Lemon Chicken One Pot Pasta
A quick, fresh, and rich weeknight one pot meal.
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Pasta and cream meet a springy pick me up in this citrusy Lemon Chicken One Pot Pasta. A quick-to-assemble sauce laced with the classic creams and cheeses is boosted with an injection of lemon to brighten up and balance the most comforting of dishes.
One pot meals are the weeknight heroes of the stovetop. Layers of flavor build upon one another with each and every step to create something that’s criminally complex, with restaurant-worthy tastes and textures.
After the pasta is cooked, the same pot is reheated with a bit of olive oil, and the chicken is seared until golden on the outside and cooked on the inside. Next, more oil is added, and the aromatics — onion and garlic — are cooked until tender and fragrant. Once cooked through, the liquids of the dish — cream, stock, and lemon juice — join forces with lemon zest and Parmesan cheese to make a dish that’s smooth, creamy, and complex.
The now-cooked pasta and chicken are tossed into the sauce. To make for a more cohesive sauce, a bit of pasta water added in, making it easier for the sauce to coat the pasta.
Seasoned with salt and pepper, this Lemon Chicken One Pot Pasta is ready to go!
It’s hard to discern one flavor distinctly from another, but they are so complimentary and so in sync with one another that they create that cheesy, creamy sauce of everyone’s pasta dreams.
While the dish has notes of lemon, the zippy acidity that we associate with this citrus plays a highlighting role, brightening a dish that is full of rich and heavy ingredients. Alongside the aromatics like onion and garlic, the lemon gives this creamy dish a layer of dimension that is lacking in so many cream-based pastas.
It covers the bases for a full meal without having to dirty several pots, making it a weeknight win to put on repeat!
Lemon Chicken One Pot Pasta
Ingredients
- 12 ounces dry pasta, penne, farfalle, spaghetti, and rotilli work
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 medium chicken breast
- 1 small to medium onion, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 lemon, zested and then juiced
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon roughly chopped parsley, for garnish (optional)
Preparation
- Cook pasta to al dente or according to the package instructions. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta, set aside.
- In the same pot heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and sauté chicken breasts, seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook until completely cooked through. Remove from the pot, slice into bite sized pieces and set aside.
- Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and sauté onion, cooking until soft and translucent, about 6 to 9 minutes on medium heat.
- Add in garlic, cooking for an additional 30 seconds.
- Add in stock, cheese, heavy cream, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cooking for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add in the chicken and pasta. If the mixture is looking too dry or thick, add in some of the reserved pasta water. Season with salt and pepper, serve immediately and enjoy!
Recipe adapted from The Endless Meal.
