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creamy lemon chicken pasta recipe.

Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta

Rika
This creamy lemon chicken pasta is the ultimate comfort food! The pasta and chicken breast are perfectly paired with rich, buttery, and lemony parmesan sauce. It's kid and budget-friendly, a wonderful addition to your pasta recipe collection. 
4.82 from 22 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American, Italian
Servings 6
Calories 584 kcal

Equipment

  • a pot
  • a deep skillet

Ingredients
 

Pan-Seared Chicken:

Others:

Instructions
 

  • In a large pot, bring water to a boil, stir in the salt (see notes), then cook the pasta until al dente. Reserve at least ¾ cup of pasta water.
  • Put the chicken breast into a ziplock. Using a meat mallet, evenly pound the chicken to ¼-inch thickness. Drizzle the chicken breasts with 1 tablespoon of oil then season with salt, black pepper, and (optional) Italian seasoning.
  • In a large skillet, heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, when it is hot, cook the chicken breasts for about 4 minutes on each side or until fully cooked. Transfer to a plate, let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before slicing/chopping, and set them aside.
  • In a clean skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Cook garlic and red chili pepper just until fragrant.
  • Add heavy cream and lemon zest to the pot. Simmer and stir often for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to a medium-low setting, whisk in butter 1 tablespoon at a time until melted. Reduce the heat to a low setting. Add ¾ cup of pasta water and a small amount of parmesan cheese at a time. Whisking smooth after each addition.
  • Add chicken and pasta. Mix to combine. Add lemon juice and parsley, then stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt/black pepper. Remove from the heat and serve with extra parmesan cheese if needed.

Notes

Sauce. Do not let the sauce come to a boil. The sauce should stay below a boiling point. Let it simmer to reduce and bring out more of the flavor and to prevent gritty or grainy sauce. Please keep in mind that the sauce will get thicker as it sits. 
Cheese. Do not use pre-grated cheese. Pre-grated cheese uses powdered cellulose to coat shreds of cheese so they won't stick together. This anti-caking ingredient may cause the sauce to become gritty. 
For that reason, buy a block of cheese and grate your own. 
Chicken.  The safe cooking temperature for all poultry products, including chicken breast is 165ºF.
Salting pasta water. For this recipe, I used 1 tablespoon of kosher salt per 10 cups of water. 
Storing the leftover. Let the hot pasta cools at room temperature before refrigerating. Transfer the pasta to an airtight container. Properly stored, it can last 3-5 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.
Reheating the leftover. Place the leftover pasta in a skillet. Add a small amount of broth or water then reheat the pasta over medium-low heat for a few minutes until the pasta is heated through and the liquid is fully absorbed.

Nutrition

Calories: 584kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 28gFat: 32gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 113mgSodium: 573mgPotassium: 488mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 974IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 158mgIron: 1mg
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