Beach Street Lemon Chicken Pasta
One of my favorite pasta dishes ever, this Beach Street lemon chicken pasta is amazing! It comes together fast with incredible flavor!
If this Beach Street lemon chicken pasta hasn’t been part of your regular dinner rotation, now is the time to change that!
Packed with delicious, interesting flavors, this simple pasta dish is easy and fast, which makes it perfect for a busy weeknight.
BUT, it’s also amazing enough for company or as a weekend “fun” meal. With all the bright, fresh flavors, it tastes like something straight out of your favorite restaurant.
Simple, simple, simple
The idea behind this stellar pasta dish is really simple:
- marinated chicken
- cooked pasta tossed with lemon + green onions + parsley
- healthy dose of Parmesan cheese
The chicken marinade packs a ton of flavor into this dish.
Hints of brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and Cajun seasoning (so yummy!) pair perfectly with the main notes of fresh lemon juice.
The chicken can marinate for as little as an hour, but it really benefits from at least 6-7 hours (and can marinate as long as overnight).
All of it (chicken and marinade) dumps into a hot skillet to cook JUST until the chicken is tender. Over medium-high heat, the chicken pieces will cook pretty quickly. Think: 4-5 minutes max. Don’t overcook the chicken!
Meanwhile, cook and drain the pasta and then toss it with that zesty, bright mixture of lemon juice, zest, green onions and parsley. You can use linguine, spaghetti, fettuccine. And I’m sure it would work great with tube pasta, too.
Then dump the pasta into the skillet with the cooked chicken and marinade. It won’t be overly saucy – there will probably just be a little bit of marinade/sauce on the bottom of the skillet.
But the flavor in that simmered down marinade is concentrated and deeeeelicious!
Toss it all together!
Serve the finished pasta with a good amount of parmesan cheese!
Such an unassuming dish, this Beach Street lemon chicken pasta has been a regular part of our dinners for over ten years.
I love when pasta dishes include a little lemon, but this dish is extra unique thanks to the kick of Cajun seasoning. You can dial that up or down as needed, but don’t leave it out! It’s essential.
Light and refreshing, this is definitely one of my favorite pasta dishes of all time.
What To Serve With This:
5-minute skillet broccoli or roasted asparagus
Divine breadsticks
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Beach Street Lemon Chicken Linguine
Ingredients
Pasta:
- 1 pound linguine, spaghetti or fettuccine
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest, from 1 medium lemon
- 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from 1-2 medium lemons
- 2 to 3 green onions, finely chopped (white and green parts)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- ½ to 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Marinade:
- ½ cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed or finely minced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning (see note)
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice, from about 2-3 medium lemons
- ¼ cup minced fresh parsley
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 to 1 ½ pounds chicken breasts, sliced into 1/2-inch strips or bite-size pieces
Instructions
- For the marinade, combine the olive oil, garlic, brown sugar, cajun seasoning, lemon juice, parsley, and soy sauce. Toss the marinade and chicken together in a shallow dish or ziploc bag. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour or up to 12 (better flavor the longer it marinades).
- For the pasta, combine juice of one lemon, lemon zest, olive oil, green onions and fresh parsley together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cook pasta in lightly salted water until al dente according to package directions. Drain and return to the pot off the heat. Pour the lemon juice/olive oil/green onion mixture over pasta and toss lightly to combine.
- Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium heat; add the marinade AND the chicken to the skillet, moving the chicken pieces so they are in a single layer. Cook over medium-high heat until the chicken is cooked through, 4-5 minutes.
- Add the pasta to the skillet with the chicken OR pour the chicken and cooked marinade over the pasta in the pot (whichever will fit the mixture best). Toss with Parmesan cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper, if needed. Serve immediately with extra Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from Deals to Meals
Originally posted July 2009; updated May 2020 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.
200 Comments on “Beach Street Lemon Chicken Pasta”
I made the recipe for 2 servings and halfed everything but it was WAY too strong it was like eating one whole lemon for both of us, and we couldn’t finish it hahah
My family loves this. I add asparagus when I have it. I learned that it is even better if you are able to marinate it all day. Thank you.
