Chicken Scampi Pasta has a garlic butter sauce that is light, vibrant, and so satisfying. It was inspired by our Shrimp Scampi Pasta and the family licked their plates clean with this one.
My kids loved the lemon flavor and went back for refills, and so did my husband. It’s the best feeling when the whole family is so pleased with dinner.
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We love chicken pasta recipes from Chicken Alfredo to Lemon Chicken Pasta and let’s not forget Chicken Tetrazzini. If you are a pasta lover, this Chicken Scampi Pasta is a must-try.
Chicken Scampi Video Tutorial
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What makes a dish scampi?
In the US, most people think of Scampi as being the Italian-American concept of Shrimp Scampi, but scampi by itself is a dish that is served in a sauce made of butter, garlic, and dry white wine. You can make all kinds of scampi including lobster, scallops, and chicken scampi.
Ingredients for Chicken Scampi
- Pasta – use 12 oz spaghetti and salt the water
- Chicken Tenders – the easiest and most forgiving chicken to work with
- Salt, Pepper, Flour – to dredge the chicken
- Olive Oil, Butter– to cook the chicken and make sauce (do not skimp on the butter)
- White Wine – use a dry wine such as chardonnay or sauvignon blanc
- Garlic – 4 cloves, or 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- Lemon – you’ll need 1 tsp of zest and 1/4 cup lemon juice from 1 large or 2 medium lemons
- Parsley – finely chopped and added at the end
How to Make Chicken Scampi
- Prep – before firing up the stove, chop, zest and juice your ingredients. Season chicken tenders and dip in flour, dusting off the excess.
- Cook Pasta in salted water until al dente, reserve 1/2 cup pasta water then drain and tranfer to a serving platter.
- Saute Chicken – while pasta is cooking, sautee chicken in butter and oil for 2 minutes per side (or until 165˚F on a thermometer) then transfer to a plate.
- Make Sauce – Deglaze the pan with 3/4 cup white wine and cook 5 minutes to reduce down to 1/4 cup liquid. Add butter then garlic and simmer 30 seconds. Off the heat add lemon juice, zest, parsley and salt to taste.
- Combine – return chicken to the pan and turn to coat in sauce. Spoon extra sauce over the pasta and toss. Top the pasta with chicken and any remaining sauce.
Pro Tip: Use some of your reserved pasta water to deglaze the empty pan then drizzle that over your pasta to get all of the tasty sauce in your dish.
Common Questions
You can substitute with boneless, skinless chicken breasts that have been trimmed of fat and cut into strips (1-inch thick).
You can reheat leftover pasta and chicken over low heat on a skillet just until warmed through. If the pasta seems dry, you can drizzle with water and a little more butter. For a boost of flavor, squeeze in fresh lemon juice and serve with freshly chopped parsley and grated parmesan cheese.
You can use an inexpensive dry white wine, but I highly recommend only cooking with a wine that you’d drink. Avoid using “cooking wine,” which contains preservatives, sweeteners, and salt that can ruin a dish.
You can make the chicken scampi with sauce and serve it over Mashed Potatoes or White Rice. It’s also yummy on cooked buckwheat.
Serve with
Chicken scampi pasta is such a hearty and satisfying dinner. All it needs is a simple veggie side dish or salad to complete the meal. We love to serve pasta with:
Make Chicken Scampi for your next pasta night. It comes together fast and everyone loves this easy 30-minute meal.
More Pasta Dinners
If you enjoyed this Chicken Scampi Pasta, you will love these comforting and family-approved pasta recipes:
- Chicken Lasagna
- Baked Feta Pasta
- Stuffed Pasta Shells
- Baked Ziti
- Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Creamy Shrimp pasta
Chicken Scampi Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 oz spaghetti
- 1 1/2 lbs chicken tenders
- 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- 3/4 cup dry white wine, chardonnay or sauvignon blanc
- 4 garlic cloves, (1 Tbsp minced)
- 1 tsp lemon zest, from 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup lemon juice, from 2 lemons
- 1/3 cup parsley, finely chopped
- Parmesan, freshly shredded to serve
Instructions
- Prep: chop, zest, juice, and mince all of your ingredients before you start cooking. Season chicken tenders with salt and pepper then dredge in flour.
