Linguine with clam sauce is a restaurant-style pasta you can pull off at home in about 30 minutes. The sauce comes together in one skillet while the linguine cooks, so it feels special with hardly any fuss.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: A light and cozy mix of buttery garlic, tender clams, and a bright hint of lemon that makes every bite taste fresh and satisfying.
- Time-Saving Tip: Prepare the clam sauce recipe up to a day ahead and chill. Then reheat when the pasta’s ready.
- Serving Suggestions: Crusty garlic bread is perfect for soaking up the delicious sauce. A Caprese salad pairs perfectly with this old-world-style dish.
- Freezing: This recipe isn’t freezer-friendly, but it’s super easy to make fresh every time!
Ingredients and Easy Swaps
- Clams: Use canned clams with their juices for easy prep and lots of savory, briny flavor. If they’re packed in a salty brine, taste the sauce before adding extra salt. For a twist, swap in canned shrimp or small bay scallops.
- Sauce: Dry white wine (see my favorites for cooking here) give the best flavor, but chicken broth with a squeeze of lemon juice works well too. Red pepper flakes are optional, but they add a little heat and nice color.
- Linguine: Linguine holds the sauce beautifully, but you can swap in other long noodles like spaghetti, spaghettini, or fettuccine.
- Variations: Add some sauteed mushrooms, shallots, or a handful of green peas for extra color and a little sweetness.
How to Make Linguine with Clam Sauce
- Sauté the onion and celery, then bloom the garlic and seasonings, and deglaze with wine (full recipe below).
- Simmer the clam juice while the linguine cooks, then reserve a little pasta water.
- Finish the sauce with butter and lemon, warm the clams through, and toss with pasta until glossy.
Garnish with lemon wedges, fresh parsley, and cracked black pepper just before serving.
Storing Clam Sauce
Keep leftover linguine with clam sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in a saucepan over low heat with a little water or chicken stock to refresh the sauce.
Fresh and Easy Seafood Recipes You’ll Love
Did you make this Linguine with Clam Sauce? Leave a rating and comment below.
Ingredients
- 3 (6.5 ounces each) cans chopped clams juice reserved
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 rib celery finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 1½ teaspoons dried parsley
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 16 ounces linguine or other long pasta, for serving
Instructions
- Drain the clams, reserving the juice in a bowl. Set the clams aside.
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook until softened without browning, about 4 minutes.
- Stir in garlic, basil, and red pepper flakes if using. Cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Add the white wine. Simmer 3 minutes. Add the reserved clam juice and cook uncovered for 8 minutes or until slightly reduced.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook al dente according to package directions. Drain the pasta, reserving ¾ cup pasta water.
- Whisk the butter and lemon zest into the sauce until smooth. Stir in the clams and cook 2–3 minutes more, just until heated through.
- Remove from heat and stir in parsley. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Toss with the pasta, adding pasta water as needed.
Notes
- Store leftover linguine with clam sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Reheat gently in a saucepan over low heat, adding a splash of water, wine, or chicken stock to refresh the sauce.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Entree, Main Course, Pasta, Seafood
Cuisine American, Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
This is my go to recipes from now on, also my son and son-in-law’s as well. The only thing I added was fresh clams along with the canned clams.
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Marion!
The finished dish came out really salty, I mean over the top salty. I can only guess that it came from the added clam juice, the recipe just said to add the clam juice, not how much. I didn’t measure the juice but I bet i had over 1 1/2 cups. Nobody could eat it so we kinda fixed it by heating up water in a dutch oven to just above warm and dumped the whole dish back into the water, turned off the heat and stirred for about 5 minutes, then drained , strained and rinsed. It was better but obviously lost most of the flavor. Don’t know what i did wrong.
Oh no! I can’t say for sure what happened. 1.5 cups of juice does seem like a lot and in the cans I’ve used I’ve had less than a cup so possibly you had more juice and less clams which could make this saltier?
I make but I add a large handful of spinach and fresh mushrooms i cook pasta with the mushrooms in microwave for w
12 min then pour my chopped canned claims with clam sauce add lemon pepper toss in the fresh organic spinach cook in microwave another 90 sec ready to eat.
Delicious additions Lana!
I really hate changing recipes and then thinking I can rate and comment, but…. I had some shrimp and pesto that I added and it would have been great just as written. I just had these things on hand that needed to be used. The pesto was just a delicious addition!
I’m so glad you loved it Tamra, thank you for sharing your swaps!
Can’t wait to try – however, I’m intrigued by the celery in the recipe? Not questioning you, just wondering why you decided to add celery to this? I’m not the east coast of New England and I’ve never seen this ingredient in this recipe!
TY!
While celery isn’t traditional, I use a small amount here as part of the flavor base with onion. It adds a subtle savory flavor but that said, you can certainly leave it out if you’d prefer. Let us know how it goes!