Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta

by Anna Chwistek

Creamy pesto chicken pasta. This is a simple but delicious dish that mixes pesto with Alfredo sauce. When you combine these two together, magic happens. The result is a smooth sauce packed with nutty, herby flavors, lots of Parmesan and crispy seared chicken. It’s utterly satisfying.

Classic basil pesto, with its mix of pine nuts, Parmesan and garlicky flavor is beyond doubt one of the greatest sauces. But creamy pesto could be even better. It turns this pasta dish into something a little richer and more satisfying, perfect for serving with shells or orecchiette. These pasta shapes are capable to catch so much sauce. And this sauce is everything!
Let me guide you through the recipe with this step-by-step VIDEO.

RECIPE NOTES

This recipe works with a homemade pesto or your favorite store-bought pesto
You can swap heavy cream for half-and-half
Serve with a pasta shape that’s capable to catch as much sauce as possible

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Recipe Video

Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta

Yield: serves 2

Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

150 g/5.5 oz pasta, shells or orecchiette
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup/200 ml heavy cream, or half-and-half
1/3 cup/40 g grated Parmesan, more for serving
salt + black pepper
toasted pine nuts, for serving

green pesto

40 g/1.5 oz basil leaves
40 g/1.5 oz toasted pine nuts
1/3 cup/80 ml olive oil
1/4 cup/30 g grated Parmesan
salt + black pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling generously salted water, until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking water.
Make the pesto. Combine the basil, pine nuts, Parmesan, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Continue blending until the pesto is well blended but still has some texture.
Add olive oil and half of the butter to a deep nonstick skillet or pan, melt over medium heat. Add the chicken, season with salt and pepper, cook until the chicken is browned and crispy on the outside, about 5 minutes. Remove from skillet.
Add the remaining butter to the skillet. Add garlic, sauté for 2 minutes. Pour cream and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Add pesto and cooked chicken. Season with extra black pepper. Toss in pasta and add Parmesan, stir until the cheese is melted. Add a splash of cooking water if needed. Remove the skillet from heat.
Serve with grated Parmesan and toasted pine nuts. Enjoy!

Notes

Calories Per Serving: 557 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE RECIPE PDF

4 comments

Gord Dunsmore

29.07.2021

Thanks for an incredible and easy peesy recipe. Made this tonight using my garlic scape pesto. Reduced the amount of garlic in the recipe. Made the sauce with half and half, as that was on hand.
This was the first time we have made it, but definitely, not the last!

Reply
- Anna
  
  29.07.2021
  
  Love hearing this! I am really glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for giving it a try!
  
  Reply
Matt

22.04.2022

If using store bought pesto how much would you add

Reply
- Anna Chwistek
  
  22.04.2022
  
  Hi, you can start by adding 1/2 jar of pesto and adjust to your liking. Hope you love it!
  
  Reply

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