This Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta recipe is a creamy comfort food baked pasta casserole dinner with a lot of flavor.
There’s just no doubt about it. Pasta is great comfort food. It’s the kind of meal that sticks to your ribs and keeps you warm. And it’s the kind of meal that will keep you satisfied and full beyond what is necessary. It’s an awfully good meal to make in the colder months too. This baked pasta recipe is an easy one, and it’s one that has delicious flavors to enjoy!
Ingredients Needed:
- pasta
- unsalted butter
- extra virgin olive oil
- garlic
- cream cheese
- dry white wine
- lemons
- sour cream
- all purpose flour
- chicken broth
- crushed red pepper, salt and pepper
- grated Parmesan cheese
- fresh thyme
- Rotisserie chicken
How to make Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta:
The complete, printable recipe is at the end of this post.
- Preheat the oven to 375℉. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta for 6 minutes. Drain, and set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium-heat, melt the butter and add the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, and add the cream cheese; stir until melted. Stir in the wine, lemon juice. Stir the flour into the sour cream, and then stir that mixture into the pan. Add the chicken broth, red pepper and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer until slightly thickened. Then remove from heat.
- Stir in ½ cup Parmesan cheese, lemon zest and thyme. Then stir in the partially cooked pasta and cooked chicken. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
- Bake, covered, for 25 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until lightly browned for 5 to 10 more minutes.
Recipe Tip
If you like a pasta dish that is a bit looser with the sauce, save a cup of the pasta water. You can mix a bit in before baking, and it will result in a sauce that doesn’t bake into the pasta as much.
Substitutions:
Use any pasta you enjoy for this recipe. I recommend farfalle or rotini. Those are two good ones for baked pasta because the sauce finds hiding places in the pasta during baking. But you can also use penne or even rigatoni, if that’s your preference.
What I Love About This Recipe:
- Who doesn’t love pasta for dinner? We do!
- Lemon is an unexpected flavor to be the star of the dish. It’s good (just like our baked lemon spaghetti)!
- I love the crusty edges from a good baked pasta dish like this one.
Favorite Pasta Recipes:
Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 12 ounces pasta (can use rotini, farfalle or something similar)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 4 ounces cream cheese, cut into cubes
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 2 medium lemons, zested and juiced (zest set aside)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 4 cups chopped rotisserie chicken (or cooked chicken)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375℉. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta for 6 minutes. Drain, and set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium-heat, melt the butter and add the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, and add the cream cheese; stir until melted. Stir in the wine, lemon juice. Stir the flour into the sour cream, and then stir that mixture into the pan. Add the chicken broth, red pepper and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer until slightly thickened. Then remove from heat.
- Stir in ½ cup Parmesan cheese, lemon zest and thyme. Then stir in the partially cooked pasta and cooked chicken. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
- Bake, covered, for 25 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until lightly browned for 5 to 10 more minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Yum – can’t wait to make this! Can it be frozen? Thanks!
I haven’t tried freezing this, but I think it might be okay