ONE PAN GARLIC BUTTER CHICKEN PASTA

This easy one-pan garlic butter chicken pasta gets you a full meal in just 20 minutes!

I love my one-pan wonders. If I can get a full meal at the end of a busy day that is delicious and produces less dishes to wash – then I’m a happy girl.

Why you will LOVE this One Pan Garlic Butter Chicken

• ONE PAN WONDER – We cook the chicken and the pasta in the same pan.
• DECEPTIVELY EASY – The ingredients are minimal, and are easily pantry staples.
• GARLICKY GOODNESS – If you love garlic, then this is the one for you. The chicken has a garlic marinade, and the butter garlic is super easy to make.

How to Pan Fry Garlic Chicken

I used boneless chicken thighs here, but chicken breast will work too. Optional, but I like to pat the chicken dry to remove any excess moisture before adding the marinade ingredients. This will let the ingredients stick to the chicken even more, and allow the chicken skin to crisp up as you pan fry it.

1. Marinade the chicken with garlic, salt and pepper. Allow to marinade for 30 minutes, or overnight is best.

If marinating overnight, take it out of the fridge 30 minutes prior so you’re not adding cold chicken to the pan. This will cause uneven cook on the chicken!

2. Heat oil in a pan, and use a medium heat. Gently lower in the chicken, skin side down first. This is going to help crisp it up a little more. Allow the chicken to par cook – absolutely do not touch it! For my boneless, flayed out chicken thighs, I cooked them for 7 minutes on one side, before flipping to the other side and continuing the cook for another 5-7 minutes.

PRO-TIP: While pan-frying the chicken, cook your pasta!

3. Let the chicken rest!

Once chicken cooks, remove from the pan and let it rest for 5 minutes… or while you continue with the recipe! Letting the chicken rest will seal in the juices.

How to Make Garlic Butter Pasta

Using the same pan means that we have some delicious, residual chicken, garlicky oil leftover in the pan. This is flavour goodness!

1. Add butter and garlic over low heat, and stir to combine. Allow the garlic to infuse until butter gets foamy before adding the rest of the ingredients. I like to use a low heat to infuse the garlic butter. Using a high heat might burn the garlic and give it a butter taste.
2. I added chilli flakes here, but it’s optional! Skip if you want a non-spicy version.
3. Add cooked pasta, pasta water and parmesan and toss to combine with the spicy garlic butter. Add more of the reserved pasta water if needed for an easier toss and get a more luscious pasta. Done!

No Salt?

You would notice I didn’t add any additional salt to the pasta… I didn’t think it needed any! There is salt in the residual garlic chicken oil, the pasta water and the parmesan. If you need the extra salt however, feel free to add.

How to Level Up One Pan Garlic Butter Chicken Pasta

Add some vegetables to have a complete meal! I didn’t add any here, but if I had some green beans or broccoli, I would have tossed that in the residual garlic butter after the pasta.

More Recipes Like This

• One Pan Lasagna
• One Pan Creamy Chicken & Mushroom Pasta
• One Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs

ONE PAN GARLIC BUTTER CHICKEN PASTA

Recipe by Sha

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: Recipes

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

• 300g boneless chicken thighs

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp pepper

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tbsp butter

• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)

• 2 servings pasta

• 2-3 tbsps pasta water

• 1 tbsp parmesan

Directions

• Pat chicken thighs dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Marinate with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Marinade for 30 mins, overnight is best. If marinating, take chicken out of fridge to warm to room temperature before cooking.
• Once ready to cook, heat oil in pan over medium heat. Gently lower in chicken, skin side down. Leave it alone and allow to cook for about 7 mins. Flip chicken over to finish cooking for another 5 mins or until chicken cooks through. Turn off heat and remove chicken. Let rest for 5 mins or while you continue with the recipe.
• In same pan and over low heat, add butter. Once butter melts, add minced garlic and stir to combine. Let butter get foamy and fragrant with garlic.
• Add chilli flakes next and stir to combine.
• Add cooked pasta, some pasta water for easier tossing, and parmesan.
• Toss pasta through until coated with garlic butter.
• Slice chicken before serving and top garlic butter pasta with the chicken pieces. Serve immediately.

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