• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Foodle Club

  • By Category
    • All Recipes
    • Bread and scones
    • Cakes, cookies and desserts
    • Curry Recipes
    • How to …..
    • Main Meals
    • Picnics and Barbeques
    • Sauces, dips and marinades
    • Savoury Treats
    • Sides and salads
    • Collections
  • By Ingredient
    • Beef
    • Cheese
    • Chicken
    • Fish and Seafood
    • Lamb
    • Mushrooms
    • Pasta
    • Pork
    • Recipes using vegetables
  • By Cuisine
    • British
    • South African
    • Asian inspired
    • Italian inspired
    • German inspired
  • The Calculator
  • Free stuff
  • Meet Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
Home » Main Meals » Creamy mussel pasta – a quick and easy supper

Creamy mussel pasta – a quick and easy supper

Author: VJ Published : April 2022 Modified : April 2022 / Be the first to comment!

Recipe
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Yummly
  • Twitter
  • Whatsapp

Creamy mussel pasta made with plump juicy mussels combined in a creamy garlic-flavoured sauce is a quick and easy dish that is ready in less than half an hour.

Close up view of a plate of creamy mussel pasta on a bed of linguine.
Serve this creamy mussel pasta sauce on a bed of freshly cooked linguine or spaghetti, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

**As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.**

Table Of Contents
  1. A restaurant-quality meal
  2. Why I think you’ll love it
  3. What you will need
  4. How to make it
  5. Cook the pasta
  6. To serve
  7. Variations
  8. Can I freeze this mussel pasta?
  9. Can I make it in advance?
  10. How do I adjust the recipe?
  11. Pin for later
  12. Other recipes
  13. The recipe
  14. Creamy mussel pasta – a quick and easy supper

A restaurant-quality meal

Don’t think that just because this is a really simple dish to make, it won’t taste amazing. Believe me, sometimes simple is best. Even though it’s made with only a few ingredients, (including pasta, salt, pepper, and flour), this creamy mussel pasta dish is packed with flavour.

The simple creamy sauce is the perfect foil for the tender juicy mussels, letting the flavour of the mussels really stand out. The only vegetables included are onions, which are soft and tender, having been sauteed in butter to soften them and bring out the sweetness.

This dish would not be out of place on any Italian restaurant menu!

Why I think you’ll love it

  • It’s economical – a bag of frozen mussels, sufficient for 4 people, only costs around £3 in any large UK supermarket. That’s less than $5.00!
  • There’s a saving on energy costs too. Because it’s made with ready-cooked frozen mussels you can cook this creamy mussel pasta in under half an hour.
  • The sauce is all made in one pan, so there’s less washing up to do.
  • You don’t need any fancy ingredients. Apart from the mussels (and perhaps the cream), this dish is made entirely from pantry staples.
  • There’s minimum preparation work. The only prep involved in making this dish is chopping an onion and mincing some garlic. And if you are clever, you will have a jar of ready minced garlic in the refrigerator anyway.
A plate of creamy mussel pasta, sprinkled with chopped parsley, next to  dish of grated parmesan cheese.
A sprinkling of black pepper really helps bring out the flavour of this creamy mussel pasta.

What you will need

Equipment

You don’t need much by way of equipment.

You will need a large frying pan for making the mussel sauce. I like this one because it has a non-metallic handle which means you are less likely to accidentally burn yourself.

I like this pasta cooker because you can use it for steaming vegetables too, and it does double-duty as a stockpot. Of course, you can also just cook the pasta in a normal saucepan.

Ingredients

**You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this creamy mussel pasta on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

This recipe will feed 4 people.

Ingredients for making creamy mussel pasta.
Optional ingredients not shown are chopped parsley and grated parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top of the mussel pasta.
  • Pasta – my pasta of choice for this dish is linguine, but you could use spaghetti instead, or even pasta shapes. Twisted fusilli would be a good choice because ridges would hold the sauce.
  • Mussels – I buy frozen pre-cooked shelled mussel meat and let it defrost in the refrigerator before using. I haven’t tried making this dish with fresh mussels (in the shell), but there’s no reason why you couldn’t steam fresh mussels and pick the meat out to use in this dish.
  • Garlic and onions – if you have fresh cloves of garlic you should peel and mince them. For convenience, you can use minced garlic from a jar. The onion should be peeled and finely chopped. I used a white onion, but if you only have red onions they are fine to use as well. You can substitute the onion with shallots too.
  • Milk – I used whole milk (full-fat) but semi-skimmed is fine.
  • Double cream – or heavy cream. If you only have single (or pouring) cream you can use this instead.
  • Butter – salted or unsalted. If you are using salted butter you should adjust the amount of salt you add to compensate.
  • Salt and black pepper – for seasoning.
  • Flour – for thickening the sauce.

