5-Ingredient Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil & Chili
5 ingredients, 20 minutes, zero thinking required — this is the pasta for tonight.
When you're too tired to think but still need real food, this is the move. Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino — garlic, olive oil, and chili — is one of Italy's most beloved late-night meals for good reason: it's built entirely from pantry staples and comes together while the pasta boils. You get golden, fragrant garlic, a gentle heat from chili flakes, and silky pasta coated in good olive oil. It won't win any nutrition awards on its own, but it's deeply satisfying, endlessly reliable, and the kind of meal that makes you feel like you have your life together even when you don't.
Ingredients
- 8 oz spaghetti — or linguine
- 6 unit garlic cloves — thinly sliced — don't mince, slices give better texture and less bitterness
- 0.33 cup extra-virgin olive oil — use a good one — it's the sauce
- 0.5 tsp red chili flakes — adjust to taste; use more if you like heat
- 1 tsp kosher salt — for pasta water — plus more to taste
Method
- 1 Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt it generously — it should taste like mild seawater. Add the spaghetti and cook until just al dente (1 minute less than the package says). Before draining, scoop out about 1 cup of starchy pasta water and set it aside.
- 2 While the pasta cooks, add the olive oil and sliced garlic to a large skillet over medium-low heat. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, for 4–5 minutes until the garlic turns pale golden and fragrant. Watch it closely — the line between golden and burnt is fast. If it's browning too quickly, pull the pan off the heat.
- 3 Add the chili flakes to the garlic oil and stir for 30 seconds to bloom the spice.
- 4 Drain the pasta and add it directly to the skillet over medium heat. Add a splash of the reserved pasta water (about 3–4 tbsp) and toss everything together vigorously for 1–2 minutes. The starchy water emulsifies with the oil into a light, glossy coating. Add more pasta water a splash at a time if it looks dry.
- 5 Taste and adjust salt. Serve immediately in warm bowls.
Variations
- Add parmesan (not traditional, but delicious) — Finish with a generous handful of finely grated parmesan or pecorino off the heat. Stir quickly with a splash of pasta water to create a creamy coating. Technically not vegan anymore, but absolutely worth it.
- Faster swap: use pre-minced garlic — Jarred pre-minced garlic saves the slicing step. Use about 1.5 tsp and watch it even more carefully — it browns faster than fresh slices and can go bitter quickly.
- Add anchovy for depth (still 5 ingredients) — Replace or supplement garlic with 3–4 anchovy fillets melted into the oil at the start. They dissolve completely and add a savory, umami backbone without tasting fishy. Swap chili flakes quantity stays the same.
- Add a handful of pasta — Toss in a handful of baby spinach, arugula, or frozen peas in the last 60 seconds of tossing for something green without any extra effort.
Notes
The pasta water is not optional — it's what makes the sauce cling instead of pool at the bottom. Don't rush the garlic over high heat; low and slow is what makes it sweet and golden instead of sharp and bitter. Leftovers reheat okay in a skillet with a splash of water, but the texture is best fresh.
Equipment that helps
- Large skillet (12-inch) — Wide surface area lets you toss the pasta with the garlic oil without overcrowding, which helps the sauce coat every strand evenly.
- Pasta pot with a ladle or measuring cup nearby — Having something to scoop pasta water before you drain is the one step people forget — keeping it close makes it automatic.
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