Thin-sliced chicken with a luscious lemon cream sauce served over basil Parmesan pasta. This creamy Lemon Chicken and Pasta is simply elegant but easy enough to make any night of the week.
Serve this chicken with Sautéed Green Beans or a Simple Italian Salad for a delicious meal.
I’m in love with this chicken dish, friends.
Maybe it’s because this is the meal I prepared for my group here on Valentine’s Day when love was in the air! But honestly, it’s the heavenly lemon cream sauce that has won my heart. It’s bright, fresh, and creamy all at the same time and it has a bit of a kick from the addition of red pepper flakes. It is fabulous drizzled over the simply sautéed chicken and pasta.
I really hope you to try this recipe. It is pure, simple, deliciousness.
Ingredient Notes
- Thin-sliced chicken: Starting with boneless chicken breasts that are about 1/2-inch thick ensures they will cook evenly and quickly and won’t dry out. See below for my tips.
- Seasoning: The chicken is seasoned with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Lemon cream sauce: You’ll need a fresh, crisp, bright white wine like Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. You’ll also need low-sodium chicken broth, diced shallots, minced garlic, the juice from a good-sized lemon, and red pepper flakes. The sauce is finished off with a little butter and cream.
- Produce: Finely diced shallots, minced garlic, and chopped fresh basil.
- Pasta: I love bucatini pasta for this recipe. It’s thicker than spaghetti and has a tiny hole that runs all the way through the center. It works really well with creamy sauces that will coat both the outside and the hollow center of the noodles. Spaghetti, linguine, or angel hair will also work well.
- Cheese: Finely shredded Parmesan cheese
Thin-Sliced Chicken Breast Tips
To make it easy, pick up boneless, skinless chicken breasts labeled “thin-sliced” from the store. They may still be a bit too thick, so to fix that, place the chicken on a cutting board, cover with a piece of plastic wrap, and use the smooth side of a meat mallet to lightly pound the surface to the desired thickness.
The other option is to purchase regular boneless breasts and use a sharp knife to slice them right through the middle. They will likely need to be pounded a bit thinner as described above after they are sliced.
How to Make Lemon Chicken and Pasta
- Sear the chicken. Season the chicken with a little salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet and sear the chicke for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until nicely browned. Transfer the browned chicken to a plate or large piece of foil to rest. Do this in batches, if necessary, to avoid over-crowding the skillet.
- Reduce the wine. Cook the shallots and garlic briefly, then add the white wine and use a spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. as the wine comes to a simmer. Allow the wine to simmer at a low boil until slightly reduced.
- Reduce further. Add the chicken broth, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes and bring the sauce to a low boil. Allow it to simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes until thickened and reduced.
- Finish with butter and cream and bake. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the butter and heavy cream. Return the browned chicken to the skillet with the sauce and transfer the skillet to a preheated 375 degree F oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked through.
- Add the Parmesan. Cook and drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water. Then, add the Parmesan cheese.
- Add the basil and reserved pasta water. Add just enough of the reserved pasta water to moisten the pasta and toss well to combine.
FAQ and Valerie’s Tips
If you follow the directions to reduce the wine and then reduce a second time after adding the broth and lemon juice, you should not need to add any cornstarch. As the sauce cooks down, it will a naturally thicken up a bit and thicken even further after the butter and cream is added. This is not intended to be super thick sauce, but it will have some nice body to it.
You can, however, you should be aware that when you freeze a sauce that has a high dairy content, there is a chance it can separate a bit when reheated. If you want to freeze it, be sure it has completely cooled. It should last for up to 2 to 3 months if frozen in a freezer-safe, airtight container. Thaw it safely in the refrigerator before gently reheating on the stove with a splash of water or chicken broth to loosen the sauce.
I think the flavor of chicken breast meat works best with the lemon sauce. But, you can use boneless chicken thighs, if you’d like.
More Chicken Pasta Recipes You’ll Love
- One-Pot Lemon Chicken and Orzo
- Tuscan Chicken Pasta
- Chicken Pesto Pasta
- Chicken and Spinach Skillet Pasta
- Chicken Parmesan Pasta
- Browse my entire collection of pasta recipes for more ideas!
