Figuring out what to make on a weekday is the challenge of many hard-working parents. After all, when you have such limited time you don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen whipping up something fancy. This lemon ricotta pasta is an easy one pot recipe that can be made start to finish in less than 15 minutes.
The great thing about one pot recipes is not just the simplicity of cooking, but the ease of cleanup! When you don’t have to worry about spending time scrubbing pans and boards and stuff, you can enjoy your evening just a little more. This recipe is surprisingly even easier than my Souplantation copycat Lemon Penne, one of the most popular recipes on this site!
This lemon ricotta pasta is also very customizable. For example I use frozen green beans as a vegetable, but you can substitute with peas, spinach, or anything else you want! If you wanted to make an actual event of the meal you can even make fresh pasta – but then of course it won’t be a one pot meal!
How To Make An Easy Lemon Ricotta Pasta
All of the ingredients in this recipe are stuff that is easy to find at your local grocer. You can also change things up as much as you want. Don’t want to use spaghetti? Try fettuccine or penne or shells. It’s really up to you.
Ingredients
- 250 grams Pasta – I used box spaghetti for the convenience, but you can use whatever you like. If you do use fresh pasta, adjust the cooking time accordingly.
- 250 grams Ricotta Cheese
- 1-2 handfuls Green Beans – or any frozen vegetable of your choice. Both spinach and peas also work well in this recipe.
- 1 Lemon – zested and juiced. You can add extra lemon juice if you want it even more tangy.
- 50 grams Butter
- 2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 3-4 Green Onions – chopped
- 1/2 tsp Salt – plus more for the pasta water
- Red Chili Flakes – optional, to taste
- Black Pepper – freshly cracked, to taste
The first thing you need to do is bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the dry pasta and prepare to boil it according to the box instructions. When there is about 2 minutes left of boiling time, add the frozen green beans or vegetable of your choice directly into the pot.
While the pasta is cooking you can prepare all of the other ingredients. Just add everything to a bowl. It is even more convenient if you put it all in the serving bowl you plan to use – even less cleanup! Note: if you do this all in one large pot you can skip the bowl, but it makes for a lesser presentation when you bring it to the table.
Use tongs to carry the pasta and vegetables directly from the pan to the bowl. Don’t strain the water, in fact you want to carry the starchy pasta water along with the noodles because it helps better emulsify the sauce. Then just mix everything up and portion to serve!
You can garnish or top your pasta with whatever you like. I just opted for some simple grated pecorino and extra chili flakes with a side of lemon wedge. I also can recommend grating over a bit of cured egg yolk as I always have that stocked in my fridge and it adds such an umami kick to all kinds of pasta recipes.
If you love easy pasta recipes, then you might also like spaghetti alla carrettiera; it takes just 10 minutes!
Lemon Ricotta Pasta
Equipment
- 1 Pan or Pot
- 1 Bowl
Ingredients
- 250 grams Pasta I used box spaghetti for the convenience but you can use whatever you like. If you do use fresh pasta, adjust the cooking time accordingly.
- 250 grams Ricotta Cheese
- 1-2 handfuls Green Beans or any frozen vegetable of your choice. Both spinach and peas also work well in this recipe.
- 1 Lemon zested and juiced. You can add extra lemon juice if you want it even more tangy.
- 50 grams Butter
- 2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 3-4 Green Onions chopped
- 1/2 tsp Salt plus more for the pasta water
- Red Chili Flakes optional, to taste
- Black Pepper freshly cracked, to taste
Instructions
- Start by boiling a pot of heavily salted water. When it is at a rolling boil add the pasta and boil according to package instructions – about 10 minutes.
- When the pasta is boiling you can prep the rest of the ingredients. Just add everything except for the frozen vegetables to a large bowl. Set aside.
- When there is just a minute or two left of the pasta cooking time, add the frozen vegetables. When the pasta is fully cooked use tongs to move the pasta and green beans directly to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Drag along plenty of the starchy pasta water as well. Toss everything together until well combined. The residual heat will emulsify the ingredients into a sauce.
- Plate and garnish with some grated cheese or whatever you prefer atop your pasta. Enjoy!
