Buttery lemon chicken with pasta and fresh basil, tossed together for a light and refreshing pasta dinner. It's a quick and easy 30 minute weeknight meal and you probably have a lot of the ingredients on hand!

I can't stress how simple this week's recipe is. At just 30 minutes to make you can't skip this one! And the whole family loves it - including the kids, which is always a win.

To make the cooking process go along even faster all you need to do is cut your chicken breast into smaller strips, it will cook in half the time then if you left it whole!

And when is butter, lemon and basil ever a bad thing? Oh, never. Butter makes everything better.

After the chicken cooks you'll put all of your sauce ingredients into the pan until it thickens up a bit, followed by some cooked pasta and diced chicken. After a generous garnishing of basil.

And that's it! So easy.

How To Chop Basil

Ever wondered how to chop your basil? Here's how!

Clean
Rinse the basil and light pat it dry with a paper towel
Stack
Stack a few basil leaves on top of each other
Roll
Roll the leaves together, hot dog style
Slice "Chiffonade"
Cut all along the roll of basil, into thin strips, they will look like long ribbons when you are done!

More 30 Minute Chicken Dinners

One Pan Buttermilk Chicken and Risotto - buttermilk marinated chicken works as the base for this quick and easy chicken dinner
Lemon Basil Chicken Pasta With Tomatoes - this lemon chicken pasta has cooked tomatoes in it
Broccoli Chicken Cheese Pasta - a family favorite full of pasta, broccoli, shredded chicken and a cheesy sauce
Healthy Asian Chicken Salad - light and healthy, this dinner feeds a lot and has so many vegetables in it
One Pot Lemon Chicken and Rice - the world's easiest chicken and rice recipe
Greek Chicken Kabob Orzo Bowls - serve it with tzatziki for a yummy weekday meal
One Pan Extra Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Risotto - for the cheese lovers out there, super kid friendly too
One Pan Mesquite Chicken Fajitas - When you are in the mood for Mexican food, these mesquite chicken fajitas are ah-mazing

Make sure to follow the Modern Crumb Board on Pinterest for lots of yummy meal inspiration! And subscribe to the newsletter, below, to get updates when new recipes post.

Buttery Lemon Chicken With Pasta And Basil

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 lb chicken breast
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 c chicken broth
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/4 c heavy cream
8 oz linguine, cooked
5 large basil leaves, chopped

Instructions

Cook the pasta while you prepare the chicken, then set aside until later
Filet the chicken breast and then cut those pieces into 3 pieces each, so you're left with 6 pieces total
Season the chicken with salt and pepper
Heat a pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and add the chicken
Cook until no longer pink
Remove the chicken from the pan to another plate
To the pan add the butter and stir until melted, scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan
Now add in the red pepper flakes, chicken broth, lemon zest, lemon juice and heavy cream
Bring this to a boil for 2-3 minutes, turn heat down to low
Add in the cooked pasta
At this point cut up the chicken into bites, and toss it in the pan
Mix everything together with the chopped basil