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Bailey Fink
For some reason, I find weeknight dinners some of the toughest food decisions to make. Maybe it’s because, after a day at work, I don’t have the motivation to make a multi-course meal that will require copious amounts of prep and time. Whatever the cause, it means I’m always looking for simple, few-ingredient, low-effort recipes that will have dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less.
For pasta dishes, 30 minutes can be a tough ask—unless you use a lot of store-bought shortcuts, which I am not opposed to. However, some nights, jarred pasta sauce just doesn’t cut it for the flavor I’m craving.
When that happens, I turn to semi-home-cooked options, like this no-cook lemon ricotta sauce that the internet can’t get enough of.
The No-Cook Lemon Ricotta Pasta Sauce The Internet Loves
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to make a meal in my entire life,” TikTok user @allyssainthekitchen said in a video. “I saw a video on my ‘For You’ page of this girl eating chicken cutlets and a creamy lemon ricotta spaghetti, [so I] jumped off my couch and immediately went to get the ingredients to make it.”
The now-viral pasta sauce takes all of five minutes to throw together with ricotta, lemon juice, lemon zest, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and a few seasonings. And the best part is, you don’t have to cook the sauce at all. You simply add the hot pasta water to incorporate it into a thick and creamy sauce and heat the mixture. Then, you add it to your cooked noodles and serve.
“This might be the easiest thing I’ve ever made,” @allyssainthekitchen said.
And I agree. I followed our Allrecipes Allstar TheDailyGourmet’s recipe for Lemon, Ricotta, and Spinach Pasta, and it’s become a staple in my weekly dinner rotation.
TheDailyGourmet
The recipe only requires a handful of ingredients—and utilizes one of my favorite tricks: adding fresh spinach to the colander and draining the pasta over it to quickly wilt the greens without creating an extra step. I love how customizable this pasta dish is. You can add any veggies you want and serve it with just about anything.
I’ve been making the lemon ricotta pasta with chicken cutlets, just like TikTok intended, but it makes a great side to any protein or a really good meatless main on its own, as TheDailyGourmet points out.
The creamy ricotta sauce is the perfect level of cheesy with really bright flavors from the lemon. It’s actually a perfect dish for the dreary winter months because, with lemons available all year long, you can get the zesty springy flavors even on the coldest snowy day.
After making it, I'm sure this delicious and easy recipe will carry me well into the spring and summer months.
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