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A creamy lemon pan sauce slathers perfectly-textured gluten-free pasta to make for a comforting pasta night at home. Free of gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut and tree nuts, this dietary friendly dish gives you all of the flavor without the typical allergens. This Dairy & Gluten-free Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta is sure to be in your regular dinner rotation from here on out–especially since it’s done in under 30 minutes!
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With temperatures quickly dropping here in Utah, I need a dinner with some zest and brightness. And, nothing does that better for me than the perky flavors of lemon.
But, it can’t just be any lemon dish. I need it to also be comforting–so pairing the tart flavors of lemon with pasta is the perfect solution.
This recipe has been in the works for months. Months I tell you! So, let me apologize now for sitting on it for so long. It’s gone through quite a few renditions, because to me–a creamy lemon chicken pasta is a pretty staple dish. And to claim that this dish is allergy-friendly–it has to be on par. So, my family and I have eaten quite a few variations to make sure we’ve come up with something that will meet the expectations. And I believe we have!
One thing that I was doing wrong right off the bat was using generic pasta. I told myself it was just as good–but let’s be honest–when you have pasta swimming in a cream sauce, you want the pasta to hold up. You want the pasta to still have that nice bite of al dente, even after it’s sat in a hot bubble bath of lemony goodness. So, once I made the switch to barilla pasta–that helped the recipe out a TON. Often pasta leftovers aren’t that great with gluten-free pasta because it becomes too gummy, but I was so pleasantly happy when I inhaled the leftovers the next day that the pasta totally held up! It tastes just like regular pasta and is even made with non-GMO rice and corn.
You’ll find I did some of my old tricks–to make a cream sauce I stuck with my tried and true full fat coconut milk. This is an excellent dairy-free cream replacement. Then, to replace the cheese I did a nice helping of nutritional yeast. My number one recipe on my blog is my Dairy-free Creamy Tuscan Chicken and it’s for good reason–it has these tricks in it. So, if you loved that dish, you’ll love this lemon twist.
The last thing I love about this allergy-friendly recipe is that it’s easy enough for a weeknight, but it also looks fancy enough to be served to company. The chicken and the lemon cream sauce are made in the same pan–so there’s few dishes. All you need is an additional pot to boil the pasta in, and you’re done in the dish department! Add to the fact that I simply spice my chicken with lemon pepper seasoning–to avoid having to measure and make my own blend and you’ll see why this is such an easy gluten and dairy-free chicken dinner! #winnerwinner
I hope this also helps you have a comforting pasta dish this fall, one that your whole family can enjoy–no matter their dietary restrictions!
Also–I sometimes get asked where to find these specialty ingredients. The Barilla pasta was bought at one of my FAVORITE stores, Winco. I love them for the bulk spices–it’s so much cheaper! If you just go to the regular pasta isle, you’ll see the sea of blue containers–so you’ll know you’re in the right Barilla section. What’s nice about Winco is that they have the red tags so you can clearly find the gluten-free boxes. Here’s a picture if that helps:
And to help rest assure anyone who has egg allergies like we do: I know some of regular Barilla pasta has an egg warning. I called them and specifically asked about their gluten-free products. They reassured me that their gluten-free pasta is made on a dedicated top-8-free production line. So, that certainly helped me feel better!
Lastly–if you’d like to try Barilla pasta with a discount, I’ve partnered with them to give you this coupon! So, be sure to head to grab this pasta when making this dish.
Dairy & Gluten-free Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta
A creamy lemon pan sauce slathers perfectly-textured gluten-free pasta to make for a comforting pasta night at home. Free of gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut and tree nuts, this dietary friendly dish gives you all of the flavor without the typical allergens. This Dairy & Gluten-free Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta is sure to be in your regular dinner rotation from here on out--especially since it's done in under 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- CHICKEN INGREDIENTS:
- 2 Chicken Breasts, sliced in half
- Olive oil
- Lemon pepper seasoning
- CREAMY LEMON SAUCE INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup full-fat canned coconut cream (found in the Asian isle)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- PASTA INGREDIENTS:
- half of a 12 oz box of Barilla gluten-free spaghetti
- large stock pot of water
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon of dried minced garlic
- OPTIONAL TOPPINGS:
- cherry tomatoes, or chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- In a large stock pot filled with water over medium high heat, add the salt and dried minced garlic. Bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, add your barilla pasta and boil for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- While your pasta is boiling, add a generous amount of olive oil to a pan over medium heat. While it's heating, thinly slice your chicken breasts and season generously with lemon pepper seasoning. I did about 1/4-1/2 a teaspoon on each piece. Add the seasoned chicken to the olive oil and cook until done.
- Set the chicken aside and add to the pan all of the sauce ingredients. Use a flat whisk to thoroughly stir and combine. Once the sauce is heated through, add in your pasta and stir to coat. Top with your cooked chicken breasts. Garnish as desired and serve.
- Leftovers keep well for a day in an air-tight container.
Notes
Adapted heavily from: The Recipe Critic
Looking for other chicken dishes? Try some of my other favorites:
30 Minute Dairy-free Creamy Tuscan Chicken
Oprah’s Unfried Chicken Made Allergy-friendly
Slow Cooker Green Chile Enchilada Soup
Mariah
Mine tasted…. interesting at first.. I realized I didn’t use the same pan as the chicken so I cut up the chicken at the end and mixed it in with the pasta and cheese sauce- definitely added to the flavor. Everyone loved it! My daughter is EF,DF,GF … so we try to compromise on our meals. Luckily we all loved this one tonight. Thank you!
Megan Lavin
You’re very welcome!
Lauren
I made this tonight and my picky 6 year old loved it!! That’s a huge win! I loved it too. We just went GF and DF and the dairy part is hardest for him. Thanks so much for this!! I added in some baked paleo turkey bacon pieces and roasted carrots sliced up. So good! I posted it and now everyone wants to try it. We are grateful for finding your page!
Megan Lavin
Happy to have you here Lauren. And I agree, dairy is soo hard to lose. I’m so glad that you enjoyed this. Thanks for the feedback. If you haven’t yet, please rate it by clicking the stars in the recipe card.
Julie
I don’t normally the the time to comment on recipes, but I just had to tell you how delicious this recipe is! I was a little weary at first with so much lemon juice, but OMG I absolutely love this and will make again! It was really nice having a creamy pasta dinner for a change with my dairy and gluten free lifestyle. I made an olive tapenade to go on some gluten free toast on the side and steamed some broccoli/ cauliflower to put some of the extra sauce on. (I doubled the sauce recipe). My tastebuds are very happy right now. 😊
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Hooray! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it. I always appreciate the feedback.
Jessie
Made this last night and it was amazing! Thank you!
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Hooray! So glad you liked it. Thanks for letting me know.
becca
I once learned that you should add salt to a pot of water only after it has started boiling, That way It doesn’t Burn on the bottom of the pot While you’re trying to Bring the water to a boil Which could cause A weird Bitter taste
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Thanks for the feedback–that’s interesting! I’ve never had it burn, but better to be safe than sorry I guess.
Alina
What do you recommend as an alternative for the coconut cream? Coconut is one of my allergens.
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I would suggest using one of your safe milks (rice or flax would be the ones that I think would give off less of an after-taste), and then you’ll have to play with how much you use, since those are thinner than full fat coconut milk. Good luck and enjoy!
Lauren
If you can do nuts, the Nut Pods creamers are great as a thicker alternative or maybe play around with a thinner alternative creamer and tapioca flour etc fo thicken it?
Sandi
This is our favorite gluten free pasta 🙂
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I can see why!
Nicole Dawson
Before going vegan, lemon chicken was one of my favorite pasta dishes! I can say that this recipe is easily tempting me 🙂
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Ought oh! Sorry for the temptation!
Jereann Zann
Looks totally scrumptious. I would love to add this to our dinner line up!
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Thanks! It’s an honor to grace your dinner line up!
Sharon @ What the Fork
Barilla is one of my favorite pastas! Also, my family would absolutely love this delicious pasta recipe!
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Yes, they really are a great brand!
Chrystal @ Gluten-Free Palate
I love pasta that is easy to make and super comforting. Looks yummy!
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Thanks! Yes, the jackpot is easy+comforting!
Kelly @ TastingPage
Nice to see more gluten free options. Love your recipe. Looks like a great staple!
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Yes to more gluten-free options!