Garlicky Crab and Brown Butter Pasta
Published April 2, 2024
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- Salt and pepper
- 1pound pappardelle, fettuccine or other wide, flat noodles
- ½cup unsalted butter
- 4garlic cloves, finely grated
- 2tablespoons finely chopped parsley, plus more for sprinkling
- 1lemon, halved
- 8ounces cooked crab meat (fresh picked or canned), drained
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
699 calories; 29 grams fat; 16 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 84 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 27 grams protein; 523 milligrams sodium
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.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook pappardelle according to package instructions until 2 minutes shy of al dente.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, heat butter in a large, deep-sided skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon, until milk solids turn a golden brown and smell sweet and nutty, about 7 minutes.
- Step 3
Immediately add garlic and parsley and cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic has melted into the butter and the parsley turns a slightly darker shade of green, about 1 minute. Squeeze in the juice of half the lemon and season well with salt and pepper, then reduce the heat to low to keep warm as the pasta finishes cooking. Cut the remaining lemon half into wedges and set aside.
- Step 4
When the pappardelle is ready, reserve 2 cups of pasta cooking water and drain the pasta. Stir the pasta and ½ cup of pasta water into the butter mixture until well combined and pasta is well coated in a shiny, smooth sauce. Add pasta water if dry, stirring in ½ cup at a time. Add crab and stir gently until warmed through.
- Step 5
Serve garnished with more parsley, black pepper and reserved lemon wedges.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Dan
This often occurs with pickling, too. Just a reaction. Safe to eat.
Jessie
I made this and a weird thing happened. When I added the lemon juice to the brown butter and garlic, the garlic turned gray green.
ME
I liked this, but it seems like, more than most recipes, there's a direct correlation between the quality of the ingredients and the quality of the final result. I used canned crab and a normal stick of butter and you can barely taste it, but I bet this would be killer with high-end butter and fresh or at least high-quality pre-picked crab. Go hard or don't go at all.
Dr. B
Either a weird chemical reaction or your garlic’s burnt. If it taste alright ie.not bitter and no one’s frothing at the mouth after consuming your effort, then all’s well that ends well :-)
KL
Great recipe - I also added chilli flakes and lemon zest on top!
KPB
Used canned American lump blue crab... We found that this has too much pasta relative to the sauce, and the parpadelle is very wide. Try squid-ink linguini? Also, whole stick of butter seemed like a lot and I initially halved it. But it needed the full stick, and I had to add the rest… bottom line, though, is that for us, this doesn’t really compete well with the classic Hazan white clam sauce for linguini. Probably won’t do it again.
KateM
Not bad but the crab flavor didn’t come through much for me.
Christin
This was good and easy - a light-flavored summer crab pasta - meat picked from one average Dungeness crab (did not weigh) + 8 oz. pappardelle made dinner for two plus lunch leftovers. Added some red pepper flakes with the garlic and a splash of sherry with the lemon. Topped with grated parmesan.
Pretty Yum.. Except.. 😋
I added a stick of butter (added garlic and lemon after it cooled a bit) and did not use a lb of pasta (about 1/2 large bag of egg noodles) I just couldn't bring myself to add pasta water to browned butter! To me, that was sacrilegious, lol I added extra garlic a bit of basil and garnished with the extra parsley and lemon. It was a hit.
Pretty Yum.. Except.. 😋
I added a stick of butter (added garlic and lemon after it cooled a bit) and did not use a lb of pasta (about 1/2 large bag of egg noodles) I just couldn't bring myself to add pasta water to browned butter! To me, that was sacrilegious, lol I added extra garlic a bit of basil and garnished with the extra parsley and lemon. It was a hit.
Yvonne
Delicious!!
megan
next time add red pepper flakes or Calabrian chiles Jovial or le Veneziane for gluten free pasta
Christin
This was good and easy - a light-flavored summer crab pasta - meat picked from one average Dungeness crab (did not weigh) + 8 oz. pappardelle made dinner for two plus lunch leftovers. Added some red pepper flakes with the garlic and a splash of sherry with the lemon. Topped with grated parmesan.
Jeannette
I made it with pancetta because the crab was too pricey. I crisped the pancetta and followed the recipe 100% otherwise. It was fantastic!
ME
I liked this, but it seems like, more than most recipes, there's a direct correlation between the quality of the ingredients and the quality of the final result. I used canned crab and a normal stick of butter and you can barely taste it, but I bet this would be killer with high-end butter and fresh or at least high-quality pre-picked crab. Go hard or don't go at all.
KateM
Not bad but the crab flavor didn’t come through much for me.
Seriously delicious
This was truly yummy! Very easy and so tasty! Highly recommend.
Tamara
Worst recipe ever. Browning butter over medium heat led to garlic immediately burning and adding lemon ( even off the heat) led to splatter everywhere. Total disaster.
Jude
This did not hang together for me. Flavors did not meld. I added a handful of peas and I may have overly browned the butter (used high-fat European butter as recommended), but I am not sure that would have made a big difference in the flavors melding.
KPB
Used canned American lump blue crab... We found that this has too much pasta relative to the sauce, and the parpadelle is very wide. Try squid-ink linguini? Also, whole stick of butter seemed like a lot and I initially halved it. But it needed the full stick, and I had to add the rest… bottom line, though, is that for us, this doesn’t really compete well with the classic Hazan white clam sauce for linguini. Probably won’t do it again.
HL
It was delicious. However used a pound of dried pappardelle and ended up with enough for at least 8 servings. Should it have been 8 ounces of dry or 1 lb of fresh? Was glad that I used a full 16 oz of crab too because 8 oz probably wouldn’t have been enough for the amount of pasta (and didn’t want to store the rest). Also needed more butter at the end. Added some cut up asparagus for color. Fam definitely wanted red pepper flakes too.
Daniel
What would be a substitute for the crab? Tuna? Tofu?
Becky Zoole
I want to try this recipe with sauteed lion's mane mushrooms instead of crab.
KL
Great recipe - I also added chilli flakes and lemon zest on top!
Jessie
I made this and a weird thing happened. When I added the lemon juice to the brown butter and garlic, the garlic turned gray green.
Dr. B
Either a weird chemical reaction or your garlic’s burnt. If it taste alright ie.not bitter and no one’s frothing at the mouth after consuming your effort, then all’s well that ends well :-)
Dan
This often occurs with pickling, too. Just a reaction. Safe to eat.
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