Cowboy Butter Chicken Linguine

Cowboy Butter Chicken Linguine is rich, garlicky, and absolutely irresistible! This restaurant-quality pasta dish comes together in just 30 minutes with tender chicken, silky cream sauce, and the bold, herbaceous flavors of cowboy butter that’ll have everyone asking for seconds.

Love More Dinner Ideas? Try My Garlic Butter Chicken Bites with Creamy Pasta or this Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

The tender, golden chicken is coated in a luscious, garlicky cream sauce that’s been elevated with the bold flavors of cowboy butter – think herbs, spices, and a perfect hint of heat. It’s the kind of meal that feels fancy enough for company but easy enough for a Tuesday night. Plus, it all comes together in one skillet (well, one pot for the pasta too, but who’s counting?).

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Ingredient List

Pasta & Chicken

• 8 oz linguine
• 1½ lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp paprika
• ½ tsp garlic salt
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper

Sauce

• ¼ cup (4 Tbsp) cowboy butter, divided
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp lemon juice
• Lemon slices (for garnish)
• Chopped parsley (for garnish)

Friendly Notes:

• Thighs are better than breasts honestly, way juicier
• Spaghetti, fettuccine, whatever pasta you’ve got works
• Grocery store cowboy butter is fine, I buy it premade half the time
• Regular half-and-half works if heavy cream feels too extra

Why These Ingredients Work

Linguine’s flat shape catches sauce way better than round spaghetti. More sauce per bite equals happier eating.

Chicken chunks cook super fast and stay moist. I used to do whole breasts and they’d always dry out halfway through cooking.

That cowboy butter though. It’s got garlic, herbs, spices all mixed in so when it melts into the cream you get this insanely flavorful sauce without doing extra work.

Heavy cream won’t split or get weird when you toss hot pasta in. Plus it’s just luxurious and makes everything feel fancy.

Garlic salt on the chicken while it cooks means flavor gets into the meat, not just sitting on top. Paprika adds a smoky vibe.

Tiny bit of red pepper flakes isn’t about heat, it’s about making your taste buds pay attention.

Lemon juice at the end is non-negotiable. Without it the dish is just heavy and rich. With it everything tastes alive and fresh.

Essential Tools and Equipment

Big pot for pasta. Large skillet for literally everything else – mine’s 12 inches.

Tongs make tossing pasta way easier than a spoon.

Sharp knife, cutting board, the usual suspects.

Measuring stuff. Meat thermometer if you’re paranoid about undercooked chicken but I just cut into a piece to check.

How To Make Cowboy Butter Chicken Linguine

Step 1: Cook the Pasta

Boil salted water, cook linguine till it’s got a little bite left. Box will tell you how long. Drain it, leave it alone. Rinsing pasta is a crime against sauce-sticking.

Step 2: Sear the Chicken

Hot skillet, add oil till it shimmers. Chicken goes in, one layer only or it steams instead of browning. Sprinkle on paprika, both salts, pepper. Don’t touch it for 3-4 minutes. I mean it, walk away.

Step 3: Add Cowboy Butter and Finish Cooking

Plop 2 tablespoons cowboy butter in there around the chicken. Flip pieces over, cook another 3-4 minutes till done. Poke the thickest piece – if juice runs clear you’re good, should be 165°F inside. Pull chicken out, cover with foil. Those crusty brown bits stuck to the pan? Pure gold, leave them.

Step 4: Make the Cream Sauce

Heat down to low. Toss in remaining butter, cream, garlic salt, red pepper flakes. Scrape that pan bottom hard with your spoon – all those bits dissolve into the sauce and make it taste incredible. Stir till butter disappears and sauce looks smooth.

Step 5: Combine Everything

Dump pasta and chicken back in. Toss with tongs till everything’s coated and glossy. Takes like thirty seconds.

Step 6: Finish with Lemon

Squeeze lemon in, stir. Taste it. Need more salt? Add it now.

Step 7: Garnish and Serve

Plate it up with lemon slices and parsley scattered on top. Makes it look like you tried.

You Must Know

Uneven chicken pieces = some dry, some raw. Cut them the same size, saves you from food poisoning or sawdust chicken.

Your pasta water should taste like ocean water. Not kidding. Salt it till you think it’s too much then add a little more.

Real cowboy butter matters here. Regular butter with garlic powder isn’t the same thing, don’t try it.

Personal Secret: Before draining pasta I scoop out half a cup of that starchy water. If sauce looks thick or won’t stick right, splash some in. Fixes it instantly. My Italian grandmother taught me this when I was like twelve and I’ve used it in every pasta dish since. Total game changer.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Dry chicken = good sear. Wet chicken = sad gray steamed situation. Pat it dry with paper towels first.

