Recipes › Easy comfort dinners› One-pot lemon dill chicken pasta with peas
Easy comfort dinners · Easy · Serves 4

One-pot lemon dill chicken pasta with peas

A creamy weeknight pasta with chicken thighs, short pasta, peas, lemon, and fresh dill. Thirty-five minutes, one Dutch oven, quietly past thirty grams of protein.

Anna Lind Harper
by Anna Lind Harper
Tested twice · Published 2026-06-07
A wide cream-speckled stoneware bowl of creamy one-pot lemon dill chicken pasta on a white marble counter: short orzo-style pasta in a glossy creamy lemon-dill sauce with golden-browned chunks of chicken thigh, bright green peas, freshly grated parmesan, scattered fresh dill leaves, cracked black pepper, and a halved lemon at the edge. A wooden spoon resting on a folded striped cream-and-blue linen tea towel beside the bowl, a small ceramic dish of more grated parmesan, a small bunch of fresh dill, and a small wooden pepper mill. Soft late-afternoon kitchen light.
Prep
10 min
Cook
25 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
easy

This is my favorite kind of weeknight cooking. One Dutch oven, ten minutes of chopping, and a pasta that finishes itself while I set the table. The chicken browns first so its rendered juices flavor everything, then the pasta cooks IN the broth so all the starch stays in the sauce, then peas, lemon, and fresh dill go in at the end to keep it bright.

It is also quietly high in protein. Two boneless chicken thighs per serving plus a generous pour of parmesan push it past thirty grams without thinking about it. The dill at the end is the small Nordic detail that pulls the dish past plain weeknight chicken pasta into something with a personality.

“One Dutch oven, thirty-five minutes, thirty-plus grams of protein. The weeknight pasta that finishes itself.”
Why this one earns a weeknight

What you'll love about it

  • 01One Dutch oven, thirty-five minutes start to finish. The pasta cooks IN the broth, so all the starch stays in the sauce and there is no separate boiling step.
  • 02Quietly high-protein. Two boneless chicken thighs per serving, plus the parmesan, push it past thirty grams without thinking about it.
  • 03Dill and lemon are the small Nordic detail that lift the dish past weeknight-chicken-pasta into something with a real personality.
  • 04Easy to flex: swap peas for asparagus or zucchini, swap dill for tarragon or basil, swap chicken for canned tuna or chickpeas. The one-pot method is what doesn't change.
A hand in a cream cable-knit sleeve at three-quarter forearm length holding a wooden spoon and stirring inside a black cast iron Dutch oven on a lit gas stovetop, where short orzo pasta and golden-browned chicken pieces are simmering in chicken broth with diced onion. A small blue gas flame is visible at the base of the pot and cast iron grates surround it. A marble subway-tile backsplash sits directly behind the stove with white shaker base cabinets flanking.
Stir every minute or two while the pasta cooks. That motion is what releases the pasta starch into the broth and turns it into sauce.
Ingredients

For the pasta

  • 2 Tbspolive oil
  • 1 lbboneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces, patted very dry
  • 1 tspkosher salt, plus more to taste
  • ½ tspblack pepper
  • 1medium yellow onion, finely diced
  • 4garlic cloves, minced
  • 12 ozshort pasta
  • 4 cupslow-sodium chicken broth
  • ½ cupheavy cream
  • 1 cupfrozen peas
  • 2 Tbspfresh lemon juice
  • zest of 1 lemon

To finish

  • ¼ cupfresh dill, chopped, plus more for serving
  • ¾ cupfreshly grated parmesan
  • flaky salt and cracked black pepper
Method

