Serves 6 | ~30 minutes
I got tired of making the same five things on rotation. You know the rotation. Spaghetti. Tacos. That one thing you make when you don’t know what else to make. Repeat forever until you want to eat cereal for dinner just to feel something different.
So I made this instead. And now it’s in the regular lineup.
Lemon cream chicken pasta sounds fancy. It isn’t. It’s one pan, thirty minutes, and it feeds six people without anyone feeling like they got the sad GF version of something. Because there is no regular version to compare it to. This is just the version. It’s good on its own terms.
That’s the whole goal here.
What You Need
- 600g / 1.3 lbs GF pasta — penne or rigatoni work best, something with ridges that holds the sauce
- 6 chicken thighs or 4 large breasts, cut into strips
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 300ml / 1¼ cups heavy cream
- 150ml / ⅔ cup chicken stock (check your label — stock is a sneaky gluten hiding spot)
- 1 lemon, zest and juice (a second if you want more brightness, but one is plenty)
- Large handful fresh parsley, chopped
- 60g / ¾ cup parmesan, grated
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt, pepper, chili flakes if you want a little heat
How to Make It
Cook your pasta according to the package. Before you drain it, scoop out about a cup of the pasta water and set it aside — this is not optional, it’s what saves you if the sauce gets too thick.
Season your chicken strips with salt and pepper. Get a pan hot with olive oil and cook the chicken over high heat until it’s golden. Set it aside.
Same pan — don’t wipe it out, all that chicken flavor is staying — fry the garlic for about a minute. Add the stock and let it bubble for two minutes. Add the cream, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Simmer three to four minutes until it thickens slightly.
Stir in the parmesan. Return the chicken to the pan. Add the pasta and toss everything together, using the reserved pasta water to loosen it up as needed.
Finish with parsley and chili flakes. Serve with a green salad if you feel like it. Eat it straight from the pan if you don’t.
A Few Notes
On the pasta: GF pasta varies a lot in how it holds up. Cook it just shy of done — it’ll finish in the sauce. Overcooked GF pasta is a texture crime.
On the lemon: One lemon is enough — the zest is doing as much work as the juice here. Don’t skip the zest.
On the pasta water: Starchy, salty, and it brings the whole sauce together. Save it every time, for every pasta dish, forever.
On leftovers: Reheat with a splash of water or cream. It comes back to life just fine.
This is a weeknight dinner that feels like a Friday dinner. Which is exactly where it belongs.
Fern and Fog is a celiac-safe home and kitchen brand based in Lawrence, Kansas. Real food, no drama, made by someone who actually has to eat this way.
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