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This bowl of Lemon Basil Zucchini Pasta Alfredo is becoming one of our favorite summer pasta dishes. I took a classic pasta recipe and updated it with a light yet creamy caramelized onion sauce, summer zucchini, and fresh lemon and basil. Every twirl of pasta has delicious summertime flavors that melt in your mouth. It’s a creamy bowl of lighter pasta Alfredo that comes together in under an hour. Perfect for warm summer nights!
Summer solstice is on Thursday, and you all, I’m so ready for it! In my mind, it’s been summer since June 1st, but now that it’s really official – according to the calendar, we can break out all of our best summer dishes and start utilizing the amazing produce that summer has to offer.
Of course, zucchini is one of the summer vegetables that seems to be most abundant from June through September. I love to cook and bake with zucchini. I use it in salads, pasta, rice bowls, and even mixed into our summer cakes and muffins!
It is such a versatile ingredient!
The other week, my brother sent me this pasta video featuring a caramelized onion sauce. Honestly, it was too heavy and intense for me, especially for summer. But I did love the idea of incorporating a slowly caramelized onion into a creamy summer Alfredo sauce.
I wanted this pasta to feel cozy, taste delicious, and still be light. The addition of lemon and basil helps to keep this Alfredo feeling fresh and summery. It turned out so delicious!
These are the details
Step 1: cook the pasta
Boil your favorite pasta cut. For this Alfredo sauce, I love some longer cuts of pasta, such as fettuccini or linguine.
I used Mafaldine Italian Pasta di Gragnano, which is always fun!
Step 2: cook the lemon
Next, while the pasta cooks, caramelize slices of lemon in butter. Then chop the lemon slices and toss them with lots and lots of fresh basil.
Save the mix for topping the pasta. You can eat the lemon, rind and all! When the lemon is cooked, the bitterness is removed, and it’s delish.
Step 3: make the sauce
Now, start caramelizing the onion with some butter. Once the onion is caramelized, add it to the zucchini.
Allow the zucchini to cook until it turns a pretty golden color. Add the reserved pasta cooking water and a generous pour of heavy cream. Simmer the sauce until it thickens.
Step 4: finish this up!
Add so much parmesan cheese, then toss in the pasta.
At this point, plate the pasta, sauce, and zucchini. Then top with that reserved lemony basil mixture from step 2. And you can never go wrong with extra parmesan cheese, so add some more!
When you twirl the warm, buttery lemon pasta into the creamy Alfredo sauce, it instantly melts in your mouth, along with the buttery zucchini. And the onion adds just the perfect amount of uniqueness to the sauce. It’s not intense, just delicious!
Looking for other summer pasta? Try these weeknight favorites.
Jammy Cherry Tomato Pasta with Crisp Lemon Rosemary Chickpeas
Antipasto Pasta Salad with Herby Parmesan Vinaigrette
One Pot Lemon Basil, Asparagus, and Sausage Pasta
20 minute lemon butter pasta with ricotta and spicy breadcrumbs
Lastly, if you make this Lemon Basil Zucchini Pasta Alfredo, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Lemon Basil Zucchini Pasta Alfredo
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 659 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1 pound linguine or fettuccini
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 lemon, sliced, seeds removed
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 zucchini or yellow summer squash, very thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- salt and black pepper
- chili flakes
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- 1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Remove 1/2 cup pasta cooking water. Drain.2. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the lemon slices. Sear until the lemon is caramelized, about 1 minute per side. Remove the lemon from the skillet. Finely chop the lemon slices and mix with the basil.3. To the same skillet, add 4 tablespoons butter and the onion. Cook until caramelized, 8-10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, zucchini, thyme, and season with salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Cook another 5 minutes until golden. 4. Add 1/2 cup pasta cooking water and the cream, stirring until smooth. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes, until slightly thickened. Stir in the parmesan, then toss in the pasta. Cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. 5. Serve topped with the reserved lemon/basil mix. Twirl the pasta up with the sauce and zucchini. EAT and ENJOY!
This post was originally published on June 18, 2024
Really excellent flavor !!! I decided not to use the lemon rind as when I tasted them they were very bitter, but I squeezed out all the buttery “paste” in the middle
Hey Wendy,
Fantastic! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, glad to hear it was enjoyed! x
This is the best pasta I’ve made! All the flavors work so well together and perfect for Summer. Zucchini and fresh herbs from the garden made it even more special! I used this organic lemon torchietti pasta from trader joe’s and it just complimented all the ingredients! It’s my family’s new favorite and can’t wait to make again for friends!
