Creamy Chicken Pasta
30 min
Rich weeknight pasta with tender chicken in a creamy parmesan sauce. Takes 30 minutes and the kids actually eat it.
pastachickencreamy
Crispy-skinned chicken thighs over a creamy lemon pasta — fresh and rich at the same time. Works just as well on a summer evening as a grey weeknight.
Instructions
- 1
Put the chicken thighs skin-side up on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Brush with oil and season with salt and pepper.
- 2
Roast in the oven at 200 °C for 40 minutes. Crank it up to 230 °C with the grill element on for the last 5 minutes — that's what gets the skin properly crispy.
- 3
While the chicken is in the oven, finely chop the garlic and parsley, grate the parmesan, and cut the butter into cubes.
- 4
Get a pot of well-salted water on the boil for the pasta.
- 5
In a separate pot or deep pan over low heat, warm the oil and gently fry the garlic, lemon zest, and pepper until the garlic turns translucent and smells fragrant.
- 6
Pour in the cream and stir in the butter. Let it come to a gentle boil, then keep it on low to medium heat while you cook the pasta.
- 7
Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook until 1–2 minutes before the packet says it's done — you want it slightly underdone since it'll finish in the sauce.
- 8
Transfer the pasta into the sauce and save a bit of the pasta water. Add the lemon juice — start with half and add more until it's as tangy as you like.
- 9
Fold in the parmesan and parsley, and let the pasta finish cooking in the sauce. Splash in a little pasta water as it goes — it thins out the sauce and adds great flavour.
Per average serving
1.3k
Calories
kcal
45.1
Protein
g
90.8
Carbs
g
85.9
Fat
g
5.6g
Fiber
10g
Sugar
950mg
Sodium
Family Portions
2portions
Adults
2
Children
No children added
Ingredients
Per average serving
1.3k
Calories
kcal
45.1
Protein
g
90.8
Carbs
g
85.9
Fat
g
5.6g
Fiber
10g
Sugar
950mg
Sodium
Tips from the kitchen
- Pat the chicken thighs dry before brushing with oil. Any moisture on the skin will steam instead of crisp, and you'll lose that crunch the grill blast at the end is supposed to finish.
- The grill element at 230°C in the last 5 minutes is not optional if you want proper crispy skin. Keep an eye on it though — it can go from golden to burnt faster than you'd expect.
- Start the pasta sauce before you think you need to. Garlic burns quickly on low heat if you walk away, and the cream needs time to reduce slightly before the pasta goes in.
- Save more pasta water than you think you'll need — a full ladle. The sauce tightens up fast once the parmesan goes in, and pasta water loosens it without making it watery.
- Add the lemon juice in stages. Half a lemon first, taste, then add more. The cream dulls the sharpness a bit, so you usually end up needing more than you'd expect.
Ways to vary it
- You can swap penne for rigatoni or fusilli — anything with ridges or hollows that holds onto the sauce. Long pasta like spaghetti works too, just a bit messier to eat with the chicken on top.
- A handful of baby spinach stirred into the sauce right before serving wilts down to almost nothing and adds a bit of colour without changing the flavour much.
- If you want to skip the oven altogether, the chicken thighs can be cooked skin-side down in a cast iron pan over medium-high heat for about 12 minutes, then flipped for another 5. You get great skin that way too.
Storage & leftovers
The pasta keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days, though the sauce thickens a lot as it sits. Reheat it gently in a pan with a splash of water or cream to loosen it back up. The chicken is best eaten the day it's made, but leftover thighs reheated in the oven at 180°C for 10 minutes stay reasonably crispy.
What to serve with it
A simple green salad with a sharp vinaigrette cuts through the cream nicely. Some crusty bread on the side doesn't hurt either.
UC
By Untrained ChefPublished 23 July 2026
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