- Cook pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 2 Tbsp salt. Cook pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta cooking water then drain the pasta and return pasta to the pot. Partially cover to keep warm.
- Sautee chicken: While pasta is cooking, cook the chicken. Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat. Add 1 Tbsp oil and swirl in 1 Tbsp butter. Sauté chicken 2 minutes per side or until golden and cooked through to 165˚F on a thermometer. Remove to a plate. Add another Tbsp of oil and 1 Tbsp butter and sauté the second batch of chicken then transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.
- Make sauce: Carefully add 3/4 cup white wine. Return to medium/high heat and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Cook about 5 minutes or until reduced to about 1/4 cup liquid. Add 4 Tbsp butter and stir to melt. Add garlic and simmer 30 seconds until fragrant. Remove from heat and add 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 tsp lemon zest, and 1/4 cup parsley. Stir to combine and season with 1/2 tsp salt or to taste.
- Combine: Return chicken to the pan and turn to coat in sauce. Transfer drained pasta to a large serving bowl then tilt the pan and spoon extra sauce over cooked spaghetti. Toss spaghetti lightly with sauce then top with chicken and drizzle remaining sauce over the pasta*. Serve garnished with more parsley and freshly shredded parmesan.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
You mentioned to save 1/2 cup of pasta water but then never used it?
Hi Rebecca, Use some of your reserved pasta water to deglaze the empty pan then drizzle that over your pasta to get all of the tasty sauce in your dish.
Made this for supper last night, family loved it. Will do it again
Thanks Natasha!
Glad it was a hit! Thank you for sharing, Maggie.
I made this recipe tonight for dinner and the family loved it. It was delicious. Thanks Natasha
Thanks for sharing that with us, Maggie. Good to know that the recipe was a hit!
It’s such a great recipe!
All kids and adults just loved in our family. So easy and sooooo good!
Thank you!
I’m really happy to hear that, Irina. Thank you for the awesome review!
I made the chicken scampi last night no it was a big hit! I will be making this again😃😃
Glad to hear that, Denise! Thanks for your good comments and feedback.
Madeline
I love all of Natasha’s recipes, I will be trying this also, I am looking for the recipe for Cabbage rolls Thank you I thought I had the recipe.
Thank you
Madeline
You’re welcome! I hope you love this recipe, Madeline!
My fiance usually does the cooking in our house, but occasionally I cook on the weekends, so when I pulled off this recipe he was VERY impressed! I have been following your baking recipes for years and can honestly say that everything I have ever made from your site has been great. You’re awesome and your family is adorable! I’ll make sure to do more cooking after this recipe… YUMMY!!!
Aww, that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Amber! I’m happy you enjoyed it!
Is there a substitution for white wine or can I leave it out or does it play a big role in the recipe?
Hi Alyssia, reducing the wine cooks out the alcohol, and it also adds wonderful flavor. You can sub with chicken stock and reduce that, but it won’t taste as good.
Could I use white cooking wine? 😬 I don’t have white wine
Hi Sabrina, as a rule, I try not to use cooking wine since it has preservatives and additives that can mess with the flavors of a recipe. I think you could make it work possibly but it won’t be a nice as even an inexpensive white wine.
The rule I’ve always heard is, if you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it. What I’ve done is to buy some 250 ml (about 1 cup) cans of nice white wine. (I’ve got some red, too.) That way, I’m not left with 3/4ths of a bottle and trying to find ways to use it, since I’m not much of a wine drinker. It’s a little more expensive per ounce, but overall cheaper in the long run. And, stored in a cool dry place, it will keep for quite a while. Tonight I made this, and used a can I bought two years ago. I took a sip when I opened it (cooking for just myself), and it was perfectly good.
Thank you so much for sharing that with us!
Just made it. So yummy! The only little changes was I added in fresh basil with the parsley and instead of regular black pepper I used lemon pepper, I didn’t have garlic cloves so I used the minced garlic from a jar. This is definitely a keeper!
