5.0 from 1 vote

Quick mushroom tarragon pasta is a simple yet elegant dish featuring tender sautéed mushrooms tossed with pasta in a light, creamy, savory sauce infused with tarragon. Earthy, aromatic, and ready in minutes, it’s a flavorful weeknight meal that feels effortlessly special.

This is my favorite pasta dish. In fact, my husband helps me make it every year on my birthday. I love serving it with my Seared Flank Steak. Their flavors go together so beautifully. I’m confident that once you make it you will find yourself making it again and again.

The secret to this dish is the tarragon. Before I found this recipe years ago, I had never used tarragon. But now I’m in love with it. I love how it takes this simple pasta dish to a new level. Once you try it, you too will wonder what other dishes can be enhanced by adding tarragon.

Why You’ll Love This Quick Mushroom Tarragon Pasta Recipe

Quick and easy to make: It’s ready in less than 30 minutes.
Great for a crowd: This quick mushroom tarragon pasta serves 8 or more and is restaurant quality.
Budget friendly: A quick, high-flavor, and economical meal. Made with easy to obtain ingredients.

Ingredients

Fresh mushrooms: Mushrooms add a deep, savory umami flavor to a dish, giving it richness and depth without heaviness. Their earthy, slightly meaty taste enhances sauces, soups, and pastas, helping other ingredients taste fuller and more balanced while adding a subtle, comforting warmth. I like to use Portabella mushrooms for more flavor, but white mushrooms can also be used.
Dry white wine: I use Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc, but you can use a different dry wine if you like. The wine balances the sauce and delivers a great flavor. Or you can substitute chicken broth for wine.
Tarragon: One of the best herbs to pair with mushrooms, especially in a cream sauce. Tarragon has a delicate, aromatic flavor that’s slightly sweet with hints of licorice and anise, balanced by a gentle herbal bitterness. It adds a fresh, refined note to dishes, brightening sauces, chicken, seafood, and vegetables without overpowering them. If you’re not a licorice fan, don’t let this description deter you. In the cream sauce with all the other flavors in this dish, the tarragon balances the dish and adds a slightly sweet note that is absolutely fantastic with mushrooms! Use either fresh or dried.
Green onions: Adds a fresh, mild onion flavor that cuts through the richness of the sauce. Their light sharpness and subtle sweetness brighten each bite, while the pop of green color adds contrast and keeps the dish from feeling heavy.
Juice from a lemon: Lemon adds a bright acidity that balances the richness of the cream. It lifts the earthy, umami flavor of the mushrooms, sharpens the overall taste, and keeps the dish from feeling heavy, making each bite taste fresher and more vibrant.
Angle hair pasta: While any pasta will do, angel hair pasta works beautifully in a creamy mushroom sauce because its thin, delicate strands coat easily without overwhelming the dish. It lets the silky sauce and earthy mushroom flavor shine, creating a light, balanced bite that feels elegant rather than heavy.

Tips

Fresh pasta cooks in about half the time it takes for dried pasta. Look for fresh angel hair pasta in the refrigerated foods section in your local grocery store.
You can cook pasta ahead of time, then toss with oil and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
For a deeper mushroom flavor, add dried wild mushrooms reconstituted in warm water.
Use lots of fresh or dried tarragon.
Serve with a green salad or with my Seared Flank Steak and a glass of wine.

mushroom tarragon pasta with flank steak

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