Spicy Garlic Noodles

Delicious garlic noodles with a slight spicy kick from the crushed red peppers. This recipe is quick, taking less than 20 minutes to prep and cook, and easy with the use of just 5 main ingredients!

As you can already tell, I have another quick and easy recipe, perfect for a simple yet delicious lunch or dinner, when you have little time to spare. These noodles will taste amazing if you’re a garlic lover. It’s very garlicky and it has just a hint of spiciness from the crushed red peppers. What’s amazing about these noodles is that it’s healthy too. Instead of using butter, I used olive oil. So you can eat your fill without any of the guilt.

First, cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. I used half a box of spaghetti, which is perfect for 1-2 people, but you can easily double this recipe to serve more people. My pasta took about 6-7 minutes to become al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, you can mince about 10 cloves of garlic. I thought this was the perfect amount of garlic. However, if you really love the taste of garlic, you can always add more.

Once the pasta is finished cooking, keep about 1/8 cup of the pasta water and then drain the spaghetti. Run them through cold water to  keep the noodles from sticking to each other. Drain the pasta again and set them aside for now.

In a large skillet, heat about 1/8 cup of olive oil over low heat. Add in the minced garlic and cook until the garlic turns golden brown. This process makes the garlic more fragrant. However, keep an eye on the garlic to make sure they don’t burn. It’s very easy to overcook garlic, which will ruin the flavor.

Next, add the spaghetti into the skillet, and stir to evenly distribute the minced garlic. Add in half of the reserved pasta water to keep the noodles from being dry. Pour in more pasta water if needed. The pasta water helps make the noodles moist and creates the sauce.

Toss in the crushed red peppers and sprinkle in the salt, to taste. I love spicy as you probably noticed from my previous recipes. But I know that not everyone can eat spicy so it’s perfectly fine to omit the crushed red peppers. It’ll just become healthy garlic noodles.

Divide the noodles into two plates and add fresh chopped parsley on top for garnish. Serve cold or warm.

Enjoy!

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