How to make it

Start off by peeling the onion and chopping it into a smallish dice, then peel and crush the garlic. Prep done!

steps for making the creamy mussel sauce.
  • Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the chopped onion and garlic. Turn the heat down to low, cover the pan with a lid and saute the onion until it becomes translucent. Keep your eye on it and don’t allow it to brown. The onion should just sweat gently in the butter. This step will take about 5 minutes.
  • Once the onions are soft, stir in the flour, taking care to remove any lumps of flour.
  • Pour in the milk and turn up the heat until the milk starts to boil and thicken. You should be able to leave a trail in the sauce if you draw a spoon through it. The mixture will be quite thick, but it will thin down when you add the cream.
  • Now add the cream and mussels. Stir well and leave to simmer gently (covered) for 10 to 15 minutes.
  • Taste for seasoning and add salt and black pepper to taste.

Cook the pasta

You can cook the pasta while the sauce is simmering.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and once it is boiling vigorously add the linguine. Boil for the time indicated on the packet (normally about 8 minutes). Drain the pasta.

A dish of mussel pasta sprinkled with chopped parsley on a table in front of a plate holding knives and forks.

To serve

Transfer the pasta to a large serving dish and pour the mussel sauce over the top.

Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese (optional but recommended).

You may also like to serve this dish with slices of garlic bread and a fresh green salad.

If you’d like to be notified of any new recipes, why not subscribe to my newsletter. As a thank-you gift, you will receive a free recipe e-book containing some of my most popular cakes and desserts.

Variations

Why not try some of these suggestions:

  • Fry 1 cup of baby button mushrooms with the onions.
  • Add half a cup of finely chopped red pepper with the onions.
  • Substitute half a cup of good-quality white wine for half a cup of milk.
  • Stir in half a cup of grated parmesan cheese with the cream and mushrooms.

Can I freeze this mussel pasta?

The answer to this is both yes and no! I wouldn’t freeze the sauce if it has been made with frozen mussels that have been defrosted. However, if you have used fresh mussels that haven’t been previously frozen you can freeze it for up to two months.

To use, allow the sauce to defrost in the refrigerator and then reheat in a saucepan on the stove until it is piping hot.

Serve over freshly cooked linguine.

Can I make it in advance?

You can make the sauce the day before and store it in a covered container in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove and serve over freshly cooked linguine.

How do I adjust the recipe?

This recipe serves 4 people. To adjust the recipe to cater for more or fewer people, this is what you should do.

  • Allow 110 grams (4 ounces) of mussel meat per person.
  • Allow 60 grams (2 ounces) of pasta per person
  • Halve or double the remaining ingredients for the sauce to make a smaller or larger quantity.

Pin for later

If you would like to try this creamy mussel pasta yourself, why not pin the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily. Just click on the image below.

Other recipes

You may also like to try these other recipes made with mussels:

  • Fresh mussels with pasta in tomato sauce
  • Fresh mussels in creamy garlic sauce

And here are a few other easy pasta dishes you may like:

  • Salmon and broccoli pasta in a creamy dill sauce
  • Pasta Pescatore (seafood pasta)
  • Seafood stuffed pasta shells
  • Creamy seafood linguine with lobster

The recipe

Close up view of a plate of creamy mussel pasta on a bed of linguine.

Creamy mussel pasta – a quick and easy supper

Creamy mussel pasta made with plump juicy mussels combined in a creamy garlic-flavoured sauce is a quick and easy dish that is ready in less than half an hour.
Recipe by: Veronica
Main Course
Italian inspired
Calories 600
Prep 5 minutes
Cook 30 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Print Pin Comment Bookmark Saved!
Prevent your screen from going dark
5 from 5 votes

(Click the stars to rate this recipe)

Equipment

  • 1 Large frying pan with lid
  • 1 Saucepan for the pasta

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces / 225 grams linguine or spaghetti
  • 1 pound / 450 grams frozen shelled mussel meat
  • 1 cup / 240 ml double or heavy cream
  • 2 cups / 480 ml milk
  • 3 cloves garlic finely minced
  • 1 large onion (approximately 1 cup) finely chopped
  • 2 ounces / 60 grams butter
  • 2 tablespoon flour for thickening
  • salt and ground black pepper to taste1/2
  • 1 tablespoon chopped parsley for garnish
  • grated parmesan cheese to sprinkle over the mussels (optional)