Just made it….so yummy! Just a couple changes, added in fresh basil and used lemon pepper instead of regular pepper. Didn’t have garlic cloves so used minced gar,ic from a jar. Definitely a keeper!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Marg! I’m so glad this was a hit!
I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe, Marg!
Hi Natasha
Made this yesterday and forgot to dredge the chicken in flour before sauteing and it still came out awesomely delicious. Thanks for another great recipe!
Oh, I have so many of your recipes, I hope someday you come out with a cookbook.😊
Thank you, Karen! I’m so glad you enjoyed this Pasta! I don’t have a cookbook out yet, but it’s on my list of life goals, and we recently signed with an agent, so stay tuned!
Hello this recipe looks delicious! Going to try it but I’m not a fan of lemon in my recipes because the lemon tends to take over the flavor which I’m not a fan of. Can you suggest what to do if you don’t like lemon flavor?
Hi Laura, I wouldn’t recommend skipping the lemon part as it brings so much flavor to the recipe. But feel free to do an experiment and see if you liked it without lemon too! Let us know how it goes if you try that.
This was phenomenal! I was initially intimidated but it was so easy!
I have celiac disease so I used gluten free flour. I only had 1 lb of chicken so I had extra sauce. Since I eat low carb I used the extra sauce to serve over broccoli. Thanks for another great recipe!
I’m so glad that worked out with gluten-free flour! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Made this for supper tonight after my husband jokingly asked for Chicken Scampi for supper. (Neither of us knew what that was). Challenge accepted! Found your recipe, and it was absolutely delicious!! So easy and tasty!!!!
Thank you
Love that you’re both trying out new recipes and I’m glad you enjoyed this. Thanks for your great review and feedback, Karen.
I live in a dry county and really haven’t learned to cook with wine , can it be substituted with anything else.
Hi Carol, Reducing the wine cooks out the alcohol, and it also adds wonderful flavor. You can sub with chicken stock and reduce that, but it won’t taste as good.
I have made a lot of Natashas recipes and I have not made one we didn’t like . This is the perfect Sunday dinner, once all the ingredients are prepared it comes together so easy . It was delicious, we had no leftovers
Hi Christy, thank you for sharing your good experience making this recipe. I’m glad you enjoyed what you’ve tried so far!
Hi Natasha! My daughter and I made this for dinner last night. As you suggest in your video, we prepped everything in advance and it came together very easily!! It was very delicious…a recipe that we will make again! It was so good, we had the leftovers for lunch today!!! Thanks once again for a great recipe! Keep them coming!!!
Good job! What you did is much easier. Thank you Jenifer.
I made this dish tonight and it is a keeper! My husband ate 3 helpings and had to make himself stop. It is easy and full of flavor! It’s a must try.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Dian! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
How much is considered a service nutrition wise?
Hi Amy, this recipe serves 6. So a serving will be 1/6th of the recipe. The serving size can be found at the beginning of the print-friendly recipe card (located at the bottom of the recipe post). The nutrition label shows counts “per serving.” Hope that helps!
This is delicious! I substituted apple cider vinegar for white wine, didn’t have any and doubled
Sauce. Quick, easy and very good.
Love your recipes and videos!
Thank you
We love quick recipes! I’m so glad you enjoyed this one, Carol!
I love following you cooking ideas. I am gluten free can you make the recipe and not dip the chicken in flour?
Hi Mary, we enjoy it with the breading, but I bet that could work; it would make for a slightly different texture/ outcome of the chicken. I hope you love this recipe!
To answer your question- no, I never use a spoon with pasta with the exception of pastini, as well as, some ditalini and risotto dishes. I do use a spoon with rice dishes frequently though.
I enjoyed this dish, but made me curious about other flavors so second time around I tried it with fresh minced basil instead of parsley while cooking and found this had an excellent flavor. I did use the fresh parsley to garnish. Love the simplicity and how easy it is to customize to meet individual preferences….so thank you very much, Natasha!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Karen! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!