This Honey Lemon Chicken Pasta is ready in 20 minutes, making it the perfect weeknight meal! Pair with a simple salad or veggies and extra lemon wedges to amp up the lemon flavor. Your family will love this easy pasta recipe!
Easy Honey Lemon Chicken Pasta Recipe
Lemon and honey are so good together. This angel hair pasta with chicken is bright, tangy and sweet, and feels perfect for warmer weather. It’s a fast, easy pasta recipe that the whole family will love. Bonus: it’s ready in less than 20 minutes!
I used angel hair pasta because it cooks so quickly, and because the chicken is cut into bite-sized pieces it also cooks fast. After cooking the pasta, it’s transferred into the skillet the chicken cooks in, and everything is tossed together in the honey lemon sauce the chicken simmers in.
The sauce helps keep the chicken perfectly moist and tender. It’s tart yet sweet enough and coats the pasta perfectly. I love the pronounced lemon flavor that’s achieved from a combination of lemon juice and lemon pepper seasoning.
If you’re a lemon lover or a fan of easy dinners that taste like a million bucks but that are really so simple, you’ll love this angel hair pasta recipe for those busy nights!
Honey Lemon Chicken Pasta Ingredients
For this angel hair pasta with chicken recipe, you’ll need:
- Angel hair pasta
- Honey
- Lemon juice
- Olive oil
- Apple cider vinegar
- Lemon pepper seasoning
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh thyme
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts
How to Make Lemon Chicken Pasta
To make this easy pasta recipe, first cook the angel hair pasta according to package instructions.
While the pasta cooks, prep the honey lemon chicken. Add the honey, lemon juice, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon pepper seasoning, salt, pepper, and thyme to a large bowl and stir to combine.
Then, season chicken with lemon pepper seasoning and cook in an oiled skillet until it’s almost fully cooked. Turn the heat down and carefully add the sauce to the skillet. Allow the lemon sauce sauce to bubble at a low boil for about 5 minutes, or until it’s thickened and reduced some.
Once the chicken is cooked through, add the pasta to the skillet and toss to combine. You can garnish the lemon chicken pasta with Parmesan, fresh herbs, or a squeeze of lemon juice!
Tips for the Best Lemon Chicken Pasta
I used angel hair pasta in this recipe because it cooks quickly, but you’re welcome to use any pasta you have on hand. I like longer, skinnier pastas for this recipe since the sauce coats them nicely, but shorter pastas (like bow tie) would be fine too.
For the best flavor, I recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice instead of the bottled stuff. I know it seems like such a small thing, but fresh lemon juice is so much brighter and has lots more flavor in my opinion!
Your lemon pepper seasoning blend shouldn’t have salt in it, but if it does be sure to taste the sauce before adding any additional salt to it. You might not need to add any salt to this dish, it’s totally up to you.
Finally, make sure to flip the chicken a few times while it cooks to ensure it cooks through evenly. You don’t want one side of the chicken to be more browned than another side.
More Easy Pasta Recipes:
- Lemon Butter Garlic Shrimp with Angel Hair Pasta — Buttery noodles with juicy plump shrimp, flavored with lemon and garlic!! A family-friendly dinner recipe that’s ready in 15 minutes and it’s so EASY!!
- Easy 15-Minute Spaghetti — This Easy Spaghetti Recipe is ready in just 15 minutes and is a hearty, comforting meal during cooler months. Pair with a side salad or steamed veggies for a full meal and enjoy!
- Italian Chicken Pasta Salad — This Italian Chicken Pasta Salad is easy, ready in 20 minutes, and showcases some of my favorite summer ingredients.
- BLT Pasta Salad — Creamy ranch dressing perfectly coats the pasta and BACON. Guaranteed family FAVORITE!
- One-Pot Beef and Bow Tie Soup — EASY, hearty, comfort food that’s full of flavor!! A FAST and tasty soup the whole family will LOVE! It will keep your warm on chilly winter nights!
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Honey Lemon Chicken with Angel Hair Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces angel hair pasta, cooked according to package directions
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil for sauce + 1 tablespoon for cooking chicken
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning blend for sauce + more for sprinkling over chicken
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
- leaves from 2 or 3 sprigs of thyme, optional and to taste
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into bite-sized pieces (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Instructions
Make the Pasta
- Cook according to directions on box, drain, and set aside.
Make the Chicken
- To a medium bowl or large measuring cup, add the honey, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil, apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning, salt, pepper, optional thyme, and stir to combine; set sauce aside.
- To a large skillet, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, add chicken, generously sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning, and cook chicken over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, flipping intermittently so all sides cook evenly. Cooking time will vary based on thickness of chicken breasts and sizes of pieces. Chicken should be about 90% cooked through.
- Turn heat to medium-low, and carefully add the sauce noting that it may bubble up in the first few seconds.
- Allow sauce to bubble at a low boil for about 5 minutes, or until sauce has thickened and reduced some, and chicken is cooked through. Stir sauce and flip chicken intermittently throughout.
Assemble the Pasta
- Add pasta to skillet with the chicken and toss to combine and coat. Serve immediately.
