Impressive creamy chicken scampi in about 30 minutes!

Watch the Video
This creamy chicken scampi pasta is just as delicious as it sounds, and it comes together in about 30 minutes! The sauce is creamy from a little heavy cream, the chicken is moist and juicy, and the pasta soaks up all the delicious sauce flavors to make this dish a hit. Get all of your ingredients together and prep them first because things move pretty quickly once you get started. Remember, it’s easier to zest your lemons before you juice them and use the herbs you have on hand.
Impress your family or party guests
- Moist tender chicken
- Creamy, cheesy, lemony herb sauce
- Perfectly cooked sauce-covered pasta
- Quick and impressive creamy lemon herb chicken scampi pasta!

Rich, creamy scampi ingredients
- Linguini, fettuccini, or spaghetti pasta
- Boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Flour
- Olive oil
- Butter -salted or unsalted is fine since you can control the salt for the dish
- Medium onion -finely chopped
- Garlic cloves -grated or minced
- zest of a lemon -zest before juicing
- Fresh lemon juice -always fresh, never from a bottle
- Chicken broth
- Heavy whipping cream
- Finely chopped fresh parsley –use basil or dill if that’s what you have on hand
- Dried thyme
- Dried crushed oregano
- Grated Parmesan cheese -grate it from a block to avoid anti-caking ingredients
Substitutions and additions
You can always use additions and substitutions to make my recipes your own. So, I’ll make some suggestions for this one. Try mozzarella or a feta and mozzarella combination if you don’t care for parmesan cheese. To add more veggies, sauté mushrooms with the onions or add chopped roasted red peppers with the lemon zest. I serve this creamy chicken sauce over pasta, but you could serve it over some couscous, riced cauliflower, or even mashed potatoes. Let me know how you make it!

How to make Creamy Chicken Scampi Pasta
- Place the chicken breast on a flat surface and butterfly it by slicing it into two cutlets beginning at the thickest side and ending at the thinnest point.
- Season the chicken cutlets on both sides with salt and pepper and dredge in flour.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat and add two tablespoons of olive oil.
- Pan-fry the chicken in 2-3 batches for about 5 minutes per side, depending on the thickness. Chicken is ready when the internal temperature reaches 165 °F. If you substituted chicken tenders, fry them for about 3 minutes per side.
- Set the chicken aside.
- Start and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Undercook the pasta by about a minute because it will finish cooking in the sauce later, and reserve about 2 cups of the pasta water for the sauce.
- Then, add the butter and onion to the skillet you cooked the chicken in, and cook until softened –about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and warm through until fragrant, then add the chicken broth and cook until reduced—about 4 minutes.
- Stir in the lemon zest, thyme, and oregano to the sauce.
- Then, add the cooked pasta to the sauce along with the heavy cream, 1 cup of pasta water, and salt, if needed.
- Toss together and taste.
- Add the parsley and Parmesan cheese to the saucy pasta.
- To finish, chop the chicken into strips and serve over the pasta.
Reheating
Did you notice that I asked you to save two cups of pasta water? One cup is for the sauce, and one cup is for reheating any leftovers you may have. To help rehydrate your saucy pasta after being in the refrigerator, add some of the extra cup of reserved pasta water to the pasta before reheating.

Serving
This creamy chicken scampi pasta is so saucy and delicious that the whole family will love it. And because it looks just as good as it tastes, it’s impressive enough to serve at a dinner party. Add a fresh salad and some feta filled bread, and you’re well on your way to a fun party! Kali Orexi!
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Creamy Chicken Scampi Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound (500g) linguini or spaghetti pasta
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders
- 1 and 1/2- 2 teaspoons of salt plus more for pasta
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup of flour
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 ounces (60g) butter
- 1/2 of a medium onion, finely chopped
- 5-6 garlic cloves, grated
- zest of a lemon
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed oregano
- grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Place the chicken breast on a flat surface and butterfly it by slicing it into two cutlets beginning at the thickest side and ending at the thinnest point.
Season the chicken cutlets on both sides with salt and pepper and dredge in flour.
Heat a skillet over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Pan-fry the chicken in 2-3 batches about 5 minutes per side for the cutlets depending on the thickness. Chicken is ready when the internal temperature reaches 165 °F. Chicken tenders take about 3 minutes per side. Set the chicken aside.
Add the butter and onion to the pan and cook until softened. About 4-5 minutes.
Add teh garlic and warm through until fragrant.
Add the chicken broth and cook until reduced. About 4 minutes. Add the lemon juice.
In the meantime, cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Under cook the pasta by about a minutes as it will be added to the sauce and cooked more later on. Reserve about 2 cups of the pasta water for the sauce.
Add the lemon zest, thyme, and oregano to the sauce. Once it warms through
Add the cooked pasta to the sauce along with the heavy cream, 1 cup of pasta water, and season with salt, if needed. Toss together and taste.
Add the parsley and Parmesan cheese.
Chop the chicken into strips and serve over the pasta.
Kali Orexi!
Notes
Substitutions and/or additions:
feta cheese
mozzarella cheese
roasted red peppers, chopped
sautéed mushrooms
- Reheating tips: Use the extra cup of reserved pasta water to add to the pasta when reheating.
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This dish was so delicious. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Tried this recipe this week and it was delicious! I will make it again.
Dimitra , this was absolutely delicious! The entire family was wowed by this recipe, even my picky eater. He asked where I found the recipe and I told him Dimitras Dishes . Then he said that everything I’ve made from your recipes he’s liked . He knows Dad is a Dimitra fan . The whole family is actually. Your recipes are fun to make , a joy to eat and never disappoint. They sure do delight the tastebuds for sure. He’s requesting one of your shrimp recipes next and that’s fine with me because I love shrimp! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipes with us .
Wow!!! I never leave comments, but I had to thank you for this recipe! Soo delicious and full of flavorful, most of all… easy to make! I didn’t change anything except I used wheat fettuccine and it was fantastic. Glad I found you, I’ll be making more of your recipes
Thank you very much for taking the time to comment 🙂 I’m so happy that you like this recipe!
It is delicious! It was easy to make it. I love all your recipes. Your videos are so well done!
Thank you for sharing!
I really appreciate that!! Thank you 🙂