Lemon Chicken Pasta

Creamy lemon chicken pasta is a guaranteed weeknight winner. Crispy panko-crusted chicken sits on a bed of tender linguine that's tossed with a luscious lemon-cream sauce and silky zucchini rounds. The lemon comes through in the chicken and the sauce, bringing the whole dish together. This is a rich pasta dinner, with cream and cheese, but the lemon makes it feel light. We'll have seconds, please!

Plus, with zucchini, you can make this dish any time of year, as zucchini is always available. (Use yellow squash for a summery twist.)

Learn how to make this easy lemon chicken pasta, and go ahead and add it to your weeknight rotation. It's sure to be a hit with everyone at the table.

Ingredients for Lemon Chicken Pasta

The ingredient list for this pasta dinner is fairly simple, especially considering you're making a whole dinner in one dish. Here's what you'll need:

• Linguine: The wider noodles really capture the sauce and stand up to the crispy chicken well. You can use other pastas if that's what you have on hand; more on that below.
• All-purpose flour: Flour on the chicken cutlets will help the egg wash and panko breadcrumbs adhere to the meat for the best crispy coating.
• Panko: This type of breadcrumb stays crispy and cooks up beautifully in a pan fry.
• Italian seasoning: Add some to the panko, along with salt, pepper, and lemon zest for a quick seasoning.
• Salt and pepper: To season the panko and chicken.
• Lemons: You'll need a few lemons because you need both zest and juice for this dish.
• Egg: For the egg wash. It helps the panko mixture stick to the chicken cutlets.
• Chicken: Having chicken breasts the right size is key to cooking them fast. You can substitute with chicken breast cutlets or chicken tenders if cutting in half lengthwise seems tedious or you need to speed up the prep.
• Olive oil: For frying the zucchini and chicken.
• Zucchini: Cut rounds that are even in thickness.
• Unsalted butter: The fat used to start the rich cream sauce.
• Garlic and onion powder: These build up the flavor of the cream sauce.
• Heavy whipping cream: The bulk to the sauce with richness and a delicate sweetness that's blunted by the lemon and cheese.
• Parmesan cheese: We like the nutty flavor of this cheese, and it's easy to find. In fact, we recommend you grate your own instead of buying the pre-shredded or pre-grated kind. These often have anti-caking agents that keep the cheese from melting beautifully.
• Parsley and lemon slices: For garnishing the finished dish.

How To Make Lemon Chicken Pasta

There are a few different steps to this dish, and it still manages to be quick—ready in just over half an hour. Here's a brief outline of the process. The full recipe is further below.

• Cook the pasta. Reserve some of the cooking liquid for the pasta sauce later.
• Dredge the chicken. First, coat each piece in flour. Then, dip in the egg, followed by the panko mixture. When each piece is coated, it's time to cook them.
• Brown the zucchini. While you're dredging chicken, brown the zucchini rounds in batches in a skillet.
• Cook the chicken. Once the zucchini is finished, cook the chicken, working in batches. Each piece is done when the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
• Make the pasta sauce. In the same pot you cooked the pasta, melt butter. Cook the garlic and onion powder. Then, add the whipping cream and reserved pasta cooking water. Simmer until slightly thickened, and reduce heat to low. Whisk continuously while adding the lemon juice, followed by the Parmesan cheese. Cook until the sauce is thick.
• Add the pasta to sauce, along with the zucchini and lemon zest.
• Slice the chicken, and serve with some of the pasta and a garnish of parsley and lemon slices.

Tips for the Best Lemon Chicken Pasta

This easy lemon chicken pasta will be a family favorite after one bite because it delivers big on flavor and doesn't take long to cook. But with these additional tips and ticks from the Southern Living Test Kitchen, you'll love this dish even more:

• Once cooked, keep the chicken warm on a sheet pan lined with an oven-safe wire rack in a 170°F oven.
• Adding acid (like lemon juice) to dairy curdles it, and the whole thing can turn into curds. The key to adding the lemon juice in this cream sauce is to stir vigorously for a short amount of time, and add the lemon juice on low heat.
• Adding cheese off heat ensures that the cheese melts without ceasing up.

Variations and Substitutions

In a hurry? Use a rotisserie chicken to help speed up the process for a weeknight meal. Drizzle lemon juice over the chicken to add lemon flavor into the chicken.

If you don't have linguine, spaghetti or fettuccine would work nicely with this cream sauce, too.

Instead of zucchini (or in addition to it), consider sautéing some asparagus or broccoli florets.

How To Serve Lemon Chicken Pasta

With pasta, a vegetable, and meat, this is nearly a complete meal, so you don't have to add anything unless you just want to. But if you're making this for company or want a little something else, this lemon chicken pasta would be great with a simple green salad. You could always add a side of roasted broccoli, too.

Make-Ahead Tips

You can make elements of this dinner up to three days in advance: Cook chicken, sauce, and pasta as instructed. Rinse pasta in cold water, and let it cool completely before storing. Store chicken and sauce separately after cooling. Slice zucchini, and keep in an airtight container.

When ready to eat, bring a pot of salted water to boil, add the pasta and heat through. Reheat chicken in oven at 350°F for 10 minutes, warm the sauce on gentle heat (or use a double broiler method), cook the zucchini, and add pasta and sauce. Finish with the cooked chicken and garnishes.

How To Store Lemon Chicken Pasta

Leftover lemon chicken pasta can be stored up to three days in the fridge, but for the best results, keep the pasta separate from the chicken. This way, you can crisp up the chicken again in the oven or an air fryer while you reheat the pasta. Add a little cream or milk if the pasta is too thick to reheat evenly.

More Weeknight Pasta Dinners

Planning the rest of your weekly menu? These pasta dinners are always a hit:

• Baked Ziti
• Baked Tortellini Alfredo With Mushrooms
• Tuscan Pasta With Tomato-Basil Cream
• Broccoli Pesto Pasta
• Chicken Caprese Pasta
• Creamy Andouille Pasta