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Linguine with clams or pasta alle vongole is a classic Italian recipe made in just 20 minutes! Littleneck clams are cooked in a white wine garlic sauce and tossed with freshly cooked linguine pasta.
Linguine with white clam sauce, also known as linguine alle vongole, is a quick and delicious meal that can be made in no time. It's great to serve on a weeknight or for a special occasion.
Serve with linguine with clam sauce with a fresh loaf of crusty bread, arugula salad, and lemon ricotta cake for dessert!
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🍝 Ingredient notes
- Pasta - Any thin, long pasta is best with seafood. Use fettuccine, spaghetti, or angel hair as a substitute for linguine if needed. Feel free to use dry or fresh pasta.
- Clams - Littleneck clams are a small type of clam that are about 1 ½-2 inches wide and are the best clams for this dish. I always prefer fresh clams, if they are available. Frozen clams are fine to use as well. Check the package instructions to see if they need to be cleaned ahead of time or if they can be thrown in as is. Cooking times will be a bit longer, but not by much. I do not recommend using canned clams as they contain extra preservatives that can make the dish too salty.
- Wine - A dry white wine such as sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, or chardonnay works best for this recipe. A good white wine that you would drink works best as opposed to cooking wine. If you don't have wine or prefer not to use it, then use seafood or chicken broth as a substitute. Add an extra squeeze of fresh lemon juice, since it will be missing the acidity from the wine.
📋 Substitutions and variations
- Spicy - Add extra crushed red pepper flakes to spice the clam sauce up a bit!
- Gluten-Free - Use gluten-free pasta.
- Dairy-Free - Use a dairy-free butter and parmesan cheese substitute.
🦪 How to Clean and Prepare Clams
- After purchasing fresh clams from the store, place them in a bowl or container covered by a damp paper towel. Do not keep them in a closed box, bag or other container or they will die.
- Look for clams that have cracked or broken shells. Those clams should be discarded, along with any that don't have a closed shell or that will close when you tap on them.
- Add the clams to a clean bowl, cover them with fresh cool water, and then let them soak for 20 minutes. As the clams breathe, they will filter the water and push salt water and sand out of their shells. This will make sure you don't get any salt or grit in your pasta.
🔪 Step by step instructions
Cook the linguine in a large pot of salted water until al dente. While the pasta is cooking, heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet and then add the shallots to cook for 1-2 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and then cook for one more minute.
Pour in the white wine and then add the clams to the pan. Cover and let simmer for 5-7 minutes until the clams open. Discard any clams that don't open during cooking.
Add a bit of the pasta cooking water from the linguine to the pan with the clams and then drain the remaining water. Add the linguine to the pan with the clams along with the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and fresh parsley.
Toss to combine everything together, season to taste, and serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese!
If you ever don't recognize a tool or skill that is mentioned, be sure to look it up in our Glossary of Cooking Terms and Definitions for more information.
⭐ Expert tips
- Cook the pasta until al dente so it doesn't become too mushy.
- Make sure to cover the pan while the clams are cooking so they cook quickly and the sauce doesn't evaporate.
- If there are any clams that don't open after 7 minutes or so, they should be discarded. They may have been dead to begin with and could be bad.
- Don't forget to add pasta water to the clam sauce. It helps to flavor the sauce, as well as help it to stick to the pasta.
🥡 Storage suggestions
Keep leftover linguine with clams in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. Reheat in a pan over low heat with broth or butter.
🦐 More seafood recipes
If you loved this linguine with fresh clams, check out these other seafood recipes that I know you will love too!
- Scallops with Butter Sauce
- Oven Roasted Italian Salmon
- Jumbo Shrimp and Scallop Scampi
- Shrimp Fra Diavolo
Recipe
Linguine with Clams Recipe (Pasta alle Vongole)
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound linguine
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium shallot, minced
- 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 cup dry white wine, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay or pinot grigio
- 2 pounds littleneck clams, cleaned and prepped
- 3 Tablespoons salted butter
- 1 medium lemon, juice and zest
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- salt and pepper, to taste
- parmesan cheese, optional
Instructions
- Cook the linguine in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat a large saute pan over medium heat on the stovetop with the olive oil.
- Add the shallots and saute for 1-2 minutes until soft, then add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and cook for an additional minute.
- Pour in the wine, add the clams, and then cover the pan with a lid. Let the clams steam in the white wine sauce for 5-7 minutes until they open. Any clams that don't open after this time should be discarded since they may be bad.
- Add 1 cup of the pasta cooking water to the pan with the clams and drain the remaining water from the linguine.
- Add the cooked linguine to the pan with the clams, along with the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and chopped parsley.
- Toss to combine everything together and then season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve immediately topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese, if desired.
Notes
- Clams - Fresh clams work best, however, frozen may also be used. They do not need to be defrosted, but check the package to see if they have been cleaned or not. Do not use canned clams, because the extra preservatives will make the dish too salty.
- Cleaning - After purchasing fresh clams, store them in a bowl, covered by a damp paper towel in the refrigerator. Do not store them in a closed box, bag, or container. Before cooking, soak clams in a bowl covered in fresh cool water for 20 minutes. The clams will filter water and push out any extra salt water or sand in their shells. Discard any clams that aren't closed or don't close when you tap on the shells, along with any that have broken or cracked shells.
- Pasta - Use any thin, long pasta, such as fettuccine, spaghetti, or angel hair as a substitute. Dry or fresh pasta, may be used.
- Wine - Use broth or water with an extra squeeze of fresh lemon juice as a substitute.
- Spicy - Add extra crushed red pepper flakes
- Gluten-Free - Use gluten-free pasta.
- Dairy-Free - Use a dairy-free butter and parmesan substitute.
Tara
Made this recipe tonight! It was amazing, so easy and would totally do it again! Thank you!
Amanda
Thanks Tara! I'm so glad you enjoyed it 🙂