30 Minute Crispy Chicken Pasta with Lemon Sauce

Weeknight Crispy Chicken

Weeknight Crispy Chicken: This under 30 minute dish is perfect for a weeknight. Crispy chicken cutlets with lemon, a cream sauce, and angel hair pasta.

Sometimes I really struggle with the cooking time for recipes I write. There’s a lot of factors that might affect how much time a recipe takes. Most importantly, if you cook a lot, recipes will be quicker. You’ll know where stuff is in the kitchen, you’ll know how to chop an onion, and you’ll feel more comfortable with the steps. This 30 Minute Crispy Chicken Pasta dish though is a legit fast recipe.

There are other things though that can affect cooking time. In my case, am I taking photos? That’ll add on an hour in some cases. Also, is there a toddler crawling around trying to get into trouble? Tack on some more time.

The first time I made this recipe (for the blog), it was pretty fast even with photos and stuff. Then I made it again a few nights later when I was really crunched for time. I was amazed at how fast it was when I just had to make it with no worry about blogging. I call it a 30 minute recipe but you can do it in 20. No joke!

I added some time to that because I’m pretty efficient in my kitchen these days, but even if you only cook occasionally, this is easily a weeknight crispy chicken meal. The crispy chicken cooks quickly because they are thin cutlets and the sauce comes together in just a few minutes after the chicken is done.

Who says you can’t eat well on a Tuesday?!

Crispy Chicken

Weeknight Crispy Chicken

This under 30 minute dish is perfect for a weeknight. Crispy chicken cutlets with lemon, a cream sauce, and angel hair pasta.
3.62 from 13 votes
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 30 mins
Course Main Dishes
Cuisine American, Italian
Servings 2 Servings

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 2 thin chicken cutlets
  • 1 egg whisked
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon pepper
  • cup olive oil
  • ½ white onion diced
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 lemon zest
  • Fresh parsley garnish
  • 8 oz. angel hair pasta

Instructions
 

  • If you’re starting with a full chicken breast, slice it in half horizontally to make two thin chicken cutlets.
  • Dredge chicken cutlets in egg, then transfer to flour mixture (flour stirred with salt, paprika, and pepper). Coat chicken well with flour mixture and set aside.
  • Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once oil is hot and glistening, cook chicken for 4-5 minutes per side until the cutlets are golden brown and chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from skillet and let drain on a paper towel.
  • Drain off most the oil from the skillet, leaving about a tablespoon. Add diced onion to the skillet and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until onion softens. Use the onion to scrape up any bits on the pan.
  • Deglaze pan with 1 cup chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for a minute. Then add cream and turn heat down to low. Continue to cook so sauce thickens. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
  • Cook angel hair according to package. It should take just a few minutes.
  • Drain pasta and divide between two plates. Add a crispy chicken cutlet to each plate. Squirt chicken with some lemon. Top chicken with cream sauce and garnish with lemon zest and parsley.

Nutrition

Serving: 1plateCalories: 936kcalCarbohydrates: 102gProtein: 60gFat: 32gSaturated Fat: 16gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 261mgSodium: 3916mgPotassium: 1330mgFiber: 8gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 2801IUVitamin C: 33mgCalcium: 131mgIron: 4mg
Keyword Chicken Pasta, Crispy Chicken

Did you make this?

Instagram logo

Snap a photo and tag @macheesmo so I can see your work.

30 Minute Crispy Chicken with Pasta

There are a few tricks to keep this recipe quick. For starters, make sure you have thin chicken cutlets. What I like to do is take a full chicken breast and slice it in half horizontally so you end up with two thinner chicken pieces.

I don’t bother pounding them to ensure they are perfectly the same.

Chicken Prep - 30 Minute Crispy Chicken Pasta
Chicken set up.

Whisk an egg in a small bowl and stir together some flour with the spices in the recipe. Dunk the chicken in the egg and then coat them well in the flour mixture.

Breading Chicken - Fast Crispy Chicken Recipe
Quick breading

There are really only two other chopping things you need to do: Chop an onion and zest a lemon. A lot of lemon zest makes this dish really pop so feel free to zest a whole lemon.

Lemon zest - 30 Minute Crispy Chicken Recipe with Pasta
Zesty!

To cook the chicken, heat some oil in a large skillet. You just need enough oil to cover the bottom of the skillet. Cook the chicken cutlets for 4-5 minutes on each side over medium heat until they are browned nicely on both sides and cooked through.

Frying Chicken - 30 Minute Crispy Chicken
Doesn’t take long

These crispy chicken cutlets should cook pretty quickly. Mine were done in 8 minutes for sure.

Chicken cooked - Fast Crispy Chicken with Pasta
Yum.

When the chicken comes out of the skillet, drain out most of the oil but leave about a tablespoon (you can eyeball it). Then add the diced onion and cook that for a minute or two and add the chicken stock. Use the liquid to scrape up any bits stuck to the pan.

Making Sauce - Fast Crispy Chicken with Lemon Sauce
Saucy!

Let that simmer for a minute or two and then add the cream. When you add the cream, turn the heat down to low and simmer the sauce until it starts to thicken. It won’t take long, just keep it on low heat.

Finishing Sauce - Fast Crispy Chicken
Not hard.

While all this is happening, you can cook the pasta. You could use any pasta, but I like angel hair because it cooks quickly and goes well with a light cream sauce like this one.

Pasta - 30 Minute Crispy Chicken
Just enough

Divide the pasta between a few plates and top each with a chicken cutlet. I like to hit the chicken with a spritz of lemon juice.

Then spoon some sauce on each and garnish each plate with fresh parsley and lemon zest.

BOOM. This Crispy Chicken Pasta dinner is done!

30 Minute Crispy Chicken Pasta with Lemon Sauce

Here are a few other great weeknight chicken recipes!

10 Responses to “Weeknight Crispy Chicken” Leave a comment

  1. This was really good,I’ll be making it again, but my sauce never really thickened, I cooked it for several minutes. I wonder if adding a but if flour with the onions would work, or would that mess it up?

    1. You sure can add flour, LS57. Just be sure to let it cook for 2-3 minutes to cook out the starchy flavor.

    2. Yea. Matt is right. Typically, there is enough flour/bits in the pan to thicken the sauce, but if you want a surefire thicker sauce, add a teaspoon or two of flour and stir it into the onions before adding the liquid. Let the flour cook for a minute or two and then you’ll have a thicker sauce.

  2. Love recipes like this. I never think of using thin cutlets, just normal chicken breasts. Takes about 3 minutes of frying on each side, and then 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven. You could practically deepfry these cutlets for 5 minutes and be done. Great recipe.
    I like making a cherry sauce — frozen tart cherries heated up with some sugar, and balsamic vinegar to taste.

  3. Nick..”…
    Living alone leave me lots of time to cook FANCY but I don’t want to cook FANCY!! Instead I want it to TASTE FANCY w a gourmet touch. I like quick and easy with your BRILLANT RESULTS . This recipe for WEEKNIGHT
    CRISPY CHICKEN is sure to be my favorite Chicken Recipe now!!! I eat a lot of chicken and fish w rice but now I have a quick chicken w pasta go to recipe rptgat I just might have to make with Tilapia soon.

    Way to go Nick…I love your family humor too. Happy Holidays

Join the Conversation

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating