Creamy Garlic Mushroom Pasta Recipe — Quick Weeknight Dinner

Rich, savory seared mushrooms are the star of this creamy garlic mushroom pasta, tossed with linguini and finished in a silky garlic cream sauce. Ready in under 20 minutes, this simple meatless meal is perfect for busy weeknights.

This quick pasta relies on a few fresh ingredients and the right technique to get maximum flavor. When cooking with minimal components, use the best-quality produce you can and give ingredients room to develop flavor.

The deep, savory mushroom flavor comes from properly searing and browning the mushrooms to concentrate their umami. Avoid overcrowding the pan — if mushrooms are packed too tightly they steam instead of sear. The recipe below serves two but can easily be doubled; if you scale up, cook the mushrooms in batches so they brown evenly.

You’re going to love this!

• Near one-pot — almost everything comes together in one pan, aside from cooking the pasta separately for best texture.
• Meatless — use vegetable or mushroom stock to keep this vegetarian-friendly.
• Quick & easy — sauté mushrooms, make a simple cream sauce, toss with cooked pasta, and serve.

Ingredients

• Linguini — any pasta works, but linguini pairs nicely with cream sauce.
• Mushrooms — cremini give great flavor, though button mushrooms or a mix are fine.
• Garlic — fresh cloves for best aroma and taste.
• Shallots — for a mild, sweet onion note; substitute a bit of onion if needed.
• Olive oil — extra virgin preferred.
• Thyme — fresh sprigs are ideal; a pinch of dried thyme will also work.
• Heavy cream — provides body and richness to the sauce.
• White wine — a dry white such as pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc.
• Stock — mushroom or vegetable stock to keep it vegetarian, or chicken stock if preferred.

How to make it

Fill a large pot with water, salt it generously, and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil shimmers, add the mushrooms in a single layer and cook, stirring occasionally, until they reduce in size and begin to brown.

Cook mushrooms in a single layer so they brown and develop umami instead of steaming from overcrowding the pan.

When the mushrooms are nicely browned, add the diced shallot and crushed garlic. Sauté for 2–3 minutes until softened and fragrant.

Pour in the white wine and let it reduce by about half, concentrating its flavor.

Add the stock and heavy cream to the skillet, place the thyme on top, and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer the sauce for about 5 minutes, or until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon.

Reserve about 1/8 to 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the skillet with the sauce and the reserved pasta water. Toss well so the noodles are evenly coated and let everything cook together for a minute or two until the sauce clings to the pasta.

Divide the pasta between bowls and finish with chopped parsley and freshly grated Parmesan, if desired.

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More recipes you’ll love!

If you enjoy this creamy garlic mushroom pasta, explore other easy pasta dishes for weeknight dinners with big flavor.

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