This recipe is fantastic and so flavorful! If only I can figure out how to make it vegetarian so my Mother could enjoy it.
My son chose this for his favorite “last meal” before he leaves on his two year mission. It’s just that good!
I will be feeding 40 people who are coming in for his mission farewell. Do you think I could make this meal the day before, refrigerate it overnight, then reheat it covered in the oven the next day? Would it dry out the chicken too much? And what heat would I reheat it on?
We love all your recipes, but this one is definitely a family fav!
Hi Ashlee! Good luck to your son (and to you!). This is such a great recipe and would be fun to feed a crowd – but it’s not really the best make-ahead meal because while the leftovers are good for a thrown together lunch (for one, haha, I hoard them!), the pasta does dry out just a bit. I think your best bet if you make it ahead of time is to serve it chilled or at room temperature as more of a pasta salad vs trying to reheat it?
Another winner winner chicken dinner!,
You used to have a recipe for Cajun seasoning in your notes. Now it just says one teaspoon. Is there another place I can find it? Thanks for you amazing recipes! They save me every week!
Hmmm, I don’t remember having a homemade cajun seasoning recipe…but you can google some quick homemade cajun seasonings if you need that version! I did quick google search and a pretty common mix includes 1 tablespoon paprika, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoon each of pepper, onion powder, oregano, cayenne and a pinch of thyme.
I just ate leftovers for lunch and threw some chopped fresh tomatoes and crumbled bacon on top. DELISH! Definitely worth trying!
This is SO SO good!!! All of the extra steps are worth it- this is a new family favorite and we are making it often! Thanks for continuing to share your awesome and delectable creations with all of us!
just made this again, and it was delicious once again. I’m thinking now that it doesn’t even need the chicken. Stir up the marinade and cook it down a bit, cook the pasta and add its sauce, then stir everything together. I’m going to try that. However, I happened to see the lemon spinach pasta and that looks great also. Have to try them both. And then there’s the pasta with sundried tomatoes. Fortunately, pasta is my favorite dish.
Made this tonight without chicken. Sauce is fantastic as always, but possibly a little overpowering for pasta by itself. So I’m going to add peas to the leftovers and I think that will tone it down just enough.
RAVE reviews from my whole family! Kids (age 2 up to 12) and husband all LOVED it and asked for multiple servings. We’re on first name basis with you in our house— your recipes are that well loved.
Yay, Heather! Thank you!
My family and I loved this dish. I actually tweaked it and used gluten free pasta. It still turned out Amazing!! Love the Cajun spice in the chicken marinade. Gives it the perfect amount of flavor without too much heat. Nicely done! Thank you for sharing.
Made this twice now with shrimp and my family loves it. We were cautious with the Cajun seasoning but there wasn’t much heat. We’ll try the full tablespoon next time.
The first time I made this dish, I got distracted and accidentally used cilantro in the marinade instead of parsley. Once I got to the pasta part of the recipe where you add more parsley, I realized my error with the marinade. I was rather distraught until I tasted it; it was delicious!
The next time I made it, I stayed focused and followed the recipe to a T. To my surprise, it wasn’t quite as good.
Tonight I made it, and did the cilantro recipe on purpose, and it was divine. Long story short, sometimes a kitchen oops can become a kitchen oh my!
Incredible! Thank you for the recipe
That’s good to know, Melissa! I’ll try it with cilantro soon!
Very flavorful and super easy recipe. The combination of Cajun seasoning and soy sauce works surprisingly well! I ran out of fresh lemons so wasn’t able to add the zest to the pasta and I think that would have added just the right amount of “zing” so make sure you don’t omit! I think next time I would marinate the chicken for about 6 hours given the acidity of the marinade, it can end up toughening the chicken the longer it marinates. Just my preference.
