Lemon Pepper Chicken Pasta
Lemon Pepper Chicken Pasta is so easy to make in just half an hour! This pasta dish features juicy, tender lemon pepper seasoned chicken breast on top of pasta tossed in lemon pepper sauce. So flavorful and so simple!
Learn how to make your own lemon pepper seasoning and then use leftovers to make some lemon pepper shrimp.
Table of Contents
This lemon pepper chicken pasta is one of the easiest dinners to toss together! You only need a handful of inexpensive ingredients, many of which you may already have in your kitchen right now. Oh, and the best part? You only have to use one pot to cook the pasta in and everything else cooks in just one pan. Less mess is always a win in my book!
I’ll let you in on my not-so-secret key to success that always gets me more compliments than I can count… I always use homemade lemon pepper seasoning in my cooking. It has so much more flavor than any store-bought brand! Since you need it for both, the chicken and in the pasta sauce, it’s important to use the best of the best.
The lemon pepper seasoning is baldly present throughout the dish. From the well seasoned, tender chicken, to the light but flavorful sauce for the pasta, you will taste these flavors in each and every bite. And if you want to brighten up the dish with some sauteed veggies, always feel free to do so!
Ingredient Notes and Tips
Chicken Breast – most popular protein to use here is chicken breast. Try to get chicken breasts that are uniform in size and not too thick. If you get a thick chicken breasts, it’s best to cut them in half widthwise to split them into two thinner chicken filets. You can also use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead if preferred. Just note that the cooking time may be slightly different.
Lemon Pepper Seasoning – For the very best flavor, consider making your own homemade seasoning, otherwise use your favorite store-bought brand.
Butter – I prefer using unsalted butter to better control the amount of sodium in the dish.
Lemon Juice – Freshly squeezed lemon juice will yield the very best flavor.
Parmesan Cheese – it’s always best to use freshly grated Parmesan cheese right off the block, especially for pasta recipes! You will get a better flavor and better melting from freshly grated cheese.
Pasta – While I use fettuccine in this recipe, you can really use any pasta that you like best! Use gluten free pasta if you need to keep the recipe gluten free.
Chicken Stock – if you have any hiding in the freezer, use homemade chicken stock whenever you can. Otherwise, use your favorite store-bought one. I highly recommend to use low-sodium or unsalted stock or broth when psossible.
See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Lemon Pepper Chicken Pasta
Prepare. Preheat a pan over medium heat. Add some oil. Cut chicken breast in half, width-wise, and season each side generously with lemon pepper seasoning.
Pasta. Start to cook the pasta as you start to cook the chicken so that you have the pasta water to add to the sauce! Cook pasta al dente, since you will still cook it in sauce for a few minutes.
PRO TIP: to help remember to save some pasta water, place a cup underneath the pasta strainer in the sink. That way it will catch the pasta water as you drain the pasta, even if you forget to scoop some out!
Cook the chicken. Add the chicken to the hot pan (1) and cook on each side until golden and cooked through (2). Take them out of the pan and set aside.
Note: chicken is done when it reaches 165° internal temperature. Use an instant read meat thermometer to check the chicken at the very center.
Cook the leeks. In the same cooking pan, add butter and sliced leek and cook until golden, stirring often (3). Season with a little bit of salt.
Finish the sauce. Once leeks are cooked, add pasta water (4), chicken stock and lemon juice (5). Mix well. Add lemon pepper seasoning (6), then mix and taste if you need to add any more salt.
Add the pasta. Stir in the cooked pasta into the sauce (7) and cook for about 5 minutes tossing it in sauce as it cooks (8).
Assemble the dish. Slice chicken and either mix it into the pasta or add it on top of pasta. Grate some Parmesan cheese on top. Add some diced green onion on top as well. Serve immediately.
Recipe FAQs
No, unfortunately lemon juice will not give you the same flavor and it will add more unnecessary liquid. Lemon juice has a very mild lemon flavor compared to lemon zest. The lemon pepper seasoning contains a large amount of lemon zest, making it much more potent than juice.
