The perfect comforting dish, yet protein and veggie-loaded, say hello to goat cheese pasta!
I’m not a huge fan of white pasta sauces, but this goat cheese sauce is an exception. I mean I love anything with goat cheese, but the way it melts down and combined with the lemon, it’s perfection.
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This goat cheese pasta recipe does have a few moving parts, but it is super easy to throw together and makes an easy weeknight dinner ready in about 30 minutes. Some components can be prepped ahead of time as well to make it even easier. The leftovers save great as well and can be made for meal prep.
What does goat cheese taste like?
Goat cheese, or chèvre, is a soft creamy cheese made from goat’s milk. It has a slightly mild yet tart taste. Since it is from a goat, it can be easier to digest than cow’s milk cheese for some.
Creamy goat cheese pasta highlights
- creamy goat cheese sauce – made with just goat cheese, lemon juice, and pasta water (and spices), it’s super easy to make and is so flavorful. It reminds me of a cream sauce, but without all the cream!
- macro-balanced – we have protein from the chicken and pasta, carbs from the pasta, healthy fat from the goat cheese, and fiber from the veggies and pasta.
- loaded with lots of veggies, which means all the micronutrients – it’s loaded with vitamin C, vitamin B3 and B6, and vitamin K (all over 100% of your daily needs). It also has 50% of your needs of phosphorus, selenium, folate, and vitamins B1 and B2. Talk about a nutrient powerhouse!
- customizable – change up the vegetables, protein, or pasta as you can easily use what you have on hand.
Ingredients
- pasta – we are using rigatoni
- olive oil
- garlic
- chicken breasts
- broccoli
- bell peppers
- kale
- cherry tomatoes
- goat cheese
- lemon juice
- red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper
How to make chicken goat cheese pasta
- Cook pasta according to the instructions. When draining, reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
- Cook the chicken. When the water is starting to heat up (not boiling yet), you’ll start cooking your chicken and veggies. Add oil to a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and let it get hot. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Then add chicken and salt and pepper and saute for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Cook the veggies. In the same pan with the remaining chicken juices, add broccoli and salt and pepper and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add peppers and salt and pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally, add chopped spinach and saute for another 1-2 minutes. Turn down the heat to low.
- Make the sauce. Drain pasta, saving at least 1 cup of the pasta water. Add it to a jar along with your goat cheese, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Mix until goat cheese kind of melts and becomes creamy.
- Assemble. Add cooked pasta, cooked chicken and juices, and sauce to the pan. Mix well to combine and let warm through, about 1 minute. Add cherry tomatoes and carefully mix to combine.
- Enjoy!
Goat cheese pasta sauce
This chicken pasta recipe comes together with a super easy goat cheese sauce made with only 5 ingredients. It’s full of flavor while being light and refreshing.
- goat cheese
- pasta water (from cooking your pasta)
- lemon juice
- red pepper flakes
- black pepper
When the pasta is done, remove 1 cup of the pasta cooking water and put it in a jar. Then add your goat cheese crumbles, lemon juice, and black pepper and mix to combine. The water will soften the goat cheese and it will melt. It’s okay if there are still some chunks in it.
The sauce will look a little thin when you mix it up, but it will thicken as you mix it with the pasta, chicken, and veggies. If you want an even thicker sauce, use less pasta water (about 3/4 cup).
Meal prep and reheating
This pasta is very meal prep friendly. I would suggest holding off cooking the pasta until you are ready to eat, but the other ingredients can be made ahead of time for a quicker assembly.
- partial prep – cook your chicken and veggies and allow them to cool. Store in the fridge. I would suggest slightly undercooking so that when you heat them up, they get to the perfect consistency. When you are ready, make your pasta, heat up the veggie and chicken mixture in a pan, and make the pasta sauce. Add sauce to the pan with pasta and let it all warm through.
- full prep – just follow the directions as written. It should keep in the refrigerator for 4 days, although the veggies will lose a little bit of their texture as time goes on.
- storage and heating it up – allow the pasta to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. To heat it up, pop it in the microwave for a couple of minutes until warmed through. To be honest, I love this pasta cold – it’s almost like a pasta salad!
