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!
A really tasty dish, thanks!
I’m a very novice cook so I’m always looking for easy recipes. This went really well and it tastes great!
This is so quick and easy! Thanks for sharing!
I made this tonight, and it was delicious! My husband stuffed himself with it, and I still have leftovers for me tomorrow. :)
Thank you for another delicious, easy recipe. I used fresh broccoli florets and stem pieces sliced about 1/2″. Cooked it for the last 3 minutes with the pasta. Cut down on the amount of olive oil to save “some” calories without losing too much flavor. The dish was scrumptious. My pasta crazed son loved it too.
Yum, yum, yum! Made this last night for dinner. Doubled the recipe, threw the chicken and pesto (I keep homemade cubes in the freezer) in the crockpot on low for four hours, added lowfat cream cheese, fresh garlic, four heads of roasted fresh broccoli and a box of Barilla Veggie Pasta. Five stars from husband and I for comfort food!
I made this last night as an alternative to eating out and my boyfriend LOVED it!! So did I, for that matter. I made 1.5x of this recipe (that is, I made one and half times what the original called for) and it did take a little longer for the sauce to reduce down. It was also a little salty, but nothing a little additional cream cheese couldn’t fix! So if you’re 1.5x the recipe, be warned you may have to put in 2x the cream cheese or reduce sodium elsewhere.
Is it wrong that this dish is so delish I made it twice in one week? The second time was for guests who later texted asking for the recipe. (And I’ve heard since they can’t stop talking aobut “the pasta dinner”)
Served it p with Cesar salad, Italian bread and olive oil for dipping. Such a simple and satisfying dinner!
I’ve lost track of how many of your recipes I’ve made so far, but each and everyone of them is a hit!
Definitely delicious! Seasoning the chicken with a little salt and pepper definitely goes a long way (especially the pepper). I’m not huge on super creamy, alfredo-esque dishes but this one is a keeper! Fresh herby taste was the best part. Thank you!
Made this tonight and it was delicious! Such an easy recipe, too. My picky three-year-old gobbled it up. We put it on the “make again” list. I noticed a comment above that stated that he/she hasn’t liked any of your recipes…I have tried several and they are all in my dinner rotation now. Love your site :)
I made a few tweaks to this and it was still very good. I used penne pasta, subbed the broccoli for kale, ommited the chicken broth for pasta water, and used a generous amount of fresh lemon juice and red pepper flakes for some heat.
I’m going to try this today since we’re iced in. How many will this serve and can I freeze leftovers? Thank you.
This one serves about four. It should freeze okay, although sometimes cream sauces separate a bit upon thawing (I ate mine quickly, so I didn’t end up freezing any!) :)
I made this for my husband and he said it was his favorite homemade dish he’s ever had! Thank you!!!
Was able to find the pesto at a local grocery so I it. Was very good and my 9 year old son liked it as well. Thanks for sharing!!!
So delicious and EASY! I modified a bit because I had wedges of laughing cow cheese (I used 6 cheese wedges, a bit of extra broth, and 1/2 cup of the pesto to make more sauce, because I had 1.5lbs of chicken and a 12oz bag of broccoli).
Just FYI with those amounts of ingredients that I used, it makes 4 BIG portions for around 600 calories each!