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Creamy Lemon Chicken and Pasta
Ingredients
- 12 ounces uncooked dry pasta, like bucatini, spaghetti, linguine, or angel hair
- 6 thin-sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- ⅓ cup finely diced shallots
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 cup dry white wine, like Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, or Chardonnay
- 1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, from 1 large lemon, juiced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, divided
- ½ cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- If necessary, cover chicken breasts with plastic wrap and use a mallet to lightly pound them until ½-inch thick. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Cook pasta according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, add olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet and place over MEDIUM-HIGH. When oil is good and hot add the chicken and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until nicely browned. Chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point. Transfer the browned chicken to a plate or large piece of foil to rest. Do this in batches, if necessary, to avoid over-crowding the skillet.
- Reduce the heat to MEDIUM, add the shallots and garlic to the skillet. Cook, stirring, for a minute or two. Add the white wine and use a spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet as the wine comes to a simmer. Allow wine to simmer at a low boil for 3 to 4 minutes until slightly reduced. Add the chicken broth, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes. Increase heat to MEDIUM-HIGH and bring sauce to a low boil. Allow to simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes until thickened and reduced.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and add the butter and stir until completely melted. Add the heavy cream and stir to combine. Transfer the browned chicken to the skillet and drizzle the sauce over the top. Transfer the skillet in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked through. Remove from oven and top with 2 tablespoons chopped basil.
- Drain pasta, reserving ½ cup pasta water. Place pasta in a large bowl and add cheese and remaining basil and toss to combine, adding enough reserved pasta water to moisten pasta. Serve with chicken and and spoonful of sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
More Ideas
This post was originally published on February 18, 2019. It has been udpated with new text and images.
This is delicious. I made as written the first time. The only thing I changes there after was just to double the sauce, it is so delicious. Thank you!
Best recipe ever loved it so much. Might cut chicken into bite size pieces next time think would mix in pasta better. 🤷🏻
I would like to make this for a graduate student that I am taking some food to. Could this be frozen? I was thinking of placing the chicken on top of the pasta and freezing it. Other pastas freeze well but I’m not sure about the sauce with the cream. Thank you.
I haven’t tried freezing this dish but I think it might fare pretty well. If you try it, I’d love to know how it works out for you.
Comments here said the sauce didn’t thicken like they wanted and some added cornstarch or flour, but instead, just let it boil down longer than the 10-15 minutes mentioned in the recipe. We added butter then cream while still at a simmer and still cooked it down further. And a little parm regg too before turning off the heat and adding the chicken back into it. Perfect saucy and tangy chicken. Enjoy!
I am not sure what happened but the sauce never thickened. The chicken and noodles were swimming in liquid. I followed directions and timing. My husband and I decided that it was worth another try because the overall taste was wonderful.
Hi Jana. If you give the sauce enough time, it should reduce and thicken a bit. If you have issues with this again, you can always speed up the process by adding a cornstarch slurry. Just mix 1 tablespoon of water with 2 teaspoons cornstarch and stir it into the sauce before adding the butter and cream. I think that should do the trick!
I loved this recipe so much — I made it for myself last week as a treat and now am making for my friend who is coming over for dinner. Thank you!
I’m so happy you loved it! Thanks, Laura 🙂
Very good! I will try to make it next time with a little cornstarch to thicken the sauce. Other than that, it tasted excellent. The use of fresh ingredients makes this recipe a hit.
Just made the dish.. I added 1/4 teaspoon of flour when I added the shallots to make the sauce a little thicker… other than that, its going to be a definite usual dish.. thank you.. the chicken came out super moist
This came out phenomenal!! Added shrimp and paired with sautéed green beans. Thank you!
The flavor is good, but sauce is too runny-especially with pasta. I suggest thickening up with cornstarch before adding chicken.
Delicious! Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Sauce was thin, thickened with cornstarch as viewers suggested. Lemon was very subtle.