This creamy black pepper pasta comes together in the time it takes to cook your pasta. It uses crème fraîche as the base, which isn't traditional, but I honestly think it makes the most delicious sauce. The tanginess works so well with the black pepper, while the parmesan brings everything together into a silky, glossy finish. I just never get tired of this one!
Hi! This is almost a cheats cacio e pepe but a little more luxurious feeling. I love using crème fraîche for this sauce because it’s so forgiving and easy to work with, and Parmesan melts into it beautifully to create a smooth, silky finish.
If you want to use regular heavy cream, go for it! You could add a squeeze of lemon to give the tang the crème fraîche gives. In these photos I have used a handmade pici pasta, which is so fun to make. Any pasta shape, fresh or dried will work.
Ingredients
Pasta - Use anything fresh or dried, this sauce will work with any shape.
Butter - I always prefer to use unsalted so I can season the sauce myself but use whatever you have.
Black pepper - I always freshly crack pepper right before making it, it's a great wrist work out! Feel free to use more or less depending on your preference for heat.
Pasta water - Pasta water really is your friend here, it loosens the sauce and helps the pasta cling to the pasta perfectly.
Crème fraîche - No it's not traditional but it adds a wonderful tang to sauces and it's so easy to turn into a sauce.
Parmesan - It needs to be really finely grated with a microplane or the star side of a box grater. Don't use pre-shredded cheese, it won't melt as nicely.
How to make creamy pepper pasta
1. Melt the butter over a medium heat. Add the freshly cracked black pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring, until fragrant and the butter is lightly browned.
2. Reduce the heat and whisk in the reserved pasta water until the butter and water are fully emulsified.
3. Whisk in the crème fraîche until smooth. Keep the heat low, you want the sauce to gently bubble, never boil.
4. The sauce should be silky and smooth before adding the cheese.
5. Add the finely grated parmesan a handful at a time, whisking until melted before adding more.
6. Add the cooked pasta and toss continuously for 1-2 minutes until the pasta is coated. Add a splash more pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce.
Expert tips
- Don't rush the butter and pepper. Let the pepper sizzle in the butter for a minute or two before adding the pasta water. This blooms the pepper and brings out its flavor.
- Keep the heat low. Once you add the crème fraîche and parmesan, the sauce should only be gently bubbling. High heat can cause the cheese to become grainy.
- Save extra pasta water. The starch in the pasta water is what creates the glossy sauce. I always reserve at least a cup so I can loosen the sauce at the end if needed.
- Serve straight away. Creamy butter and cheese sauces are at their silkiest as soon as they're made. Have your bowls warmed and serve immediately for the best texture.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this link to you, so you can come back to it later!
Some other pasta recipes to try
If you loved this black pepper pasta then check out my list of the 15 best creamy pasta recipes. Here are other suggestions for next time.
Did you make this recipe?
I would LOVE it if you could leave a review and star rating down below. Also please tag me on Instagram if you share a photo of the dish!
Recipe
Creamy Black Pepper Pasta
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this link to you, so you can come back to it later!
Ingredients
- 200 grams dried pasta (or 300 grams fresh)
- 40 grams butter
- 2 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper
- ⅔ cup pasta water
- ½ cup crème fraîche
- 60 grams parmesan, very finely grated
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in well salted water, I tend to undercook dried pasta by 1 minute so it can finish in the sauce at the end. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water before draining.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over a medium heat. Add the black pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring, until fragrant and the butter is lightly browned.
- Lower the heat and add the pasta water, whisking vigorously until well emulsified.
- Whisk in the crème fraîche until smooth. Keep the heat low—the sauce should never boil.
- Add the parmesan in 2-3 separate lots, whisking and letting it melt in between each addition.
- Add the cooked pasta and toss continuously for 1-2 minutes until the sauce coats thr pasta well. Add more pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce.
- Taste and season with salt if needed. Finish with plenty of freshly cracked black pepper and extra parmesan.
Video
Notes
Hi, I'm Emilie
I've spent years testing pasta doughs, sauces, and weeknight favorites so you don't have to. Everything on The Burnt Butter Table is designed to be simple, comforting, and unbelievably delicious.
Susan LaConti says
Simple but so delicious
SGraf says
I stumbled across your recipe and thought it would be worth the try; I love it when I'm right!
This sauce was absolutely delicious and needed no enhancements whatsoever. My husband had it over his salmon and I drowned my pasta in the sauce. Best of all, it didn't feel heavy in terms or flavor or in my belly afterward.
