Chicken and Pasta with Lemon Garlic Sauce 

Once in a while, I really like to get my “chef” juices flowing and create a meal from scratch without a recipe. Once you get comfortable making a few basics in the kitchen, this comes with repetition and practice. This lemon garlic sauce served over chicken and pasta is one of those dishes that popped into my head. It translated beautifully and deliciously to a plate! 

The lemon and garlic combination is one of those that I enjoy and use in my menus often. You can use this flavor mixture in so many dishes: with chicken, pasta, salad dressing, on any vegetables, and probably more items that I haven’t thought of yet. If I have fresh lemons or lemon juice and garlic cloves or garlic powder, a delicious fresh tasting meal is never far away. 

Choose the Chicken 

This recipe tastes great with chicken breasts or chicken thighs – I actually made both! I had a small package of chicken thighs to use up, so I sprinkled them with garlic salt and baked them in the oven at 350F for about 30 minutes. The skin came out perfectly: crunchy, salty, and delicious! I have a few dark meat haters in my household, so I also cooked a few chicken breasts on the stove top in a cast iron frying pan. I first melted about two tablespoons of butter then sauteed three large, minced garlic cloves until they were softened. I added the chicken breasts into the pan and cooked them for about 8 minutes on each side (use a meat thermometer to check as chicken breast thickness determines the amount of cook time needed. Chicken should always be cooked to at least 165F to insure dangerous bacteria is killed off).  

The chicken breasts left some delicious juices that mixed with the garlic and butter. Everything smelled AMAZING! Remove the chicken breasts from the pan and leave the liquid and garlic in there to make the sauce. 

Pick the Pasta 

The chicken and sauce can be served over any type of pasta, so choose your favorite! I used linguine; penne would also look and taste good, and I think this would also be delicious served over rice! You can also cut out the carbohydrates altogether and serve with steamed or roasted vegetables. Maybe even try mashed potatoes? There are many possibilities! 

Cook your pasta al dente, drain, and set aside until ready to serve. I added in chopped fresh broccoli florets when there was about 5 minutes of boil time left. I am all about multitasking in the kitchen – and using less dishes! Other vegetable options could be peas, green beans, or a simple side salad.  

Stir up the Sauce 

Now for the lemony goodness! Place the pan you cooked the garlic and chicken in back on a burner over medium heat. Add in about a cup of chicken broth to deglaze the pan, scraping all those yummy, browned bits off the bottom. Add about a half cup of cream (or Half and Half, or milk of choice) and stir. Create a cornstarch slurry (or whatever your preferred thickener is) but whisking two tablespoons of cornstarch into about ¼ cup of water, then add the pan. Turn up the heat to get the sauce simmering; let simmer until desired thickness is reached. You need to keep stirring the sauce to be sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom and burn. Once thickened, add in the juice of two lemons, or about four tablespoons. Use less lemon juice if you prefer not to have a heavy lemon flavor. 

Combine the Components 

Once the meat, pasta, and sauce are done, all you need to do is serve up this delicious dish! I put the chicken breasts back into the sauce before serving to soak up the lemon garlic flavor, then poured sauce over the pasta. For a finishing touch, sprinkle everything with dried parsley. I also served this meal with sourdough cheddar garlic biscuits. (I REALLY love garlic!) This was such a visually pretty meal along with it being absolutely delicious!  

This dish is not difficult, but does require hands on time. It does come together in less than an hour, so it can still be a great weeknight meal if you don’t have a busy schedule that night. 

Chicken and Pasta with Lemon Garlic Sauce 

Serves 4-6  |  Cook time 30-45 minutes 

Ingredients 

Instructions 

1. Preheat skillet. Melt butter over medium heat; sauté minced garlic cloves until soft. 

2. Season the chicken with garlic salt on all sides. Add each breast to the skillet and cook 8-10 minutes; flip over and cook another 6-8 minutes. Check for doneness with a meat thermometer (165F). Remove from skillet and put aside. 

3. Get a pot of water boiling for the pasta. Cook to al dente. Drain and put aside. 

4. While the pasta water is boiling, add one cup chicken broth to the skillet to deglaze over medium. Scrape the bottom and sides well. Add ½ cup cream and stir. Heat to a simmer. Create a slurry by whisking 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch into about ¼ cup water, pour into skillet, and stir well. 

5. Let sauce simmer until thickened; add lemon juice and stir. Turn heat off. If desired, add chicken breasts back to the sauce before serving. 

6. Serve pasta and chicken with sauce poured over. Enjoy! 

I recommend serving this meal with your favorite green vegetable – they add a beautiful pop of color, great nutrition, and complement the other flavors in the dish.