Weeknight Lemon Butter Pasta

With all the busy days ahead this month, I thought it’d be a good time to start a weekly tradition of sharing a simple dinner recipe that takes under 20 minutes to prepare. I know everyone is rushing around trying to get stuff done and also feed their families tasty meals, so here I will share some dinners my kids and partner have really enjoyed. No super weird ingredients, no complicated instructions, and dinner on the table in 20 minutes or less! This is my weeknight lemon butter pasta, a staple ’round these parts.

For this particular recipe, I used one of my favorite faux-chicken products on the market today, No-Evil Foods No-Chicken. I really recommend you give it a go. If you cannot find it or are in a pinch, you can use another brand or even some cannellini beans to replace the protein. No-Evil Foods is an all-around amazing company that has donated to a local non-profit I’m a board member of, Chattavegan. They recently donated 10 pounds of product for us to use in our upcoming community outreach potluck! So if you see this brand around, please support them. I always try to stick by philanthropic companies that care about community. Plus, their stuff is epically good!

This weeknight lemon butter pasta dish is filling, flavorful, lemony goodness! The noodles are satisfying without being too heavy, and the vegan chicken provides a nice bite to liven up the pasta. Spinach brings loads of vitamins and a beautiful green color to the dish. I love topping this with Follow Your Heart vegan parmesan, but it’s optional. 

**Gluten-free: Just use GF linguine in place of wheat pasta and use a GF vegan chicken option like Daring brand for the chicken. 

Lemon Butter Pasta

A simple lemon butter pasta recipe that is perfect for weeknights, featuring a vegan chicken and spinach. Recipe by the friendly feast

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Main Dish, Staples

Cuisine American, Italian

Servings 4 portions

Ingredients

  

Pasta

• 8 oz linguine
• 10 oz No Evil Foods vegan chicken (or another brand)
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 T lemon juice
• 4 oz raw spinach

Lemon Butter Sauce

• 1/3 cup vegan butter
• 3 cloves fresh garlic (minced)
• 3 T fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon’s worth)
• 3 T water
• 1/2 T italian seasoning
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 T nutritional yeast (optional, provides mild cheesy flavor)

Optional Toppings

• fresh parsley (chopped)
• vegan parmesan

Instructions

 

• Cook pasta according to package directions and drain. While cooking pasta, heat oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat and add vegan chicken. Saute for 3 minutes and stir, browning as you go. Splash with lemon juice. Add spinach to pan and saute for another minute until leaves are wilted.
• Melt butter in a sauce pan and add minced garlic. Simmer for 5 minutes and add remaining sauce ingredients. Cook 2 minutes more and then add pasta to pot and stir to coat. Divvy into bowls and top with chicken/spinach mixture and then sprinkle optional toppings on top.

Keyword butter beans, easy, lemon, pasta