One-Pot Creamy Lemon Pasta with Peas
Everything cooks in one pot — pasta, sauce, and all. Bright, creamy, and ready in 20 minutes with only one pot to wash.
Main Dish · Prep 5 min · Cook 18 min · Serves 4 · Easy · By Tina · Published
Ingredients
- 350 g short pasta, penne or fusilli
- 600 ml chicken stock, or vegetable stock
- 150 ml heavy cream
- 150 g frozen peas
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 60 g parmesan, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 20 g butter
- salt, to taste
black pepper
Some nights you just need pasta on the table in 20 minutes with zero effort and zero dishes. This is that pasta.
Everything goes in one pot — literally. The pasta cooks in a mixture of stock and cream, and as it absorbs the liquid, it creates its own sauce. Add lemon zest, peas, and parmesan at the end, and you have a bright, creamy pasta that tastes like spring.
I discovered this technique out of desperation on a night when the dishwasher was broken and I refused to use more than one pot. Best accident ever.
Pro Tips
- Use short pasta like penne or fusilli. Long pasta clumps in one-pot cooking.
- Stir occasionally so the pasta does not stick to the bottom.
- The sauce will look thin when you add the peas and lemon — it thickens as it sits.
- Frozen peas are perfect here. They cook in 2 minutes from the residual heat.
Serving
Serve straight from the pot with extra parmesan, lemon zest, and a crack of black pepper. A simple side salad if you are feeling virtuous.
More main dish recipes
- One-Pot Pasta Primavera (Easy · 20 min · serves 4)
Colorful, fresh, and all in one pot. Every vegetable in your fridge + pasta + one pot = dinner in 20 minutes.… - Oven Baked Ribs (Medium · 210 min · serves 6)
Fall-off-the-bone tender pork ribs baked low and slow in the oven with a homemade dry rub and tangy barbecue… - Pad Kra Pao (Thai Basil Stir-Fry) (Easy · 8 min · serves 2)
Fast. Fiery. Deeply savory. Thailand’s #1 street food — spicy holy basil stir-fry with a crispy fried egg on… - Pan-Seared Duck Breast (Medium · 20 min · serves 2)
Crispy skin, rosy center, cherry sauce heaven. Date night at home has never looked this good.… - Pan-Seared Duck Breast with Cherry Sauce (Medium · 20 min · serves 2)
Crispy-skinned duck with a sweet and tangy cherry sauce. This sounds fancy but the technique is… - Panang Chicken Curry (beginner · 10 min · serves 2)
Panang Chicken Curry — officially ranked the #1 curry in the world.