Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta

  • 10MINS
  • 30MINS
  • Serves 4
  • 276KCAL

Tender pieces of chicken in a creamy and indulgent lemon and spinach sauce, served with tagliatelle pasta. Ideal for calorie counting and Weight Watchers!

  • Batch Cook pinchofnom.com
  • Everyday Light pinchofnom.com
  • Freezable pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta pinchofnom.com
4

NutritionPer Serving

  • Calories276
  • Carbs29g
  • Protein27g
  • Fat5.1g
  • Saturates2.3g
  • Sugars1.5g

Lemon and Chicken Pasta - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card at the end of this post. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff to know in the blurb!

With an indulgent, creamy sauce, this quick and easy Lemon Chicken and Spinach pasta is a delicious dinner that you can pull together in only 40 minutes!

We’ve packed this comforting pasta dish with spinach for extra nutrition with the fresh tangy hint of lemon.

Light spreadable cheese is essential in this dish, as you get a velvety texture and taste, without a pot of cream in sight! You save so many calories and fat compared to double cream.

We’ve used tagliatelle as we think it works well for mopping up creamy sauces, but you could swap out for your preferred pasta shape. Try penne or farfalle, or whatever you have in the cupboard!

What diets is this Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta suitable for?

This Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta are suitable for gluten free diets as long as you swap out the following ingredients for gluten free versions;

  • Pasta
  • stock cube

Please make sure to double or triple check all of your ingredients if you’re cooking for people with allergies.

Do you need any special ingredients to make Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta?

All of the ingredients are simple and easy to find in most supermarkets!

Hints & Tips

Below we added some of our communities most common hints and tips. We hope you find them useful.

NEW TIP
Fresh and creamy!!!
I used wholemeal tagliatelle and let it simmer a little longer to reduce the sauce, but this is a quick, budget friendly meal packed with flavour 🥰
So easy to make
Added mushrooms at the garlic stage and used frozen spinach at the end. The “sauce” is quite thin so instead of draining the pasta I added this straight from the pan. The small amount of cooking water thickened the sauce nicely
10/10
If you haven't tried it yet, you need to do this, very quick to make, only few ingredients, make sure you add 2 juiced lemons, as it makes the chicken breast so nice and refreshing.

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‘Easy peasy midweek tea 😋’

Andie

How many calories are in this Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta recipe?

There are 276 calories per portion of Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta which means it falls into our Everyday Light category.

This Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta is perfect if you’re following a calorie controlled diet and fits well with any one of the major diet plans such as Weight Watchers.

As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. Obviously, if your goal is to lose weight then you might want to adjust these slightly! You can read more about these recommendations on the NHS website.

Step 1

Spray a frying pan with low-calorie cooking spray and fry the chicken for 5-10 min on a medium heat, until golden brown.

Step 1 pinchofnom.com

Step 2

Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Stir the stock cube into the boiling water then add to the pan along with the lemon juice and thyme and cook for 3-5 minutes.

Step 2 pinchofnom.com

Step 3

While the chicken is cooking, cook the pasta according to packet instructions and drain. This can be from 9-12 minutes depending on the brand.

Step 4

Add the light spreadable cheese to the stock and mix well.

Step 4 pinchofnom.com

Step 5

Then add the spinach, black pepper, pasta and mix into the sauce. Cook for a further minute.

Step 5 pinchofnom.com

Step 6

Season to taste with salt and black pepper, and sprinkle with parmesan before serving.

Step 6 pinchofnom.com

Lemon and Chicken Pasta - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

What could I serve with Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta?

It’s a filling and comforting dish on it’s own, but you could make it go further by halving the portion and serving alongside a crisp, fresh salad or one of our other sides:

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How do you know when Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta is cooked?

The chicken should be cooked through and tender, and the light spreadable cheese should have completely melted. This will take around 30 minutes in total.

Standard advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep your family safe.

How long can you keep Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta in the fridge?

Ideally you should eat it within 4 hours.

If you allow any leftovers to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill.  You can keep leftover Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta in the fridge for 2-3 days or so.

Can I freeze this Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta?

Yes you can! This recipe can be frozen, but please remember to do the following;

  • Allow to cool thoroughly before freezing and freeze as soon as it’s cold enough.
  • Use a container or bag that is suitable for freezing.

Don’t forget to add a label with what it is, and on what date you put it in the freezer!

How do I reheat Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta?

Defrost thoroughly in the fridge overnight. To reheat, add 1-2 tbsp of water and then microwave on full power for 3-5 minutes until piping hot, stirring halfway.