How I make it

  1. 01
    Brown the chicken.
    Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Pat the chicken pieces dry and season with the salt and pepper. Add to the pot in a single layer (work in batches if needed; don't crowd) and cook 5 to 6 minutes, turning occasionally, until deeply golden brown on at least two sides. Transfer to a plate. The chicken doesn't need to be cooked through yet.
  2. 02
    Soften the aromatics.
    Reduce the heat to medium. Add the diced onion with a small pinch of salt. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook 30 seconds more, until fragrant.
  3. 03
    Toast the pasta.
    Add the short pasta to the pot and stir to coat in the onion-garlic-oil mixture. Toast for 1 minute. This gives the pasta a small savory backbone before it hits the broth.
  4. 04
    Add broth and chicken back.
    Pour in the chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Return the browned chicken (and any juices on the plate) to the pot. Bring to a low boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook 12 to 14 minutes, stirring every minute or two, until the pasta is al dente and most of the broth has been absorbed into a creamy sauce.
  5. 05
    Finish creamy and bright.
    Stir in the heavy cream and the frozen peas. Cook another 2 minutes, until the peas are warmed through and the sauce is creamy. Pull off the heat. Stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, chopped dill, and grated parmesan. Taste; adjust salt and pepper.
  6. 06
    Plate and serve.
    Ladle into wide bowls. Top with more grated parmesan, more chopped dill, a pinch of flaky salt, and a crack of black pepper. Serve immediately while creamy and warm.
    A pair of hands in cream cable-knit sleeves at three-quarter forearm length sprinkling finely chopped fresh dill from a small light oak cutting board over a finished bowl of creamy one-pot lemon dill chicken pasta on a cream-speckled stoneware plate. The bowl shows short pasta in a glossy creamy sauce with golden chicken, bright green peas, and a snow of grated parmesan on top. A folded striped cream-and-blue linen tea towel sits at one edge of the white marble counter.
    Save half the dill for the last second. The brightness fades fast once it hits the warm sauce.
Macro close-up of a light oak wooden spoon lifting a generous bite from a bowl of creamy one-pot lemon dill chicken pasta: short orzo pasta, a chunk of golden-browned chicken thigh, several bright green peas, and a fresh dill leaf, all coated in a glossy lemon-dill cream sauce with a small grating of parmesan, and a thin string of sauce trailing back down to the bowl.
A note from Anna

Two small things make this work. First, brown the chicken hard on at least two sides. The browned bits at the bottom of the pot are what flavor the broth, which becomes the sauce. Second, cook the pasta IN the broth, not in separate water. That is what makes the sauce creamy without much actual cream: the pasta starch thickens the broth as it cooks.

What to serve with it

Round out the table.

  • ·01
    A simple arugula salad
    Dressed with olive oil, lemon, and shaved parmesan. Mirrors the bowl, in five minutes.
  • ·02
    Crusty bread
    For sopping up any sauce that doesn't make it to a spoon.
  • ·03
    A glass of crisp white
    Or sparkling water with cucumber. Either works.
Storage & reheating

Keeping the leftovers good.

Fridge: Keeps for 3 days in a sealed container. The pasta absorbs more sauce as it sits, which is normal.

Reheat: Gently in a saucepan over medium-low heat with a splash of broth or water to loosen. Avoid a hard boil so the cream doesn't break.

Make ahead: Best made fresh; the dill loses its brightness overnight. You can brown the chicken and dice the onion up to a day ahead.

Freezer: Not recommended; the cream sauce separates on thaw.

Recipe card

One-pot lemon dill chicken pasta with peas

A creamy weeknight pasta with chicken thighs, short pasta, peas, lemon, and fresh dill. Thirty-five minutes, one Dutch oven, quietly past thirty grams of protein.

Prep
10 min
Cook
25 min
Serves
4
Total
35 min
Ingredients
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces, patted very dry
  • 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 12 oz short pasta
  • 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • ¼ cup fresh dill, chopped, plus more for serving
  • ¾ cup freshly grated parmesan
  • flaky salt and cracked black pepper
Method (short version)
  1. 01Brown the chicken.
  2. 02Soften the aromatics.
  3. 03Toast the pasta.
  4. 04Add broth and chicken back.
  5. 05Finish creamy and bright.
  6. 06Plate and serve.

Nutrition information is an estimate. See full nutrition disclaimer.

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