Feel free to add just about any veggies you like! The best ones include onion, broccoli, asparagus, green beans, mushrooms and zucchini. All of those go great with lemon pepper seasoning. I recommend you sauté the veggies in the same pan where you cooked the chicken and set them aside. Then, start on the sauce. Mix the veggies in with the pasta and sauce when ready.
Yes, you certainly can! You can use heavy whipping cream to the sauce but only as a last step and after the sauce has had a chance to simmer for a few minutes. If you add the cream to acidic ingredients like lemon juice too soon, it will curdle.
Of course, you want to use your favorite gluten free pasta for this dish. Same as regular pasta, start to cook it as you start on the chicken and set aside some pasta cooking water when draining the pasta. Make sure to check your lemon pepper seasoning if using store bought! Most store-bought seasoning mixes are not gluten free because they have to add separators and additives to keep them on the shelf longer.
More Easy Pasta Recipes To Try
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Lemon Pepper Chicken Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 Tbsp lemon pepper seasoning
- Vegetable oil for cooking
- 8 oz fettuccine* or another pasta of choice
- Save 3 Tbsp of water from cooking pasta
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 leeks white parts only
- Salt
- Water from cooking pasta
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 2-3 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp Fresh grated Parmesan cheese for topping
- 1 tbsp Green onions for topping
Instructions
- Cook pasta al dente, drain, and set side. Make sure to save a some pasta water as you drain the cooked pasta.
- Cut off the dark green leaves off the leek and the very bottom by the roots, discard what you cut off or save it for making homemade vegetable stock. Wash the leeks and cut them length-wise in half. Thinly slice the leek halves into half circles. Set aside.
- Preheat a medium cooking pan, over medium heat. Add some oil.
- Cut chicken breast in half, width-wise, and season each side generously with lemon pepper seasoning.
- Cook seasoned chicken breasts until done. Take them out of the pan and set aside.
- In the same cooking pan, add butter and sliced leek and cook until golden, stirring often. Season with a little bit of salt.
- Once leeks are cooked, add pasta water, chicken stock, and lemon juice. Mix well.
- Add lemon pepper seasoning, mix and taste if you need to add any more salt.
- Stir in pasta into the sauce and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Slice chicken and either mix it into the pasta or add it on top of pasta.
- Grate some Parmesan cheese on top. Add some diced green onion on top as well. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Don’t forget to save pasta water! Tip to help remember to save some pasta water: place a cup underneath the pasta strainer in the sink. That way it will catch the pasta water as you drain the pasta, even if you forget to scoop some out!
- *Gluten free option – Use gluten free pasta if desired. Remaining ingredients should already be gluten free. Please double check the packaging, especially if using store-bought lemon pepper seasoning, to make sure.
- Need to serve more people? This recipe easily serves 2 people for dinner. Feel free to double the recipe if needed!
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in August 2016.
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Great, easy recipe…I didn’t have fettuccine so I used angel hair pasta and added asparagus. It was absolutely delish.
Hi, Alexandra! I am so glad you liked it and thank you for taking the time to tell me. 🙂
We just made this and it was a huge hit. The whole family loved it. No doubt that it’s fantastic as written, We only made a few minor changes, and two of those: 1) included the light-green parts of the green onions with the leeks. 2) added the zest of two lemons (used half on the chicken and half in the sauce), and 3) added some peas in with the pasta, just to have a bit more vegetables. I think artichoke hearts would also work really nicely in this dish. Also found that it’s nice to squeeze a bit of fresh lemon juice over the dish after it’s plated. That really gives it a nice brightness. Thanks for the recipe Lyuba. This is the first one of yours that we’ve made; looking forward to checking out some of the others.
Sorry, got distracted while editing the post, came back and hit send. LOL *two of those don’t involve any extra ingredients.
Thank you so much for coming to tell me, David! I’m so glad you liked it and those sound like great changes. I do think the artichokes will go very well here because artichokes are great with lemon flavor. You can absolutely adjust lemon flavor as much as you prefer 🙂
How much pasta water do you add to the chicken stock and lemon juice? Is it the 3 T saved or a different amount?
This recipe looks delicious and easy.
Thank you.
Hi Nata,
Yes, you would add what you saved from cooking pasta. I hope you enjoy it!!