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.
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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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Equipment
- Stainless Steel Pots and Pans
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Color Cutting Boards
- Chef’s Knife
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!
I am sure i have made this recipe dozens of times and it is always a winner … so creamy and the pesto gives amazing flavor!
Saving money on groceries isn’t as much of a concern for me any more, but this recipe is quick, easy, delicious and makes an ideal Sunday night dinner when I can’t be bothered with anything more elaborate.
Also, I usually leave the broccoli out and replace it with some spinach and rocket instead. Turns out just fine.
If I were looking to healthy this up a bit, what are some potential substitutes for the cream cheese? Would greek yogurt work?
Honestly, I just don’t think that flavor is close enough to the cream cheese. I probably wouldn’t use that substitution. Perhaps you can try neufchatel cheese, which is 1/3 the fat of regular cream cheese.
This was pretty dang good! We doubled the recipe and had tons left over, and I think this would be good served cold too. Will make again! Easy and tasty recipe.
Beth, this looks so good, but those little jars of pesto are *really* expensive. What herbs/spices/oil? would you substitute for the jar stuff?
My favorite “cheap” version of pesto uses parsley, garlic, lemon, and Parmesan. You can find it in this recipe. :) I hope you like it!
Thanks! Hadn’t checked that one out yet!
I’m 20 and a serious beginner in the kitchen, yet this recipe with your instructions made some thing so delicious and easy!!!! Like OMG , me and boyfriends tummy thank you so much !! Its such an awesome feeling when someone is like “Yum, can I get seconds?!” :-D
I made this today and put it in the fridge. I tasted it warm and it was really good but I’m betting it’s going to be really good cold.
Surprised no one has mentioned how good this is cold… I eat it straight out of the fridge and I can’t decide whether I like it better hot or cold :)
I just made this last night – it was so delicious! I’m allergic to nuts so I can rarely eat pesto but that brand of pesto sauce you recommended does not have any nuts!! So pleased that I could finally enjoy a pesto dish and it tasted so great.
Made this dish tonight. It was really good! Thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
This dish was AWESOME! I added sun-dried tomatoes to it. I had to stop one of my kids from going back for thirds. I’m taking leftovers to my sister tomorrow given that I called her and talked about how delicious it was. This is a keeper and will definitely be added to our dinner rotation.
I made this tonight and it was delicious! I used Kranksy sausage instead of chicken and peas instead of broccoli but oh man..this is going in the dinner rotation. My 4 year old absolutely loved it also.
Great recipe! All of my picky eaters were very happy, and so was I.
We made this last night with zoodles instead of pasta and it was SO good. It was so good that it was hard for us to split it into 4 servings instead of eating the whole thing! (We’re a family of 2.) We managed to do it and I couldn’t wait so I ate my 2nd serving today for lunch and it was just as good after being reheated on the stovetop.
One note: We did use the whole package of cream cheese instead of half. I think it was totally worth it. It made it almost like a pesto alfredo, consistency-wise.
Thanks for the killer recipe Beth, and for your awesome website!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was awesome! Thank you so much for this site I’ve been using it a lot since I’ve been living on my own in college and having to cook for myself. Can’t wait for new recipes!