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. ;)
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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 ($6.25)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.28)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1/2 lb. penne pasta ($0.67)
- 1.5 cups chicken broth ($0.20)
- 1 cup milk ($0.19)
- 3 oz. cream cheese* ($0.80)
- 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.
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Notes
Nutrition
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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! :)
Do you cook the chicken all way in the first step?
You’re cooking it until it’s golden brown, then continuing to cook while you mince the garlic, then add the garlic and cook. By then the chicken will be cooked through.
This meal was really delish! Will definitely be making it again! I used elbow noodles, Didn’t have penne. Tasted fine to me.
Beth, I’ve been a fan of your recipes for a long time. However, I must say you’ve made a very serious mistake here. The name of this recipe is not and cannot be “creamy pesto chicken pasta”. Let the words “creamy chicken pesto pasta” flow off your tongue, let the allure of alliteration into your heart and you will understand what must be done.
Could I sub the milk for heavy cream?
We haven’t tried it with that swap but you could certainly give it a shot.
I love making this recipe because it’s soooo quick and easy to whip up. It tastes great with the chicken but I tried it with huge shrimp and it was AMAZING! Thank you so much for the great dish!
Very nice recipe, but it was a pain trying to convert to metric,
e.g. 1/3 cup pesto = ??? Anyway, it tasted great after I spent an hour doing complex algebra to figure it out ;)
If you have this issue going forward, check out a website called “The Metric Kitchen.” It will give you quick conversions. It is primarily written for cooks used to American Weights and Measurements trying to cook from a metric recipe, however, it works equally well going from American standard to Metric.
No need to break out the calculator. Google has you covered.
Delicious and easy and affordable! The one change I made was my pasta required almost twice the boiling time, and was still al dente. Not sure what that’s about, but it turned out great in the end!
Fabulous! I added the extras- spinach and sun dried tomatoes. It was even better than I expected. Thank you!
Absolutely delicious, and truly very easy to make! I omitted the tomatoes, and I had whipped cream cheese so used 1/2 cup, which was perfect. I also put pepper on the chicken while it cooked because it looked a little sad and bland (though I’m sure it would’ve been fine without it!). This will definitely be added to our regular rotation, particularly since we often seem to find ourselves with half used pesto and cream cheese!
Really tasty dish and easy to make. The only thing I would change is to use less parmesan, as it was a bit overwhelming.
Amazing!!! Highly recommend. I have a ton of veggies on me right now so I added mushrooms and a chopped shallot in when I put the garlic in and added spinach and arugula at the end. Added a little extra chicken broth because of the additions. Love the creaminess. Thank you!
Yes I love when you can add in the extra you’ve got on hand!
This recipe was so delicious and easy to follow with the step by step pictures. Seriously my favorite dinner I’ve cooked in a long time. I added the spinach, omitted the tomatoes, and used sprinkle parm in place of shredded. It really was incredible and there is still a nice leftover serving after me and my husband absolutely pigged out :-)
Happy to hear it Kayla!
Could you instant pot this? Would you still have to add the cheese and milk separately or could I just toss it all in at the start?
It’s hard to say without testing it, but I would assume you would still need to add the ingredients in the same order as above.
Do you season the chicken before cooking it?
We don’t have that outlined in this recipe. But you certainly could season it some and give it a little extra flavor.
I had high expectations for this. As usual you have never let me down!
Hooray! We’re glad to hear you loved it!