This is an easy ravioli dish with sautéed asparagus and walnuts tossed in a light and flavorful butter lemon sauce. A quick and delicious dinner that only takes 15 minutes to make.
I love a simple and fast pasta dish and this ravioli with sautéed asparagus and walnuts is exactly that – full of flavor, quick to make and you can have dinner on the table in 15 minutes.
Fresh store bought ravioli is cooked and then tossed with asparagus that has been sautéed in a simple butter and lemon sauce. A little bit of grated parmesan cheese, minced parsley and crunchy walnuts are added at the end – just give it a toss and you’re ready to eat.
Step by step instructions on how to make this recipe:
- Prep all your ingredients before you begin. This is an easy and fast recipe to make – it comes together quickly so you want to have all the ingredients ready to add as you make the dish.
- Cook your ravioli as per the package instructions. Drain and add to a large bowl when done.
- Melt butter in a large sauté pan and add the asparagus. Cover with a lid and cook for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Remove the lid from the pan and add the lemon juice to the asparagus in the pan. Sauté over high heat for 30 seconds, stirring the whole time.
- Add the asparagus and lemon butter sauce to the bowl with the cooked ravioli. Next, add the walnuts, parmesan cheese and parsley.
- Gently toss to combine and you’re ready to serve.
Asparagus comes in many sizes – everything from pencil thin to plump spears. Thinner asparagus is going to work better for this dish. If you use thick asparagus, you will need to test for doneness. Thicker asparagus will take longer to cook.
The sauce is really simple to make – it’s light and lemony and you make it in the pan while you sauté the asparagus. It’s not a heavy, greasy sauce – it just lightly coats the ravioli and asparagus.
Tips for making this recipe:
- The asparagus should be slightly damp when you sauté it. This will help make the sauce. So rinse your asparagus right before you chop it and add it to the pan.
- You need to use a sauté pan with a lid to cook the asparagus. Using the lid will prevent the asparagus from drying out.
- You can use whatever fresh ravioli you like for this dish – cheese, mushroom, spinach are all good choices. I used cheese ravioli.
- This is a super fast dish to put together so have everything prepped and ready to go before you start cooking. It takes no time to do the prep work so chop the asparagus and parsley and measure out your ingredients while you’re waiting for the water to boil.
- Some people who have make the recipe have commented below that they added a bit more butter to the sauce. You don’t want to add too much butter though – it will overwhelm the lemon flavor.
Looking for more easy recipes? Then try one of these:
- Tomato, cucumber, avocado salad – quick and easy to make and full of flavor.
- Israeli couscous with summer vegetables – a great filling salad with mediterranean flair!
- Greek pasta salad – a crowd pleasing pasta salad packed with colorful and healthy veggies.
Thanks for stopping by – hope you enjoy the recipe. You can find me on instagram and pinterest too!
If you make this recipe and enjoy it, come back and let me know by leaving a comment below and rating the recipe!
Ravioli With Sauteed Asparagus and Walnuts
This is an easy ravioli dish with sautéed asparagus and walnuts tossed in a light and flavorful butter lemon sauce. A quick and delicious dinner that only takes 15 minutes to make.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 1 – 8 oz package of fresh ravioli – I used cheese ravioli
- ½ pound of asparagus – snap off the tough ends – chop asparagus into thirds or smaller.
- 1 half lemon – about 2 tablespoons
- 2 tbs butter
- ¼ cup walnut pieces
- 2 tbs minced parsley
- 6 twists of pepper
- 2 tbs grated parmesan plus some to serve at the table.
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- While waiting for the water to boil, chop your asparagus into thirds (snap off tough white ends and discard). Mince parsley, squeeze lemon and measure out walnuts and butter.
- In a large saute pan with a lid, melt 2 tbs of butter over medium heat until frothy. Add chopped asparagus to the pan, stir slightly to coat the asparagus with butter and cover the pan with a lid. The asparagus should be slightly damp when adding it to the pan. The pan should only be on medium heat so you don’t burn the butter or the asparagus. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes – depending on thickness of asparagus.
- While asparagus is cooking, add ravioli to boiling water and cook as per the package instructions – my package said 4 minutes. Drain when done and add to a bowl.
- Add the lemon juice and black pepper to the asparagus in the pan and turn the heat to high. Cook and stir the asparagus and butter with the lemon juice for 30 seconds to create a light butter lemon sauce. Remove from heat.
