Creamy Lemon-Pesto Chicken Pasta Recipe – lemon pepper grilled chicken served over linguine tossed in a quick creamy lemon/pesto sauce. Make the sauce while the chicken cooks – ready in under 30 minutes! We make this all the time during the summer.
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Pin This RecipeGrilled chicken and pasta is one of our “go-to” meals. There are so many ways to mix it up that we never get bored with it. This pasta dish combines some of our favorite flavors – lemon and pesto. This dish sounds fancy, but it is very simple to make. It uses a bottled marinade and pre-made pesto. Bottled marinades are a great time-saver! They taste great, and all the work has already been done for you.
This was fantastic! The chicken was nice and juicy, and the sauce was full of great flavor. We both thought it was restaurant quality. This will be something that we make often.
This chicken pasta is on repeat at our house. We absolutely LOVE it. All you need is a quick salad and some breadsticks and dinner is done. Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this Creamy Lemon-Pesto Chicken Pasta:
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Creamy Lemon-Pesto Chicken Pasta
Ingredients:
- 3 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup bottled lemon pepper marinade
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- ⅓ cup pesto
- 12- oz linguine pasta
- 1 tomato, chopped and seeded
Instructions:
- Combine lemon pepper marinade and dried basil. Pour over chicken and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. (I usually marinate the chicken overnight)
- Grill chicken for 12-15 minutes, or until done (165 degrees).
- While the chicken is grilling, cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Set pasta aside and keep warm.
- Meanwhile, prepare the pesto sauce. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Whisk in flour until it thickens and bubbles, then whisk in milk and lemon zest. Continue to whisk mixture and cook until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Add pesto and mix well.
- To serve, slice chicken into strips. Toss cooked pasta in the pesto, top with chicken and garnish with tomatoes.
Notes:
Steph
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I made this last night. It is good and will make again. I didn’t think my husband would like it but he went back for seconds. The chicken is so good.
I love pesto! need to try this:)
This looks delicious but the only meat recipe I've made is chicken soup from scratch which came out great so I'm trying more meat recipes. And I have dumb question since I'm a beginner. Do I set the grill to 165 degrees and then grill for 12-15 minutes? Or do I grill at some other temperature until the chicken reaches 165 so do I need a thermometer? I have a george forman in my kitchen. Thank you.
Cook the chicken until the internal temperature is 165. I don't use the George Forman, but I googled it and the consensus is that it should take about 8-10 minutes to cook chicken. Good Luck!!
Tasted delicious! However, I would suggest not letting the linguini set aside because it tends to stick together. I would make the pesto sauce while the pasta is cooking and then mix it together with the pasta right away. Also, I would add the tomatoes to the pesto sauce so they heat up a bit. That way you don't have cold tomatoes on top.
Sounds fantastic, Steph. Lemon and chicken rock together and the pesto would make this kick. Saving this one.
Made this last night and the entire family loved it–even the picky 4-year old who doesn't like "green stuff" proclaimed, "I LOVE this pasta, mommy!" Thanks for offering easy and delicious recipes!!!!
This looks delicious. Great pictures!
Yum yum yum. Cannot WAIT to try this!
This sounds so delicious!!
I luv the way it looks. Creamy lemon sounds good to me.
Love your recipes! The different chicken option meals are great!
Looks delicious! Will try this soon!
Looks great! I'll have to try it!