This bright and flavorful Chicken Zucchini Pasta Skillet is filled with plump chicken sausages, tender zucchini and pasta in a light, lemon and basil sauce. Ready in just 20 minutes and perfect for busy weeknights!
It’s seriously one of my all time favorite things to create ONE PAN dinners. This time I took to my community on Instagram to help me pull together the flavors and ingredients to come up with this delicious, Summer-inspired recipe.
Filled with fresh summer produce and cooked chicken sausages, this meal comes together in minutes. It’s perfect for busy weeknights and even my pickiest of eaters enjoyed it over and over again.
Ingredients Needed:
Grab these ingredients and let’s get going!
- 12 oz. Italian Style Chicken Sausages – the kind that are already cooked and ready to go
- Diced Onion
- Garlic
- Crushed Red Pepper – this is optional, but does add a great boost of flavor to the dish
- Chicken Broth
- 8 oz. uncooked pasta – I’m using Radiatore because I love the shape (my 18 month old loves them), but any small pasta will work
- Zucchini
- Grated Parmesan Cheese – the kind that comes in a can, or you can use fresh too!
- Lemon Juice
- Grape Tomatoes – bonus points if they’re from the garden!
- Fresh Basil – I’ve used the basil in a tube before and it works great if you’re out of fresh
How To Make Chicken Zucchini Pasta Skillet
- Start by browning your chicken sausage in a skillet along with your onion until the onion is tender and the chicken sausage is browned slightly.
- Add in some salt, crushed red pepper (if using) and garlic and stir until fragrant. Pour in the chicken broth and scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the pan (that’s where a lot of flavor is!).
- Bring the skillet to a boil and stir in the uncooked pasta, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, until the pasta is mostly tender.
- Add in the chopped zucchini and continue cooking for an additional 3 minutes, until zucchini is tender and the majority of the chicken broth is absorbed into the pasta.
- Finally, stir in the lemon juice, parmesan cheese and tomatoes, until combined and heated through. Garnish with the fresh basil and enjoy!
This quick and easy dinner is perfect for using up garden zucchini, tomatoes and basil! BUT- it’s also great for customizing to your taste and what ingredients you have on hand. Here are some great ways to switch it up…
Tips and Variations:
- Swap out the zucchini for other veggies like – broccoli, green beans, asparagus or quartered Brussels sprouts (if it’s a more dense veggie, add it to the pasta earlier to allow time for softening).
- Feel free to use any sort of sausage in place of the chicken sausages. Even ground Italian sausage would be great here!
- Try adding in a tablespoon of lemon zest at the end with the lemon juice to give it an even bigger boost of fresh flavor.
- Use any sort of small pasta shape – small shells, macaroni, ditalini, farfalle (bowtie), orecchiette, campanelle, etc.
More Ways To Use Summer Zucchini
We planted zucchini this year and can’t wait to be able to use it all up! Here are some of my favorite recipes to use zucchini…
- Shrimp Scampi Zucchini Pasta
- Cheesy Sausage Zucchini Rice Skillet
- 5 Minute Cheesy Zucchini Rice
- One Bowl Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
- How To Freeze Zucchini
I hope you enjoy this quick and easy dinner as much as my family does.
Chicken Zucchini Pasta Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 12 oz Italian Style Chicken Sausages, cut into discs
- 1 cup onion, diced
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp garlic, minced
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper, optional
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 8 oz uncooked Radiatore pasta, or any other small pasta shape
- 2 cups zucchini, chopped
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated, divided
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
- ⅓ cup fresh basil, chopped
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add in the olive oil. Once hot, add in the chicken sausages and onion and cook until sausages are browned and onion is tender.
- Season with salt, red pepper flakes and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour in the chicken broth, scraping the bottom of the pan to release any browned bits. Bring mixture to a boil then add in the uncooked pasta. Stir frequently, for about 10 minutes, until pasta is mostly tender, then add in the chopped zucchini.
- Continue cooking an additional 3 minutes until zucchini is tender and most of the chicken broth is absorbed into the pasta. Stir in the lemon juice, 3 tbsp of the parmesan cheese and the grape tomatoes.
- Remove from heat and top with the fresh basil and remaining 1 tbsp of Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Nutrition
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Garlic Parmesan Chicken Bites
Melanie Hazen
We made this for a special dinner with “picky” company and it was a hit, even with the small children! Hubby says “more garlic” but he says that about everything. We will definitely make it again.
Dione
I made this just as the recipe is written. Very good, very easy to make. Easy to modify with what you have on hand if needed. I will try this with chicken breast and mushrooms sometime.
Amanda G.
This was so full of flavor for having such simple ingredients! We loved it!
Renee Bollin
This was super yummy! I skipped the pasta and halved the broth to make lower carb. Tossed in some broccoli I had in fridge. Going to make this one again!
Stacey
Absolutely delicious!! I added some red bell pepper with the rest of the veggies. Then, added about 1.5 cups of fresh spinach at the very end. Will definitely be making this again, and again! Thank you!
