Light and healthful, as far as pasta dishes go, this recipe is packed with flavor and makes for a very satisfying meal. I served this with the garlic knots I praised earlier and it was a fantastic weeknight dinner. A major plus with this meal is it is made start to finish in thirty minutes or less. Love that. I have to mention here that I am also heartily in love with the garlic/lemon/basil combination. Delicious.
Garlic Chicken Pasta with Spinach
Printable Version
Printable Version with Picture
INGREDIENTS:
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (this doesn’t add spiciness – just the right amount of flavor)
6 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound penne pasta
1 (5-ounce) bag baby spinach
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried
6 tablespoons juice from 2 lemons
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS:
Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot. Meanwhile, combine garlic, pepper flakes and oil in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave until garlic is golden and fragrant, about 1 minute.
Pat chicken dry with paper towels and cut into bite-size pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer 1 tablespoon of the garlic/red pepper oil to a large skillet and heat over medium heat until oil is rippling. Add chicken and cook until well browned and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil.
Add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta to boiling water and cook until tender but still slightly firm (al dente). Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water. Drain pasta and return to the pot. Stir in chicken, spinach, basil, lemon juice, Parmesan, and remaining garlic mixture, adding reserved pasta water as needed. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Recipe Source: adapted from Cook’s Country
{ 44 comments… read them below or add one }
That looks so delicious and I love that it’s so quick to put together! I’ll be trying this one.
Thank you for posting! I just made this tonight and it’s SO wonderful! I love pasta but often feel as though it’s so heavy, but this dish is light and really delicious!!! If you haven’t tried this yet, I highly recommend!!
Just wondering – at the end when you add the rest of the garlic mixture, is it just the garlic and red pepper, or all the leftover oil too?
Looks wonderful! I am definitely going to try it!
I really have to stop surfing these cooking blogs. That looks so good, now I have to make it. I love spinach, chicken, lemon!!! It’s going to be soooo good. Thanks!
This looks delicious and so light! I bet this would be good served room temp at a picnic as well!
Kristin – thanks for letting me know you tried this and liked it. I agree that the light sauce is delicious and a nice change from heavy dishes.
This looks so good! I love spinach, especially in pasta.
I made this last night for my family, along with the garlic knots, and it got rave reviews! So, so delicious! I am loving your blog! Thank you!
Hi Melanie,
I’ve been following your blog since last summer, and I love it! I need to throw my scale out the window, though! The garlic chicken and garlic knots are divine! Thanks!
I am always up for pasta!
I don’t remember how I happened on your blog…but I was just skimming some recipes and saw that you had your 4th boy. I’m due with my 4th boy today….so I just wanted to say HI and see how things were going for you
Hope you’re surviving. The fact that you have time to cook and post anything at all is giving me hope 
Susanne – you’ll have to let me know if this turned out ok serving it cold. It’s a great idea. I’m really glad you liked it!
Seriously – good luck with having your fourth boy! I hope by now you’ve gone into labor and aren’t overdue. Thanks for your comment. I love hearing from moms that have all boys – it gives me hope that I can survive, too!
Pasta is so brilliant! I live off the stuff. Boil eight minutes, add some beans, tomatoes and whatever have you — presto! A yummy dinner. Great recipe.
Dad of the Year – thanks for your comment! I’m really glad you liked this recipe. Thanks for letting me know.Jenna – thank you, also, for letting me know you tried this and liked it! I appreciate it! Thanks for your nice comment.
These looks like you bought them from a beautiful coffee shop. I must try these!
This looks just heavenly! It looks like a perfect spring dinner, can’t wait to try it.
Margaret – glad you liked the pasta recipe. On the garlic knots – I usually just use the butter the garlic has been sitting in to brush over the rolls and I avoid the bigger chunks of raw garlic – that way you just get the garlic butter flavor.
I made something almost exactly this all the time and it is always a hit! YUMMO
I made this tonight and it was delicious. I ran short of olive oil so only had 4 tbs. and it still tasted great.
Another great pasta recipe!! Keep ‘em comin! This looks absolutely delicious!
Thank you thank you thank you! I just made this for a dinner I am taking tonight. I know it says to serve warm, but I’m hoping it taste as good served cold. I tried it and had to walk away from the kitchen or I might have eaten the entire bowl. It makes tons, and the flavor is perfect. Off to look for your bread recipe.
garlic, lemon, basil. tragically, i don’t think i’ve ever had the three in combination, but i fully intend to take care of that posthaste. awesome dinner, melanie.
Nikie – thanks for your comment! I’m glad you liked the garlic chicken and garlic knots! Thanks for letting me know.
oh-that explains it! lol. That would have been much better!
Delicious! I will be having this for dinner tomorrow night! (I just need the spinach…) Thanks a million:)
How are you feeling?
I made this Sat and liked it. I should have done the pene a little longer-it was chewy. I used a box of frozen spinach (10 oz)thawed for the spinach. DH doesn’t like spinach but he ate it and liked it! The leftovers today were even better. I thought the garlic knots were a little strange-the garlic on them tasted a little raw. I rebaked them for 5 min and they were much better. They were even better today too.
My gosh, a way to get my kids to eat spinach!! I’m giving this one a try! Have a great weekend!
Pasta works for me yours looks great.
Beckie – would it help if I told you the lemon isn’t an overwhelming flavor? If you don’t like lemon, I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to leave it out, but you might try substituting the same amount of chicken broth or other liquid. Good luck!
Is it possible to leave the lemon out of this dish?? Both my husband and I aren’t big lemon fans when it comes to chicken.
Just made this, came out perfect, thanks for the great recipie. Used whole wheat pasta and it was fantastic.
Anonymous – way to healthify the recipe even more with whole wheat pasta – I’m so glad you liked this!
Anonymous – I’m glad you liked this salad, even cold. That’s great to know in case I ever want to serve it that way. Thank you!
I made this the other night. Through a series of unfortunate events, my husband ended up coming home quite late, so the pasta had a chance to get pretty cool. We went ahead and ate it as it was, and really enjoyed it cold. Kind of reminded us of a fancy pasta salad.
Michelle – I think the addition of feta on top would be absolutely scrumptious. Thanks for letting me know you and your boyfriend liked it!
Wow! I’m so glad I found this recipe.. I happened to have all the ingredients and made it as stated.. and it was yummy!! Added some feta cheese crumbled on top when serving, and that was really good.. My boyfriend said it’s his new favorite recipe that I cook.. thank you!
I think I am going to attempt this tonight but with shrimp! eww? tastey? hmmm.. we will see
I think it could be yummy! and fast fast…shrimp cooks so quickly. Thanks Melanie! Your the best.
This is on the menu for tonight, and I think it would be awesome with shrimp, I wish Megan would have come back and said how it turned out, HAHA!! I love shrimp!! Okay, this tonight (with shrimp) and the roasted chicken tomorrow
I’ll letcha know how it turns out!!!
~Thanks as always. Man I love your blog. Takes the ‘planning’ out of meal time really and that is the part that I hated, I never realized til I found your blog that I actually don’t mind COOKING, just hate the PLANNING!!!
Really delicious! And come to think of it…my kids just ate spinach and loved it! Two thumbs way up!
Janae – yay for kids eating spinach! Glad this was a hit.
We loved this one almost as much as the Lemon Cream Pasta. Must have something to do with the lemon and cheese combo. So good!
So I tried this tonight. I love it. I added a tad of whipping cream and flour to thicken the sauce a little…(the true story is: I dropped a lot of the water from the pasta on the floor which could have ended really bad since I was barefoot.) Anyway, I did this and the garlic knots and I am keeping it and passing it on. Thanks
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