German-Style Smoky Chicken Penne
with Dark Meat Chicken, Zucchini & Lemon
- Milk
- Wheat
Smoky, tangy, and creamy are the hallmarks of this delicious and quick (20-minute!) pasta. You’ll toss sautéed dark meat chicken and zucchini with al dente penne in a tangy lemon cream sauce swirled with smoky mustard. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and shower of fresh green chives, and dig right in!
Ingredients
1 unit
Veggie Stock Concentrate
1 unit
Zucchini
20 ounce
Diced Skinless Dark Meat Chicken
4 tablespoon
Cream Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
1 ounce
Smoky Mustard
½ unit
Lemon
6 ounce
Penne Pasta
(Contains: Wheat)
¼ ounce
Chives
Not included in your delivery
1 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
Wash and dry produce.
Trim and halve zucchini lengthwise; cut crosswise into ¼ -inch-thick half-moons. Quarter lemon. Finely chop chives.
Once boiling, add pasta to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water (2 cup for 4), then drain.
While pasta cooks, open package of chicken and drain off any excess liquid. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken in a single layer and season with salt and pepper. Cook until browned 3 minutes.
Add zucchini and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is lightly browned and chicken is cooked through, 2-3 minutes more.
In a small bowl, whisk together smokey mustard, vegetable stock concentrate, cream cheese, juice from 1 lemon wedge, and 1/4 cup pasta cooking liquid (juice from 2 lemon wedges and 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid for 4) Ladle pasta cooking liquid directly from the pot if pasta is still cooking.
Lower heat to low and add mustard mixture. Simmer, stirring constantly until warmed through and thoroughly combined, 1-2 minutes. Add splashes of pasta cooking liquid as needed.
Add cooked pasta. Toss to combine and taste and season with salt, pepper, and another squeeze of lemon if desired.
Divide pasta between shallow bowls and top with chives. Serve.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Some loved the unique smoky mustard sauce; others found it overpowering or odd with pasta.
- Ease of prep: Many praised how quick and simple this dish was to prepare.
- Suggestions: Consider adding more sauce, seasoning, or veggies like mushrooms or peppers for extra flavor.
- Portions: A few wanted more chicken and less pasta for better balance.
- Texture: Some found the dark meat chicken too fatty; others appreciated its tenderness.
Reviews from our home cooks
This was a good penne dish and something new and different. The mustard gave it that smoky flavor, however the amount of mustard and cream cheese that was included was not nearly enough. I did end up adding a lot more cream cheese and german mustard (that I had on hand) to thicken up the sauce. It turned out great and was a nice weeknight meal.
I think of this dish as a pasta version of warm German potato salad. Basically, instead of potatoes there's penne pasta, zucchini & chicken. To me the dark chicken cooked faster than the lighter chicken. Easy to make & tasty!
Loved this one! I was so pleasantly surprised by the flavor, it was a great mix of sweet and smoky and tangy, and was super easy and quick to put together.
This was an excellent dish. I've never combined smokey with lemon and it turns out it's pretty good. I normally don't eat zucchini but I used it in the dish, and it turned me onto the veggie, which is also great. All-around an excellent dish.
I like that smoky mustard! Overall, the flavor was good and it was pretty easy to make. Could have been a little saucier.
Eliminate the step of premixing the sauce items in a separate bowl. Just add them directly into the chicken/zucchini mixture. Don't create unnecessary steps or additional dishes to clean. This is a fast and easy recipe that you unnecessarily complicated.
Very easy to make. Little mess. Would rather have mushrooms than zucchini though. Still very good and unique pasta recipe.
We really like this new recipe. Please offer it again! The combination of dark chicken meat and the smoky mustard flavor was a nice change of flavor for a pasta recipe.
Soooo tasty!! The smoky flavor is a little overpowering but overall such a delicious dinner!
Pretty close to a traditional German pasta. I loved it!
