Vegan Lemon Butter Pasta With Capers

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This simple Vegan Lemon Butter Pasta with Capers is so easy & delicious! It comes together in just a few minutes with straightforward ingredients. Buttery, salty, and bright–you need this recipe on your table!

When I was a kid, buttered noodles were one of my favorite meals. This lemon butter pasta takes all the same qualities of melted butter, salt from the capers, and brightness from the lemon. I love this recipe because it feels like a fancy date night type of meal, but it comes together so quickly with just a few ingredients!

This recipe is vegan because we use good quality vegan butter. The creamy lemon sauce is made by sautéing shallots in that butter, deglazing with white wine and lemon juice, and then adds non-dairy milk. It's a world of flavor! Keep reading to make this recipe.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

It feels fancy! But it's so easy! This meal will make you feel like you're dining in a dimly-lit high-end Italian restaurant.
Only 10 TOTAL Ingredients! And 3 of those are just seasoning!
Less than 30 minutes! Since angel hair cooks so fast and the sauce comes together quickly, you can have this on your dinner table in under 30 minutes!

What You Need For This Recipe

Ingredients and Substitutions:

Angel Hair Pasta - I love using angel hair or thin spaghetti for this dish. However, any pasta shape will work! Gluten-free pasta can be used as well.
Lemon Juice & Zest - Zest and juice from one whole lemon. You can omit the zest if you're using store-bought lemon juice
Vegan Butter - You can substitute with olive oil if necessary. I recommend Earth Balance Vegan Butter
Shallot - I like using shallots, but a white onion can work in its place
White Wine - Try to find a dry white wine. Only a small amount is used here, so don't worry if you don't have any or can't use alcohol. Omit if necessary.
Capers - Capers give this dish a great salty & briny flavor. For a substitution, try chopped green olives!
Almond Milk - Any non-dairy milk will work here as long as it is unsweetened and unflavored.
Garlic & Onion Powder

Tools:

How To Make This Recipe

Step 1: Start the Lemon Butter Sauce

In a hot pan, melt 3 tablespoons of vegan butter. Once melted, add the shallots and sauté until the shallots become soft and translucent, but not crispy.

Once the shallots are soft, add 1 tablespoon of lemon zest and stir with the shallots.

Then, with the heat on high, add 2 tablespoons of white wine. Stir and allow it to simmer and reduce.

Once the wine is fully reduced, add ¼ cup of lemon juice. Bring this to a gentle simmer.

Next, turn the heat to low and add ¼ cup of unsweetened plain almond milk. Whisk this with a fork. Ensure that the heat is low so that the lemon juice doesn't cause the milk to curdle.

photo of sauce before adding capers in a silver pan

Step 2: Finish the sauce and cook the pasta

Boil your pasta according to package instructions. Angel hair cooks very quickly. If you are using a shape other than angel hair, I suggest beginning the cooking process sooner.

To the lemon butter sauce, add 2 tablespoons of drained capers. Stir the capers into the sauce.

Drain the cooked pasta and add it directly to the sauce. Keep some of the pasta water in a separate cup or bowl.

Photo of angel hair pasta in a black pot with boiling water

Step 3: Final Touches!

Fully combine the pasta into the sauce. Add salt, garlic powder, and onion powder and stir.

If necessary (if the pasta looks too dry and not silky), add a small amount of the pasta water and stir. This should help loosen up the pasta and add more starch to the sauce.

Photo of cooked angel hair pasta tossed with the lemon caper sauce in a silver pan

Serve on a plate and garnish with more lemon zest and capers, as well as fresh chopped parsley or chives.

Expert Tips

Don't use expensive white wine! The majority of the flavor and aroma that makes a good wine so expensive is lost during the cooking process. Do yourself a favor and get a cheap bottle of dry white wine.
In place of alcohol, substitute with a light vegetable broth.
When you cook your pasta, you should heavily salt the boiling water. Then, when you drain it, you should reserve some of the salty pasta water in case the noodles in the sauce need that salty, starchy water!

Recipe FAQs

What are capers?

Capers are a pickled or brined unripe green bud of the caper bush flowers. Capers have a very salty, bright, and floral taste to them. This makes capers great for pasta dishes with lemon. They are often cooked with fish or chicken as well.

What foods go well with capers?

Anything with lemon or that will benefit from brininess will go well with capers! Capers are frequently used in pasta dishes, chicken piccata, dishes with white fish, lox bagels, salads, and hummus.

What can I use instead of capers?

If you can't get your hands on capers, I suggest buying some good-quality pitted green olives. Chop the olives up finely and use those in place of the capers.