This recipe for lemon asparagus pasta combines tender asparagus and grilled chicken with pasta in a lemon cream sauce. It’s a delicious and hearty entree that everyone will want seconds of!
I am a huge fan of easy pasta dishes, some of my all time favorites include chicken parmesan pasta, chicken and broccoli pasta and this chicken asparagus pasta.
Spring has sprung here in California – the trees are full of blossoms, the temperature has been around 70 degrees and spring produce is starting to pop up in stores. When I saw that asparagus was on sale I had to pick up a bunch to have for dinner, and that’s how this lemon asparagus pasta with grilled chicken came to be.
How do you make lemon asparagus pasta?
There are a few components to this dish – the chicken, the pasta and the asparagus. Lately I’ve been grilling up a big batch of chicken on Sunday night and adding it to our meals throughout the week, including in this pasta. If you don’t want to fire up the grill you could use sauteed chicken or even sliced chicken breast from a rotisserie chicken. I went with linguine pasta here but spaghetti or fettuccine would also be great. The asparagus cooks along with the pasta, which is super convenient – you know I’m all for using less pans whenever possible!
The creamy lemon sauce only has 4 ingredients and takes less than 5 minutes to make. In my opinion it’s the perfect way to showcase asparagus – the hint of lemon really accentuates all of the flavors. Put it all together, stir in some parmesan cheese, a sprinkle of parsley, and you’ve got an amazing dinner that everyone will go crazy for!
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Lemon Asparagus Pasta Video
Lemon Asparagus Pasta with Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts , grilled and cut into strips
- 1 pound of asparagus , ends removed, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 10 ounces of linguine pasta (spaghetti or fettuccine will also work)
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/3 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese
- Optional garnishes: Lemon slices and 1/4 cup chopped parsley
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in salted water according to package instructions. Add the asparagus to the pot during the last 3 minutes of cooking time.
- Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta cooking liquid.
- In small pot, combine the heavy cream, butter and 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until thick enough to coat a spoon, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest and juice.
- Place the pasta and asparagus back into the pot you cooked it in along with the chicken.
- Pour the cream sauce over the pasta mixture and toss to coat evenly, adding pasta water if needed to thin the sauce. Stir in the parmesan cheese. Alternatively, you can toss just the pasta with the sauce and arrange the chicken and asparagus over the top of the pasta.
- Add more salt and pepper to taste if needed. Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon slices if desired.
txgirl says
Excellent recipe, loved it! Thanks for sharing!
Deanna says
Fantastic!!! I would give it 10 stars! Only changes I made was used 1/2 & 1/2 versus heavy cream and cut butter to 1 tablespoon. I also added a cup of halved cherry tomatoes on step 4. Enjoy!
Susan says
We loved this recipe! Such good flavor!
ida Eaton says
I am so excited as I printed off several receipes for some different meals. grandson is hard to please tired of same thing. Thank you soo very much Ida Eaton
Lisa says
Delicious! Simple and fresh taste. My picky teen daughters current favorite dinner.
Amy says
Soooooo delicious. Even my boyfriend from Rome who says Italians don’t eat pasta with chicken, loved this. I just had to serve the chicken on the side. 🙂
Jennifer Okubo says
Tastes amazing! Wouldn’t change a thing! Very Satisfied and its easy to make.
Heather says
Hello 🙂 I was just wondering what you marinate the chicken in before you grill it? Thanks so much!
Sara says
I just flavored my chicken with salt, pepper, olive oil and Italian seasoning!
Mike says
I sauteed a few chopped garlic cloves in the butter before adding the cream.
Judith says
Sooo delicious!!! Can I make this with shrimp???
Sara says
Shrimp would be a great choice!
Herta Bedunah says
Can you please tell me ,are the nutritional values for one serving or all 4 servings. I have to watch the sodium and potassium because of CKD Thank you HBedunah
Sara says
For one serving!
Stephanie says
Delicious! Wouldn’t change a thing.
Sandi says
Delicious! I had just grilled a big batch of marinated chicken and found this recipe! Great taste! Easy to put together. Thanks for the recipe.
Mary says
One of our favorite meals! I crave it when we haven’t had it for a while. Clean delicious flavors.
Heidi says
I’m dairy free…..do you have a suggestion for something other than cream? Can a almond milk be used?
Sara says
You could use an almond milk, but you’d need to add a thickener such as cornstarch, because cream is much thicker than almond milk.
Eddie says
Very easy to make! The lemon adds a great flavor. We loved it!
Sara says
So glad to hear it was a hit, I appreciate you coming back to comment!
Sherri says
So simple and absolutely delicious. We all loved it and would not change anything.
Sara says
So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
Janis Killian says
I love the flavor and ease of this recipe, but each time I make it the sauce “curdles ” when I add the lemon juice. Recommendations or is this supposed to happen. Thank you. Janis
Sara says
It shouldn’t curdle, I’ve never had that happen before. Are you adding the lemon juice off the heat?
Theresa says
I cannot wait to make this for dinner tomorrow night! It looks amazing, quick and easy, AND for once, I have all the ingredients ! I’m sure it will 4 or 5 stars!
ShelLY says
Excellent dish! Easy to make. This is one I make quite a bit. Thank you!