I’m all about the quick skillet meals because, let’s face it, sometimes after a long day of work you don’t really want to cook anything… but you still gotta eat. This super quick Creamy Pesto Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli combines the vibrant flavors of basil pesto with tangy cream cheese to make a deliciously rich sauce to smother the pasta, chicken, and broccoli. The pesto provides all the garlic and herbal flavor needed, so there’s no need to even dice an onion, mince garlic, or measure any herbs and spices—it’s already in the sauce! The whole dish cooks very quickly so you can have this one on the dinner table in about 30 minutes.
Can I Use a Different Pasta Shape?
Yep! Any short shaped pasta, like penne, rotini, or even macaroni will work fine for this recipe. You can use a longer type pasta, like fettuccine or linguine, but it’s a little harder to stir chunky ingredients, like the chicken and broccoli, into long pasta. Sometimes breaking it in half before cooking can help.
What Kind of Pesto Do You Use?
I used basil pesto from ALDI for this recipe because it’s super affordable. If you don’t have an ALDI store near you, Classico brand pesto and Barilla brand pesto also tend to be very affordable.
Can I Substitute the Cream Cheese?
If you’re not into cream cheese, you can make a similar creamy sauce by substituting the cream cheese with about a ½ cup heavy cream, or replace both the chicken broth and cream cheese with 1 cup half and half. The sauce will be nice and creamy, but it won’t have that tangy cream cheese flavor that some people are not a fan of. You may need to add a pinch or two of salt at the end if you’re skipping the chicken broth.
Make it a Vegetarian Creamy Pesto Pasta
This Creamy Pesto Pasta can easily be made vegetarian. Just use a little extra broccoli, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth, and you’re good to go!
Creamy Pesto Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli
Servings 4Ingredients
- 8 oz. bow tie pasta ($0.67)
- 8 oz. frozen broccoli florets ($1.00)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.12)
- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast ($2.49)
- 1/3 cup basil pesto ($0.73)
- 1/2 cup chicken broth ($0.07)
- 4 oz. cream cheese ($0.40)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Once it reaches a full boil, add the pasta and continue to boil just until the pasta is tender, but still slightly firm in the center (7-8 minutes). Once the pasta is tender, add the frozen broccoli florets to the water with the pasta and continue to cook for 2-3 more minutes, or until the broccoli is tender. Drain the pasta and broccoli in a colander.
- While the pasta is cooking, cut the chicken breast into ½-inch pieces. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the chicken and continue to cook until the outside of the chicken pieces are white, but they're still tender in the center (they will continue to cook as more ingredients are added).
- Add the chicken broth to the skillet with the chicken and allow it to heat through. Once hot, add the cream cheese (cut into small pieces) and pesto. Continue to stir and cook until the cream cheese has melted and created a smooth, creamy sauce with the pesto and chicken broth.
- Finally, add the cooked and drained pasta and broccoli to the skillet and stir to coat it in the cream sauce. If the sauce becomes too dry or thick, add another splash of chicken broth to loosen it up. Serve hot.
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Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Use Your Leftover Pesto
Not sure what to do with the rest of the jar of pesto? Try these recipes:
How to Make Creamy Pesto Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli – Step by Step Photos
Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add 8oz. bowtie pasta and continue to boil for 7-8 minutes, or just until it’s tender with a little firmness in the center. Add ½ lb. frozen broccoli florets and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes more or just until the broccoli is tender. Drain the pasta and broccoli in a colander.
While the pasta and broccoli are cooking, cut one pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast into ½-inch chunks.
Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium. Once hot, add the diced chicken and cook for about 2-3 minutes, or until the chicken is white on the outside, but still slightly tender inside (it will continue to cook as more ingredients are added). Add ½ cup chicken broth to the skillet and allow it to heat through.
Add 4oz. cream cheese (cut into small chunks) and ⅓ cup basil pesto to the skillet.
Stir and cook over medium heat until the cream cheese has melted and created a smooth sauce with the pesto and broth. The cream cheese might look a little chunky as it’s melting, but keep stirring and cooking, it will smooth out once fully melted.
Finally, add the cooked and drained pasta and broccoli to the skillet and stir until it is all coated in the creamy pesto sauce. If the sauce becomes too dry or too thick, add another splash of chicken broth to loosen it up.
