This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This creamy lemon chicken pasta is an incredible, restaurant-quality comfort dish your whole family will adore. Our dish promises a perfect balance of rich creaminess and zesty brightness. Chunks of chicken are sautéed to perfection, then bathed in a rich, velvety, luscious lemony cream sauce. Our sauce is the star of the show here! It’s rich, creamy, and foolproof to make! It boasts the perfect blend of texture, flavor, and stability.
The sauce is layered with flavor. We use the often overlooked aromatic, shallots. They have a milder, sweeter flavor when compared to onions, which allows them to enhance the overall taste of sauces without overwhelming other ingredients. Of course, there’s garlic. There are very few savory dishes made in my kitchen without this aromatic gem. It adds a layer of complexity with its unique taste, balancing sweetness from other ingredients like shallots and creating a more well-rounded flavor profile. These two combined bring a fragrant depth to the dish. You’re going to love this super creamy pasta!
And as the name fortells, we add lemon in two forms. Fresh lemon juice, and to really punctuate the lemony flavor, we add fresh lemon zest!! Combining these two forms of lemon ensures every bite will be infused with lovely, bright citrus notes.
The cream cheese in the sauce adds extra creaminess and a velvety texture that’s simply irresistible. It also stabilizes the sauce. When the cream cheese melts into the sauce, it keeps the sauce from separating. This is especially helpful if you reheat leftovers, as cream sauces often (virtually always!) separates. You don’t end up with a pile of noodles and oil that’s separated from the sauce on a plate. Have you been there? I know I have!
There’s more comfort where that came from— try chicken bacon ranch pasta, chicken pasta salad, cheesy chicken spaghetti bake, and chicken fajita pasta—all sure to become new favorites. Gotta love a great pasta dish!
That’s comfort food at its finest. Let’s make some pasta!
CREAMY LEMON CHICKEN PASTA RECIPE INGREDIENTS
- Oil: I like olive oil, but you can use any neutral-flavored oil.
- Chicken Tenderloins: You can use either chicken tenderloins or boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
- Butter: I use unsalted butter.
- Shallots: I love the sweet, oniony flavor that shallots add to this dish.
- Garlic: Use only fresh garlic cloves for best results.
- All-Purpose Flour: Be sure to follow the instructions to cook the flour for 1 minute to remove the flour taste.
- Heavy Cream: This ingredient is fundamental to the sauce. Lower-fat options just won’t cut it.
- Lemon Juice: Fresh only!
- Lemon Zest: Really creates great lemon flavor. Don’t skip the zest!
- Cream Cheese: Adds creaminess to the sauce and also stabilizes it!
- Salt + Black Pepper: Essential seasoning.
- Ziti: Use either ziti or penne. I used penne when I snapped these photos.
- Pasta Water: This is a magical ingredient. It helps to get the sauce to the correct consistency and it also helps the sauce cling to the pasta.
- Fresh Basil: Adds just the right fresh herb flavor needed to balance the richness of the creamy, rich sauce. If you don’t happen to have basil on hand, sprinkle the finished dish with fresh parsley.
- Red Pepper Flakes: This is optional. If you’re making this for the family, I’d pass this on the side so the pasta doesn’t become too spicy for young palates.
- Parmesan Cheese: We don’t add this to our creamy lemon sauce, but it complements the dish well. Pass it on the side when serving!
TIPS + TRCIKS
- Pasta Water: Reserving the pasta cooking water, before draining the pasta, is an old restaurant trick. You can stir in the reserved pasta water to thin the sauce without it becoming too thin. It also helps the sauce cling to the pasta.
- Tossing The Pasta With Lemon Cream Sauce: If you make the sauce in a large enough skillet, you can likely toss a pound of cooked pasta with the finished sauce. I use my old, high-sided 12-inch Farberware skillet I got before I was married (you don’t want to know how many decades ago that wazzz!).
- If you’re worried about it all fitting in the skillet, simply toss it into the large, dried-out pot where the pasta was cooked.
- Lemon Juice: Buy lemons in bulk when they’re on sale, then juice them and freeze the juice in ice cube trays. That way, you have fresh lemon juice on hand whenever you need it!
STORING + FREEZING + MAKE-AHEAD
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? Store your leftovers in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to four days.
- Can You Freeze This? Sadly, no. Cream sauces, containing as much dairy as they do, just don’t freeze well.
- Make-Ahead Tips: Cook the chicken and add the sauce ahead of time, and store it separately in the refrigerator. Cook the pasta the day of serving. Heat the sauce with the chicken and add pasta.
- Food Safety: If you’d like more food safety info, check out this article.
VARIATIONS
- Add Tomatoes: I love fresh tomatoes. Try Romas or grape tomatoes as I used in my chicken alfredo recipe!