Is it possible to use regular water if I make the sauce for a dish other than pasta?
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Emilie Pullar says
Hi! So glad you enjoyed. You could definitely add regular water, it won't thicken up quite the same but you could use a tiny bit of corn starch to help if you needed 🙂
Grace says
This is a great recipe, really beautiful dish! I had something similar in Milan and had to try and recreate it. We’re having it for the 3rd time this evening!
Emilie Pullar says
Yay so happy to hear that Grace! 🙂
Anne says
I was brought back to Rome. This is a great cheat Cacio and so easy. I think it's slightly burning the butter that brings back that Roma taste. Anyway I love it so much I am making it for the second time this week. It's a great recipe so, if you are looking for a super fast and stress-free Cacio-esque recipe, this is the one for you.
Emilie Pullar says
Hi Anne, thank you for such a lovely comment! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Sam says
I love this as an alternative cacio o pepe. Really easy to make too. Thank you!
Kun says
Taste like cacio e pepe! Can’t seem to nail cacio e pepe properly so this is an easier alternative for me. So delicious and so easy.
Emilie Pullar says
I need to update my cacio e pepe recipe because it really is easy the way I do it. I let the parmesan melt on top of the pasta undisturbed for a min or two then toss really quickly. So glad you liked this recipe, thanks so much for making it!
Claire says
Dreamy. Easy. Delicious. Do it!
Emilie Pullar says
Haha!! Thanks so much Claire!
Macie says
This was delicious and so easy!! Exactly like Cacio e Pepe but a lot simpler to make. I will definitely make this again!
Emilie Pullar says
I'm all about a cheats cacio e pepe! So glad you enjoyed and thanks so much for making 🙂
Becky at The Bake Dept says
Holy cow this recipe is outstanding!! Thanks for our fantastic dinner tonight!
Emilie Pullar says
Yay so glad you loved it!!
Jenna says
This gets made once a week at our house! So easy and flavorful, and you can add in your preferred veg and protein (bacon and asparagus for me). I love this recipe and this site!
Emilie Pullar says
Thanks so much Jenna! Love the bacon and asparagus addition!
Manuela says
Oh yeah baby! This is just what we needed for dinner. Thank you for sharing your simple yet so tasty and comforting recipes.
Dolores Melo says
I made this the other day and it was banging! So easy, soooo good!??????
Emilie Pullar says
This one is so delicious! I am so addicted to pepper haha 🙂
Caty says
The ultimate "I don't feel like cooking" dinner. It's quick and the epitome of comfort food. It's so good and just warms your lil pasta soul.
Emilie Pullar says
Love this! It really is the ultimate comfort food!
Tara says
I have made this so many times that I don’t even need to look at the recipe. This is a great starting point if cacio e Pepe intimidates you, like it does me! But it really is its own delish sauce, love love love!
Emilie Pullar says
Hi Tara, this makes me so happy thank you for the wonderful comment1 🙂
CJ says
It was one of those days where despite best intentions you simply cannot make it out of your pjs, much less out of the house and I needed to make dinner.
We had store bought seafood ravioli in the freezer, but no sauce. And then…immediately Burnt Butter Table came to mind! (I started following on IG during the pandemic before the website launched. I’d come across a post of of Emilie’s hands adorned with BOLD NAIL ART making fresh pasta. The audacity it took to post that—IYKYK—indicated I had stumbled upon a culinary page I could genuinely relate to.)
So fast forward to last night…I needed a quick sauce that was GOOD, and I knew just where to go. I searched and decided based on the ingredients we had on hand. I am a kitchen novice and I only started cooking in 2020. I like recipes that are simple and help add to my skill set.
I did have to make some tweaks—we only had salted butter, sour cream instead of crème fraîche, and aged Gouda instead of Parm. But it was still ABSOLUTELY delicious!
Thank you for teaching me about the value of emulsifying the pasta water and butter at the beginning. I usually add it later but doing it that way made my sauce so much more silky and I believe also kept it from breaking. This simple sauce was also ready fast, which was great because the wall clock stopped during the streaming binge fest. Getting up to make dinner it felt like disrupting the time space continuum—when are we?? What year is this anyway???
So, when I read above that you love x3 to hear comments and no one had left anything yet, I wanted to go all out and share my appreciation for not only this recipe but all of them really…. And yes, unsalted butter is on the shopping list from now on 🙂
Emilie Pullar says
Hello! I am SO sorry for the slow reply! This is the best comment ever haha it made me laugh so much! SO glad you love the recipe and are not offended by my nails haha 😉