Lazy Girl Three-Ingredient Pasta (Printable)

A creamy and simple pasta dish using butter, Parmesan, and reserved pasta water.

# What You'll Need:

→ Pasta

01 - 7 oz dried pasta (spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine)

→ Sauce

02 - 3.5 tbsp unsalted butter
03 - 2 oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese

→ For Finishing

04 - Salt, to taste
05 - Freshly ground black pepper, to taste (optional)

# Directions:

01 - Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions until al dente.
02 - Reserve about 2/3 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.
03 - Return the hot pasta to the pot off the heat. Add the butter and toss until melted and the pasta is fully coated.
04 - Sprinkle in the Parmesan cheese and add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss vigorously until a creamy sauce forms, adding more water as needed to reach desired consistency.
05 - Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve immediately, topping with extra Parmesan if preferred.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • It's genuinely faster than ordering delivery and tastes like you tried harder than you actually did.
  • Pasta water is the secret weapon that nobody talks about until they've wasted it.
  • There's something deeply comforting about a dish so simple it feels like cheating.
02 -
  • Don't skip reserving the pasta water—the starch in it is what creates the creamy emulsion, not the cream, because there is no cream.
  • The pasta must still be hot when you add the butter and cheese, or the emulsion will break and you'll end up with greasy, chunky pasta instead of something luxurious.
03 -
  • Keep the heat low and the motion constant when tossing—aggressive tossing helps emulsify and prevents the sauce from breaking into a greasy puddle.
  • If your sauce breaks or looks too thick, add a little more pasta water, one tablespoon at a time, and keep tossing until it comes back together.
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