Garlic Chicken Pasta (One Pot)
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Quick and easy lemon garlic chicken pasta that’s made in just 30 minutes in 1 pot on stovetop, using simple ingredients. It’s creamy, cheesy and packed with flavor.
Weeknights are hectic in our household and this meal is constantly in our meal plan!
Now, I normally make chicken pasta with garlic butter sauce but this version was so much easier and faster and only required one pot.
There was barely any mess to clean up afterwards… Thank goodness!
Best of all, everyone in the family approves of this and some even ask for second servings…hehe.
How to make garlic chicken pasta?
In a large pan, heat oil and cook chicken cubes until golden brown. Add butter, ginger, garlic, Italian seasoning and cook until fragrant. Add water or broth, lemon juice, lemon zest, spaghetti and cook until pasta is almost cooked. Add cheese until fully melted and combined with the pasta. Garnish with fresh herbs and enjoy!
How to make butter garlic chicken pasta bake?
Mix together the cooked pasta, cooked garlic chicken cream cheese and mozzarella cheese in a greased 9×13 pan. Cover it with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Take it a step further and add breadcrumbs and broil until browned in the last 5 minutes without foil until crispy and golden brown.
What to serve with creamy garlic chicken pasta?
You can serve the following side dishes:
- Breadsticks
- Garlic bread
- Salad
- Grilled or baked vegetables
You can also make this one pan garlic chicken pasta with:
- Broccoli
- Spinach
- Kale
- Asparagus
- Frozen vegetables
- Lemon
- Proscuitto
- Tomato sauce
- Sun dried tomatoes
- Roasted red peppers
- Basil
- Three cheese blend
Tips and Techniques
-If the pasta is not cooked through and looks dry, add a little more water and cook for a bit longer.
-You can use half low sodium chicken broth and half water to enhance the flavor even further.
-Use unsalted butter instead of salted butter or else the pasta can become very salty.
-Make sure to use a nonstick pan/skillet so that there is no sticky mess.
-To make healthy garlic chicken pasta, you can reduce the amount of butter, use fat free cream cheese and low fat parmesan cheese.
-Don’t omit the lemon zest or lemon juice because it adds so much flavor and tastes very bland without it.
-Use roasted garlic in this recipe to really enhance the garlic flavor.
-Instead of preparing the chicken like I did, you can also use baked, grilled or roasted chicken in this recipe and toss that with boiled pasta, cheese, herbs and spices.
– Turn this into a pasta salad: You can prepare the chicken in this recipe, as explained below and then mix it with boiled bow tie pasta and lots of cheese and lemon juice.
Other One Pot Pasta Meals
One Pot Garlic Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 1 pound Chicken, Boneless, Cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- Salt, To taste
- Pepper, To taste
- 1/4 cup Butter, Unsalted
- 2 tbsp Garlic, Finely chopped
- 1 tsp Ginger, Finely grated
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 tbsp Lemon zest
- 4 cups Water, Or use half chicken broth and half water
- 16 oz Spaghetti, Uncooked
- 1/2 cup Cream cheese, Full fat
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp Cilantro or parsley, Roughly chopped, For garnish
Instructions
- In a non-stick pan, heat oil on medium heat.
- Add chicken, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
- Cook until chicken is golden brown.
- Add butter, ginger and garlic and cook on medium heat until fragrant. (Make sure not to burn the garlic and ginger).
- Add lemon juice, lemon zest, additional salt and pepper (if necessary), water and mix everything together.
- Add spaghetti and mix again.
- Cook without lid on medium heat until the water is almost evaporated. Make sure to stir often or else the pasta might stick to the pan.
- When pasta is almost cooked, add cream cheese and mix together.
- Remove pan from the heat and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
- Garnish with cilantro/ parsley and some lemon slices. Enjoy!
Notes
- Read all my tips above.
- If the pasta is not cooked through, add a little more water and cook for a bit longer.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 days and can be reheated in the microwave.Â
Nutrition
Happy cooking everyone!
Looks so good!! My husband would love this! Love one pot meals!
This is a perfect dinner!
Nothing beats a one pot meal! This one tops the list 🙂
A one pot meal that my whole family will enjoy!
This will be a huge hit in my house! Looks really delicious!
I love how easy this recipe is to make and to customize! I am totally trying this with broccoli!
Get in my belly! This looks so good.
Made this tonight for dinner. WOW very tasty. Next time I think I will try Shrimp instead of chicken for the vegetarian in the family. Definitely a keeper.
Awesome! Shrimp would be a great alternative.
Absolutely loved it! Tastes great and super simple to make. I added a bit more lemon and lemon zest to mine.Â
Thanks for trying it and so great to hear you enjoyed it!
My tastebuds are dancing. Delicious!
So easy and delicious! I sautéed some zucchini and squash in another pan and mixed it in (didn’t mix it in with all of it because not all my kids are fans of zucchini). Whole family loved it.
Great idea incorporating the squash and zucchini too. I have to give that a shot!
Great recipe! I made grilled asparagus for a side with olive oil, lemon and minced garlic. So good. This is a recipe that can be tweeked pretty much any way you want! I like the cream cheese instead of using cream of chicken. Thanks for your recipe!
One pot uncooked pasta recipes scare me, after a crockpot pasta recipe was a mega fail in my house when the pasta was gummy and not cooked. Nevertheless, I stumbled upon this while looking for an easy recipe with not many items in the house. Hubby is usually a red sauce fan with pasta, but we didn’t have it, so here we are. I tried this with a couple tweaks: I only had bone in chicken thighs, so I roasted those in the oven due to not feeling like deboning chicken. Second, I added in peas during the boiling phase, as well as red pepper flakes during the garlic cook to help them bloom. Besides that and cutting the recipe down a bit, I stuck to it for the most part.
Result: I noticed I did have to add additional water towards the end, and cook it for a bit longer. No worries. I also didn’t want it to be watery, so I wasn’t sure what “almost” all of it being evaporated is supposed to look like, so I waited a bit longer than I thought that point was before adding the cheeses.
It tasted…Fine. Mostly cream cheese is what I got out of it. That and garlic, which I was hoping for when I measured it with my heart. Almost alfredo-like? But It was an easy meal that did the job.
Thank you for sharing your detailed feedback. I am glad the recipe didn’t disappoint. You can add different spices for a different flavor profile next time.