If your go-to cocktail is a dirty martini, you need to try this viral pasta recipe. TikTok influencer Emily Eggers (@legallyhealthyblonde) created the original recipe and shared it in a video. It inspired us to twirl up strands of spaghetti tossed with a buttery sauce, chopped olives, and blue cheese. Here's how to make dirty martini pasta at home.
What Makes This Pasta Taste Like a Dirty Martini?
A dirty martini is a cocktail made with vodka or gin, dry vermouth, and olive brine. It's often garnished with green olives. Here, we've kept the vodka and olives, and added garlic, cheese, and pasta to create a flavorful meal. No cocktail shaker required!
Dirty Martini Pasta Ingredients
Grab these ingredients to make our take on the viral dirty martini pasta recipe at home.
- Olives: You'll need a 6- to 8-ounce bottle of green olives in brine. We like to use Castelvetrano olives. Roughly chop the olives for the proper texture.
- Lemon: Zest and juice one lemon for this pasta recipe.
- Pasta: You'll need a pound of spaghetti cooked until al dente.
- Oil: Choose a flavorful olive oil for the sauce.
- Garlic: Mince four cloves of garlic (or as much as your heart desires) and sauté until tender.
- Spirits: You can use either gin or vodka to echo the flavor of a dirty martini.
- Butter: Six tablespoons of butter in the sauce helps cut through the acidity of the olives and rounds out the sauce.
- Cheese: Use both blue cheese and shredded Parmesan.
- Herbs: Top the dish with fresh parsley just before serving.
Tips for Making Dirty Martini Pasta
Here are a few of our Test Kitchens best tips for making dirty martini pasta.
- Get creative with the pasta shape. Other great pasta shape options are bucatini and linguine. You can use whatever you have on hand.
- Choose the right olive. We highly recommend using Castelvetrano olives for their delicate flavor and meaty flesh. You can also use green olives in brine. We don't recommend using black olives in this pasta recipe.
- Watch your garlic closely as it cooks. Burned garlic can make the sauce taste bitter.
- Don't toss your pasta water! If the sauce looks thick, use a little pasta water to thin it out.
- Not a fan of blue cheese? Try using feta or goat cheese crumbles instead.
- Don't skip the fresh parsley on top. It helps brighten up the entire dish.
Ingredients
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1 (6 to 8 ounce) jar pitted Castelvetrano olives or green olives in brine
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1 medium lemon
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1 pound spaghetti
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2 tablespoons olive oil
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4 cloves garlic, minced
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1/4 cup gin or vodka
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6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
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1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
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1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles, plus more for garnish
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1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Directions
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Drain olives and reserve 1/4 cup olive juice brine. Roughly chop olives; set aside. Zest and juice lemon; set aside.
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Boil pasta in a large pot of very lightly salted water and cook al dente according to package directions. Drain and reserve 1 cup pasta water.
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Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add olives and garlic; cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in gin or vodka, and cook until reduced, about 3 to 4 minutes.
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Stir in reserved olive juice, lemon juice, butter and 1/2 cup reserved pasta water. Add cooked pasta and toss to combine until pasta is glossy and coated. Stir in Parmesan cheese. If needed, add additional pasta water, 2 tablespoons at a time, to reach desired consistency.
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Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest, blue cheese, and parsley. Garnish with additional blue cheese crumbles, if desired.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
| 439 | Calories |
| 26g | Fat |
| 41g | Carbs |
| 11g | Protein |
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings Per Recipe 6 | |
| Calories 438.7 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat 26g | 33% |
| Saturated Fat 11.9g | 59% |
| Cholesterol 46.1mg | 15% |
| Sodium 966.9mg | 42% |
| Total Carbohydrate 41.1g | 15% |
| Dietary Fiber 6g | 22% |
| Total Sugars 6.7g | |
| Protein 10.9g | 22% |
| Vitamin D 0.1mcg | 0% |
| Vitamin C 75.3mg | 84% |
| Calcium 201.9mg | 16% |
| Iron 2.2mg | 12% |
| Potassium 368.6mg | 8% |
| Fatty acids, total trans 0.5g | |
| Vitamin D 4.1IU | |
| Alanine 0.3g | |
| Arginine 0.4g | |
| Ash 4.1g | |
| Aspartic acid 0.6g | |
| Caffeine 0mg | |
| Carotene, alpha 2.4mcg | |
| Choline, total 23.9mg | |
| Copper, Cu 0.2mg | |
| Cystine 0.1g | |
| Energy 1836.3kJ | |
| Fluoride, F 38.7mcg | |
| Folate, total 99.8mcg | |
| Glutamic acid 2.6g | |
| Glycine 0.2g | |
| Histidine 0.3g | |
| Isoleucine 0.4g | |
| Leucine 0.8g | |
| Lysine 0.5g | |
| Methionine 0.2g | |
| Magnesium, Mg 41.4mg | |
| Manganese, Mn 0.5mg | |
| Niacin 2.7mg | |
| Phosphorus, P 187.4mg | |
| Pantothenic acid 0.7mg | |
| Phenylalanine 0.5g | |
| Phytosterols 7.1mg | |
| Proline 1g | |
| Retinol 138.1mcg | |
| Selenium, Se 25.2mcg | |
| Serine 0.5g | |
| Starch 19.4g | |
| Theobromine 0mg | |
| Threonine 0.3g | |
| Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 2.5mg | |
| Tryptophan 0.1g | |
| Tyrosine 0.4g | |
| Valine 0.5g | |
| Vitamin A, IU 916.6IU | |
| Vitamin A, RAE 161.2mcg | |
| Vitamin B-12 0.3mcg | |
| Vitamin B-6 0.2mg | |
| Vitamin K (phylloquinone) 47.7mcg | |
| Water 217.1g | |
| Zinc, Zn 1.3mg | |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
