Hey guys! Sorry it’s been a minute since I posted a new recipe, but I went through a few days of creative block (I think the unusual below freezing temperatures in New Orleans also froze my brain!). After a couple recipe flops this weekend, I decided to go with something a little bit more simple. This Chicken and Broccoli Pasta with Lemon Cream Sauce is just about as simple (and delicious) as it gets.
Simple but AH-MAZ-ING.
You really can’t go wrong with pasta, chicken, and broccoli, but what makes this dish spectacular is the lemon cream sauce. Lemon cream sauce is another one of those, “Woah! How do so few ingredients make something that tastes SO good?” recipes.
Once you learn how to make this lemon cream sauce, you might find yourself making it for everything. …But be careful, because you must use heavy cream for this sauce. If you use a lower fat dairy product it will curdle. Heavy cream probably isn’t t he type of thing you want to eat every day (I mean for health reasons, not flavor reasons), so just make it once in a while and enjoy every delicious drop when you do. ;)
What Type of Pasta Should I Use for My Chicken and Broccoli Pasta?
I used whole wheat pasta for this so I could feel a little better about the heavy cream business, but regular pasta would work just as well. I like rotini because the spirals do an awesome job of catching all the delicious cream sauce, but I think bowties would also be pretty good.
Buy More to Save More on Heavy Cream
And lastly, heavy cream can be quite a bit more expensive in pint-sized containers than it is in quart-sized containers, so consider buying more and freezing your extra cream. Yep, it freezes great! And make sure to use some of it to make a batch of 5 Ingredient Freezer Biscuits. You won’t be sorry.
Chicken and Broccoli Pasta with Lemon Cream Sauce
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. frozen broccoli florets ($0.85)
- 1/2 lb. rotini pasta ($1.30)
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 2/3 lb. total) ($1.97)
- 1 pinch salt and peppers ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 fresh lemon ($0.59)
- 1/2 cup chicken broth ($0.07)
- 1 cup heavy cream ($1.80)
Instructions
- Take the broccoli florets out of the freezer and allow them to thaw. When they are soft enough to cut, chop them into smaller, bite-sized pieces. Set the broccoli aside to fully thaw until you are ready to use them.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add the pasta and continue to boil until the pasta is tender. Drain the pasta in a colander.
- While the water for the pasta is heating, season both sides of the chicken thighs with a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat a deep skillet over medium flame, then add the olive oil. Tilt the skillet to coat the surface in oil, then add the chicken thighs. Cook the thighs on both sides until golden brown and cooked through (about 5 minutes each side). Remove the thighs to a cutting board and let rest.
- While the chicken is cooking, zest the lemon using a zester or small-holed cheese grater and mince the garlic. Once the chicken has been removed from the skillet, turn the heat down to medium-low, and add the garlic. Sauté the garlic for 1-2 minutes, or just until it is soft and fragrant.
- Add the chicken broth to the skillet and stir to dissolve all the browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. Add the heavy cream, about 1 tsp of the lemon zest, and 2 Tbsp of the lemon’s juice. Stir to combine, and allow the cream to come up to a gentle simmer. Simmer the sauce for a few minutes, or until it thickens slightly. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt, pepper, or lemon if needed. Season the sauce liberally so the flavors are not diluted once combined with the pasta, broccoli, and chicken.
- Chop the cooked chicken into small pieces, then add it to the cream sauce in the skillet along with the drained pasta and chopped broccoli florets. Stir to combine and coat everything in sauce. Allow the chicken, broccoli, and pasta to heat through, then serve.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Dinner doesn’t have to be complicated!
How to Make Chicken and Broccoli Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Start by taking 1/2 lb. frozen broccoli florets out of the freezer to thaw. Once they’ve softened a bit, chop them into smaller, bite-sized pieces and set them aside to fully thaw. Also bring a large pot of water to a boil to cook 1/2 lb. of pasta. Once boiling, add the pasta and continue to boil until the pasta is tender. Drain the pasta in a colander.
While the pasta water is heating, start on the chicken thighs. Season both sides of two boneless, skinless chicken thighs with salt and pepper (this is about 2/3 lb. total).
Heat a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil and tilt the skillet to coat the surface. Add the chicken thighs and cook on both sides until golden brown and cooked through (about 5 minutes each side). Make sure to let the chicken brown, as the browned bits help flavor the sauce. Remove the chicken thighs from the skillet to a cutting board. Turn the heat under the skillet down to medium-low.