 

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Lemon Chicken and Spinach Pasta

Tender pieces of chicken in a creamy and indulgent lemon and spinach sauce, served with tagliatelle pasta. Ideal for calorie counting and Weight Watchers!
  • Prep Time
    10 MINS
  • Cook Time
    30 MINS
  • KCals 276
  • Carbs 29G

Ingredients

  • 280 g chicken breasts cut into strips
  • 160 g spinach washed and chopped
  • 2 lemons juiced
  • 30 g light spreadable cheese
  • 30 g fresh parmesan cheese grated
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • 250 ml boiling water
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 clove garlic peeled and chopped
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • 150 g dried tagliatelle pasta
  • low calorie cooking spray

We use a fan assisted oven for all of our recipes. Check out our oven temperature conversion guide.

Please do not screenshot this. Recipes are updated often

Instructions

  1. Spray a frying pan with low-calorie cooking spray and fry the chicken for 5-10 min on a medium heat, until golden brown.
  2. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Stir the stock cube into the boiling water then add to the pan along with the lemon juice and thyme and cook for 3-5 minutes.
  3. While the chicken is cooking, cook the pasta according to packet instructions and drain. This can be from 9-12 minutes depending on the brand.
  4. Add the light spreadable cheese to the stock and mix well.
  5. Then add the spinach, black pepper, pasta and mix into the sauce. Cook for a further minute. 
  6. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
  7. Sprinkle with parmesan before serving.

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18 comments

See what others have to say

TaySunday 30th July 2023

is the 150g dried pasta weighed cooked or uncooked? for calorie counting reasons!

Reply

    SharonThursday 19th October 2023

    Hi Tay, the 150g dried tagliatelle is the uncooked weight. Enjoy the recipe!

    Reply

MarieSaturday 9th April 2022

Omg this was amazing! I did find the pasta amount was a little small, so I used around 200g of pasta and an extra 50ml of hot water for 3 people. I also used dairylea triangles and added half an extra triangle. (Calories all adjusted accordingly)
Kids loved this, even hubby had a fry and said he wants it next time I make it! Bonus!!

Reply

    HollyMonday 11th April 2022

    Hey Marie, so glad to hear you and your family enjoyed this recipe, the extra cheese sounds great too!

    Reply

KLMSunday 13th February 2022

150g pasta for 4 people? I know my sense of ‘enough’ may be off because I’m regularly feeding an ever starving teenager, but most of the packages of pasta in my cupboard list a single serving as 200g and even macaroni allows 75g, so half of that seems quite skimpy?

Reply

    HollyWednesday 16th February 2022

    Hi Karen, we think this recipe is perfect to serve 4 however if you feel the portions aren’t quite right for you you could serve with an accompaniment or double up the ingredients and alter the calories accordingly. Hope that helps!

    Reply

Lou HaSunday 18th July 2021

Would it be possible to switch the turmeric for something else as I really don’t like it?

Reply

    LisaTuesday 20th July 2021

    Hi Lou, you could use saffron, but that is a pricy option! Otherwise, just leave the turmeric out. The lemon and thyme will still give you a great flavour. Hope this helps.

    Reply

NicolaTuesday 22nd June 2021

What cheese do you use in this recipe? It looks like cream cheese but someone mentioned dairylea? Just trying to work out so I can adjust calories

Reply

    HollyMonday 28th June 2021

    Hey Nicola, we used light Primula for this recipe but any light spreadable cheese will work such as GoGo’s or there is also Cathedral City Spreadable Light. Hope that helps!

    Reply

SharonThursday 10th June 2021

This is absolutely delicious. I made it extra lemony by using the zest of the 2 lemon too. Will be a regular in my house

Reply

    HollyFriday 11th June 2021

    Hey Sharon, thanks so much for your message we are so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe!

    Reply

Sheila DeeksSaturday 17th April 2021

Would Philadelphia be better; the Dairylea didn’t see to melt as well as it should. Is it OK to use a Knorr Stockpot instead of a stock cube considering I halved all the ingredients, it being just for 2 people.

Reply

    HollyMonday 19th April 2021

    Hey Shelia, you could swap the light spreadable cheese for a light cream cheese if you prefer and the same with the chicken stock cube for stock pot and alter the calories accordingly. Hope that helps!

    Reply

Zena DawsonSunday 3rd January 2021

Would frozen spinach work in this recipe ? And the Tuscan chicken ? As I find anytime I buy fresh spinach, half of it is thrown out. Thanks

Reply

    HollyMonday 4th January 2021

    Hi Zena, Yes frozen will work fine just defrost it and squeeze out as much of the water as possible. Hope that helps!

    Reply

Christine CassinelliTuesday 29th December 2020

From the new quick and easy book would it be possible to get Ww points please

Reply

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