Simple & Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta is bright, cheesy, and comforting. It is a flavorful dish the entire family will love!
Cucumber Tomato Salad and some Fresh Breadsticks pair perfectly with this Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta! To complete the meal whip up a Dirt Cake Parfait!
Creamy Lemon Pasta
With as often as my family gets together, pasta dishes are a staple. They are quick, easy, and can feed a lot. We’re always on the hunt for new, simple, delicious pasta dishes and today’s recipe checks all of the boxes.
Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta is worthy to share and is a must-try! This pasta dish is made is not made in the typical “prepare the pasta and sauce separately” kind of way. Having said that, it’s still simple since it’s pretty much made in 1 pot!
We loved how flavorful this dish was even without cheese. If you still would like to add cheese, just add some grated Parmesan or even some shredded Mozzarella cheese at the end to make it even more tasty. Either way, we think you’ll enjoy it.
How to make Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta
CHICKEN. Prepare chicken by squeezing lemon over both sides and seasoning with 1 tsp garlic powder and ¾ tsp pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
PASTA. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, add remaining tsp of garlic powder and pepper to chicken broth. Bring to a boil and add lemon juice and pasta. Cook over medium heat until all liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally, approximately 25 minutes.
SAUCE. Cut up your chicken into bite-sized pieces and stir in to your pasta, along with the whipping cream and lemon zest. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring every minute.
SERVE. Remove from heat. Let stand about 5 minutes before stirring and serving. (Sprinkle shredded or grated cheese on top if desired).
Recipe Tips + Storing Info
Zest is taken from the peel of citrus fruit. Wash and dry the fruit. Using a zesting tool, or the small side of a cheese grater start rubbing the peel. Stop when you get to the white layer. A medium lemon will yield 2-3 tablespoons of zest.
Variations:
- Use your favorite shape of pasta such as bowtie, wagon wheel, shell, ziti
- Add mushrooms, peas, asparagus, spinach
- Add some heat with red chili flakes
- For a better lemony flavor add more zest
Make this ahead of time and store it in the fridge or freezer depending on when you plan to serve the meal. Either way be sure to undercook the noodles or they will continue to absorb liquid and turn out large and mushy. You can make it the day before, cover, and store in the fridge. Reheat it on the stove top and serve!
To FREEZE, place it in a freezer safe airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge then allow the dish to sit on the counter for about an hour before adding it to a skillet. Keep in mind freezing dishes with cream can cause the cream to separate and create a grainy texture after it has thawed. You can help combat this by adding fresh cream and reheating the dish slowly over medium low heat.
STORE leftovers in an airtight container the fridge for 2-3 days. You can either eat the leftovers cold or warm it up in a skillet over medium heat. If your dish is looking a little dry add some extra cream. If you’re in a hurry you can heat it up in the microwave.
For more Chicken & Pasta dishes, be sure to try:
- Chicken and Asparagus Pasta
- Triple Cheddar Chicken Pasta
- Bruschetta Chicken Pasta
- Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
- Lemon Chicken Pasta
Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in half
- 1 lemon quartered
- 2 tsp garlic powder divided
- 1 tsp ground black pepper divided
- 29 oz chicken broth
- 1/4 cup lemon juice fresh
- 16 oz penne pasta cooked as directed on box
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp lemon zest grated
- salt and pepper to taste
- shredded cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare chicken by squeezing lemon over both sides and seasoning with 1 teaspoon garlic powder and ¾ teaspoon pepper. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
- Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, add remaining teaspoon of garlic powder and pepper to chicken broth. Bring to a boil and add lemon juice and pasta. Cook over medium heat until all liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally, approximately 25 minutes.
- Cut up your chicken into bite-sized pieces and stir in to your pasta, along with the whipping cream and lemon zest. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring every minute. Remove from heat. Let stand about 5 minutes before stirring and serving. (Sprinkle shredded or grated cheese on top if desired)
Adapted from Allrecipes.com
Ooh, what yummy-looking recipes! I can’t wait to try them out…thank you for sharing, Kristyn! xoxo
I hope you like them, as much as we do! Let me know what you think!
Do you cook the pasta in the chicken broth?
Yes, you’ll add some garlic powder and pepper to the chicken broth, bring to a boil and add lemon juice and pasta and cook until water is absorbed, about 25 min. Hope you give this recipe a try. It’s has so much flavor!
Can you use half and half in place of the heavy whipping cream?
I haven’t, but I’m sure that would work fine. Let me know what you think. Thanks so much and hope you like it!
So the directions say Penne Pasta cooked as directed on Box, 12 min, but you sa
to cook pasta 25 Min in the chicken broth. please clarify
Wow, thanks for sharing this! It was so good!
Very simple recipe! I needed to cook the pasta for about half an hour, instead of 25 mins, stirring a lot at the end so pasta WOULDN’T stick. Just make sure to keep trying iT so that you get The texture You want. Great flavour and my boyfriend loved it. Would RECOMMEND adding paRsley At the end for colour
I am so glad you guys liked it! It is one of our favorites! Thank you!
Has so much flavor! i made this for my family along with some white rice and asparagus and it was so delicious! Definitely recommending this to my friends! ?
The perfect additions! Thank you for recommending it!
How can something so easy to make be so delicious? The broth gave the pasta a wonderful flavor. I did not have whipping cream so subbed half and half with sour cream. I added peas at the finish. This will be our weekly go to!
Right?! That sounds great!! Thanks for sharing what you did!
I am in charge of making dinner one night for my daughters robotics team. And I and wanting to make this dish for 40 people. What do i need to make sure I have enough?
I could easily feed my family of 8 with this recipe, so you might want to have 2 pans & at least double in each pan. Hope they like it!
Please correct recipe. Wish I’d read comments before cooking pasta as you stated to do on box.
Still in process of making dish and realized when I got to my chicken broth & spices in pan that my pasta had already been cooked 🙁 I’m sure fish will still be good as I tweak it from here on out.
**not fish**
I’m sure it will be good
Thanks for catching that for us. We will update the recipe! It sounds like you were able to modify the recipe a Little. Sorry for the unclear instructions on the recipe card.
This is a consistent rotation recipe. BUT! I just now figured out I have been making it wrong for, like, 2 years. (No judging). The reason I figured it out is because when I came back to the recipe through my saved Pinterest, there were pop up ads, so I was literally memorizing steps (even though I have made it like 30 times, I need the refresher course every single time) as I went through the ingredients. Right there in the ingredients list it says “pasta cooked as directed on box”. Nope. I have always added the pasta(uncooked) to the seasoned chicken broth. And it has always been amazing. Except the one(!) time I didn’t carefully watch it and it burned my pan. Another BUT! Pinterest saved me with how to clean up the mess. (Heat the pan and deglaze with vinegar). Seriously yummy.
Yay! Pinterest for the win!! Glad to hear that it has turned out well either way still and that it a go-to recipe for your family! 🙂
? Do you cook the pasta in the broth? Recipe is very confusing
Yes, you add your pasta to the chicken broth, seasonings and lemon juice. Then cook until the liquid is absorbed.
How is it possible to cook pasta so long when it is typically ready in only 12 minutes? Isn’t the pasta mushy by the end of 25 minutes?