- Mushrooms: Sneak in more vegetable nutrition by sautéing mushrooms with garlic.
- Switch Up The Protein: Instead of the bite-sized pieces of chicken, switch it up with shrimp for a delicious change of pace!
SERVING RECOMMENDATIONS
When I serve pasta, I’ve gotta have some soft breadsticks for dipping in the sauce. I know it’s a carbohydrate-heavy meal, but sometimes you just have to go for it! Of course, my go-to homemade garlic bread, pull apart garlic bread, or our copycat Olive Garden breadsticks.
Then I like to add some fresh greens with a simple green salad dressed with my favorite balsamic vinaigrette or when it’s strawberry season, strawberry spinach salad or strawberry salad (both are unique and have their own homemade dressings!).
This pasta is also delicious with our pizza salad, grinder salad, 1905 salad, or Mediterranean salad. You’ll love all these salad recipes, I promise!!
This pasta dish is also wonderful with a side of sautéed asparagus. The flavors pair perfectly!
HOW TO MAKE CREAMY LEMON CHICKEN PASTA
- Cook the chicken.
- Saute garlic and onions in butter.
- Add flour and whisk.
- Remove from heat and add the cream. Stir in lemon juice and lemon zest.
- Return the skillet to heat. Stir in cream cheese, salt, and pepper.
- Add cooked pasta to the sauce, garnish with fresh basil and red pepper flakes.
***See the full instructions below.
MORE CHICKEN PASTA RECIPES
- Buffalo Chicken Lasagna
- Chicken Spaghetti
- Chicken Alfredo Lasagna
- Chicken Spaghetti With Rotel
- Chicken Macaroni Salad
- Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta
- Marry Me Chicken Tortellini
- Marry Me Chicken Pasta
TRIED THIS RECIPE?
Remember, we have new recipes every week! Have you subscribed to our free, no-strings-attached newsletter? We’d love to have you as part of our baking + cooking community. We deliver it right into your inbox!
If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on my website, please leave a review. I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenderloins, cut into 1-inch chunks
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup shallots, minced
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 4 ounces cream cheese cubed, and at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Pasta:
- 8 ounces ziti
- 1 cup reserved pasta water
Serving:
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, julienned
- crushed red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
Cook Chicken:
- Season chicken pieces (1 1/2 pounds) generously with salt and black pepper. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat until it begins to shimmer. Add half the chicken in a single layer, and cook without stirring, until one side is browned about 2 minutes. Turn the chicken and brown the other side. Remove the chicken to a plate and set it aside. Repeat with remaining chicken, adding more oil as needed.
- Melt butter (2 tablespoons) in the same skillet then saute shallots (1/3 cup) and garlic (2 teaspoons) over medium-low heat until soft, about 5-7 minutes. Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan as veggies cook to lift up the brown bits from cooking the chicken.
- Sprinkle flour (2 tablespoons) over vegetables and cook, whisking constantly for 1 minute.
- Remove the pan from heat and slowly whisk in cream (1 1/2 cups) until smooth. Stir in lemon juice (1/4 cup) and lemon zest (2 teaspoons).
- Cook pasta (8 ounces) according to package instructions in well-salted water. Before draining, reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Drain.
- Return the skillet to medium and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and stir cream cheese (4 ounces), salt (1/2 teaspoon), and pepper (1/4 teaspoon), and simmer gently until cheese is melted.
- Add the pasta to the sauce and toss until evenly coated. Thin out sauce, as needed, adding reserved pasta water a little at a time (you likely won't use the whole 1 cup).
- Garnish with fresh basil and red pepper flakes and serve.
Fans Also Made:
Notes
- Pasta Water: Reserving the pasta cooking water, before draining the pasta, is an old restaurant trick. You can stir in the reserved pasta water to thin the sauce without it becoming too thin. It also helps the sauce cling to the pasta.
- Tossing The Pasta With Lemon Cream Sauce: If you make the sauce in a large enough skillet you can likely toss a pound of cooked pasta with the finished sauce. If you’re worried about it all fitting in the skillet, just toss it in the dried-out large pot the pasta was cooked in.
- Lemon Juice: Here’s a lemon juice trick I use. Buy lemons in bulk when they’re on sale, then juice them and freeze the juice in ice cube trays. That way you have fresh lemon juice on hand whenever you need it!
Nutrition
On your phone? Check the web story here.
This creamy lemon chicken pasta looks absolutely delicious! The combination of tender chicken, rich cream sauce, and zesty lemon sounds perfect for a comforting yet refreshing meal. Can’t wait to try it! 🍋🍝✨
Thank you! Let us know how it turns out! 🙂
I love this pasta, My husband requested that I’ll make this again next week!
Yaaay! Thank you, KC!