July 20, 2023
updated
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This family-friendly pasta recipe is made with fresh ingredients, requires minimal effort, and yields big results!
Creamy Lemon Garlic Pasta with Chicken
Take your chicken and pasta starter up a notch with a drool-worthy lemon garlic sauce, and turn it into a meal by adding your favorite veggies to the mix.
It’s as simple as cooking the chicken in a pan and making the simple sauce while the pasta cooks and tossing it all together to finish the meal.
While leftovers of this terrific meal are rare at my house, they heat up well and make a yummy thermos lunch the next day to enjoy at school and the office!
Ingredients
This Lemon Garlic Chicken Pasta is the ultimate flavorful 30-minute dinner thanks to tasty and simple ingredients you probably already have.
Here´s what you need:
- Penne pasta: or your favorite shelled or tube pasta to trap all the flavor inside!
- Veggies: in this recipe, I’m using asparagus, but you can use any other, like broccoli or peas, or omit the veggies.
- Chicken breasts: butterflied boneless skinless chicken breasts will cook quickly and perfectly juicy. In this post, I show you how to butterfly them.
- Salt and pepper: the classic duo for seasoning.
- Olive oil: for cooking.
- Butter: a delicious base for the sauce.
- Garlic: makes this chicken pasta super tasty!
- Chicken broth: stock or bone broth also works.
- Milk or half and half: a creamy sauce needs one of these!
- Thyme: fresh thyme is better, but you can use dried thyme if that’s what you have on hand.
- Parmesan cheese: what’s pasta without cheese?
- Lemon: a citric, fresh addition full of flavor and aroma.
For the ingredient measurements, check the recipe card below.
What Veggies Can You Use
I made this recipe with asparagus, but you can also use broccoli, peas, cauliflower, spinach, or other veggies you like! No veggies on hand? Omit them and enjoy this yummy Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta recipe instead.
How to Make Lemon Garlic Chicken Pasta
Get ready to surprise your family and yourself because this easy chicken pasta with lemon and garlic looks like a restaurant and tastes like home. Just 30 minutes to mix and cook, and it´s ready to serve!
Here’s the step-by-step:
- Cook pasta and veggies
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook penne pasta according to package directions. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the asparagus to the pasta. Cook them, with the pasta, for about 5 minutes. Once cooked, reserve ½ cup pasta water, drain, and set aside. - Butterfly the chicken
On a flat surface, butterfly the two chicken breasts into 4 thinner pieces. Pat dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper on both sides. - Prep the pan
Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the oil and heat it up. - Cook the chicken
Place the chicken breasts in the hot pan and cook, without moving them, for 4 minutes on the first side, then once golden and seared, flip them over and continue cooking for an additional 4 to 5 minutes until the chicken breasts’ internal temperature reaches 165F. Remove from pan onto a cutting board. - Add flavor!
To the same pan, add the butter and melt it, add the garlic, and stir to cook the garlic for about 30 seconds. - Make the sauce
Add the chicken broth and milk or half and half to the pan, bringing it to a simmer while stirring the tidbits from the bottom of the pan. Add the thyme, stir to combine, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the sauce for 10 minutes. - Add the chicken
Once the sauce is ready, cut the chicken breasts diagonally into ½-inch strips and transfer them into the pan with the juices from the board. - Combine
Add the drained pasta, asparagus, and parmesan cheese to the sauce, and squeeze ½ of the lemon into the pan. Give everything a good toss to combine, and add some of the reserved pasta water if you wish to thin out the sauce. - Serve & enjoy!
Serve with additional parmesan cheese over the top and a lemon wedge if desired.
Storing & Reheating Leftovers
Chicken and pasta leftovers can last up to 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container and up to 2 months in the freezer in a zip bag.
Reheat leftovers in the microwave for one minute, adding one or two tablespoons of milk. Stir and microwave for additional time until it is heated through.
Lemon Garlic Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 12 oz penne pasta
- 8 oz fresh asparagus, about ½ bunch
- 2 chicken breasts, butterflied
- Salt and pepper , for seasoning
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth, or stock
- 1 cup milk or half and half
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese, more for serving
- ½ lemon, juiced
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook penne pasta according to package directions. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the asparagus to the pasta. Cook them, with the pasta, for about 5 minutes. Once cooked, reserve ½ cup pasta water, drain, and set aside.
- On a flat surface, butterfly the two chicken breasts into 4 thinner pieces. Pat dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the oil and heat it up.
- Place the chicken breasts in the hot pan and cook, without moving them, for 4 minutes on the first side, then once golden and seared, flip them over and continue cooking for an additional 4 to 5 minutes until the chicken breasts’ internal temperature reaches 165F. Remove from pan onto a cutting board.
- To the same pan, add the butter and melt it, add the garlic, and stir to cook the garlic for about 30 seconds.
- Add the chicken broth and milk or half and half to the pan, bringing it to a simmer while stirring the tidbits from the bottom of the pan. Add the thyme, stir to combine, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the sauce for 10 minutes.
- Once the sauce is ready, cut the chicken breasts diagonally into ½-inch strips and transfer them into the pan with the juices from the board.
- To the sauce, add the drained pasta, asparagus, parmesan cheese, and squeeze ½ of the lemon into the pan. Give everything a good toss to combine and add some of the reserved pasta water if you wish to thin out the sauce.
- Serve with additional parmesan cheese over the top and a lemon wedge if desired.
Jennifer
This lemon pasta with chicken was DELICIOUS. The serving size is extremely generous-I fed two adults and two teen boys and had leftovers!