This One Pot Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta was inspired by those little packets of powdered pasta sauce mix I always see in the grocery store. While those little packets are probably great for camping, stocking a bomb shelter, or keeping in your emergency hurricane supplies, I think regular weeknights call for something better. Better but not harder. This Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta comes together in about 25 minutes, is super luscious and creamy, and uses just a few simple ingredients. ;)
Chicken, Spinach, and Tomatoes Optional
This recipe idea started as just pasta and sauce. Because sometimes that’s all you need to be satisfied. But I like to rummage through my pantry, fridge, and freezer to find leftover ingredients that can be added to whatever I’m cooking. So I ended up with this creamy pesto chicken pasta, with spinach and sun dried tomatoes. But I ate it as just pasta and sauce during testing and it still made me do the happy chair wiggle.
What Type of Pasta Should I Use?
I used penne pasta, but bowties or rotini would also work well. Because this pasta to broth ratio is very important in one pot pastas I can’t vouch for alternative pastas like gluten-free, rice, chickpea, or even whole wheat pasta. They absorb broth differently than semolina pasta and may not work the same in this recipe.
Tips for Success with “one pot” Pastas
One pot pastas can be tricky for some because the pasta is cooked in a much smaller amount of liquid than traditional pasta cooking methods. Here are a few tips to make sure your one pot pasta cooks evenly and to the right texture:
- Make sure you’re using quality cookware. Use cookware that is thick, heavy, and transfers heat evenly. Thin cookware will leave some pasta overcooked and some pasta undercooked.
- Use a burner that is close in size to your cookware. This will help the pot heat evenly and cook the pasta evenly.
- Make sure the broth maintains a strong simmer throughout the cooking time. If it’s not simmering, the pasta will become mushy.
- Stir every few minutes to prevent sticking and make sure the pasta cooks evenly.
- Keep the pot covered to trap steam, which will help cook the pasta.
Love one pot chicken pasta recipes? Check out my One Pot Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta or One Pot Creamy Mushroom Pasta!
One Pot Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast ($5.56)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.26)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1/2 lb. penne pasta ($0.40)
- 1.5 cups chicken broth ($0.20)
- 1 cup milk ($0.32)
- 3 oz. cream cheese* ($0.29)
- 1/3 cup basil pesto ($0.73)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.44)
- freshly cracked pepper ($0.03)
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper ($0.02)
Optional Add-Ins
- 3 cup fresh spinach ($0.90)
- 1/4 cup sliced sun dried tomatoes ($1.10)
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breast into 1-inch pieces. Add the butter to a deep skillet and melt over medium heat. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook over medium heat until the chicken is slightly browned on the outside.
- While the chicken is cooking, mince the garlic. Add the garlic to the skillet with the chicken and continue to sauté for one minute more.
- Add the uncooked pasta and chicken broth to the skillet with the chicken and garlic. Stir to dissolve any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring the broth up to a boil.
- Once the broth comes to a full boil, give the pasta a quick stir, replace the lid, and turn the heat down to medium-low. Let the pasta simmer over medium-low heat for about 8 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and most of the broth has been absorbed. Stir the pasta briefly every two minutes as it simmers, replacing the lid quickly each time.
- Once the pasta is tender and most of the broth absorbed, add the milk, cream cheese (cut into chunks), and pesto. Stir and cook over medium heat until the cream cheese has fully melted into the sauce. Finally, add the grated Parmesan and stir until combined.
- If using, add the fresh spinach and sliced sun dried tomatoes. Stir until the spinach has wilted, then remove the pasta from the heat. Top the pasta with freshly cracked pepper and a pinch of crushed red pepper, then serve.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Video
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
Love one pot pasta? Check out my One Pot Meals category for more!
How to Make Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Cut one pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast into 1-inch pieces. Add 2 Tbsp butter to a deep skillet and melt over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces and sauté until the chicken is slightly browned on the outside. Add 2 cloves of minced garlic and sauté for one minute more. (I’m using an OXO 4-quart covered skillet)
Add 1/2 lb. uncooked penne pasta and 1.5 cups of chicken broth to the skillet. Stir briefly to dissolve any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow the broth to come up to a full boil.
Once the broth comes to a full boil, give the pasta a brief stir, replace the lid, turn the heat down to medium-low and let it continue to simmer for about 8 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and most of the broth absorbed. Stir the pasta every two minutes or so as it simmers, replacing the lid each time.
Add 3 oz. cream cheese (cut into chunks), 1/3 cup pesto, and 1 cup milk to the skillet. Stir and cook the mixture over medium until the cream cheese has fully melted and the sauce is creamy.
