Let me introduce you to my family's new favorite chicken dinner - Garlic Butter Chicken with Zucchini, Corn, and Ravioli. This 30-minute recipe has everything: protein, veggies, and carbs! It's a super easy and delicious meal that is worthy of consideration for your monthly dinner rotation! Perfect for frozen or refrigerated (store-bought) ravioli!
Simple weeknight dinner
This quick and easy recipe features basic ingredients found in any pantry. The chicken is seasoned with smoked paprika and chili powder, and coated with a flavorful garlic butter sauce.
- I use skinless boneless chicken breasts (you can also use thighs - if you prefer darker meat) that come out super moist and flavorful every time!
- Zucchini and corn pair well with garlic butter chicken. You can also use other veggies, such as asparagus, broccoli, green beans, or Brussels sprouts.
- Add pre-made ravioli, and your dinner is made complete!
- What do I love the best about this recipe? You can make it in 30 minutes! You don't have to make your own ravioli! Just buy refrigerated or frozen ravioli of your choice in the grocery store, cook it, and then toss it with this delicious chicken and veggies!
Garlic butter chicken
This 30-minute chicken is simple yet so flavorful! The seasonings are basic: smoked paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Then, garlic and butter enter the picture and take the whole dish to the next level. It tastes like comfort food. Easy enough to make on a busy weeknight. Fancy enough to serve when entertaining company.
What kind of ravioli to use and substitutions
This is a perfect recipe to make using pre-made, store-bought ravioli. Here are some ideas:
- I used cheese-stuffed ravioli to make this a meatless meal.
- You can use mushroom stuffed ravioli or ravioli with spinach and cheese filling.
- For a more comforting version of this recipe, use beef-stuffed ravioli.
- You can even use agnolotti - which is very similar to ravioli. Agnolotti is a stuffed pasta made from a single piece that is folded over. It is usually filled with roasted meat or vegetables.
- This is also a great recipe to use with tortellini.
- Use gluten-free ravioli. I made this recipe with the store-bought gluten-free ravioli made with almond flour - Cappello's brand - spinach and cheese stuffed ravioli.
How to make ravioli from scratch
Are you feeling ambitious and want to make ravioli from scratch? I got you covered! I have quite a few recipes for homemade ravioli on this site that you can choose from:
- Homemade Ravioli with Goat Cheese and Spinach Filling
- Ravioli with Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Filling, in Tomato Cream Sauce
- Pumpkin Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce and Pecans
- Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce and Pecans
What kind of chicken to use
- I used skinless and boneless chicken breasts. They do tend to dry out faster, so be sure to watch your cooking times closely, ensuring that the chicken is cooked all the way through quickly, without drying out. The addition of garlic butter sauce and veggies to plain chicken breasts certainly elevates them.
- Skinless and boneless chicken thighs would be my next best choice! They are juicy and tender and are usually quite forgiving to cook.
- Chicken tenders will also work great! They are already sliced, so that saves you time. Make sure to avoid overcooking as chicken tenders cook fast.
Can you use other veggies?
Garlic butter chicken will pair well with broccoli, asparagus, green beans, or bell peppers.
Other ravioli recipes you might like
Below are recipes I made with frozen or refrigerated (store-bought) ravioli. I dressed them up with veggies and different kinds of sauces. If you want more ideas on how to turn store-bought ravioli into a complete meal, don't miss these recipes:
- Italian Ravioli with Spinach, Artichokes, Capers, Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- Mushroom Ravioli with Spinach
- Chicken Ravioli with Pesto and Veggies (Asparagus, Cherry Tomatoes, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes)
Garlic Butter Chicken with Zucchini, Corn, and Ravioli
Ingredients
Pasta
- 8 oz ravioli store-bought (frozen or refrigerated)
Veggies
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 zucchini medium, sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1.5 cups corn kernels cooked (about 3 corn ears - corn on the cob)
Garlic Butter Chicken
- 1 lb chicken breasts skinless, boneless, sliced
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika or more
- ½ teaspoon chili powder or more
- ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
- black pepper freshly ground, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice or more
- 4 tablespoons butter divided
Garnish
- fresh cilantro chopped
Instructions
Cook ravioli
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook ravioli according to package instructions (usually 7 to 10 minutes). Drain.
- While you wait for the water to start boiling and while the ravioli is cooking, proceed with the rest of the recipe.
Prepare the vegetables
- Heat olive oil in a large, high-sided cast-iron skillet over medium heat until hot. Add sliced zucchini. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook for about 3 minutes on medium heat. Flip the veggies once. Remove cooked zucchini to a plate.
Make Garlic Butter Chicken
- Slice the chicken breasts into strips. Season the chicken with smoked paprika, chili powder, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat in the same, now empty, cast-iron skillet. Add the chicken in one layer and cook, undisturbed, for about 4 minutes.
- Flip the chicken strips over, add minced garlic, and cook for 2 more minutes. Lower the heat to low and add freshly squeezed lime juice and 2 tablespoons of butter. Cook for another 2 minutes or more, frequently stirring, until the chicken is cooked through but not overcooked and the garlic has softened.
Assembly
- Add cooked sliced zucchini, and cooked corn kernels to the same skillet with cooked chicken.
- Add 2 remaining tablespoons of butter and melt it on low heat, stirring it together with the veggies. Do it rather quickly, for a couple of minutes, just until the butter melts and the garlic butter sauce coats both the chicken and the zucchini and corn evenly. Remove from heat.
- Add cooked and drained ravioli, and coat them with the butter sauce and veggies. Remove from heat.
- Season with more salt, smoked paprika, and chili powder, if desired. Add more freshly squeezed lime juice, if desired.
- When serving, top with the chopped fresh cilantro. Sprinkle a small amount of chili powder over chicken and ravioli, for presentation purposes, if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
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.
How do you make this recipe meatless? Do you still add all seasonings and just saute with
corn and zucchini , then incorporate cooked cheese-filled ravioli? As a vegetarian and single person I struggle with trying to make food flavorful. So many recipes say can be meatless, but then give no instructions for doing so. Thank you for reading my comment/question!
Sorry for the delayed response, Terry! I recommend chopping large portobello mushrooms to match the size of the chicken in the recipe, then sautéing them the same way (it'll likely cook faster). After that, just follow the rest of the recipe as written!
Made with fresh basil, oregano and rosemary and substituted cayenne pepper for chili pepper. Used Kinder's carmelized onion seasoning. Also cooked zucchini for six minutes. Quick, easy and delicious!
Thank you for your review, Jamie! I love that you used so many more fresh herbs and a different seasoning - sounds delish!
Looks delicious. I will try it this week. How thin do you slice the chicken breast? Would pre sliced chicken stirfry work
Kim, pre-sliced stir-fry chicken would work great!
Another delicious recipe! I didn't have lime juice and it was still yummy!
Kathleen, so glad you loved this dish - thank you for your review and the 5-star rating! ❤️
This is delicious, used boneless chicken thighs, since I had them. Very yummy, I will definitely make this again!
So glad this recipe was a success, Julia! 🙂
How do I save this recipe?
Carol, what exactly do you mean by that? Do you mean how to save it within my site? You can save this to Pinterest (if you use it).