- Add the asparagus and butter lemon sauce to the cooked ravioli in the bowl. There will not be a lot of sauce – you just want enough to lightly coat the ravioli. Make sure to scrape out the saute pan.
- Add walnuts, parsley and 2 tbs parmesan cheese – toss gently to combine.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 623
- Fat: 31g
- Saturated Fat: 14g
- Carbohydrates: 70g
- Fiber: 10g
- Protein: 24g
Leigh Ann
I made this exactly as the recipe was written and it came out perfectly!!! There are so many variations that are possible by adding chicken, shrimp, mushrooms, garlic, etc… the recipe was fast, easy and delicious and is perfect for just a small family dinner or for guests. Thank you for the recipe and we will easily be having this again!
Geraldine
Thanks so much for letting me know, Leigh Ann – it really makes my day to hear that this was a success for you and your family! Love the additions that you want to try too. And thanks for leaving a rating as well – I really appreciated it!
Bonnie
Made this for dinner tonight. It was excellent! Loved the simple buttery lemon coating. We didn’t have walnuts so we used toasted almonds and it was delicious. This recipe will definitely become a regular.
Geraldine
So glad you enjoyed it, Bonnie! Hope you shared with Rob. And thanks for leaving a rating!
Pamela Stroup
This was DELICIOUS! And so easy. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I used 4 cheese ravioli and it couldn’t have been tastier.
Geraldine
Thanks so much, Pamela, for taking the time to let me know and rating the recipe. I’m really glad you enjoyed it!
Deborah
Made this for dinner tonight! Wow, POW. Love this recipe!! Will definitely make this again and again.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Ps, I used gluten free ravioli, delish!!
Geraldine
Thanks so much for letting me know, Deborah. So glad you enjoyed it!
Katy James
Forgot to rate in my last post!
Katy James
This is one of our go to recipes! We make it ALL the time! Thank you for sharing it.
I’ve added chicken to the pan many times, sautéed in the garlic and butter.
But this Cajun girl ALWAYS uses pecans instead of walnuts 😉
Thanks again!!
Geraldine
Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know that you enjoyed the recipe, Katy! And a double thanks for coming back and rating it – very much appreciated!
Mandy
Not only was this fantastic, but I find it to be a quick and very simple way to make an upscale and elegant dish for you and your husband or to serve for guests. I used Rana’s spinach ricotta ravioli which was amazing. I omitted nuts because of problems with my wisdom tooth. But I pan roasted about 4 heads of garlic and threw in white wine before adding the lemon juice. It was delicious. The one thing I did wrong? I thought I’d need more butter thinking the sauce would be too light. Big mistake. While it was still great, it added an extra richness that didn’t need to be there, especially since my family and I are on a vegetarian meal plan for the week to be more health conscious. Besides that, it was very filling and very flavorful. Next time I want to add some sundried tomatoes to give it a pop of color. Thanks again
Geraldine
Thanks so much for letting me know, Mandy. I love the idea of adding a little white wine to the sauce – I’m going to try that next time I make it. Really glad you and your family enjoyed it!
Robin Duncan
Fast and really really good! Used pecans instead of walnuts and that worked well. Cooked a bit extra sauce to make sure all ravioli got coated. YUMMMMM
Geraldine
Thanks so much for letting me know you enjoyed it, Robin! Pecans are a great idea!
k
Delish dish. I grilled the asparagus in 1 Tbsp butter rather than sauteed. I also used the pepper to season the asparagus before grilling. I think next time I’m increasingly the butter or adding evoo & adding shaved garlic in place of the lemon juice.
Geraldine
So glad you enjoyed it, K. Love the idea of grilling the asparagus!
Rachel
Made this tonight and not only was it super delicious but it really did only take about 15 minutes! I didn’t have ravioli on hand so I used a combination of cheese tortellini and mushroom tortellini. I added an extra tablespoon of butter (cause that’s just how I roll), salt and peppered the asparagus as it sauteed and threw the walnuts in to cook with the lemon butter sauce before tossing it with the pasta and everything was fantastic and flavorful! Thank you for this super easy and delish recipe 🙂
Geraldine
Thanks so much for letting me know, Rachel. So glad you enjoyed it – it’s one of the most popular recipes on my blog! Tortellini is a great idea – I need to try that!