- Chicken and pasta are best warm and fresh, but will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat gently prior to serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Easy Chicken Manicotti — This is such a simple dish and with so few ingredients that comes out tasting like a million bucks. The chicken is soft, moist, and tender and there’s ample sauce to coat everything and to add flavor!
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I followed directions and it came out not very good the chicken was OK but the pasta reminded me of the movie elf when he took the maple syrup and poured it all over the spaghetti. This was definitely not for me!
If it was too sweet, then you could cut back on the honey and/or increase the lemon next time. We all have different tastes and preferences. Thanks for trying the recipe.
It was lovely. So different and fresh. One caveat would be to cook the chicken less, so that if it takes the sauce longer to thicken, the chicken doesn’t get dry. I added some fresh spinach at the last minute and stirred till wilted. Such a treat! Thanks Averie.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! The spinach sounds like a great touch!
Oh my goodness!! Talk about amazing and light but flavorful and savory at the same time! This dish was outstanding and I’m so impressed. I was a little worried because I am a very heavy sauce type of person when it comes to my pasta so when I was done cooking I was a little nervous looking into the pan. But I was so surprised and excited when I took the first bite. This one is definitely a keeper!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! And I love that even though you normally like heavy sauces that you were satisfied with this one!
I was looking for a quick chicken recipe to cook tonight before heading out for a meeting at the school. Glad I found this one! It taste yummy. I didnt have quite enough honey, so the vinegar is a tad stronger, but not enough to stop me from eating it… lol This is a keeper for me. Thank you!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you even with a little less honey since you were low.
I cooked this honey-lemon-chicken with angel hair pasta today and it tasted really good!! I didn´t find lemon pepper in our super market so I decided to make some at home (I used white pepper and lemon zest). Next time I´ll use less honey because for me, it was too dominant. But I can absolutely recommend this delicious recipe (I needed only half an hour for everything!) :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you with your homemade lemon pepper! And yes, cut back the honey to taste. My family prefers things a little sweeter but not everyone does, so just tweak that as you see fit.
I served this for dinner tonight and it was fabulous. My husband, who is pepper-crazy, didn’t add any extra seasonings and helped himself to two heaping servings. My picky one year old devoured her little helping as well! :) Thank you for this amazing and super easy recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! And that your family was happy!
This dish was good, but it was a bit too sweet for me. Any suggestions on how to cut down on the sweetness?
Just use less honey and/or more lemon, to taste, next time. Some honey is just sweeter than others based on the bees. Easy fix for next time. Thanks for trying the recipe!
My husband and I loved it. Thank you for sharing!
So glad it was a hit! Thanks for trying the recipe!
Planning on making this for dinner tonight. Just realized I have everything but Lemon Pepper seasoning. Any suggestions?
Just use regular black pepper, noting it won’t be quite as lemony but it’ll save you a trip to the groc store.
I’m not sure went wrong, but this dish did not go over well in our household. I might try it again and either lessen or remove the apple cider vinegar.
Thanks for trying the recipe and if your family doesn’t like ACV, feel free to remove it and replace with extra lemon juice, or just omit; adjusting cooking/simmering time accordingly.
I bet this would be good with the added flavor of capers. Make it like a chicken piccata.
Probably would be!
Delish dinner. Only problem I had was that sauce didn’t get thick I don’t know why :(
Glad you enjoyed it! It doesn’t get thick like ketchup, but if you let it reduce in the skillet, i.e. let the water cook off through boiling and evaporation, it will become thicker than it was when you added it. Maybe you just didn’t let it boil quite long enough to reduce enough but glad it was still delish for you!
Making this tonight using zoodles to keep it even lighter and fresher. I think its going to be a big summer time hit for our household! Thanks for the great recipe
Enjoy it with the zoodles!
This sounds delish!! I am preparing several meals for a friend – first time mom who is having twins. I want to cook meals that freeze well and are yummy reheated. Do you think this would work if I fully prepare, then freeze & she reheats in the oven low heat for a little?? Thanks so much for your time and suggestions!
Good question, but since I haven’t tried this as a freezer meal per se, I can’t say for sure how things will fare. I would probably just cook as directed, freeze, and let it thaw to room temp and zap in micro for a minute rather than a low oven which would I think dry everything out. You could make a batch for yourself/your family, save one serving behind, freeze and test it out and see what happens! LMK!
Did enjoy it, thank you so much! It was really tasty even without the lemon pepper. I made half before but I’m making it tonight again. Full amount this time but doing it slightly different. I’m marinating the chicken in it and then I’ll cook the chicken in the skillet with all the “marinade!” Should make it extra lemony yum! It was super great with rice. Loved the sauce on the rice. So good! Think it would do great with mushrooms, too!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you even without the lemon pepper. Glad you loved the sauce with rice and yes I bet it’ll be so good with mushrooms, too! Enjoy it again tonight!
I’m making this tonight for sure! Only down fall, we don’t have lemon pepper or a lemon to make lemon pepper so I won’t be using it. I’m sure it’ll be just as good, though!
Also might serve with rice instead of pasta .. or something diff. Not sure what yet, but gotta stay away from the pasta! :( Love super quick and delish and tasty meals and this sounds great!!! :D Thank you for posting! :)
Hope you enjoy it!