We are obsessed with this chicken with baked lemon pasta! It’s the perfect flavorful, comforting dinner that everyone loves. Add a roasted vegetable on the side and it’s the ideal weeknight meal. Monday dinner is served! This dish is cozy, satisfying and COMPLETE. A full meal right here, and you can throw in some roasted […]
The post Seared Cast Iron Chicken with Baked Lemon Pasta. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.
We are obsessed with this chicken with baked lemon pasta! It’s the perfect flavorful, comforting dinner that everyone loves. Add a roasted vegetable on the side and it’s the ideal weeknight meal.
Monday dinner is served!

This dish is cozy, satisfying and COMPLETE. A full meal right here, and you can throw in some roasted vegetables. Creamy, lemony pasta tossed with parmesan and baked until tender. Juicy, flavorful chicken sliced and served with it for a dinner that you will love.
You may even fight over the leftovers.

The biggest request I get from you guys is to share more “full meals”. Whole meals, including the entree and the side dish, that may be different from something in one pot, on one sheet pan, etc. And I love to do that because it’s often what I’m searching for too. Especially when I’m menu planning for the week and trying to simplify.
This pasta and chicken is a meal that we make often, so I am pumped to be sharing with you today.

It sort of feels fancy, but it isn’t at all.
It’s cozy and comforting without being heavy and decadent.
And it’s super versatile! You can swap the cheese in the pasta, throw in some vegetables, change up the seasonings on the chicken and more.
P.S. please see those brown buttery flecks in that pasta above?! I mean… oh my word.

If you have a copy of Everyday Dinners, you know I have a recipe for a cheesy lemon orzo in the book. It’s baked, almost like a light lemon orzo mac and cheese – and it’s divine. I make a version of it often for dinner, and end up using any cut of pasta I have in the house. Sometimes I even mix pastas if I have a few left of each!

I start this the same way I do my parmesan orzo – by toasting the pasta in butter and garlic. Sort of like risotto! This is an extra step, of course, but it makes it SO worth it. It adds a depth of flavor that wouldn’t be there otherwise. This is why we use a tiny cut of pasta. I used farfallini in this recipe, but I have a hard time finding it now. Ditalini and orzo would work too. And when the pasta cooks up, the toasty little bits are just incredible. After that, I add stock and bake it for a bit. Then stir in all the goodness: the fresh lemon zest and parmesan.
While the pasta bakes, I make an easy chicken breast in my cast iron skillet. I love doing chicken this way because it’s simple, but still flavorful. The cast iron results in golden brown crust – this is why I love to use butter here. You get that browned butter, super golden outside on the chicken breast and so.much.flavor. It’s totally worth it. (more…)
The post Seared Cast Iron Chicken with Baked Lemon Pasta. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.