Dairy & Gluten-free Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta

Name: Dairy & Gluten-free Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2
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

January 7, 2024 by Megan Lavin » 49 Comments

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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!

This post contains affiliate links. This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PastaPerfection #CollectiveBias

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.

Why I Love This Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta

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!

What Paste to Use

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.

Can you use other pasta shapes for this recipe?

You can totally use different pasta shapes with this recipe. Use whatever you have on hand. Penne, rotini, angel hair…they would all be good! Even a low-carb option like veggie noodles would be delicious.

What pan is deep enough for this recipe?

You’ll need two types of pots/pans for this recipe: a stock pot large enough to boil the gluten-free spaghetti in, and a saute pan. Because you’re cooking both the chicken and the sauce, and then adding the noodles to it all, I prefer to use a 3 quart saute pan, like this the one shown. This one is 3-4 inches deep. It’s better to have too deep of a pan than too shallow.

What To Serve with Chicken Pasta

I like to serve green vegetables with this gluten-free chicken pasta. And, I like to keep it simple, something sauteed or grilled like:

asparagus (Either my roasted garlic balsamic asparagus or my asparagus with bacon and red onion vinaigrette)
broccoli
zucchini
Green beans (like my oven roasted garlic, bacon and brown sugar green beans)

But, feel free to use whatever canned, frozen or fresh vegetable you need to use up with it. Otherwise, your carbs and protein are already taken care of in the dish. There is no shame in an easy side dish game when you already have a super star on the plate.

Storage & Reheating

I would not recommend freezing this dish. I do not find gluten-free noodles freeze and then thaw well without turning to mush.

You can store leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to three days should you need to make it ahead of time.

More gluten free dairy free pasta recipes to love:

If you’re looking for more gluten free dairy free pasta recipes like this one, check out these other beloved recipes: