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!
Can this be frozen?
Yes it can!
It was delicious!!! My family gobbled it up! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!!
This recipe was absolute perfection! It was a hit with everyone in the family, which is always a tall order.
Sounds delicious will be trying it soon! But I have a question! How does 8 ounces of pasta and one chicken breast feed four people?
It’s quite a filling meal with the broccoli and the pasta does cook up quite a bit. I think you’ll be surprised. You can always adjust the servings up to fit your portion needs.
Mom, if you’ll look on your box of pasta, you’ll see that 2 oz is 1 serving of dry pasta. And the 4 oz of chicken per person in this recipe is actually a generous portion. 3 oz or 100 grams (3.3 oz) is considered a standard serving size. I like broccoli so I’ll probably be more generous with that.
It is one POUND of chicken breast, not one breast.
Creamy pesto pasta chicken broccoli looks so yummy and delicious. I love to try it.
This has been in our regular rotation for a couple years now and I wanted to pop by and let you know how grateful I am for this recipe. We’ve got two boys and one is a bit picky (but loves eggs and cheese), while the other one is allergic to eggs, dairy, some nuts and sesame. I’ve adapted this recipe using vegan cream cheese (easy to find at mainstream grocery stores to suit our kid with allergies.
All four of us love this recipe so much & look forward to it every time we stick it in our meal plan!
Wow, this one is delicious! We’re vegetarian, so no chicken and extra broccoli. I sautéed finely diced onions in the olive oil with just a pinch of red pepper flakes. Also used pappardelle pasta, which made it feel fancy. Thanks!!
Oh my goodness, this is so delicious! Tried the Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta before this dish and loved it also. Ready to try more of your recipes :)
I’ve been using your blog for about a year now for almost every dinner and I can’t believe I just made this dish this week! I wish I’d made it sooner because omg this is delicious! AND super easy! New favorite from your blog!
This was a fantastic dish… the whole family loved it. I doubled the recipe so we could have leftovers! Delicious and easy! My kind of dinner!
This recipe is simple, quick, delicious and economical. Grand slam and I thank you!! I’ll definitely make this again.
This is all 3 of my teenagers favorite recipe from you! Thank you so much. And it was super easy to thow together.
This recipe was absolute perfection! It was a hit with everyone in the family, which is always a tall order.
I’ve made this multiple times and we just love it. Bonus: It’s something my kids will eat all of the time, with different variations. Our favorite variation is rigatoni with peas. My personal favorite is cavatappi with mushrooms. Yum! I usually reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water and add chicken base to it instead of the regular chicken broth.
It was delicious!!! My family gobbled it up! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!!
I made one and a half of the recipe. I had a little but of pasta and broccoli that didn’t fit in the skillet, so after we scooped out some servings we just mixed the rest in, fabulous and a definite keeper! Thanks again!!
I feel like I just hit the jackpot by discovering your blog!! Budget friendly, delicious, and not just run-of-the-mill recipes? Yes, this is what I’ve been looking for for awhile! I’m making this recipe tonight and I’m so excited to try more of your recipes too!! Thank you so much!!!