This Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta has the most amazing, creamy sauce. It’s loaded with the flavors of the Mediterranean – sundried tomato, baby spinach, garlic, red pepper, and parmesan. Super quick and easy. A restaurant quality dish on the table in under 30 minutes.
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A family favorite
You’re gonna love this Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta! It has a permanent place on the dinner rotation at our house. It’s so full of flavor and so delicious. It’s got the perfect combination of flavors – starting with the creamiest, garlicky parmesan sauce with a touch of garlic. (I can’t call it garlicky. I’m working on a post for a Middle Eastern garlic sauce to share with you. It’s garlic INTENSE. A knock-your-socks-off garlicky. This pasta sauce has a friendly amount of garlic.)
One dish meal
This Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta is a one dish meal. It’s loaded with slices of chicken and lots of veggies – sundried tomatoes, baby spinach, and red pepper. I love it left-over the next day for lunch (and breakfast). It makes a perfect meal prep idea.
Ready in under 30 minutes
Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta is so easy to make. Sauté the chicken, sauté the veggies, add the cream, broth, and cheese. Toss in the baby spinach and pasta. Bam! You’re done. Don’t you love a delicious meal that’s ready in under 30 minutes? That’s magic, my friends.
Chicken breasts are sautéed in a little oil until golden brown and cooked through. I use oil from the jar of sundried tomatoes, it’s so flavorful.
It's totally optional, but I like to flatten the chicken breasts with a kitchen mallet to even them out and make them thinner, like cutlets. If they are thick, I cut them in half horizontally first.
Remove the chicken from the pan, add a little more oil, and sauté some chopped onion until soft. Add the diced red bell peppers and sauté for a few minutes. When the peppers are almost soft, add the sundried tomatoes, garlic, and Italian seasoning and let sauté for one minute. Deglaze the pan with chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits. Add the cream and bring to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 2 minutes, then add the parmesan cheese and cook until melted. Turn off the heat and stir in the baby spinach. Salt and pepper to taste.
Combine the chicken and sauce with hot buttered pasta and Enjoy!
Recipe
Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
For the Pasta:
- 1 pound penne or other pasta (454g)
- 1 tablespoon butter (.5oz, 14g)
For the Chicken and Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
- 1 ½ pounds chicken breasts (454g)
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 8.5 ounce sundried tomatoes in oil, drained (241g (yields about 6oz, 170g))
- 5 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning (or oregano)
- ¾ cup chicken broth (6oz, 170g)
- 1 ½ cup cream or half and half (12oz, 340g)
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese (3oz, 85g)
- 6 ounce bag of baby spinach leaves whole or roughly chopped (170g)
- Red pepper flakes salt, and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Pasta:
- Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and toss with butter.
For the Chicken and Sauce:
- Optional: For quicker, more even cooking, slightly flatten breasts with a kitchen mallet. If they are very thick, slice them in half horizontally before flattening.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat a skillet over high heat. When pan is hot, add 1 tablespoon oil.
- When oil is hot, put chicken breasts in pan and cook until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. Remove chicken from pan.
- Let chicken cool for a few minutes, then slice. Set aside.
- Add remaining tablespoon oil to pan. Add onions and cook until softened.
- Add red bell pepper and cook until almost softened.
- Add the garlic, sundried tomatoes, and Italian seasoning. Stir, and cook for about 1 minute.
- Deglaze pan with broth, scraping bottom to release any bits sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Add cream and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 2 minutes. Add parmesan and cook until melted.
- When cheese is melted turn off the heat and stir in baby spinach.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Combine pasta, chicken, and sauce.
- Serve.
Notes
- Baby spinach cooks down so nicely that I don't often spend time chopping it first.
Nutrition
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