Once the cream cheese has fully melted in, add 1/4 cup grated Parmesan and stir to combine.
If you’re adding spinach and sun dried tomatoes, like I did, add them once the sauce is finished and stir just until the spinach has wilted, then remove the skillet from the heat.
Whether you are using spinach and sun dried tomatoes or not, finish the creamy pesto chicken pasta off with some freshly cracked pepper and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. The little pops of flavor that these two bring to the dish really take it to the next level!
Dive in! :)
Such a great dish! I think we’ve had it at least twice a month now for a year and it’s here to stay. 😋 Quick and easy, and so delicious! Also always a hit when we make it for guests.
I’ve made this several times and it’s great! I have a question. Can this be made with corn and rice gluten free pasta. I’ve never cooked with this type and I’m not sure if the reduction method of cooking the pasta will work well.
It came out delic! I received fresh basil so made my own pesto and added a little more to recipe and it turned out Great!
This was quick, easy, and good! Could be a little more flavor and was a bit dry. However, my son asked for it to be put in the rotation, so that’s a win!
Delicious and sooo quick and easy!!
This was SO good and easy! One pot is a bonus!! I used rigatoni and had to add a few minutes of cooking time. I didn’t have the red pepper but it was great without it. My husband raved about it! This is in the rotation, for sure!!
I’ve made this a couple of times and it’s a big hit! How do you think adding mushrooms would work? I have extra mushrooms and I would love to make this with those but I don’t want it to taste strange. Btw, I have and will add the spinach and tomatoes too.
I think that would be great!
I added a few additions as we tend to cook with a lot of seasoning. I followed the recipe verbatim until the step of adding in the cream cheese. I added in some creole seasoning, seasoned salt, and black pepper to taste, and followed the rest of the recipe. It was a huge hit. I’ll definitely make it again.
Could I make this recipe a day before serving and reheat in skillet or oven?
Apologies in advance for all the changes I made to the recipe, but I had fresh pasta and things I wanted to use and want to show others how versatile this delicious dish is! I did use more than one pot, though, so the cleanup isn’t as easy.
Cooked, then shredded frozen breasts in the Instant Pot, saving the water. Softened sliced onion and orange bell pepper in a large frying pan in butter then added minced garlic for a minute. Because I boiled homemade fettuccini on the side, added just 1 C milk and 1 C of the breast water of the instant pot to the pan. Added diced fresh tomato. Let that boil for a bit. Added the sundried tomatoes and some kalamata olives. Added enough cream cheese to thicken it. Wilted the spinach in it, then added the shredded chicken. Turned off the heat, added the parm and squeezed half a lemon into the sauce.
Turned out fantastic! Thanks for the inspiration – will try it as a one-pot dish in the future!
Forgot to add I did use pesto and red pepper. :)
My sister requests this every week! I do add extra garlic and a chopped onion. I also use all the suggested mix-ins (I’ve done a full 6 oz bag of spinach and that was a good amount for us). I’ve also subbed different short pasta shapes for the penne, and it’s great every time! We like the bow-tie shape, served with bread.
Just tried this recipe. Very happy with how the dish turned out. Thank you. This will become one of my signature preparations at home.
Great Recipe, but your cost is way off. Unless of course you’re buying in massive bulk from Sysco foods.
Thanks, Matt! This is an older post so the prices are reflective of that. Unfortunately we don’t have the ability to constantly adjust our backlog of recipes for inflation.
You manually enter prices on every recipe? Surely you could have centralized prices and then have each recipe utilize those prices. This solves Matt’s problem, and also slightly increases the speed at which you can author delicious new recipes. It’s a small increase in your productivity, but it’ll add up over hundreds of recipes, and the resulting total cost will be accurate forever. Better for everyone.
We loved the recipe. I especially love how fast it went together. Would this dish freeze well?
You should be able to freeze it okay, creamy dishes tend to separate after freezing and the pesto might look a little brown, but with some heat and stirring you should be able to get the sauce emulsified again.
this recipe is really good and was loved by the whole family, if you do use the servings to serve a large crowd, I suggest doubling the ingredients and I choose to season the chicken before hand while cutting it up. was delicious straight off the stove and I would recommend to other beginners.
Great recipe. I will say, I made 50% more and that ended up being 3 servings so I’m not exactly sure how the original recipe could be 4 servings unless children are included. The other thing is.. I love the idea of one pot and the simplicity but the chicken was just too overcooked. It would be much better to set them aside when the pasta is cooking (~10 minutes total) and then putting the chicken back in at a later point.
Aside from that, it turned out very well. Thank you for sharing this :)