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Briny clams, silky pasta, and a buttery, garlicky sauce make this linguine with clams taste like something you’d order at your favorite Italian restaurant.
Linguine with clams is a classic Italian restaurant dish, but it’s also one of the simplest and most affordable pasta dishes you can make at home. I know cooking shellfish like clams and mussels can seem intimidating, but they’re surprisingly easy to prepare—and once you try it, you’ll wonder what took you so long! Once the clams are cleaned and ready to go, you can make the sauce while the pasta cooks, so dinner comes together in about 30 minutes.
“I followed your instructions and when my husband tasted it, he said ‘Marry me’!”
What You’ll Need to Make Linguine with Clams
- Littleneck clams: Small, tender clams with a sweet, briny flavor. They release flavorful juices as they cook, creating the base of the sauce.
- Linguine: The classic pasta for this dish, though spaghetti works well, too.
- Dry white wine: Choose a crisp, dry wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. Select a bottle that is inexpensive but still good enough to drink. Avoid “cooking wines,” which are salty and include additives.
- Garlic and shallots: Create the aromatic base of the sauce.
- Olive oil and butter: Add richness and help bring the sauce together.
- Red pepper flakes: Add a subtle kick of heat.
- Fresh parsley and lemon: Brighten the sauce and balance the richness.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How to Clean & Prepare Fresh Clams
This recipe calls for littleneck clams, which are readily available at most supermarkets. They’re usually sold in mesh bags because they’re alive and need to breathe. If your fishmonger puts them in a plastic bag, transfer them to an uncovered bowl in the refrigerator as soon as you get home.
Before cooking, check that the clams are alive. Their shells should be tightly closed. If any are open, gently tap them against the countertop; live clams will close their shells. Discard any that stay open or have cracked or chipped shells.
To remove any sand, place the clams in a bowl of cool tap water and let them soak for 20 minutes to an hour. When you’re ready to cook, lift them out of the water and rinse each one, scrubbing away any grit on the shells. Most supermarket clams are farm-raised and already quite clean, so you may not find much sand.
How To Make Linguine with Clams
Cook the pasta: Boil the linguine until just shy of al dente—it will finish cooking in the sauce. Before draining, save a little pasta water in case you need it later.
Make the clam sauce: Sauté the shallots and garlic in olive oil until lightly golden, then add the white wine, red pepper flakes, salt, parsley, and clams. Cover and steam until the clams open, about 6 to 8 minutes. Discard any that remain closed.
Bring it all together: Add the linguine to the pan and toss until it absorbs some of the garlicky sauce. If things look a little dry, add a splash of the reserved pasta water. Finish with butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and parsley, then taste and adjust the seasoning before serving.
Linguine with Clams
Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 16 oz linguine
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup finely chopped shallots, from 2 shallots
- 6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup dry white wine
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 lb Littleneck clams (40 to 45), scrubbed
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped, divided
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, from 1 lemon, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, from 1 lemon, plus more to taste
Instructions
- In large pot over high heat, bring 4 qts (4L) of water and 2 tablespoons of kosher salt to a boil.
- Add the linguine and cook according to the package directions until just shy of al dente (the pasta should still be firm to the bite since it will cook another minute or two in the sauce). Reserve ½ cup (120 ml) of the cooking water, then drain the pasta without rinsing.
- Meanwhile, in a very large sauté pan over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the shallots and garlic and sauté until just golden, about 30 seconds.
- Add the wine, red pepper flakes, ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, clams, and ¼ cup (8 g) of the parsley. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, until the clams open, 6 to 8 minutes. Discard any unopened clams.
- Add the drained linguine to the pan with the clams. If the pan is too crowded, transfer the clams to a plate and cover to keep warm; you can add them back when serving. Cook over medium heat, tossing occasionally, until the pasta absorbs most of the sauce and is just tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Add a splash of reserved pasta water if needed to keep it moist.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Add the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley; toss to coat.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt, lemon zest and/or lemon juice, if necessary. Transfer to a serving dish or bowls and serve.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Storage & Reheating
Linguine with clams is best enjoyed right away, but leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days. To reheat, warm gently in a covered skillet over low heat with a splash of water to loosen the sauce. Heat just until warmed through to keep the clams from becoming rubbery. I don’t recommend freezing this dish.
What to Serve with Linguine with Clams
To complete the meal, toss an arugula salad or make some roasted asparagus. Warm some crusty bread to soak up the garlicky sauce, and pour a few glasses of the same white wine used to make the dish. For dessert, finish with tiramisu.
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Hi Jenn,
Can I make this with shrimp instead? I want to cook something like shrimp scampi and thought maybe it would work with this recipe. If so, what would I need to do differently? Thank you!
Hi Turtle, Yes, you can use shrimp in place of clams. No need to modify the recipe except to change the amount of time the shrimp cooks. After sauteing the shallots and garlic, I’d add the wine and other ingredients sans the shrimp and let that cook for about 5 minutes. Then add the shrimp and cook for about 3 – 4 minutes or until just cooked through (be careful not to overcook them). I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Grocery store had wild clams but followed rest of the recipe closely. Turned out amazing! Thank you for this great dish!
Finally!!! A recipe that doesn’t call for canned clams and/or bottled clam both.
Excellent and easy! I followed the recipe exactly using fresh littlenecks. A perfect amount of heat from the red pepper flakes. This will join my foolproof recipe file.
My son and I really enjoyed this recipe. We live in a rural area in middle of the desert so fresh clams weren’t an option. I used frozen clam meat from Safeway that was roughly 11oz of clam meat without the shell or juice. Paired with 1 pound of linguine it was enough for 2 big hungry fellas and probably just enough for 3 normal portion eaters.
The lemon zest with the amount of fresh parsley this recipe calls for is what makes this version of linguine and clams different from most.
Our dinner was delicious!
Only thing I did different was add about 4 cranks of fresh ground black pepper along with the red pepper flakes. We also tried just a sprinkle of fresh graded parmesan about 1/2 way through our plates to see if it made it better. The dish is already rich from the wine and butter so the cheese was nice but it almost pushed it over the top.
I will definitely makes this again using frozen clam meat but will try in the near future to also make it with fresh live clams.
Absolutely delicious! Thank you for such a great and easy recipe to follow and wow the family!
Jenn, Do you think this would be ok with frozen clams in the shell? They are more readily available.
Hi Laura, I haven’t made these with frozen clams but a few readers have commented that they have and have been happy with the results. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
Absolutely fabulous! One of my many favorite recipes from you. I used to order it a lot in italian restaurants, but this is definitely better than any other version I’ve had before. Make it a lot for my husband, and just made it for my family from another country, who loved it as well. So decadent and light at the same time! A must try.
This was FABULOUS! And much easier to make than it first appears! I increased the number of clams by about 1.5 as my family loves those. Used corn fettuccini noodles (we need to be GF) which matched the flavours beautifully. Garnished with some fresh Parm. And served with a romaine salad. Only note, don’t cook the clams too long! I think I let them cook an extra minute or two and they started to get a little on the chewy side. Jen, I try about 1 of your recipes a week. You are my GO TO! Will be cooking your brisket and onion recipe Friday night for Passover (amazing – have made this several times) and will try the chocolate meringue cake for the first time. Can’t wait 🙂
🙂
This is a fantastic recipe. Now, I can finally make my favorite meal like a pro! And by the way, on a weeknight 😊!!