Instructions

  • Peel the onion and garlic. Chop the onion into 1cm / ½-inch pieces. Mince the garlic finely.
    1 large onion (approximately 1 cup), 3 cloves garlic
  • Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the chopped onion and garlic. Turn the heat down to low, cover the pan with a lid and saute the onion until it becomes translucent. Keep your eye on it and don't allow it to brown. The onion should just sweat gently in the butter. This step will take about 5 minutes.
    2 ounces / 60 grams butter
  • Once the onions are soft, stir in the flour, taking care to remove any lumps of flour.
    2 tablespoon flour
  • Pour in the milk and turn up the heat until the milk starts to boil and thicken. You should be able to leave a trail in the sauce if you draw a spoon through it. The mixture will be quite thick, but it will thin down when you add the cream.
    2 cups / 480 ml milk
  • Now add the cream and mussels. Stir well and leave to simmer gently (covered) for 10 to 15 minutes.
    1 cup / 240 ml double or heavy cream, 1 pound / 450 grams frozen shelled mussel meat
  • Taste for seasoning and add salt and black pepper to taste.
    salt and ground black pepper
  • Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and once it is boiling vigorously add the linguine. Boil for the time indicated on the packet (normally about 8 minutes). Drain the pasta.
    8 ounces / 225 grams linguine or spaghetti
  • Transfer the pasta to a large serving dish and pour the mussel sauce over the top. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese (optional but recommended).
    grated parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Notes

Substitutions:
  • You can substitute the frozen mussels with freshly steamed mussels.  Remove the mussel meat from the shells after they have been steamed before adding them to the sauce.
  • Instead of using fresh garlic, you can use minced garlic from a jar.
  • Substitute the double cream for single cream – you may find you need to add extra flour to thicken the sauce.
Consistency of sauce:
  • If the sauce is too thick, you can thin it down with a little extra milk.
  • If the sauce is too runny, make a paste with 1 tablespoon of flour and 2 tablespoons of milk.  Drizzle the flour mixture into the sauce, on a low heat, stirring continuously until the desired consistency is reached.   You may not need all the flour mixture.
Variations:
  • Fry 1 cup of baby button mushrooms with the onions.
  • Add half cup of finely chopped red pepper with the onions.
  • Substitute half a cup of good-quality white wine for half a cup of milk.
  • Stir in half a cup of grated parmesan cheese with the cream and mushrooms.
Freezing:
  • The mussel sauce (made with fresh mussels) can be frozen for up to 2 months.  Do not freeze if you used frozen mussels.
Nutrition:
  • Does not include parsley and parmesan cheese garnish.

Nutrition

Calories – 600kcal | Carbohydrates – 50.3g | Protein – 32g | Fat – 30.5g | Saturated Fat – 17g | Cholesterol – 177mg | Sodium – 820mg | Potassium – 628mg | Fiber – 6.3g | Sugar – 7.2g | Vitamin D – 25µg | Calcium – 244mg

I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.

Unless otherwise stated, a cup is the standard US cup containing 240 ml. In all my recipes this cup is assumed to hold 140g of flour. For help converting other ingredients between cups, grams, ounces and other measures, see my recipe conversion calculator.
All my recipes are developed and tested at sea-level. For tips on adjusting recipes for high altitudes see my post on baking at high altitudes.
Tried this recipe?If you made this recipe I’d love it if you could leave me a comment and let me know how it went!
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

If you made this recipe and enjoyed it, I’d love it if you could give me a star rating in the comments below. And if you’d like to get in touch, you can email me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you. And don’t forget to subscribe to my mailing list so you can grab yourself a copy of my FREE COOKBOOK!

If you’d like to continue browsing, just click on this link to all my recipes.

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Yummly
  • Twitter
  • Whatsapp

Filed Under: All Recipes, Main Meals

About VJ

In my previous life, I was an IT Consultant. Now that I've swapped an office for a kitchen I have a lot more time to spend on things that interest me such as trying out new recipes. Most of my cooking is based around quick and easy meals, and you'll probably find a little South African influence creeping in due to the many years I spent there.

Previous Post: « Steak and mushroom pie with crispy puff pastry
Next Post: German meat salad (Fleischsalat) »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to the Foodle Club

Hi, I'm VJ. Welcome to my little kitchen. Step inside and browse my collection of recipes collected over the years. More →

Lets Connect

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter


See my Privacy Policy and Disclaimer

By subscribing you consent to receiving the Foodle Club newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest updates

Close up of a pan of Thai red curry sprinkled with coriander.

Thai red curry with chicken and prawns

A dish of sage and onion sausage stuffing balls with one cut in half.

Sage and onion stuffing with sausage meat

Close up of a lancashire hotpot showing the lamb under the potatoes.

Traditional Lancashire Hotpot (lamb hotpot)

5 vol-au-vents on a wooden plank.

How to make vol-au-vents

Easy steak and kidney pie with puff pastry

A roasted leg of lamb being carved into slices.

Minted Roast leg of lamb – with homemade gravy

Footer


See my Privacy Policy and Disclaimer

By subscribing you consent to receiving the Foodle Club newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time but the books will still be yours to keep.

In my previous life, I was an IT Consultant. Now that I've swapped an office for a kitchen I have a lot more time to spend on things that interest me such as trying out new recipes. Most of my cooking is based around quick and easy meals, and you'll probably find a little South African influence creeping in due to the many years I spent there.

Copyright © 2023 Foodleclub.com