A generous amount of butter, parmesan, and starchy pasta water are the secret to my incredible parmesan buttered noodles recipe.
If you’re reading this and wondering, aren’t buttered noodles just cooked noodles and melted butter? They could be, but not my version!
For the best buttered noodles, stir noodles into a mixture of pasta cooking water, butter, and parmesan. They taste so much better. For another easy pasta recipe, see our fettuccine Alfredo or try this cacio e pepe recipe made with a simple cheese and pepper sauce.
Key Ingredients
- Noodles: We love using egg noodles (like the ones we use in chicken noodle soup), but you can substitute other pasta shapes. Spaghetti, linguini, or curly pasta shapes are perfect for catching the sauce. Or, for a real treat, try homemade pasta.
- Parmesan: If you have some parmesan on hand, use it! It makes this dish taste so much better. It adds a salty and flavorful element to the sauce. You can leave it out for plain buttered noodles. If you do use it, you want to finely grate it (we use our microplane), otherwise it won’t melt properly.
- Butter: We love using rich European-style salted butter in this recipe, but you can use whatever you have.
- Herbs and Black Pepper: Fresh parsley or basil are excellent for finishing your buttered noodles, but they are optional. We also love to add a sprinkle of black pepper for extra flavor.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Buttered Noodles
Our buttered noodles are so simple and yet taste incredibly good! The combination of butter, cheese, and starchy pasta water creates a velvety, buttery sauce that lightly coats the noodles. Here’s a quick overview of how to make them:
- Boil the noodles, save some pasta water, and drain.
- Add parmesan, butter, and some pasta water to the noodles and toss for one minute.
- Remove from the heat and cover with a lid for 1 minute.
- Uncover, toss again, and add more pasta water as needed to thin the sauce.
- Add herbs and pepper, then enjoy!
Our Secrets for Making them Best
Tip 1: Save some pasta water. You’ll cook your pasta until almost done (it finishes cooking in the sauce). Then, save some of the pasta cooking water and add it to the noodles with butter and parmesan. It’s this starchy water that helps turn butter and parmesan into a silky, smooth sauce.
Tip 2: Keep stirring. At first, the sauce will seem too thin, but with some time and stirring, the cheese and butter will melt, and the starch in the pasta water will do its job and turn them into a smooth and silky sauce.
Serving Suggestions
You can enjoy buttered noodles as your main meal or serve them as a side dish with classics like meatloaf, turkey meatloaf, chicken parmesan, or juicy pork chops. They are also amazing with salads and veggies. Try my favorite kale salad, sautéed zucchini, roasted carrots, roasted broccolini, or garlic roasted asparagus.
More of Our Favorite Pasta Recipes
- Homemade Pasta Sauce
- Vegetable Lasagna
- Veggie Spaghetti
- Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Orzo Pasta (with tomatoes and basil)
- Baked Mac and Cheese
Perfect Buttered Noodles
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
We love this easy buttered noodles recipe with butter, parmesan cheese, and fresh herbs. Use parmesan cheese or swap it for other flavorful cheeses like sharp cheddar or Gruyere. Stirring in a little goat cheese or mascarpone cheese adds even more creaminess to the sauce.
You Will Need
8 ounces (226 g) egg noodles or pasta of choice
Salt
2 ounces (60 g) grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
3 tablespoons (42 g) butter
Handful chopped or torn herbs like basil, parsley or chives
Fresh ground black pepper for serving
Directions
1Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add ½ tablespoon of salt and the noodles.
2Cook, stirring once or twice, for 2 minutes less than the suggested cooking time on the package. The pasta will finish cooking in the sauce.
3Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water then drain pasta and return it to the pot.
4Add parmesan, butter, and ½ cup of the reserved cooking water to the noodles. Set the pot over low heat. Use tongs to toss the noodles, butter, and cheese around the pan for one minute.
5Take the pan off the heat, then cover with a lid. Leave for one minute.
6Uncover the pot and toss the noodles a few more times in the sauce. If the pasta looks dry, add a splash of more pasta water. If it seems wet, don’t worry—the pasta absorbs some extra moisture as it cools.
7Stir in herbs, taste, and adjust with additional salt.
8Serve with more parmesan and fresh ground black pepper on top.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Garlic buttered noodles: Mince one (or more) cloves of garlic. Add the garlic and 2 tablespoons of butter to a small skillet over medium-low heat. Cook until fragrant and the butter is bubbling around the garlic. Use this garlic-flavored butter in place of the butter called for in the recipe above.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
OMG this is the best thing I’ve ever tasted 🥰😘
OMG! I adore pasta but having dietary restrictions make it tough to find foods my hubs and I both enjoy. This hit the nail on the head! I added leftover roasted chicken and he devored it! This will make it on our meal rotation for sure!
I added the garlic in butter. Then added shaved parmesan at the end.Fresh chopped chives, dried parsley and basil. Last I added grilled rotisserie chicken on top. So yummy.
Gonna try this but with whole grain noodles can’t have reg
First try we used the fresh grated Parmesan and it was excellent. Second time we used fresh grated pecorino Romano with a little chopped fresh basil which was even better!
Just made this for me and my boyfriend. Added spinach, lemon zest and minced onion. So good!!! Thank you.
I suffer from TMJ disorder and often have to resort to a soft diet. Well, this happens to be just what I need tonight. For my husband, I have Costco chicken that I can cut up and throw in. If this works, I’ll add cooked broccoli to add more vitamins and fiber. I’ll keep you posted