Made this tonight and while I could see the potential in it, I think something enrt wrong (on my end). The butter got nice and brown, but after 5 minutes of mixing in the mushrooms, the butter started to separate and almost “unbrown”, so I was left with very oily pasta. Did I cook it too long?

    1. 5 stars
      Just keep tossing mushrooms, they are amazing when cooking as they absorb and release butter, and their own water until they are browned.

  10. 5 stars
    Awesome recipe, so simple yet carries such complex flavours. Really easy to prep ingredients for an even quicker cook later as well. Love this recipe!

  11. 5 stars
    Maria,
    I have been following you since your beginning!
    To tell you how long, my husband is now retired!!

    I made this recipe for him and there were no leftovers.
    It is amazing!!!
    Thanks for keeping my family well fed and happy.

  12. 5 stars
    Wow, this was an easy and delicious valentine’s day meal! I didn’t have much energy for a fancy dinner tonight but I did have a ton of mushrooms, and this recipe sounded perfect. It was! I added probably 1.5 times the mushrooms, and I think I could have doubled them with no problems. (We love mushrooms!) I also used gluten free pasta because of dietary restrictions in our house. It worked great, although I did have to add more pasta water than the recipe called for. Not sure if that was because of the gluten free pasta or not but I recommend everyone take out a bit of extra water just in case! Thanks for a delicious recipe!

  13. 5 stars
    Thank you for sharing. This Brown Butter Mushroom Pasta is SO delicious and SO easy! We’re trying to eat less meat and this will be a repeat recipe. Put in your next cookbook!
    Patti R