While the chicken is cooking, zest the lemon so it’s ready to go when you need it. Also mince two cloves of garlic.
After removing the chicken from the skillet and turning the heat down to medium-low, add the minced garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes, or until the garlic is soft and fragrant.
Add 1/2 cup chicken broth to the skillet and stir to dissolve all the browned bits off the surface.
Add one cup heavy cream to the skillet, along with about 1 tsp of the lemon zest and 2 Tbsp of the lemon’s juice.
Let the sauce come up to a gentle simmer and let it simmer for a few minutes, or until it thickens slightly. Season the sauce liberally with salt, pepper, and more lemon, if needed.
Chop the cooked chicken into smaller pieces…
Then add the pasta, chicken, and broccoli to the skillet with the lemon cream sauce.
Stir until everything is combined and coated in sauce. Let the pasta, broccoli, and chicken heat through, then serve.
NOM!
Made this completely vegetarian with veggie broth and meatless chicken and it was amazing!!!! Thank you!
Wow. This was an incredible dish. Really incredible. Super high-calorie, though, so I substituted shrimp for chicken to take it down to a 522-calorie lunch. Still high-calorie, but more doable.
Very cool recipe. Thanks for the consistent content.
I will be sharing this one on my own site: economicalchef.com. I will let you know when the article goes live!
I know I will benefit from reading and learning from your blog, so thanks again.
-Kevin
Really terrific meal. We used one boneless, skinless chicken breast. The lemon zest and lemon really make this dish pop.
Is there a way to make this with fresh broccoli? Have some in the fridge that I’d like to use up.
Yep, you can just chop it up and add it to the boiling pasta water towards the end so it cooks a little, then drain right along with the pasta.
I just put a lid on the whole skillet once everything was combined, and let the steam from everything cook the broccoli! It came out just fine with that. :)
I meant to ask – how do you freeze heavy cream? Ice cubes? Some other way? I have some that I want to store for later!
I suspect you can freeze it in cubes. That’s what I would do. Beth has instructiions for freezing buttermilk in cubes in the how tos in this site. I’m sure you would do cream the same way.
Yes, I think an ice cube tray is the best method so that you can thaw small amounts at a time. :)
I know what’s for dinner tonight! It looks fantastic! And thanks for the tip about freezing the cream-I just bought a quart sized carton last night because it was cheaper. I knew I could use it up pretty easily, but knowing I don’t HAVE to makes me feel better.
Hi Beth! Happy New Year! This looks delicious. The steps/process reminds me of your chicken with pesto and bowties recipe (which I make a lot, because my family loves it!). I was wondering if you think this recipe might work with cream cheese/neufchatel instead of the heavy cream (and increase the liquid accordingly) – although I’m not sure how much healthier it would be?
I forgot about that recipe! Yes, I think you could easily swap a quick cream cheese based sauce for the cream sauce here. The tanginess of the cream cheese might compete a bit with the lemon, but I think it would still be awesome.
Hmm… think this would work with any other veggies? My husband hates broccoli but this sounds so good!
I subbed in green peppers and it worked well!
Sure! I would just stay away from really watery vegetables because the texture might not be as great and they may water down the sauce some.
This looks delicious!
Had last night! One of our faves!
i made this tonight and since i only had milk and half and half, i just squeezed lemon over it at the end! grated some parm to help thicken a little. Worked well and was delicious. thanks! :)
The Chicken and Broccoli Pasta with Lemon Cream Sauce looks absolutely delicious!!! I will have to make this recipe soon!!! :-)
This looks absolutely DREAMY. I’ll bet it’s delicious, as is, and my mind is reeling over the other things that could be done with that sauce! WOW. Good to know that heavy cream will work with lemon, but not half and half. Where do you get these sensational Ideas? I’ve never had real Hollandaise sauce but, judging from the ingredients, your sauce looks like it could be a relative.
Will yogurt curdle? I’ve used nonfat Greek yogurt for lemon pasta in the past and haven’t noticed curdling.
Probably not since the proteins in yogurt are already denatured (that’s what curdling is, and also what makes yogurt solidify). That being said, I don’t think the flavor would be right with yogurt.