14 Crave-Worthy Chicken Pasta Recipes for Winning Weeknight Meals

Chicken Scampi with Angel Hair Pasta

Chicken scampi with angel hair pasta is a 20-minute meal that’s bursting with flavors. Bright lemon juice combined with acidic white wine creates a light pan sauce. If you’re not a fan of cooking with wine, replace it with chicken stock. This is a true pantry meal as most of its components come from your kitchen cabinets.

One Pot Chicken and Orzo

One-pot chicken and orzo is a succulent twist on arroz con pollo. Devote a little over half an hour to this one-skillet meal, and you’ll be rewarded with fewer dishes and tons of flavor. Speaking of time, you can sub out the bone-in, skin-on thighs for boneless, skinless thighs for a quicker cooking time.

Chicken Pad Thai

Chicken Pad Thai brings your favorite Thai takeout home. Taking less than a half-hour to make, this dish will become part of your weekly dinner rotation.

Using tamarind concentrate is much easier than extracting the pulp from the pod, though you can go that route if you feel up to it. For more flavor, swap the chicken tenders for boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into strips.

Tuscan Chicken Pasta Skillet

Tuscan chicken pasta skillet is a true one-pot dish, though you can serve it with a green salad on the side for a heartier meal. If you marinate the chicken a day ahead, you’ll have less prep come dinnertime. Use linguine, spaghetti, or even fettuccine in this skillet meal.

Chicken Pasta with Thyme-Mint Cream Sauce

Chicken pasta with thyme-mint cream sauce is infused with floral thyme and bright mint, and it’ll be ready in less than an hour. Use chicken breasts or thighs, depending on your preference. If you don’t have chicken stock, just replace it with some pasta water.

Skillet Chicken Parmesan

Use an oven-safe skillet like cast iron to go from stovetop to oven seamlessly with this skillet chicken parmesan. Eliminate the breading for a low-carb chicken parm option. If you have a bit more time, make your pasta sauce from scratch.

You’d be remiss if you didn’t turn leftovers into a chicken parmesan sandwich for the following day’s lunch!

Roast Chicken on Angel Hair Pasta

Roast chicken on angel hair pasta is a true meal-in-one, but you can bulk it up by serving it with warm, crusty bread. Chicken legs and breasts bake over the pasta that comes out tender—like magic. The chicken juices and tomatoes seep into the pasta to make an effortless sauce on its own.

If you want to use a whole chicken, make sure to spatchcock it first to ensure it cooks evenly.

Chicken Piccata Pasta

Chicken piccata pasta has basically elevated chicken nuggets, which means it's especially kid-friendly. Its bright lemony sauce is punctuated with briny capers. This recipe makes a lot, so you can enjoy leftovers the following day. The recipe says that the buttered breadcrumbs are optional, but I totally disagree. They're a must.

Pasta Skillet with Chicken Sausage, Cheese & Spinach

Pasta skillet with chicken sausage, cheese, and spinach is another great one-skillet meal, with only 5 ingredients. This rich, tomato-y dish is ready in 30 minutes—that’s faster than ordering and receiving your takeout. But you can make it even faster by using a jarred marinara sauce.

Chicken Florentine Pesto Pasta

Chicken Florentine pesto pasta is a mashup of chicken Florentine and pasta with herbaceous pesto that’s ready in 30 minutes. Choose a broad pasta, like penne, farfalle (bowties), or conchiglie (shells), to hold all of that luscious sauce. You can use fresh spinach or grab a pack of frozen spinach and thaw and strain it before using it in the recipe.

Lemon Chicken with Pasta, Olives, and Herbs

Lemon chicken with pasta, olives, and herbs features tender, yogurt-marinated chicken breasts, which you can marinate a few hours ahead. The chicken bakes in the oven while the pasta cooks on the stove, so you can kill two chickens with one stone.

I prefer to use kalamata olives here but choose your favorite. Just make sure they’re pitted!

Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Pasta

Creamy chicken and asparagus pasta has extra tang thanks to goat cheese. A hint of nutmeg adds more warmth and excitement to an already flavorful cream sauce, but you can go a step farther and add a bit of crushed red pepper flakes to make it spicy.

If it isn’t asparagus season, swap green beans for them.

Rotisserie Chicken Alfredo

Rotisserie chicken alfredo snatches help from the grocery store to make a (less than) 30-minute dinner. You’ll find that the creamy alfredo tastes richer when made from scratch, so be sure to use a wider noodle, like fettuccine or linguine, to hold the sauce. If you don’t feel like picking up a rotisserie chicken from the store, use poached boneless, skinless chicken breast instead. Toss in a couple of handfuls of peppery arugula or green spinach for a complete meal.

Skillet Chicken with Cheesy Orzo and Zucchini

Skillet chicken with cheesy orzo and Zucchini is a one-pot, stand-alone meal since everything cooks in the same skillet, which you can also serve straight from the pan. You can always swap the zucchini (if it’s not in season) for broccoli florets, sliced asparagus, or haricot verts. Add another level of tang to this cheesy meal by adding 1/4 cup of finely shredded pecorino cheese to the fontina or Havarti.