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Looking for a new family favorite that’s rich in flavor, and is ready in 20 minutes? Then this One Pan Spicy Lemon Chicken Pasta with Tomatoes is perfect for you!
Table of Contents
Why We Love This Recipe
I love one pan dishes because everything cooks up in one pan, so there’s very little clean up required. Our family doesn’t spend enough time together as it is, so anything that helps me get out of the kitchen quicker after dinner, is a real plus in my book!
Like most of my one pan meals, this dish is ready in about twenty minutes! Lemon chicken pasta has such a fresh flavor, and there is a nice kick of spice from crushed red pepper flakes. If you are serving to young children, or just really don’t like spicy dishes, that can be left out.
How to Make Lemon Chicken Pasta
See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- First, you’ll saute some onion in olive oil until it’s nice and soft, and becoming translucent. Then add some garlic and cook for about 30 seconds before adding some diced chicken.
- You’re going to just brown the chicken, meaning you won’t be cooking it all the way through, but just until it is no longer pink on the outside. This helps the chicken to stay nice and juicy as it continues to cook.
- Next you’ll add the remaining ingredients – rotini pasta (any small pasta will do), grape or cherry tomatoes, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper, lemon juice, chicken broth, and water.
- Stir, and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Continue stirring the mixture often as it boils, for about nine or ten minutes or until the pasta is tender. Most of the liquid should have evaporated at this point, but there will likely still be some in the pan.
- Sprinkle with a cup of Mozzarella cheese, and cover for ten minutes to allow the cheese to melt. Any additional liquid in the pan should thicken or be absorbed.
Serving Suggestions + Variations
With this recipe, you’ve got a complete meal all in one pan that’s ready in under 30 minutes. It makes 4 servings, but if you want to stretch it a little farther, serve it with a refreshing Copycat Olive Garden Salad or some Roasted Broccolini. Some Air Fryer Texas Toast Garlic Bread would be a nice touch, too.
Don’t have all the ingredients? Here are a few ingredient variation ideas:
- Protein – If you have leftover chicken or a rotisserie chicken, you can use that instead. Dice into chunks and add to the pan after you saute the onions.
- Vegetables – Tomatoes are really nice in this dish, and you can use grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes. Canned diced tomatoes (well drained) work too. Other veggie options would be diced bell pepper, green beans or broccoli.
- Pasta – Any type of small pasta will work. I’m just partial to rotini.
Storage
If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave for 60-90 seconds.
More One Pan Meals To Love
One Pan Spicy Lemon Chicken Pasta with Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 8 oz small, dry pasta about 2 ½ cups
- 1 cup grape tomatoes halved
- 2 cups chicken broth
- Juice from one large or two small lemons
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup shredded Mozzerella
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add onion and stir, cooking until soft and nearly translucent.
- Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add chicken and cook until just browned.
- Stir in the pasta, tomatoes, chicken broth, lemon juice, water, basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
- Bring to a boil and continue to stir often, uncovered, for about nine minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Remove from heat, sprinkle cheese on top, and cover for ten minutes or until cheese is melted and remaining liquid is absorbed.
Notes
Nutrition
Adapted from Martha Stewart.
This recipe is in my “favorites” board! I used rotisserie chicken tonight (I needed it for another recipe, so I had it on hand), only used half the amount of salt & black pepper listed, and added the tomatoes in the last 3 minutes. So flavorful!
Nice! Love your feedback Courtney, thanks for stopping by to share.
Didnt have chicken broth or mozzarella cheese. Followed the recipe and used 3 cups water and left the cheese off and it was still yummy
That’s awesome Miranda! Thanks for stopping by.
I’ve been making this recipe for years and it is one of my ABSOLUTE favorites! Excellent, light flavor, and easy to put together.
Awesome feedback Becca! Thanks for stopping by.
Very delicious and flavorful! I like that it’s an adaptable recipe also. I might try sun dried tomatoes instead of fresh next time! Thank so much for posting this, I had a bunched of chopped chicken breast I needed to use up, your recipe was perfect!
You are so welcome Angelina! Fantastic feedback, thanks for stopping by.
been making this since 2014!! one of the first meals my now husband and i constantly cook together!
Wow Michelle, thanks for that comment! This is one of the first recipes I shared and I’m so glad to hear that you love it so much!!
How do you think this recipe would work out with whole canned tomatoes? Fresh tomatoes in Taipei are massively expensive and you usually can’t find small ones like this anyways.
I think you could swap them out. You would probably need to either drain them or reduce the other liquid.
We give this recipe a 9-10.Its a cold febuary night and this was the perfect way to warm up.The reason it is a 9 is because one of our tasters said it was too sweet. Other than that it was amazing.Keep up the good recipes. We used tri colored pasta which made it beautiful and tasty.This was prepared by a 8, 10, and 75 year old trio.
This recipe is just plain amazing. I discovered it on Pinterest a couple months ago and I have made it at least once every other week since!
So glad to hear, thank you!
I really loved this recipe – great lemon and spice flavor! When I added the tomatoes per the recipe, though, they pretty much disintegrated during the boiling process, and we were left with skins, not the beautiful red halves I see in the images. Were those added with the pasta and broth, or later in the cooking process? It was still delicious, but curious for the next time I make this (which will be soon!).
Yes that can happen. Next time I’d try maybe adding the tomatoes halfway through.