And that’s that! So easy! If you like ranch flavored foods, I think this tangy, garlicky sauce almost tastes ranch-like. So yum!
We make a similar dish we jokingly call “Perfect poultry pesto pasta”… lol. I just add a jar of whatever alfredo sauce is on sale to the pesto and do everything else exactly the same. (I’m cooking for 7, so my quantities are about double yours.) It turns out creamy and delicious, and not quite as tangy as cream cheese does… and still quite inexpensive.
is this good for leftovers for the next day?
I enjoyed it :)
To make it vegetarian, should I just heat the vegetable broth in a separate skillet and then add the pesto and cream cheese? This looks delicious and I’m looking forward to trying it.
You can just use one skillet. Heat the vegetable broth in the skillet, then whisk in the pesto and cream cheese. After they’re incorporated, add the pasta and broccoli.
I made this tonight for this first time and it was a hit in my house. thanks for your great recipe can’t wait to try more.
Oh, I forgot to rate it. :)
I can barely boil water and I tried making this for my family tonight. It is part of my new year’s resolution to cook more (so my daughter doesn’t grow up on tv dinners) and this was AMAZING. Usually I overcook chicken/meat and I think because of adding the broth directly to the pan it was nice and juicy. Thank you so much for helping a failed cook like me make something tasty for once. I will definitely be trying more of your recipes.
Made this for a last minute gathering among friends and was great! Very simple and FAST!! I deglazed with wine rather than stock and was still delicious!!
I tried this recipe last night and LOVED it! It was simple and fun to make– not to mention QUICK (for once — most recipes usually take way longer than specified). I thought it was yummy enough for such a quick and cheap fix – I will definitely make this again! YUM. I also love pesto — and cutting the chicken super thin made it very tender and easy to cook. I also like that I only had a few dishes and utensils to clean after.
This is now the 4th recipe I have tried on here. This was very disappointing. Believe it or not – this is maybe the 2nd negative review I have ever written about anything online and I’ve been cooking from online sites for years. While I admire you and give you kudos for your bravery at the attempt, I have to say I found this and the other dishes to completely lack flavor (not to mention some aren’t the healthiest options). Even more still, I am shocked at the number of people (and your allowance of) who rate your recipes when they clearly state in the comments “it looks good” but, they have never actually made it. I’d like my money back. A pizza at whole foods on a Friday would have cost less. Though I did find this recipe bland, my review is more so a complete review of all recipes I tried from the site (I hate to be mean but, I feel compelled to speak out on this one). You may choose to delete this but, hopefully you consider it as a means for a change. In my opinion, for what it’s worth, this site would be more aptly named base recipe bytes. Add your own flavor.
Considering all the positive reviews, have you considered the fact that you just have bad taste in food? You’d like your money back? The recipe is free. At no point are they advertised as super healthy either. Nice comment just to link to your own lame blog.
Hi! Loved this recipe!! I found it salty , do you have an tricks I am going to look for a low sodium chicken broth next time, have you ever seen a low sodium pesto?
I haven’t seen any low sodium pesto, but I wish there was! The pesto I use is pretty salty, too. Low sodium chicken broth should definitely help.
Out of cream cheese. Do u think a fat free sour cream or Greek yogurt can work for a replacement?
I think I would try the greek yogurt, although it is a bit more sour than cream cheese. It will be decidedly less creamy, though.
Fantastic! I dont eat chicken so i subbed mushrooms, artichoke, and sun dried tomatoes in its place! So easy and sooo good!
Hi,
What step did you sub the mushrooms and artichoke in? Or how did you cook it? I am like a newborn in the cooking world. Adding those sound delicious but I am not sure when/how to!
Looks good! Going to try it right now. Had to look up “half an half” though. ;)
greetings from europe
Another easy delicious recipe! Thank you. I made my own pesto which allowed me to use some basil I had that was going to endup going bad on me. It’s so nice not to waste any food!
We used whole wheat penne that we had on hand.
I just made this and I am so happy with the end result. It tastes so delicious and I can’t wait to try it again with shrimp instead of the chicken. I doubled all of the ingredients and it still came out perfectly