Rotisserie Chicken and Greens Pasta
Updated March 12, 2025

- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1pound rigatoni, penne rigate, penne or ziti
- 1small rotisserie chicken (about 1¾ pounds) or about 2½ cups shredded cooked chicken
- 3tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1medium yellow onion, thinly sliced (about 2 packed cups)
- 5large garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
- 2teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1cup chicken stock (see Tip)
- ½cup heavy cream (optional)
- 8 to 10ounces baby kale or spinach, or chopped chard or other cooking greens
- 1juicy lemon, zested then halved
- Parmesan, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season generously with salt and cook the pasta until al dente, then drain pasta.
- Step 2
While the pasta cooks, prep the chicken: Separate the skin from the meat and separate the meat from the bones; discard the bones and shred the meat into bite-size pieces. Season the chicken meat with 1½ teaspoons pepper and salt to taste. Gather the skin in a mound on a cutting board; slice it thinly, then finely chop, and set aside.
- Step 3
Place a Dutch oven or large heavy pot over medium heat and add the butter. Once melted and bubbling, add onions, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring and pressing often with a spatula or wooden spoon to help them cook down faster, until very soft, translucent and almost jammy with golden brown edges, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and mustard, and cook until very fragrant and softened, about 2 minutes.
- Step 4
Turn the heat up to high, add ¾ cup stock and the heavy cream (if using) and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Bring to a simmer, then stir in the pasta, seasoned chicken and the skin. In small handfuls, add the greens, stirring until wilted and tender. Turn off the heat, add the lemon zest and juice the lemon halves over the top; stir again. Add the remaining ¼ cup stock if more sauciness is desired.
- Step 5
Sprinkle with grated Parmesan. Serve immediately, with more pepper and salt to taste.
- If you don’t have chicken stock on hand, reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water before draining the pasta and use it instead.
Private Notes
Comments
I made this and my conclusion is that it could be really tasty if everything that provides flavor was doubled: more onions, more garlic, a lot more mustard, two lemons. I also had to at least double the broth and the half n half. Either that or use half the pasta. It did benefit from all that good black pepper, and from the parmesan.
I wouldn’t discard the rotisserie chicken bones - simmer with vegetable trimmings, a Parmesan rind, shiitake stems - I save these bits in a bag in the freezer - and voila, your chicken stock.
This needs to be seasoned aggressively to work. I bought a rotisserie chicken that was well seasoned so I held back, but the seasoning seemed to melt off of it once it hit the noodles. next time I am going to be more assertive with salt, garlic, pepper, and lemon.
I don’t see when to use the chopped up skin. Over the top when done?
Easy and fast. Good to have pasta without tomato sauce.
Like many other comments, I found this to be OK and not saucy enough. I almost doubled the broth, definitely doubled the cream, and put in at least a cup of the starch water from the pasta – you should do that every time without question – and it’s still could’ve used more of a creaminess. I would definitely not add more lemon. I think next time I will add some tomato paste when I add the garlic. The dish as is just doesn’t have that much flavor.