Substitutions
- pasta – any kind of pasta will work (penne, spaghetti, angel hair, elbow…). I like rigatoni has it has a good surface area to soak up the pasta sauce. If needed, opt for gluten-free pasta to make this meal gluten-free.
- olive oil – any kind of neutral oil will work.
- garlic – use you can garlic powder instead of fresh garlic. Use 1/2 teaspoon.
- chicken breasts – you can use chicken thighs instead of breasts. This will add a little more fat to the recipe. Ground chicken, turkey, or even shrimp will also work.
- veggies – use any veggies you like! The more the merrier. Onion, zucchini, mushrooms, and spinach would be good substitutes or additions.
- goat cheese – feta will work instead of goat cheese.
More healthy pasta recipes
- buffalo chicken pasta salad
- sun-dried tomato chicken pasta
- creamy vegan pasta with veggies
- chicken parmesan pasta skillet
- chicken ranch pasta with broccoli
- lemon asparagus feta pasta
If you love quick and easy healthy recipes, check out our free 30-Minute Meals Recipe Book!
Goat Cheese Pasta
ingredients
- 8 ounces rigatoni pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 4 cups broccoli florets (250 grams)
- 2 cups diced bell pepper (260 grams)
- 3 packed cups kale, roughly chopped (75 grams)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (150 grams)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- optional toppings: fresh herbs, goat cheese, red pepper flakes
Goat Cheese Pasta Sauce
- 1 cup pasta water (from cooking your pasta)
- 5 ounces goat cheese (1 heaping cup)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
instructions
- Cook pasta according to the instructions. When draining, reserve 1 cup of pasta water, which will be used to make the sauce.
- Cook the chicken. When the water is starting to heat up, you’ll start cooking your chicken and veggies. It takes about 17-20 minutes to cook everything else, so start cooking according to how long it takes your pasta to cook. Add oil to a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and let it get hot. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Then add chicken and salt and pepper and saute for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Cook the veggies. In the same pan with the remaining chicken juices, add broccoli and salt and pepper and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add peppers and salt and pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally, add chopped kale and saute for another 1-2 minutes. Turn down the heat to low.
- Make the sauce. Drain pasta, saving at least 1 cup of the pasta water. Add to a jar and add your goat cheese, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Mix until goat cheese kind of melts and becomes creamy. It will be a little runny but will thicken up when you add it back to the pan.
- Assemble. Add cooked pasta, cooked chicken and juices, and goat cheese sauce to the pan. Mix well to combine and let warm through, about 1 minute. Add cherry tomatoes and carefully mix to combine.
- Enjoy! Top with fresh herbs and enjoy!
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Great recipe. Added some chicken broth to the broccoli as it needed it and sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top when serving. My family says this is a 5 star recipe but I knocked a star off due to the ridiculous 5 min Prep time noted in the recipe. Just to assemble (not dice, etc) the ingredients, mise en place, took at least 5 minutes. My prep time was about 25-30 minutes. I get very frustrated when recipes are posted with unreasonably short prep times.
So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe Jacqueleena. I appreciate the feedback too and will keep that in mind for the future. I know everyone is different when it comes to chopping and prepping and how long it can take.
So true about the hypo-preptime… it’s ALWAYS about 3-4x more. It takes me that long just to THINK about where the ingredients are.
Thanks for the feedback, Stephanie. I can adjust and move forward with my recipes with that in mind!
I always enjoy making Kelly‘s recipes. They are fairly easy to whip up after a long day. I am not a good cook nor do I desire cooking a lot and this one was really good. I love goat cheese and I found it to be a good way to add in vegetables while still getting the pasta craving.
I love hearing that, Ashley! Thanks for much for trying it and glad you enjoyed it!
Delicious and nutritious! Easy to make and lots of leftovers. Great for meal prepping!
So happy to hear you liked it, Monica! Thanks for trying it!
This was sooo good! Was able to use a lot of our garden veggies in this pasta and even our 5 year old LOVED it! Will definitely add to our meal rotation. Thank you!
So glad to hear it was a hit all around! Thanks for trying it, Sara!