Preserved Lemon Pasta

By Hetty Lui McKinnon

Updated November 3, 2025

Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
Ready In
25 min
Rating
4(59)
Comments
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While preserved lemons are often used as a background flavor to invigorate stews, soups and salads, they take on a starring role in this zesty and lively pasta. Fresh lemons add brightness, but cured ones bring deep, complex umami to a dish, brimming with heavy floral notes from the tamed peel. While some recipes suggest using the peel only, whole lemons are used here, minced so finely they almost melt into the buttery sauce. The brine is a valuable ingredient too, and incorporating a couple of tablespoons adds tang, further reinforcing the pickled attitude of this dish. You can also use preserved lemon paste, where the whole fruit has been puréed, incorporating it in the same quantity (no brine necessary). While there is no substitute for the deep funky saltiness — or silky texture — of preserved lemon, in a pinch, see the tip below on how to make a quick version. 

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

  • Salt and pepper

  • 1 pound spaghetti, linguine or other long pasta

  • ¼ cup unsalted butter

  • 3 garlic cloves, grated

  • ⅓ cup finely chopped preserved lemons (see Tip for a shortcut version), plus 2 tablespoons of brine

  • 1 cup grated Parmesan or pecorino, plus more for topping

  • Extra-virgin olive oil

  • Handful basil leaves 

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 to 6 servings)

59 grams carbs; 37 milligrams cholesterol; 467 calories; 5 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 17 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 299 milligrams sodium; 19 grams protein; 2 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions until al dente. Drain and reserve about 1 cup of pasta cooking water. 

  2. Step 2

    Place the pot back on medium heat. Add the butter, garlic and preserved lemon and stir until the butter has melted. Add the pasta, preserved lemon brine, Parmesan and ½ cup of pasta cooking water and toss to coat the pasta; if it looks dry, add another ¼ to ½ cup of pasta cooking water to loosen it up. Taste and, if needed, season lightly with salt, season very generously with pepper, and give it a final toss. 

  3. Step 3

    To serve, divide among plates, drizzle with olive oil, top with more grated Parmesan and scatter basil leaves over the top. 

Tip

  • To make a quick preserved lemon substitute at home, wash and dry 2 unwaxed lemons. (Unwaxed lemons won’t be shiny and their skin is a duller yellow; you could use regular lemons but make sure to scrub the skin well.) Remove any stems. Slice one lemon crosswise into thin rounds; discard any seeds. Juice the other lemon; you should get 2 to 3 tablespoons of juice. Place the lemon slices and any juice from the cutting board, the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of fine sea salt into a small saucepan and place on low heat. Stir until the salt has dissolved and then cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Chop up the peel and flesh as instructed above, and add the liquid in place of the brine. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for 1 week.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
59 user ratings
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Comments

AMZ

New York Times, please listen whenever you give a grated cheese amount give it in weight not volume. How finely grated the cheese is can result in widely varying quantities for the same weight and thus if we are only using the volume, we may have far more or far less cheese than you envision. I communicated about this with Sam Sifton once and he certainly seem to agree and I just don’t get why you can’t make this a firm rule for all your recipes thank you

Kate

Very slightly strange, but really delicious. I forgot to add the brine but made up the saltiness with a big heap of extra Parmesan at the end. Quick and easy and I had all the ingredients on hand. Really recommended!

B Jones

Will make again! Great for summer or a light dinner and I had everything on hand. It's nice to see a one pot recipe that interesting. I added chopped spinach and shallots (because I had them, not because the recipe needed it)

Rich M. Seattle

I could eat the dish but it was horrible. Poor texture, flavor and texture. Will not make again. Makes a read mess to clean up. Wanted to try sometime different, but will stick to Ina Garten weeknight bolognese in the future. Reliable and no preserved lemons to figure out. For Thanksgiving tomorrow, slow-cooker Chicken Salsa Verde.

Bay Area home cook

10 STARS! Especially if calculated per ingredient, time or expense. This is delicious and so simple I used all olive oil instead of butter and added some fresh basil. The general groove could be applied to white beans. Tuna would also be a great addition. This will be a new house favorite

Smallfat Dog

Full disclosure: I used zucchini noodles instead of pasta. Although I love my recently discovered preserved lemons, this dish was a little too tart and too salty for me. Maybe it was the zucchini…

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