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Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta
This creamy chicken pesto pasta is a must have recipe for your easy dinner arsenal! It’s a vibrant, comforting dream dressed in a creamy yet light aromatic basil pesto sauce spiked with nutty Parmesan and lemon juice (without any heavy cream!). All the ingredients are simmered in one pot (yes, even the pasta!), which makes for an astonishingly easy, flavor-packed dish you’ll definitely want seconds of. This chicken pesto pasta is stand alone fabulous but also extremely flexible. You can swap the chicken for Italian sausage or add sun-dried tomatoes, veggies, or a blanket of mozzarella- because it’s all about the sauce. Serve this chicken pesto pasta recipe with garlic bread and tomato cucumber salad for an easy one pot weeknight dinner win!
👥 4 Servings⏱️ Prep & Cook: 25 min⏳ Prep: 10 min🔥 Cook: 15 min👤 Jen📖 carlsbadcravings
🥘 Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you prepare them:
🍳 Cookware
- cutting board
- dutch oven
- oven
- pot
- whisk
📝 Preparation Steps
1
Pat chopped chicken dry while it’s still on the cutting board and season with ½ teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
2
Melt butter in olive oil in a 4 quart (or larger) Dutch oven over medium high heat until hot. Add chicken and cook until most of the chicken is opaque (chicken will not be cooked through). Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook an additional ⏱️ 30 seconds.
olive oil1 tablespoon
3
Whisk 1 cup chicken broth with the cornstarch and add to the pot. Add remaining chicken broth and all remaining ingredients up to the “Add Later.”
cornstarch2 tablespoons
4
Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir, replace lid and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for ⏱️ 12-16 minutes, or until pasta is tender, stirring every couple minutes and quickly replacing the lid so the pasta cooks evenly and the sauce doesn’t burn on the bottom. Add additional broth if the pasta isn't done and most of the liquid is evaporated. *Pasta may take more or less time depending on pasta used.
5
Once the pasta is al dente, reduce heat to low and stir in Parmesan until melted followed by pesto, lemon juice and peas. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper (I add ¼ teaspoon more of each). If desired, you can make the dish "saucier" by stirring in additional broth, milk or cream.
lemon juice2 tablespoonssalt and pepper
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