Thank you so much, Claire! Love to hear that you enjoyed this dish, I appreciate you making it and your feedback! xT
Really excellent flavor!! I decided not to use the lemon rind because mine was still very bitter even after caramelizing it.. so I scraped out the buttery “paste” and it was perfection!
Absolutely the perfect summer pasta! We added grilled chicken. Follow the recipe exactly as written – those who skip the lemon rinds miss the entire point of this dish. So good!
Hi Cynthia,
Love to hear this! Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try and your comment! Have the best day:)
What can I use instead of heavy cream that will still make it decadent ? I also am thinking of adding white beans to pasta for protein. The recipe looks delicious !
Hey Jan,
Whole milk would also work nicely for you:) I hope you love this recipe, let me know if you give it a try! xT
Another flavourful recipe Tieghan!
The lemon and basil work so well together with the creamy sauce. I halved the recipe for 2 servings, but next time will make the full amount so we can enjoy leftovers!!
Your recipes never disappoint! Thank you!
Hey Bette,
Fantastic! So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for making it and your comment! Xx
Made this and even my picky eater loved it! The lemon basil combo is delish and we added grilled chicken to the pasta. Will be making this one again.
Hey Traci,
Happy Sunday! I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Xx
Loved the pasta with the zucchini… we used penne since Banza (chickpea pasta) didn’t have the linguini or fettuccini! The only thing that was off for us was the lemon rind pieces in the garnish. We’ll skip those with our leftover helpings! Maybe next time I’ll just add lemon juice to the sauce or something, but the rinds themselves were too bitter for us.
Hey Allison,
Thanks so much for trying this dish and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it was enjoyed!! Totally fine to skip the lemon rind next time:) xT
I just made this last night and it was so good!! The caramelized lemon rinds, thyme and onions are key! It really elevated the dish. One of the best pastas I’ve tried in a while! Highly recommend! Perfect with a sweey white wine.
Hey Ann,
Awesome! So glad to hear that this dish turned out nicely for you, I appreciate you making it! xx
This was so good! I was skeptical about the lemon slices, but I loved them, and I’ll put more in next time. I made sure they were well-browned and then minced them before adding them. I will definitely be making this again!
Hey Rachel,
Awesome! So glad to hear that this dish turned out nicely for you, I appreciate you making it! xx
Absolutely fabulous mix of flavors. My guests ate seconds and thirds. Thank you! A keeper. The carmelized onion is essential to the dish.
Hey Celeste,
Thanks so much! Love to hear that everyone enjoyed this dish, I appreciate you making it! xT
This recipe is awesome. It’s so flavorful. The sautéed lemon is absolutely necessary and makes the dish. Thank you so much for another amazing dish that I’ll be adding to my rotation.
Thanks so much, Nicole:) Love to hear that you enjoyed this dish, I appreciate you making it! xT
This recipe was really good and easy to make. The lemon did not sound good so I skipped that part and just squeezed a little bit of lemon juice on top of the basil.
Hey Karina,
Perfect!! Thanks for sharing what worked well for you, so glad to hear that this dish was enjoyed! xT
So I loved this, it’s a light refreshing summer pasta dish! A great way to use the garden zucchini! I cut the recipe in half for just the 2 of us and probably should’ve also used half a lemon ( I love lemon so it was fine for me but my spouse wan’t a fane of the lemon). I will definitely make it again but probably decrease or omit the lemon just for hubby.
Thanks so much, Sandra!! Love to hear that you enjoyed this dish, thanks for sharing what worked nicely for you:) xT
I love lemon flavor SO much, and I’m always on the lookout for more lemon recipes. This was simply amazing! I decided to peel the lemon before searing the slices, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Will make again!
Hey Megan,
Wonderful! I’m so glad to hear that this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks for trying it! Xx
oops, I meant to say caramelize the lemon
Hmm, this was a miss. As another commenter noted, the lemon was extremely overpowering. It made the whole dish bitter, and I only chopped up and added about 1/8th of it to the basil. Also, I did caramelize the onion, but that certainly took longer than one minute per side as I expected.
Hi Taylor,
Thanks for trying this dish and sharing your feedback, so very sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! xx
Overall my husband and I really enjoyed this recipe, and I threw in asparagus and spinach that we had sitting in the fridge. However, next time I will skip the lemon pieces and just add lemon juice at the end because the lemon pieces (even cooked and diced small) were still too much for my preference. Thanks Tieghan for a fun summer recipe!
Hey Pam,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! Sorry to hear about the lemon pieces. Glad you enjoyed this dish! xT