An easy one pot dinner comes together in minutes with short pasta and juicy golden brown chicken tenders.  Toss it all together as a one pot meal with an easy pan sauce and you’ve got the quickest chicken tenderloin pasta recipe ready to go on busy nights!

Splashes of fresh lemon juice and smoky paprika add lots of flavor to the chicken tenderloins while a splash of chicken stock helps to make a quick sauce that ties everything together in minutes.  

Make this easy chicken pasta recipe with juicy and tender flavorful chicken when you crave simple comfort food to please the whole family with an easy weeknight dinner.  

The best part?  Easy chicken tenderloin pieces cook up soft, moist, and juicy (never dry) in the pan and they’re ready in minutes.  Chicken tenderloins cook quickly, so, the trick is not to overcook them.  They are thin delicate cuts of meat and they don’t need more than a handful of minutes on each side to cook through.

This has recently become my favorite cut of meat to toss in with stovetop one pot pastas.  Grab a few simple ingredients to make this simple chicken tenderloin recipe.

Ingredients To Make Saucy Paprika Lemon Chicken Tenderloin Pasta

1. A pack chicken tenderloins – 6 to 7 pieces
2. Smoky paprika
3. Ground onion powder
4. Garlic powder
5. Coarse sea salt
6. Cracked pepper
7. Olive oil
8. Fresh lemon juice – plus more for squeezing on chicken at the end
9. Short pasta – cooked to package directions.   I’m using mezzi rigatoni pasta cooked al dente and drained
10. Unsalted butter
11. All-purpose flour
12. Chicken Stock
13. Fresh parsley – for topping off at the end

To Make the Chicken Tenderloin Pasta, Season Chicken First

Add chicken add the tenderloin chicken strips to a large bowl.  Sprinkle in the smoky paprika, ground onion powder, garlic powder, coarse salt, cracked pepper.  Drizzle in olive oil plus fresh lemon juice.  Toss the chicken together with ingredients to coat evenly.

Cook Chicken Pieces Until Golden Brown

Cook the seasoned chicken tenderloin pieces in an already hot wide skillet on medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes on one side. Flip the chicken tenders.  Cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes on the second side or until meat is cooked through and golden brown on the outside. 

I find that when the tenderloin pieces are developing a white border all the way around the edges (and turning golden brown beneath), they’re ready to flip and cook on the second side.  

When cook time is up, remove chicken pieces from pan, transfer to a separate plate, and cover loosely with foil. Set aside.

Make A Sauce For The Chicken Pasta

To the same large skillet used to cook the chicken, add 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour while whisking constantly. Continue to whisk butter and flour as you cook the mixture on medium heat long enough for the nutty smell to disappear from the flour. About another 2 to 3 minutes, whisking constantly.

Slowly drizzle in the 2 cups of chicken stock, whisking in the liquid to combine with the flour and butter mixture as you pour.   Whisk until everything is evenly combined.

Bring the mixture to a light simmer and cook until sauce is lightly thickened enough to coat a wood spoon, about 2 to 3 more minutes.  Season to taste as desired with pinches of coarse salt and pepper then turn off the heat.

Add Cooked Al Dente Pasta To the Pan with the Sauce

Next, add cooked pasta to the same wide skillet with the buttery sauce and toss to coat.  Remove foil from cooked chicken tenderloins and add to the same pan with the sauce and pasta.  

Drizzle with an extra squeeze of fresh lemon juice over the top and toss everything together to coat.  Sprinkle with fresh green minced parsley and serve hot.

Make this simple, lemony paprika chicken pasta dish on busy weeknights right after work.  It’s the perfect easy dinner when you need comforting, simple chicken pasta recipes to feed the whole family in under 30 minutes. If you love that smoky touch with chicken as much as I do, give this easy chicken broccoli pasta a try!

You Might Also Like…