Chicken sticks when you first put it in. That’s fine. When it’s ready to flip it’ll release on its own, probably around 3-4 minutes.

Cold cream straight from the fridge can break your sauce. Room temp is safer.

Got a massive skillet? Cook pasta right in there with the sauce and some broth. One less pot to wash.

Once cream goes in, keep heat LOW. Boiling cream curdles and separates and looks nasty.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

Double the red pepper if you like actual spice.

I throw in sun-dried tomatoes sometimes, or spinach wilted in at the end.

Cajun seasoning instead of paprika plus some andouille sausage makes it more New Orleans style.

Half-and-half plus a blob of cream cheese works if you want fewer calories. Not as rich but still pretty good.

Shrimp cooks in like 2 minutes per side so that’s an easy swap.

Extra fresh herbs at the end – basil’s really good here.

Make-Ahead Options

Honestly this is a make-it-and-eat-it situation but I get that’s not always realistic.

Chop chicken the night before, measure everything out. Keeps in the fridge overnight fine.

You could cook just the chicken ahead then make fresh pasta and sauce when you’re ready. Warm chicken through in the sauce.

Leftovers keep 3 days sealed in the fridge. Sauce gets super thick cold so thin it out with cream or milk when reheating.

Stovetop reheat with added liquid is way better than microwave. Low heat, add cream, stir till hot.

Freezing cream pasta is gross, don’t do it. Sauce separates and gets chunky and weird.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

Once you start cooking everything happens fast so get your mise en place situation sorted first.

Homemade cowboy butter needs to chill for hours so make it way ahead if you’re going that route.

Cold chicken cooks unevenly. Let it sit out fifteen minutes before cooking.

Sauce done when it coats a spoon but drips off slowly. Too runny? Cook one more minute. Too thick? Pasta water.

Parsley’s not optional decoration, it actually tastes fresh and bright and finishes everything.

Serving Suggestions

This is dinner by itself but here’s what I do with it.

Caesar salad on the side. Garlic bread for sopping up sauce.

Sometimes roasted broccoli if I’m feeling virtuous about vegetables.

Simple salad with arugula and lemon dressing cuts through all that cream nicely.

White wine if you drink – Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio both work.

Recipe doubles easy for company. Two pans or one giant one.

Big shallow serving bowl looks way fancier than individual plates. Pile it in there with herbs and lemon on top, everyone serves themselves.

The smell while this cooks brings people running from other rooms asking when food’s ready. It’s become our comfort dinner, the thing we make when someone had a bad day or we’re celebrating something or it’s just Tuesday. Really hope it does the same for you.

How to Store Your Cowboy Butter Chicken Linguine

Two hour max sitting out because chicken and dairy.

Fridge in sealed container, 3 days tops. Sauce solidifies when cold.

Freezing is a bad idea, cream gets grainy and gross when thawed.

Reheat on stove with 2-3 tablespoons cream or milk, low heat, 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally.

Microwave works if you add liquid, cover it, heat in one minute chunks, stir between.

Allergy Information

Contains:

• Dairy (butter, heavy cream)
• Gluten (pasta)

Substitution Suggestions:

• Dairy-free people use dairy-free butter and coconut cream. Tastes different, still good.
• Gluten-free just needs gluten-free pasta. Check cowboy butter ingredients too.
• Low-carb use zucchini noodles, add them last second so they don’t get soggy.

Read labels on everything to make sure it fits what you need.

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

What exactly is cowboy butter and where can I find it?

It’s butter mashed up with tons of garlic, fresh herbs, lemon zest, mustard, spices. Some fancy grocery stores have it premade or you can make it yourself super easy. Soften butter, mix in minced garlic, chopped parsley and chives, lemon zest, Dijon, red pepper, paprika, salt. Chill it till it’s firm again.

My sauce seems too thin – what should I do?

Let it bubble on low another minute or two. Also it thickens as it sits. Emergency fix is one teaspoon cornstarch mixed with one tablespoon cold water stirred in, then cook another minute so it doesn’t taste starchy.

Can I make this dish dairy-free?

Yeah use plant butter and full-fat coconut cream. Coconut flavor’s pretty mild once everything’s mixed. Double check all your other ingredients are dairy-free too.

The chicken is sticking to my pan – help!

Pan’s not hot enough yet or you’re trying to flip too early. Oil should shimmer before chicken goes in. Leave it alone for the full time even if it looks stuck. Once it browns it releases itself. Also make sure chicken’s dry before it hits the pan.

Can I add vegetables to this?

Totally. Peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes all work great. Cook hard vegetables before the chicken goes in. Toss spinach in at the very end just to wilt it.

💬 Tried this recipe? Leave a comment and rating below! Did you love it? Hate it? Add something weird that worked? Tell me everything.