Wow! This dish tastes fantastic! I delivered this dish to my Mom and Dad as well as my sister in law’s Mom and both texted me how good it was. Also made more for our family.
Another great recipe, Mel! Surprised it took me so long to see this recipe and give it a try.
Mel, I have commented on this recipe before so will not leave another review but I must say after 2 years of making it almost every other week–I would give it more than 5 stars if I could! I make it so often I am at the stage where I no longer need to measure anything and just make it entirely by memory and it never fails to excite.
I wanted to share a few things I sometimes tinker with in case it will interest you or any other reader who want to mix it up!
-My go to is actually chicken thighs: I know you Mel is not a huge fan of chicken thighs but I find they work a bit better–a bit more forgiving if you cook the marinade for too long!
-I recently tried removing the chicken altogether and replacing it with a firm tofu. The marinade worked great with it! Might be worth trying if you ever want to make it vegetarian.
-I love garlic and sometimes I mince some garlic and toss it into the zest/lemon juice mixture–that way you get a mix of the delicious cooked garlic in the marinade with a bit of fresh garlic kick. This obviously changes the flavour profile quite a bit so I would definitely recommend trying it Mel’s way first but if you like garlic and the recipe, you might want to try it!
Thank you again Mel!
Hi James! Always love reading your comments and hearing from you. Thanks for including new notes and variations in this comment. I’m so happy you continue to love this recipe. I bet it’s amazing with chicken thighs. I love the flavor and juiciness of chicken thighs, but for some reason, I don’t love cooking with them (and trimming them) but I think I will for this recipe with your recommendation!
I made this recipe for the first time and it was SO delicious!!! I used some leftover chicken (sort of like a rotisserie). I added the green onions to the marinade and threw the shredded (already) cooked chicken into marinade for about an hour. I also substituted coconot sugar for brown sugar, liquid aminos for soy sauce, and gluten free pasta. I have seriously not had anything this delicious in a LONG time!!! Thanks for keeping the yummy recipes coming! You are my favorite recipe site! Even though I have many that I love, I always come here first, and have never been disappointed!
Love it! I used Taco Loco seasoning instead of Cajun. Ketchup and salt, with steak sauce instead of soy sauce.
Why is it called Beach Street?
I’m honestly not sure, but I think I heard once it was made at a restaurant with that name. Could be a myth, not sure.
I rarely comment on blogs, but I keep meaning to on yours! You are for sure my go-to when it comes to needing good recipes and you never disappoint! Thanks for another amazing recipe, I seriously am obsessed with this simple, easy pasta dish!!! I am hoarding all the leftovers for myself! Thank you!
Thank you so much, Aubree! Glad you like this one!
My husband isn’t a pasta guy, so we don’t make it nearly as often as I’d like, but this recipe impressed everyone in the family. We marinated the chicken overnight, and the flavor combination was unreal. Not your average lemon chicken. We will be making this again and often – thanks Mel!
Cut back on the oil in the marinade and not a fan of parsley so left it out. Otherwise followed recipe. Absolutely delicious. I’m by myself so I’ll be enjoying this a couple days. I needed a new recipe to inspire me thanks!!!!
Hi Mel!
Have you ever doubled or tripled this recipe and how did it work? Was wondering if you’d need a separate skillet for each recipe. Thanks!!
Hi Jana, I have doubled it (and used my larger electric skillet)
I tried this a few months ago and have made it many times since. It is SO GOOD!!
Thank you.
I made this recipe tonight, and WOW! It is amazing. Definitely a must try! I asked my husband how he liked it and he said “it’s phenomenal. Might even be a new favorite”
we love,love, love this dish! I have to make it every other week! It’s so simple and sooo delicious! My family of 7 eats the whole dish in one sitting. I usually forget to marinade the chicken and I’ve cooked the chicken in the sauce without marinading it first and it turns out fine.
Yummy
I love the flavors and the little bit of kick. Such a great recipe with simple ingredients!
Loved this so much, I told everyone in my family they also need to make it. It’s different, l and yummy. A perfect light summer pasta.