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    Chicken Pasta with Creamy Cilantro-Lime Alfredo Sauce

    Published: Jul 30, 2015 / 39 Comments

    293.8K shares
    • Facebook2.8K
    Recipe Print

    Cilantro-Lime Chicken Pasta - delicious spaghetti in a creamy white cheese sauce with lots of flavor!   The sauce is made by cooking garlic, adding freshly squeezed lime juice and cilantro and then mixing everything in a homemade alfredo sauce! Delicious Summer pasta!

    Creamy Cilantro-Lime Chicken Pasta (close-up photo of pasta with the fork in the middle)

    If you're looking for quick and easy chicken dinner ideas - cilantro lime chicken pasta is a fantastic choice. The recipe takes only 30 minutes from start to finish and it uses very simple, basic ingredients. You'll love the lime, garlic, and cilantro flavors combined in this creamy dish! Perfect dinner in the Summer!

    Cook's tips

    • Use freshly squeezed lime juice. Squeeze 1 large lime to produce about 2 tablespoons of lime juice. If you do use bottled lime juice - use smaller amount than indicated in the recipe. Freshly squeezed lime juice is very flavorful, and that's what should be used in this recipe.
    • Save some cooked pasta water. If your creamy sauce gets too thick, add pasta water to the sauce to thin it out.

    Substitutions

    • Use either chicken breast or skinless boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins. Slice the chicken before cooking.
    • To make this pasta gluten free, use gluten free brown rice pasta. If you use gluten free pasta, make sure to rinse it after you cooked it in boiling water - it will prevent it from getting mushy.
    • Use either shredded Mozzarella cheese or shredded Parmesan cheese to make the sauce.

    Chicken Pasta with Creamy Cilantro-Lime Sauce lifted on a fork above the stainless steel skillet filled with pasta

    Chicken Pasta with Creamy Cilantro-Lime Sauce in a stainless steel skillet

    4.78 from 66 votes

    Creamy Cilantro-Lime Chicken Pasta

    Chicken Pasta with Creamy Cilantro-Lime Alfredo Sauce - delicious spaghetti in a creamy white cheese sauce with lots of flavor!  Easy to make: only 30 minutes from start to finish!  Delicious Summer recipe. 
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 20 mins
    Total Time 30 mins
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine American
    Servings 4 servings
    Calories per serving 611 kcal
    Author: Julia

    Ingredients

    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • 1 lb chicken breast , sliced
    • salt and pepper
    • 3 garlic cloves , minced
    • 2 tablespoons lime juice , freshly squeezed, use less if bottled juice
    • ¼ cup chicken broth
    • 1 tablespoon cilantro fresh, chopped
    • ⅔ cups heavy cream
    • ⅔ cups milk
    • ½ cup mozzarella cheese or parmesan cheese, shredded
    • 8 oz spaghetti pasta (for gluten free, use gluten free brown rice spaghetti)
    • reserved cooked pasta water
    • 1 tablespoon cilantro fresh, chopped

    Instructions 

    • Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium-hot heat. Generously season sliced chicken with salt and pepper, add to the hot skillet and cook for about 5 minutes until done. Remove sliced chicken from the skillet.
    • To the same skillet, add minced garlic, lime juice and chicken broth. Cook for 1-2 minutes on high heat, deglazing and scraping the skillet until the liquid is reduced and making sure garlic does not burn and brown too much. Mix in chopped cilantro.
    • Add heavy cream and milk. Bring to boil, the immediately add cheese and mix in until melted, while boiling. Then, remove from heat.
    • Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain, reserving some cooked pasta water.
    • Add pasta to the sauce, along with the half of the chicken. Mix everything in and season pasta with more salt, if needed.
    • Top with the remaining half of the chicken and more chopped cilantro.

    Notes

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    Nutrition

    Nutrition Information
    Creamy Cilantro-Lime Chicken Pasta
    Amount per Serving
    Calories
    611
    % Daily Value*
    Fat
     
    29
    g
    45
    %
    Saturated Fat
     
    13
    g
    81
    %
    Cholesterol
     
    142
    mg
    47
    %
    Sodium
     
    309
    mg
    13
    %
    Potassium
     
    660
    mg
    19
    %
    Carbohydrates
     
    47
    g
    16
    %
    Fiber
     
    1
    g
    4
    %
    Sugar
     
    3
    g
    3
    %
    Protein
     
    36
    g
    72
    %
    Vitamin A
     
    780
    IU
    16
    %
    Vitamin C
     
    5.6
    mg
    7
    %
    Calcium
     
    164
    mg
    16
    %
    Iron
     
    1.2
    mg
    7
    %
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

    Keyword cilantro lime pasta, summer pasta
    Tried this recipe?Be sure to leave a comment and provide a Star Rating below - I love your feedback and try to respond to every comment!
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Hepsi Torres

      June 06, 2022 at 7:36 pm

      Thank you so much for this recipe. So very easy and absolutely delicious. Perfectly easy and savory for a Monday night

      Reply
    2. Alex

      June 04, 2022 at 1:37 pm

      Is this dish good as leftovers?
      I have company coming over and don’t have time to make it the day of. So wondering if I could make it a day ahead of time

      Reply
    3. Elizabeth E Ellerbe-Williams

      December 06, 2021 at 11:32 am

      This is hands down the BEST cilantro lime creamy pasta recipe ever. I have tried a couple others but this was so much simpler and the yummiest! I used shredded Mozarella that has cream cheese in it. I used shrimp because because what I had planned to use but am going to definitely make it with chicken this weekend. Thank you for sharing this recipe. ❤❤❤

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 12, 2021 at 5:56 pm

        Elizabeth, your comment made my day! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this wonderful and positive feedback - I appreciate it! I am glad this recipe was delicious with shrimp!

        Reply
    4. Wendy

      July 21, 2021 at 9:40 am

      Can you use zoodles instead of pasta? And can you use almond milk in place of milk?

      Reply
      • Julia

        August 13, 2021 at 9:42 pm

        You can use zoodles instead of pasta here!

        Reply
    5. Kristin

      April 05, 2021 at 10:24 pm

      I have made this recipe several times and EVERYONE in our family of 5 loves it (which is hard to do). Once I had left over crumbled bacon from another meal so I topped this with it. Now I am required to add crumbled bacon everytime lol. Thank you for making dinner easy.

      Reply
    6. Kimberly

      September 03, 2020 at 1:54 pm

      I love this recipe but what do you do with the reserve pasta water?

      Reply
      • Rebecca Keyes

        December 14, 2020 at 7:57 pm

        In a lot of pasta recipes the reserve pasta water is used to thin the sauce in case it thickens too much. I'm guessing this is what it is for as well.

        Reply
        • Julia

          December 21, 2020 at 10:33 pm

          Yes, that's exactly what it's for. If the sauce is too thick, use the pasta water to thin it out.

          Reply
          • Kylie Sherlock

            May 31, 2021 at 2:26 pm

            Is there a reason you use the pasta water specifically? Instead of just regular water? Does the leftover pasta add flavor or something?

            Also recipe is amazing, thank you!!

            Reply
            • Ben Chapman

              August 04, 2021 at 1:57 pm

              pasta water has starch in it which makes the sauce creamier I think

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