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Pasta with mussels is a delicious linguine recipe made in a creamy garlic butter and white wine sauce. The result is a light and creamy pasta dish that’s flavored with white wine (or dry sparkling wine), shallots, garlic, mussels, and fresh basil. This is one of the easiest recipes to make and it’s perfect for date night or special occasions.
If you’ve never made mussels before they are incredibly easy to make. They’re usually cooked by steaming in a covered saucepan with a broth such as beer, cream, wine, or water. This simple broth can be flavored with garlic, butter, and herbs. It only takes 5 minutes!
The key ingredient to creamy pasta sauces is whipping cream. Whipping cream has a higher fat content so it can be heated without it separating or coagulating. When you simmer whipping cream for 5 minutes, the water will evaporate, thickening the fat content left behind.
For this recipe, the mussels are simmered in wine, garlic, shallot, and cream and then tossed with parmesan cheese and your pasta of choice. The texture is rich without being overly heavy.
If you enjoyed this recipe, try my mussels in red sauce recipe or my easy beer-steamed mussels. If you’re looking for more delicious pasta recipes, try my mussels and squid ink pasta!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Mussels: I usually use P.E.I. mussels (Prince Edward Island) because they’re delicious and readily available. You can also make this recipe with clams (check out my creamy beer steamed clams recipe).
- Linguine or spaghetti: I prefer linguine but spaghetti works well too. You can ultimately use any pasta you prefer, even tubular pasta.
- White wine or dry sparkling wine: this is a great opportunity to use old wine or an opened bottle of sparkling wine that has been sitting in the fridge. Champagne or Prosecco works great!
- Shallot: shallot is like the garlic of onions. It’s very flavorful and fragrant. It’s fantastic in pasta dishes because it’s sweeter than most onions and not as pungent.
- Garlic: finely mince or use a microplane for a very fine paste-like consistency.
- Crushed red pepper flakes: crushed pepper or red chili flakes add a pinch of flavor. This can be omitted if you don’t have any.
- Whipping cream or heavy cream: always use whipping cream or heavy cream because it will thicken when simmered. You can’t achieve the right consistency with light cream or half and half.
- Grated parmesan cheese: I always opt for a block of cheese that I can shred myself. Pre-grated cheese lacks freshness and is treated with preservatives that prevent proper melting.
- Fresh basil: basil can be a substitute for fresh parsley if you don’t like it. I like how it adds fresh herb flavor to the final dish.
- Olive oil/butter: I use a combination of olive oil and butter to soften the garlic and shallot and add flavor. You can use one or the other if you don’t have both.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities below.
Expert Tips
- When you buy mussels at the store, they’re, in fact, alive. Don’t seal the bag or they will suffocate.
- If mussels don’t close on their own when rinsed or tapped on the counter, they’re likely dead. Mussels should have a mild oceanic or salty smell (if overly fishy, they’re likely bad).
- The pool of liquid in the bottom of the pan will slowly dissipate as the sauce thickens. Be patient and keep the pasta moving to prevent burning. It’s ready when the liquid is nearly gone.
More Shellfish Recipes
Enjoy this recipe? If you made this recipe, please leave a ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ star rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments!
Pasta with Mussels
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds mussels, rinsed
- 12-14 ounces linguine or spaghetti
- 3/4 cup white wine or dry sparkling wine
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 cup whipping cream or heavy cream
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Rinse mussels under cool water and remove beards if any, discard any that do not fully close when rinsing (these are dead).
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a big pinch of salt, and cook linguine a little firmer, just before al dente.
- Meanwhile, heat butter and oil in a large covered saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook garlic and shallots until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wine/sparkling wine, red pepper flakes, and cream. Turn heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer.
- Add mussels, give a quick stir, cover, and let simmer for about 5 minutes or until all the shells open up on their own.
- Strain and add the linguini and the parmesan cheese to the mussels, tossing to mix in the sauce. Simmer uncovered for about 5-7 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the sauce thickens and coats the shells and pasta.
- Serve topped with fresh basil, more parmesan cheese, and a few mussels.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What kind of white wine would you suggest?
Any white wine you prefer. I usually use Pinot Grigio. I would buy an inexpensive kind as the purpose is purely
Flavor and cooking.
My boyfriend and I tried this receipe last night and we were so impressed! Everything was delicious!! The sauce had a nice kick to it! And easy to follow instructions. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hey Shawn – I found your mussels and linguine recipe on line a few months back and it was GREAT. I didn’t realize there was a whole blog that went with it until today when I pulled it up again. Looks like some really interesting recipes I’ll be giving a try. Thanks for all your efforts.
A lot more where that came from, Jeff! Glad you liked the recipe and really glad you found me. Thanks for a dropping note.
I have a bag of already shelled & precooked mussels. How can & how would I use them in this recipe?
I would bring all the ingredients to a simmer in the sauce pan as the recipe calls for and simmer the mussels as well to warm them up. Or you could add when you add the pasta and let the sauce thicken for a few minutes. You can almost follow the recipe the same way as the mussels cook so quickly when raw.
If I only have dried basil, how much should I use?
Maybe 1-2 tablespoons? You can add to taste but I would start there.
Hi Shawn,
Love your recipes! I am making mussels over linguine tonight. My new daughter in-law- wants a copy of the recipe but when I went to print I could not find a way to eliminate all but the first photo. Your photos are great but use a lot of color ink.
I did manage the pages to print but in the above layout, the photos are on pages with print so impossible to delete. At least with my Brother printer.
Any suggestions?
Hi Amy,
Glad you like the recipes! Did you see a print icon next to the recipe at the bottom? This will display a printer friendly version without images.
If you can’t see this then it could be something wrong on my side. Hope this helps.
-Shawn
Hello im planning on mking this tonite publix have b1g1 on the mussels❤. My thang is i would love to add more seafood, shrimp and scallops. My family love seafood but we love alot of flavor as well. I wonder how i could pull this off? Any tips plzzz share thx
Perfect idea, Katrina. My suggestion would be to fully cook the shrimp and scallops together seperatly in a different pan. Then mix them in at the very end. Let me know how this works out!
My husband hates cream, can this be made without the whipping cream?
Yes you could, the sauce would be thinner, so I can’t say it would be the same flavor, but you could still do it.
Tried this recipe last night and it was excellent. I might cut down some on the garlic next time, and I didn t need nearly as much sauce as this made, but the dish was extremely tasty.
Awesome, really glad you liked it. Yes, we are a garlic loving family but you can add to taste.
Yummmmm, this looks delicious! I have never cooked mussels, but have always wanted to. You make it look and sound easy and doable. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Becca – glad I could help! Let me know how it turns out.