When this gorgeous dish hits the table, there are bound to be oohs and aahs all round. The combination of the juicy, caramelised chicken and creamy, garlicky, lemony pasta is just beautiful. In fact, it’s so delicious that you had probably better decide to make a double batch now! This Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta recipe is restaurant-quality and super comforting, yet it is made with simple, low-cost ingredients that come together in less than 20 minutes – perfect for weeknight dinners.
It’s such a nice feeling when you can prepare a meal that everyone appreciates so much and yet is also so stress-free for yourself – more time to relax with the family! The chicken and pasta both reheat really well, perfect for making ahead of time and also freezing. You can also cook extra chicken to use for salads the next day or lunchboxes. What I also love about this dish is that it is adaptable. You could easily stir some baby spinach, sun-dried tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes to up the veggies (I’ve provided more suggestions below), or you could even use firm white fish fillets or prawns (shrimp) instead of chicken. Isn’t it great when you can easily vary a dish you love, and it seems like a whole new creation?
With this delicious Italian-style dish, I love to serve a simple green salad – maybe with some slightly bitter Italian-style greens, such as radicchio or curly endive (frisée/chicory) – or a salad of baby rocket (arugula) with some shaved parmesan over the top and your favourite dressing. Or you might like to try Freezer Friendly Garlic Bread, or go with simple steamed green vegetables, such as baby spinach, zucchini (courgettes), broccolini (tenderstem broccoli), kale or green beans.
You could up the vegetables in this recipe by stirring through some baby spinach, peas, sliced green beans, sun-dried tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes. You could also spice the dish up by adding some chilli (red pepper) flakes (to individual portions at the end if not everyone wants it).
Yes! You could replace the chicken with either 4 skinless firm white fish fillets, such as ling, snapper, basa, hoki, perch, flathead, cod, grouper (US and UK: halibut, haddock, pollock, sea bass, turbot), or 20 peeled, deveined prawns (shrimp). If using fish, cook for 2 minutes on each side. If using prawns, cook for 1 minute on each side before progressing with the rest of the recipe.
Creamy Lemon Chicken Risoni (Orzo) Recipe
Creamy Lemon Pepper Chicken Recipe
Creamy Lemon Tortellini Recipe
One-pan Lemon Gnocchi Chicken Recipe
One-pan Lemon Garlic Chicken and Potatoes Recipe
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Kimberley says:
This was amazing! All my kids absolutely loved it (have 4 girls and can be fussy) and I am not a big pasta person but I devoured this looking for more 🙂 Thank you for this recipe!
Nicole says:
Wow, Kimberley, so glad this was a hit with everyone … especially YOU over when you’re not really into pasta. 🙌🏻🥰 Thanks for the rating, Nic x
Jenna says:
Massive hit with all the family! Thank you for another great easy to follow recipe 🥰 I’ve requested your book for Christmas from my husband x
Nicole says:
Aww, Jenna, I’m so touched you’ve put the book on your Christmas list! 🥰 Also really happy you enjoyed this yummy pasta. Thanks for the rating too. Nic x
Lindsay says:
It’s a bit salty. Chicken takes much longer to cook so the brown bits make the sauce pretty brown. Other than that good. With all the cream and butter most things are
Nicole says:
Sorry to hear it turned out a bit too salty Lindsay! What type of salt did you use? The recipe calls for sea salt flakes, if using regular salt, my recommendation would be to use half the amount (1/2 a teaspoon instead of the full teaspoon listed in the recipe). To make the sauce lighter, you can wipe out the pan after cooking the chicken (although I do find all the brown bits help with the flavour). I hope this helps for next time! Nic x
Kate says:
We loved this! My 3 and 6 year old helped me make it and they enjoyed it so much.
Navpreet says:
I followed the recipe, with minor twist of adding finely chopped onion, capsicum and tomato paste with garlic and a tea spoon Indian spice mix. It was a hit in dinner today. My husband and son loved it. I also cooked quick coconut chicken curry yesterday with steamed rice, it was really good too. Love your budget friendly quick recipes.
Karis says:
Absolutely love this recipe. Even my partner, who isn’t a huge creamy pasta fan, loved it! The whole fam enjoyed and we will be having this again!!
Alexandria Moore says:
We made this yesterday and it was a hit! Which was awesome since my 4 and 6 year old can sometimes be a bit picky! My husband loves it as well! It was very creamy and light compared to other white sauce pastas I make so that was a really refreshing change. Will definitely be a keeper in our home.
I did notice in the recipe that in the instructions it didn’t say when to add the heavy cream, so I did it after I added the flour and chicken broth.
Alexandria Moore says:
Just made this tonight! It was soo good!! It was super creamy and felt light compared to most saucey pastas which i love! My kids can be a bit picky so this was perfect. Even my husband said it was perfect! Will definately be a keep in our home. 💚
Small note: I did notice in the instructions it did not say when to add the heavy creamy, so I added it after it said to add the flour and chicken broth. 🫶
Nicole says:
This is so wonderful to hear! Thank you for the lovely message. I have now amended the recipe to include the heavy cream, thank you for mentioning that (you were spot on with when you added it!) Nic x
Kira says:
This turned out great! Dinner was sorted in half an hour.
sam says:
The family enjoyed this
Pauline Howatson says:
Delicious! First time making this one and it didn’t disappoint. Family loved it and will be on my meal schedule in the future. 😊