Rotisserie Chicken and Greens Pasta

By Christian Reynoso

Updated March 12, 2025

  • Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell.
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Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(3,163)
Comments
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Rotisserie chicken, with its browned, crisp skin and juicy meat, provides a great leg up when there’s no time to roast one yourself. Add some pre-cut greens and it becomes the base for this rich, nourishing pasta sauce, which comes together while the noodles cook. Although convenient, rotisserie chicken meat can be underseasoned, so this recipe calls for seasoning it more. Look for baby cooking greens or chopped greens, like kale, spinach, chard or escarole, which will melt easily into the jammy onions and garlic. Fresh lemon juice rounds out this pasta, making it bright; cream is optional but highly endorsed. A sprinkle of Parmesan finishes this dish with even more depth and umami.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 pound rigatoni, penne rigate, penne or ziti

  • 1 small rotisserie chicken (about 1 ¾ pounds) or about 2 ½ cups shredded cooked chicken

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

  • 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced (about 2 packed cups)

  • 5 large garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated

  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

  • 1 cup chicken stock (see Tip)

  • ½ cup heavy cream (optional)

  • 8 to 10 ounces baby kale or spinach, or chopped chard or other cooking greens

  • 1 juicy lemon, zested then halved

  • Parmesan, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 to 6 servings)

69 grams carbs; 141 milligrams cholesterol; 703 calories; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 25 grams fat; 6 grams fiber; 922 milligrams sodium; 49 grams protein; 6 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. 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.

  2. 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 1 ½ 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Step 5

    Sprinkle with grated Parmesan. Serve immediately, with more pepper and salt to taste.

Tip

  • If you don’t have chicken stock on hand, reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water before draining the pasta and use it instead.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
3,163 user ratings
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Comments

Diane Bowers

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.

Judith Doyle

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.

Kellen

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.

maria naomi

I made this as a one-pan pasta— prepared the sauce as written until adding cream and stock, used better than bouillon paste with extra water to cook the pasta in, and continued cooking as written once the pasta was al dente. I agree the recipe needs aggressive seasoning, and to really caramelize the onions. Would absolutely make again with a few adjustments!

Valli

For all of the work involved, this combo came off more like a chicken version of tuna casserole. Noting that commenters said it was bland, I sautéed the onions with cremini mushrooms and deglazed the onion pan with white wine. Many extra glugs of heavy cream and a torrent of fresh black pepper helped some. Chicken in cream-sauce pastas are a flawed concept that, as proven here, just can’t be helped.

Bazz

I loved this. But I agree with others re: upping the flavor. I made the full amount of sauce (more or less) but with only 1/3 lb of the amount of pasta - since I was making this for 1 person (+ some leftovers). The onion cooks down significantly and so does the spinach, so I would double everything if cooking the full amount of pasta.

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