Chicken Penne al Limone
with Zucchini, Toasted Garlic & Fresh Parsley
- Wheat
- Milk
When life gives you lemons... you could make lemonade. But wouldn’t you rather whip up a delectable homemade pasta limone? This rich, tangy, oh-so-easy sauce comes together in a flash with lemon zest and juice, Parmesan, and butter—plus toasted garlic and a cream sauce base for good measure. It’s all tossed with penne pasta, sautéed zucchini, and chicken breast strips, then garnished with fresh parsley and more Parm. Each bowl’s served with lemon wedges for squeezing on a little extra zing. This dish is truly the best of the zest.
Ingredients
1 clove
Garlic
1 unit
Lemon
6 ounce
Penne Pasta
(Contains: Wheat)
4 ounce
Cream Sauce Base
(Contains: Milk)
1 unit
Zucchini
¼ ounce
Parsley
10 ounce
Chicken Breast Strips
3 tablespoon
Parmesan Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
Not included in your delivery
1 teaspoon
Olive Oil
2 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Salt
Pepper
2 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Wash and dry produce. • Peel and thinly slice garlic. Trim and quarter zucchini lengthwise; cut crosswise into ½-inch-thick pieces. Zest and quarter lemon. Finely chop parsley.
• Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large, preferably nonstick, pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and fragrant, 1 minute. TIP: Keep a close eye on the garlic to avoid burning. Remove from heat as soon as it turns a pale golden color. • Turn off heat; using a slotted spoon, transfer garlic to a paper-towel-lined plate. Wipe out pan.
• Once water is boiling, add penne to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. • Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water, then drain and set aside. • While pasta cooks, heat a drizzle of oil in pan used for garlic over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and cook, stirring, until tender and lightly golden, 5-6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. • Transfer to a plate.
• While zucchini cooks, pat chicken* dry with paper towels; season with salt and pepper. • Once zucchini is done, heat a drizzle of oil in same pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken in a single layer and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes. • Reduce heat to medium.
• Stir in cream sauce base, ¼ cup reserved pasta cooking water (½ cup for 4 servings), and a big squeeze of lemon juice; cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 2-3 minutes. TIP: If sauce seems too thick, stir in another splash or two of pasta cooking water.
• Add drained penne, toasted garlic, zucchini, half the Parmesan, half the parsley, half the lemon zest (use all the zest if desired), and 2 TBSP butter (3 TBSP for 4 servings) to pan with sauce. Toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. TIP: If needed, stir in more pasta cooking water a splash at a time until everything is coated in a creamy sauce. • Divide pasta between bowls. Top with remaining Parmesan and remaining parsley. Serve with remaining lemon wedges on the side.
Chicken is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 165°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Apr 2026- Flavor: Many loved the bright lemon taste, though some found it bland and needed extra seasoning or herbs like oregano.
- Ease of prep: Super quick and easy to make, though timing can be tricky with multiple pans and components finishing at different times.
- Suggestions: Add more garlic, lemon zest, and cream sauce; some prefer substituting broccoli or spinach for zucchini.
- Leftovers: Reheats well the next day, though it can become a bit dry when reheated.
- Chicken quality: Many noted the pre-chopped chicken has inconsistent pieces, fat, and tough bits; prefer cutting whole breasts themselves.
Reviews from our home cooks
Easy to make and delicious. I recommend using more garlic and other seasonings on the chicken and zucchini. I also added a little more cheese to the dish. Included a garlic bread with the order that complemented nicely.
So much flavor in such a good way! I actually cooked the garlic, chicken and zucchini all together and I think because of that the zucchini absorbed so much of that flavor it was sooo good!
This was a great time of fellowship for my husband and me. There are several steps and parts to this dish, so plan on having several people in on the meal to help. Don't overcook the penne, follow the instructions, and the dish will be restaurant worthy. Happy eating.
Super easy to complete this menu. Hubs loved the very light sauce in the penne, good flavor but not too rich.
The toasted garlic felt like an unnecessary step [it didn't add much flavour and could have been added to the zucchini] but otherwise this was really good.
I deviated a little from the recipe and left out the lemon and parsley. I added shallots with the garlic. I added and melted all the cheese into the sauce rather than any as a topping! I also added carrots with the zucchini. Sooo good!
11 minutes is not long enough to cook the penne. The instructions do not say to take the zucchini out of the pan before putting the chicken in so I overcooked the zucchini. Also I do NOT like the chicken strips. I wish there was the option to get the chicken cutlets instead. The strips have fat on them and I have to cut it off, one tiny strip at a time, which is a very slow process. Other than that, the flavor is good and we like this dish. I will be adjusting it next time I get this, if I remember.
I just wanted to make a comment. This is one of my favorite dishes, I make it every once in awhile when it's not available. But please don't change one random ingredient so that it looks the same but doesn't taste the same. I've experienced this twice, when either green onions or chives is randomly substituted with parsley. This dish tastes great with the green onion and if I had known there was parsley in here instead, I would've bought the onion to use in place of parsley. It doesn't taste as good. I realize that it's in the description but when you see the Chicken Penne al Limone recipe, you just assume it's the same and you just add it.
Only one issue with the instructions here. After toasting the garlic, your instructions call for wiping out the pan before adding more oil to saute the zucchini. This was a little questionable, because using the oil already in the pan, nicely flavored with garlic, was too nice to wipe out just to add oil again! I just tossed the zucchini into the same oil and continued on, skipping that step.
The penne pasta dominated the whole meal. I think less of it would have made the dish taste better.
