Scott and I have a few meals that we seem to eat almost every week, and this is one of them (Scott requests it all the time)! The lemon, garlic, basil, and parmesan cheese make this dish flavorful and refreshing, and one of the best things about this recipe is that it is a one pot pasta dish (that’s right – you can make your whole dinner and only get one pot dirty)! Scott and I especially appreciate the one-pot thing because we don’t have a dishwasher in our apartment. This meal is one of our favorites – read on for the recipe!
Lemon Basil Chicken One Pot Pasta – Serves 3
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into cubes
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1/2 pound uncooked pasta
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Cut chicken breast into cubes and season with salt and pepper. Brown this chicken in heated olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet or medium pot, then lower the heat and add the 2 cloves of minced garlic. Sauté the chicken and garlic together for 1 minute.
Add the chicken broth, water, and uncooked pasta to the pot and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and cook covered for 15 minutes. Remove the cover and simmer for about 5 more minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by half.
Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice, basil, and parmesan cheese. If desired, garnish with a few lemon slices.
It’s also pretty easy to add some veggies to this dish – I like to add broccoli and Scott likes to add mushrooms. Just cook them and add to the pot while the dish is simmering. You can see that when I made it this time, I threw in some broccoli and it was a great addition!
