Sunny Lemon Chicken Rigatoni
plus Roasted Broccoli, Parmesan & Parsley
- Milk
- Wheat
Think you’ve had every possible combination of chicken and pasta? Think again—our decadent spin on “chicken riggies” is one exciting shake-up in a bowl! A bright, tangy cream sauce made with seared lemon slices and Parmesan cheese coats juicy sautéed Italian-seasoned chicken. The saucy chicken is tossed with rigatoni, then topped with charred lemon slices and fresh parsley. A side of roasted broccoli rounds out this sunny dinner idea.
Ingredients
8 ounce
Broccoli Florets
3 tablespoon
Parmesan Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
10 ounce
Chicken Cutlets
1 teaspoon
Garlic Powder
1 clove
Garlic
2 unit
Lemon
¼ ounce
Parsley
6 ounce
Rigatoni Pasta
(Contains: Wheat)
4 ounce
Cream Sauce Base
(Contains: Milk)
1.5 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
1 tablespoon
Italian Seasoning
1 unit
Chicken Stock Concentrate
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
1 tablespoon
Cooking Oil
1 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Adjust rack to top position and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry produce. • Cut broccoli into bite-size pieces if necessary. Thinly slice one lemon; quarter remaining lemon (for 4 servings, thinly slice two lemons; quarter remaining lemons). Peel and mince or grate garlic. Roughly chop parsley.
• Toss broccoli on a baking sheet with a drizzle of oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Roast on top rack until browned and tender, 15-20 minutes. TIP: If needed, cover broccoli with foil to keep warm until ready to serve.
• Once water is boiling, add rigatoni to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. Reserve ¼ cup pasta cooking water (½ cup for 4 servings), then drain.
• Pat chicken* dry with paper towels; place between 2 large pieces of plastic wrap. Pound with a mallet or rolling pin until chicken is about ½ inch thick. Season all over with 1 tsp Italian Seasoning (2 tsp for 4 servings), salt, and pepper. (Be sure to measure the Italian Seasoning—we sent more!) • Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook until browned and cooked through, 3-5 minutes per side. • Turn off heat; transfer to a cutting board. Wipe out pan and let cool slightly.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in same pan over medium-high heat. Add lemon slices in a single layer; cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and lightly browned, 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a plate. • Add garlic to same pan and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30-60 seconds. • Whisk in reserved pasta cooking water, cream sauce base, stock concentrate, Parmesan, and juice from two lemon wedges (four wedges for 4 servings). Cook, whisking, until slightly thickened, 2-4 minutes. • Reduce heat to medium low. Whisk in sour cream and 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4) until smooth. • Slice chicken crosswise. Add chicken to pan and toss to coat.
• Divide drained rigatoni between shallow bowls; top with saucy chicken. Spoon any remaining sauce from pan over everything. Garnish with seared lemon slices and parsley. • Serve with roasted broccoli and remaining lemon wedges on the side.
Chicken is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 165°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Sep 2026- Flavor: The creamy lemon sauce is a standout — bright, tangy, and restaurant-quality according to many. Some found it too lemony or slightly bitter; leaving the seared lemon slices out of the sauce (and using them only as garnish) keeps the flavor balanced.
- Ease of prep: Most found it easy to follow, though the multiple steps and pans add up; plan for more time than the recipe suggests. Getting the pasta, sauce, and chicken to finish together takes a little coordination.
- Suggestions: Add more sauce or use a smaller pasta like penne or cavatappi to help the sauce coat every bite. Toss the pasta directly in the pan with the sauce and chicken for a richer, more cohesive dish. Some reviewers skipped searing the lemon slices and added lemon zest instead for a cleaner, brighter flavor without bitterness.
- Leftovers: This dish reheats nicely and makes a satisfying next-day lunch 🍲.
- Broccoli: Steaming or pan-cooking the broccoli and stirring it into the pasta is a popular alternative to roasting, keeping it tender and well-integrated with the sauce.
Reviews from our home cooks
This is now one of my favorite HelloFresh meals! My only complaint is I was given green beans instead of broccoli. However, I cooked the green beans with a little extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice from one of the lemon wedges. I then let it sear in the skillet for added flavor. It was SUPERB!!! We loved every bite!
This meal was fantastic! Super easy to make, and the 2 servings was actually enough for 3! If you love lemon I highly recommend you try it!
The lemon was refreshing, but the slices themselves were too much. I would focus on using the lemon more in the sauce than on top. Some pieces of pasta and chicken were so sour because of it and others had no lemon flavour. The chicken itself, the sauce texture, and the rigatoni was very enjoyable. Lemon and pasta are fantastic together, but maybe zest would have been better than the slices.
It's just about perfect! Well done! You only skipped one step: you tell us to make the sauce in the same pan as the chicken, without having us first deglaze the pan. Fix that in your recipe please. Not everyone knows to do that.
Great meal - would order again! Unfortunately, we received green beans instead of broccoli. I know broccoli would have been better with this meal. I wasn't really sure the purpose served by the charred lemon slices on top of the meal. We couldn't juice them, we're not cutting them up to eat the rinds, the slices were too thin to eat the cooked flesh...I guess they were just garnish, but it seemed like a waste to me. Maybe you could explain what purpose they served (if it was for something other than garnish). After fumbling with them trying to juice them and pick out the flesh, I threw them out.
No need to grill the lemon. Season lemon slices with garlic butter salt and pepper, wrap lemon slices in foil and bake beside open veggie on tray. Softer and sweeter too!
Very flavorful and the lemon adds a lot of brightness and freshness to the pasta.
Liked the flavors with the lemon and the good balance of good protein and a lot of veggies to go with the pasta
The meal was really good, but there wasn't enough sauce for the amount of rigatoni. Maybe a smaller pasta or increase the amount of sauce.
Not as lemony as I thought it would be but I could have added more lemon as opposed to throwing away half. Great dish though.