Pearl
I’m making this again tonight. It is so good paired with a salad. Yummy. Thanks.
Geraldine
So glad you’re enjoying it, Pearl! Thanks for letting me know.
Susan
Made this for dinner tonight and enjoyed it thoroughly–especially the quick prep! I used a spinach ravioli from Costco and followed the directions as written. Except for the parm…which I just plain forgot.
Geraldine
Thanks so much for letting me know, Susan – really glad you enjoyed it!
Janice
This recipe is so good! We make it with the trader joes butternut squash ravioli and added some browned prosciutto. We make it all the time, thank you!
Geraldine
Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know, Janice. I love hearing how people give their own spin to the recipe – so glad it was a hit for you and your family. Have a great weekend!
Chelsie
So I just made this recipe and it turned out to be very disappointing. I followed the recipe to a tee! I don’t understand how you get lemon butter sauce out of this. The ravioli and asparagus turned out dry and had to use spegetti sauce. Sorry….but I will never make this again according to this recipe.
Geraldine
So sorry this did not work out for you, Chelsie.
flgirl
This recipe has been on my “to do” list for quite some time. Boy oh boy did it not disappoint! So easy, so quick, so incredibly yummy! It’s a keeper, thanks for sharing a fantastic recipe.
Geraldine
Thanks so much for letting me know. This recipe seems to be a big hit with everyone – I’ve gotten tons of great feedback. I really appreciate that you took the time to comment! Have a great weekend!
Lindsey
This looks delicious, but when I went to the store there was a super sale on broccoli. Do you think it’ll be alright with broccoli? We do love asparagus in our family though, I’ll try it again with that for sure.
Geraldine
Hi Lindsey: Broccoli is going to take longer to cook than asparagus would if you pan sauté it. Ideally green beans would be a better substitute. But since you already have broccoli – I would cut the broccoli into small florets, then add it to the boiling water that you are going to cook the pasta in (rather than pan sauté the broccoli). Basically cook the broccoli and pasta together in the boiling water. The broccoli will need about 5 minutes – so if your pasta needs less than 5 minutes (let’s say 4 minutes), start the broccoli first and then add the pasta in after 1 minutes so they both finish cooking at the same time. You can make the butter lemon sauce by itself and then toss it gently with the broccoli and pasta. Also, I would probably add an additional tablespoon of butter (or olive oil) to the sauce since broccoli has more surface area to cover than asparagus would. Let me know how it works out for you!
Lindsey
Thanks for the reply! I made my dinner before I received your advice, but fortunately I did almost exactly what you suggested. It came out pretty good! I’ll definitely be trying this again with the asparagus too, though.
Julie G.
Your recipe came highly recommended to me and I’m anxious to try it, but I do have a challenge. I have a lot of food sensitivities. I’m allergic to walnuts, peanuts and pecans. I can eat Pistachios, almonds and cashews. What would you suggest ? Julie
Geraldine
Hi Julie: I think that slivered almonds or the cashews would be a good substitute. If you use the slivered almonds, I would toast them and use them sparingly. You could also omit the nuts altogether if you prefer. Please let me know the what you decide and how it works out for you!
Taylor
I made this tonight for the hubby and I and I must say it was DElish! I thought I had walnuts but to my suprise I was wrong so I used toasted pinenuts instead. I left out the parsley but added 2 frozen cubes of basil and an extra 1/2 tbs of butter. This is my favorite kind of recipe to make it looks gourmet, taste gourmet but without the effort and time to make something gourmet!
Geraldine
Thanks, Taylor – glad it worked out for you so well. Love the addition of basil and pine nuts. Thanks for taking the time to let me know – I appreciate it!
Karen J.
Getting ready to make this. Any nutrition info?
Geraldine
Hi Karen:
Sorry I don’t have any nutritional info for the recipe. I’m sure it’s not the most calorie conscious dish since it has butter and cheese :). Hope you enjoy it if you make it.
Jordan
I want to make this asap, just need to know what twist of pepper is!? 🙂 Thank you!!!!
Geraldine
Hi Jordan – a twist of pepper is just a twist of fresh pepper using a pepper mill. If you don’t have a pepper mill, you can use ground pepper from a shaker. Just give it a couple of shakes of pepper and add more if you feel it needs it. Hope you enjoy the recipe!