Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta is luscious and fresh, with a hint of lemon and chunks of tender chicken. This easy chicken pasta recipe comes together in about 30 minutes for a simple yet elegant dinner any night of the week.
Long strands of linguine are covered with a creamy lemon sauce that is bright and flavorful. The succulent chicken tenders are perfectly seasoned and make this a satisfying meal. Light enough to serve in the summer or as a celebration of spring, but also hearty enough for a cold winter’s day, this easy chicken piccata pasta is packed with flavor and ready in no time.
If you love lemon chicken, try my Lemon Herb Mediterranean Chicken or Lemon Chicken Piccata.
Why You’ll Love This Creamy Lemon Chicken Recipe
- It’s bright and flavorful. The lemon cream sauce brightens this pasta dish, so it’s filling yet refreshing and won’t weigh you down.
- It’s easy to prepare. If you can boil water and sauté chicken, this recipe is a breeze and takes only 30 minutes to prepare.
- It’s adaptable. Need a gluten free meal? Use gluten free pasta. Want more veggies? Toss in peas or asparagus. Need an even quicken meal? Use leftover or rotisserie chicken instead.
Lemon Chicken Pasta Ingredients
- Pasta: Use linguine pasta or any thin, long pasta.
- Butter and Olive Oil: Searing the chicken in a mixture of butter and oil allows you to cook at a higher temperature and get that buttery flavor.
- Parsley: chopped fresh parsley for garnishing
- Chicken: cut chicken tenderloins or chicken breasts into one-inch cubes.
- Chicken Coating: combine salt, flour, black pepper, paprika, onion powder and garlic powder to season and coat the chicken.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is the best option for this sauce, although you can substitute it with milk or half and half if you add a bit of butter.
- Chicken Broth: use low sodium chicken broth. You can also substitute pasta water if desired.
- Garlic: fresh, minced garlic adds an earthy, aromatic flavor.
- Lemon Juice: Always use fresh lemon juice when possible.
- Seasonings: black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and salt add flavor to the sauce.
- Parmesan Cheese: Freshly grated parmesan helps to thicken the sauce and makes a nice garnish.
How To Make Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta
- Cook the pasta. Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions.
- Sear the chicken. In a bowl, season the chicken with all the chicken ingredients. In a large shallow nonstick skillet, add the olive oil and butter. Sear the chicken tenderloins for 4-5 minutes on each side until fully cooked and golden brown in color. About 8-10 minutes.
- Cool and cube the chicken. Remove the chicken and set it aside. Cover with foil wrap. Once it cools down, cube the chicken up into chunks.
- Prepare the sauce. In the same pan, add the butter. Sauté the minced garlic and spices until fragrant. About 20 seconds. Add in the heavy cream and broth. Mix to deglaze the pan. Simmer on low heat until the sauce thickens up a little, then add in the parmesan cheese. Simmer for a few more minutes until the sauce thickens up well.
- Add the pasta. Add in the cooked pasta, chopped parsley and lemon juice. Mix everything well together. Cook for 5 minutes on low heat and then remove from heat.
- Garnish and serve. Garnish with some grated parmesan cheese, chopped parsley and lemon wedges if desired and serve.
Tips To Make Chicken Linguine Pasta
- Cook the pasta to al dente as it will continue to cook slightly when added to the sauce.
- Reserve some of the pasta water to loosen the sauce if necessary.
- Cook the chicken tenders whole and chop them into chunks just before serving.
- To save even more time, use leftover or rotisserie chicken instead.
- Add lemon zest to the sauce for even more lemon flavor.
- Heavy cream is rich, but you can use half and half. The sauce won’t be as creamy.
- Toss in some fresh herbs just before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
When making pasta with cream sauces, it is best to serve them directly after preparation. Cream sauces don’t always hold up well to reheating, and the pasta can become mushy as it absorbs the sauce.
Leftover lemon cream chicken pasta can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in a microwave-safe dish in the microwave. Add a bit of water to loosen the sauce if needed.
Freezing this dish is not recommended as the creamy sauce will not reheat well after freezing and the pasta noodles will become mushy.
Serve this pasta with Low Carb Keto Garlic Bread or Cheesy Pesto Breadsticks. You can also serve with vegetables such as Roasted Brussels Sprouts, green beans or asparagus.
More Lemon Recipes
- Creamy Lemon Butter Salmon
- Lemon Garlic Butter Shrimp
- Chinese Lemon Chicken
- Lemon Herb Mediterranean Pasta Salad
- Lemon Garlic Chicken Skewers
- Baked Cilantro Lemon Chicken
I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you, including this delicious Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it, and share it with your friends and family!
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Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz. linguini pasta thin linguini preferred
- 1 tbsp. butter
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- fresh chopper parsley for garnishing
Chicken
- 1½ lb. chicken tenderloins 1 inch cubes, or use breast
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 tbsps all purpose flour
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Lemon Sauce
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup chicken broth low sodium, or pasta water
- 4 cloves garlic fresh, minced
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- ¾ tsp black pepper or less to taste
- ¾ tsp onion powder
- ¾ tsp garlic powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ cup parmesan cheese grated
- ¼ cup fresh parsley chipped
Instructions
- Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions.
- In a bowl, season the chicken with all the chicken ingredients.
- In a large shallow nonstick skillet, add the olive oil and butter. Sear the chicken tenderloins for 4-5 minutes on each side until full cooked and golden brown in color. About 8-10 minutes.
- Remove the chicken and set aside. Cover with foil wrap. Once it cools down, cube the chicken up into chunks.
- In the same pan, add the butter. Sauté the minced garlic and spices until fragrant. About 20 seconds.
- Add in the heavy cream and broth. Mix to deglaze the pan. Simmer on low heat until the sauce thickens up a little then add in the parmesan cheese. Simmer for a few more minutes until the sauce thickens up well.
- Add in the cooked pasta, chopped parsley and lemon juice. Mix everything well together. Cook for 5 minutes on low heat and then remove from heat.
- Garnish with some grated parmesan cheese, chopped parsley and lemon wedges if desired and serve.
Notes
- Cook the pasta to al dente as it will continue to cook slightly when added to the sauce.
- Reserve some of the pasta water to loosen the sauce if necessary.
- Cook the chicken tenders whole and chop them into chunks just before serving.
- To save even more time, use leftover or rotisserie chicken instead.
- Add lemon zest to the sauce for even more lemon flavor.
- Heavy cream is rich, but you can use half and half. The sauce won’t be as creamy.
- Toss in some fresh herbs just before serving.
[The rating above is for what I think will be the result. I have not prepared this recipe yet.] I’m wondering if shrimp can be substituted for the chicken?
Yes ofcorse! It’s a lovely swap.