Natalie
Okay, I’m a sucker for pasta and veggies. I LOVED this (as did my 2 kiddos…husband was playing pickle ball, his loss…haha!). I didn’t have any meat thawed so I just omitted altogether. I made some other modifications….added about a tbsp of butter to the olive oil, subbed shallot for the onion, added crimini mushroom and red bell pepper and sauteed the veggies in lieu of boiling with the noodles in chicken broth…just combined the noodles to the dish at the end!! So dang good. And I was VERY generous with freshly grated parmesan at the end. 😉 Thanks!!
Lisa D
Such an easy and delicious dinner! I had the Aidells Chicken & Apple sausage on hand and used it. I replaced the zucchini with asparagus, broccoli and a mix of green/red/yellow peppers. Easy to make and had wonderful flavor! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Shawn
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Lisa!
Brenda Knapchuck
This sounds delicious. I am allergic to lemons. What could add for the brightness factor or just leave it out?
Emily
I am so disappointed. I was so excited to make this for my family tonight. I’ve spent 1.5 hours standing here, trying to follow the directions, and having to change things as I’ve gone because the recipe doesn’t work. None of the broth is absorbed into the pasta. This has resulted in mushy onions and sausage, and I have just wasted not only so much of my time but my family’s money on these ingredients. Highly disappointing and won’t be coming back to this site again.
Shawn
Hi Emily, I’m sorry you’re struggling with this recipe. Did you add uncooked pasta into the dish? The pasta should be uncooked when added and it will absorb the liquid in the pot as it cooks. Hope that helps!
Kritternugget
This turned out great. I should’ve used a different pasta I used a spiral type i found and didn’t hold shape. Hard to find unique pasta with covid grocery store issues. I added a small bag of spinach I had that was going bad and it melted well.
Shawn
The addition of spinach sounds like a great idea! Glad you enjoyed it!
Norma
This is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! Easy as pie and so flavorful. It made a nice fond in the skillet which flavored the dish tremendously. I put in 6-8 cloves of garlic and skipped the cheese. I gave half to my sister and brother-in-law and they loved it too. Can’t rave about it enough! It’s going into my rotation of recipes. It’s also 7 points if you’re on WW blue!! That’s pretty low!
Shawn
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe Norma!
Cynthia Horsman
Is the nutrition information for the whole recipe? The carbs and sodium are very excessive!
Cassie
I don’t know if I missed it but when do I add the lemon juice? Lol
It was delicious even without but I just realized I never saw where to add the lemon
Cassie
Never mind hahahaha I found it!
I screen shot the recipe so I can cook it and one of the ads blocked the part about lemon juice
Chelsea
SO delicious. I always add Cajun andouille instead of Italian chicken. For sodium reduction I use low sodium broth, & reduce the amount of sausage I use + compensate with more veggies. My husband and 5 year old love this.
Shawn
Great idea on the andouille sausage. Sounds fantastic!
Dena Rohde
Very good. I used smoked turkey sausage, because that’s what I had on hand. Next time I do want to try Italian chicken sausage as listed in the recipe. There was slight room for improvement (from my end!) but it was a really delicious flavor and easy to make!
Marla
Love this! Will be making this often.
Shawn
That’s wonderful to hear Maria!
Jenny
I loved it, so tasty and healthy.
Crissy
This was yummy! I still had a lot of liquid left over, maybe a little more pasta for me next time! Great recipe!
Shawn
So glad you enjoyed it Crissy! The dish should have some liquid left to create a little bit of a “sauce” to it, but not a lot. If you’re finding you have a lot left, you can either add a little more pasta in the beginning or reduce the amount of liquid. Hope that helps!
Nedre
Great recipe! My daughter fixed this today and what a hit! First time using chicken sausage and it was very good! Thanks so much for making easy recipes for families! We have so many cook books but never use them. Your recipes are so good and easy! My daughter started printing them out so we can make them over again! Great dinner tonight! ❤️
Shawn
That’s fantastic to hear! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
nicole
This was fantastic! So flavorful. Great recipe!
Shawn
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it Nicole!
Bev Y.
This recipe is delicious! Easy to make and filled with lots of flavor. Also a great way to use up the abundance of zucchini in the summer. A new family favorite!
Shawn
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it!
Denise
What brand of chicken sausage did you use, was it horse show shapped
Shawn
I usually use the Italian Style Chicken Sausages (they’re in link form). If you have a horseshoe shaped sausage that will be just fine too!
Jill
This was absolutely delicious exactly as is. Thank you!
Shawn
So glad you enjoyed it Jill!
Cheryl Burtrum
Wonderful!! Had my husband make this tonight for dinner and we just finished it-the flavor was unbelievable! He followed the recipe exactly, except less fresh basil and we loved it!
Shawn
So great to hear! I’m glad you guys enjoyed it!
Lrock
Oh my! Soooo delicious. We added grilled chicken (cooked separately, added with the tomatoes at the end), and used stewed tomatoes. What a dish! Family loved it. Thank you for the recipe.