Creamy Cilantro-Lime Chicken Pasta

Things I’m always looking for in a recipe are that it’s tasty as well as quick and easy. And that means tasty to my husband and me since I’m cooking for two. I’m the kind of person who will try most anything and has a short list of foods I hate. My husband is, well, not—but he is usually a good sport about trying things for the blog. Sometimes too good because he won’t tell me he isn’t crazy about a recipe until I make it a few times. I know, frustrating! But this 30-minute Creamy Cilantro-Lime Chicken Pasta sounds like something we will both enjoy. Let’s find out!

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!

Recipe Author: Julia at Julia’s Album
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The Ingredients

The ingredients for this Alfredo-like recipe definitely qualify for easy. I had to buy almost all of them, and nothing was difficult to find at my regular grocery store.

But one thing I have to reveal here is that my husband doesn’t care for Alfredo sauce. I know, after all that stuff about making things we both like. But it’s the Parmesan he doesn’t really like, and this recipe gives the option to use mozzarella cheese instead.

That’s exactly what I did since he loves mozzarella. I bought shredded mozzarella for two reasons. One, it’s impossible to shred fresh mozzarella. And two, buying it shredded cuts down on prep time. You know I’m all for that!

Creamy Cilantro-Lime Chicken Pasta Ingredients
Chicken breasts, lime juice, milk, shredded mozzarella cheese, heavy cream, spaghetti pasta, garlic, cilantro, and chicken broth

The Process

After reading this recipe over I decided to change up the order. I moved making the pasta up from Step 4 to the very beginning. In fact, I put the water on to heat while I prepped the rest of the ingredients. I wanted to make sure it was boiling when I needed it to be.

Next, I measured out the ingredients and heated the olive oil in a large skillet while I prepped the chicken. There was a quick moment when I was unsure how to slice the chicken. For some reason, my mind went to a chicken cutlet. That seemed off, and a quick check of the photos in the blog post proved me right.

I discovered the chicken needed to be sliced into strips (I’m glad I checked!). The next steps were seasoning and cooking it in the preheated skillet for 5 minutes. Tip: Cutting the chicken into thin strips ensured it gets fully cooked within the allotted time—there is no additional cooking later in the recipe.

Sliced chicken breast generously seasoned with salt and pepper
Sliced chicken breast generously seasoned with salt and pepper

The sauce is next, and it went together nicely. I did notice there was a lot of liquid left over from cooking the chicken, though. Perhaps I didn’t have the heat high enough for that step? But all that liquid kept the garlic from burning, so maybe it wasn’t a bad thing.

The rest of the sauce went according to the instructions. I cooked and drained the pasta while cooking the rest, so it was ready to add to the pan when I needed it. I even remembered to reserve some of the pasta water, but the sauce was creamy enough without it.

Timing

Here’s how my time was spent making this Creamy Cilantro-Lime Chicken Pasta:

  • 7 minutes to prep
  • 18 minutes to cook
  • 25 minutes total

The recipe listed a total of 30 minutes, and I managed to save 5 minutes somewhere. I’m guessing it was making the pasta part of the prep work.

So how was it?

Clear & Accurate Directions
Accurate Time(s)
Appearance
Taste
I gotta say this Creamy Cilantro-Lime Chicken Pasta was spectacular! Creamy, filling, and ready in less than 30 minutes. It's a great recipe to have in your weekday dinner repertoire! Prep was quick, and the cooking portion went by even faster thanks to easy-to-follow instructions. The only pause was how to slice the chicken. I had to take a peek at the blog post to see it was cut into strips and not cutlets like I had assumed. Otherwise it was smooth sailing, and my picky husband who hates alfredo loved it.
The Hungry Pinner
The Hungry Pinnerhttps://www.hungrypinner.com
I'm Candice, and I'm The Hungry Pinner. I created this blog to share my love for cooking and my experiences with the MANY recipes I've found on Pinterest over the years. Join me as I blog my way through those recipes to find out if they are worth trying yourself.

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I gotta say this Creamy Cilantro-Lime Chicken Pasta was spectacular! Creamy, filling, and ready in less than 30 minutes. It's a great recipe to have in your weekday dinner repertoire! Prep was quick, and the cooking portion went by even faster thanks to easy-to-follow instructions. The only pause was how to slice the chicken. I had to take a peek at the blog post to see it was cut into strips and not cutlets like I had assumed. Otherwise it was smooth sailing, and my picky husband who hates alfredo loved it.Creamy Cilantro-Lime Chicken Pasta