“This might be my favorite thing you’ve ever made,” said my husband as he ate this today. Yup, that happened. This chicken and broccoli linguine is covered in a thick and creamy lemon butter basil sauce. It’s packed with good for you broccoli. You can make it in 30 minutes. And even though it’s creamy and decadent tasting, it uses NO milk or cream and only two tablespoons of butter for the whole thing!
The secret to the creamy texture has a lot to do with the starches from the pasta in the sauce. I’ve been on a pasta kick lately. I’m missing Italian food down here in Texas after living in the Boston area for a long time, so I’m grabbing the bull by the horns and forging ahead with making Italian food myself.
Granted, this chicken and broccoli linguine isn’t necessarily a traditional Italian recipe, like my last one (Bucatini all’Amatriciana), but it’s cooked using a similar method. This method ensures that the flavor-packed sauce sticks to every single noodle.
Really, the photos don’t do this one justice. Trust me- those noodles are coated in the most delicious lemony, chickeny, buttery sauce imaginable.
I recommend using the “nice” pasta from your grocery store for this recipe (read: not the one that costs 99 cents), and for almost all skillet pasta recipes. Bronze cut is best- that means there is a bit of a texture to the pasta, so the sauce sticks a bit better. Bronze cut pasta also contains more starch. Some of the pasta water is added to the sauce to thicken it, and the pasta will finish cooking for just a minute or two in the sauce, absorbing its flavor and imparting its starches into it.
For even more creaminess to the sauce, I stirred in some finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese at the end as well as a pad of butter for extra richness. Mmm, mmm. This pasta is seriously delicious.
The ingredients in this recipe pair so well together. Chicken and broccoli is an obvious one- who doesn’t love that combo? The sauce is super fresh and bright from fresh basil and lemon. It’s rich and salty from the Pecorino Romano cheese. Finally, sliced almonds give each bite a delightful crunch.
Plus, the pan is deglazed with white wine after the chicken and garlic is cooked, ensuring all of the delicious browned bits from the pan are incorporated into the sauce. Don’t drink wine? No problem- just use a little extra chicken broth instead (see recipe notes).
One final note: I love me some whole wheat pasta, but for this recipe, I used regular white pasta. White pasta is starchier, meaning the sauce will be creamier. If you choose to use whole wheat pasta, be prepared for a less creamy sauce.
Love red sauce on your pasta? Try this Chicken and Linguine with Tomato Basil Butter Sauce.
Here’s the printable recipe for chicken and broccoli linguine with lemon butter basil sauce!
Chicken and Broccoli Linguine with Lemon Butter Basil Sauce
Equipment
- Large Skillet
Ingredients
- 8 oz. linguine
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 2 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1" cubes (or thighs)
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- juice and zest of one lemon
- 2 cloves garlic minced or finely chopped
- 1/2 cup dry white wine such as pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc
- 1 cup chicken stock/broth
- 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese finely grated, or parmesan
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil cut chiffonade or chopped
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds or sliced
- extra salt and pepper, lemon zest, Romano cheese, and fresh basil for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to directions in a large pot of heavily salted water. 3 minutes before it's al dente, remove 1/2 cup pasta water and reserve for later. Add the broccoli florets to the water and boil with the pasta. Drain the pasta and broccoli until it's almost cooked, just before al dente.
- Meanwhile, season cubed chicken breasts liberally with salt and pepper, as well as the zest from the lemon.
- Sauté the chicken in a large skillet over medium high heat in 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil, until browned and fully cooked. Don't worry about it sticking to the bottom of the pan- you'll deglaze it in a moment.
- Remove the chicken and set aside on a plate. Add the minced garlic (2 cloves) to the pan and sauté until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
- Add the white wine (1/2 cup) to the pan to deglaze it, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from cooking the chicken and garlic. Turn heat to medium and simmer until almost all of the liquid from the wine is gone.
- Add the chicken stock (1/2 cup) and stir.
- Add the drained linguine and broccoli, as well as the 1/4 cup reserved pasta water. Continue cooking over medium heat until sauce thickens and pasta cooks all the way through- about 2 minutes. Add the cooked chicken back in.
- Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice, remaining 1 tablespoon butter, fresh basil (2 tablespoons), Pecorino Romano cheese (1/4 cup), and slivered almonds (1/4 cup). Stir until cheese has fully melted.
- Serve immediately with extra cheese, lemon zest, fresh basil, and/or salt and pepper, if desired.
Notes
- Wine Substitute: Instead of wine, you can use 1/4 cup extra chicken broth.
- Using frozen broccoli: I used fresh broccoli florets, but frozen can also be used. While I specified 4 cups, the specific amount is not too important, so go ahead and throw the whole bag in if you want to, right into the water- no need to defrost first!
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Rhonda
Thank you for what sounds like a delicious recipe. However I avoid using pasta in my meals because of their high carb content. I’m thinking about just leaving them out, or perhaps experimenting with Shirataki noodles. Do you (or anyone else) have any thoughts? Thanks so much!
Elizabeth Lindemann
I think this would be great with spaghetti squash instead of pasta! You may want to look into Banza or other chickpea pasta too – it does have carbs but fewer, plus high protein. That’s my go to traditional pasta substitute.
Kimmylouwho
super yummy! i didn’t use wine just upped the chicken broth. I didn’t have fresh basil so sprinkled Italian Spice Blend from Costco on the cooking chicken. I didn’t add the lemon zest because I only had frozen cubes of lemon juice that I make from fresh lemons off my neighbor’s trees. I used 4 frozen cubes of juice and it was just right. The almonds are a wonderful addition to the recipe! We loved it!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So happy you liked it! Um, LEMON ICE CUBES? Genius! I’m totally stealing that idea- my father-in-law has a huge Meyer lemon tree and I always hate seeing any of them go to waste! Plus, how yummy would that be in a glass of cold water or even iced tea in the summer? Thanks so much for the suggestion!
KWPR
This was really good. Fresh and light. My husband thought it needed more basil and I thought it could use more cheese but those are individual preferences.
We had leftover lemon rosemary chicken breasts so we sliced one up into bite sized pieces and added them to the sauce when the chicken broth went in. Very good.
I originally thought I would use pine nuts instead of almonds then forgot and I’m glad I did. The almonds were just right.
Elizabeth
So glad you and your husband liked it! I agree about the almonds- honestly I used to use them just because they were cheaper (in this recipe, pesto, and other recipes that called for pine nuts) but I’ve grown to like them even more than pine nuts- I like their crunch!
Amanda Wachowski
I’m going to make this for dinner, but there’s one thing I’m confused about. You said to reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water, then later on it says to add back in only 1/4 of it. What do I do with the other 1/4?
Elizabeth
After you’ve added the 1/4 cup, if it seems like it needs more liquid, you can add the rest. I’ll double check later that the recipe instructions says this and add it in if it doesn’t! Thanks, and hope you like it :)
Amanda Wachowski
Thank you! And yes, we loved it! Only change I made was I used a different kind of pasta. But the rest I made like u said. SOOOOO good!!
Lauren
I made this tonight, and it was delicious! When do you recommend adding the cooked chicken back into the dish? I added it back with the cooked pasta/broccoli mix.
Elizabeth
Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention! Looks like I must have forgotten that step. I added it right after you did, after the sauce had thickened a bit. So glad you liked it!
Lauren
Thanks so much! My picky-eaters and husband all devoured this and declared it their new favorite dish!