Creamy sun-dried tomato chicken pasta. Crisp-tender chicken in a most amazing creamy sauce with black peppercorn cream cheese. It’s garlicky, super hearty and will totally rock your world. This 30-minute pasta dish is easy enough to throw together on any busy weeknight, yet impressive enough to wow your guests and become a go-to dish for special occasions.
The chicken is super juicy and tender, it gets a spicy kick from the cayenne and is cooked in the oil that we reserve from the sun-dried tomatoes. But this recipe is all about the sauce, it’s a combo of buttery garlic, peppery cream cheese and sun-dried tomatoes tossed with pasta. It’s rich and creamy, with luscious sun-dried tomatoes, and lots of garlic.
Let me guide you through the recipe with this step-by-step VIDEO.
The sun-dried tomatoes transform this pasta sauce into something exciting for dinner. If you haven’t had sun dried tomatoes before…they’re really incredible. Here, they’re cut into thin strips and I highly recommend to buy sun-dried tomatoes that are olive oil-packed because the oil preserves their bold flavor. And you can use the oil afterwards in dressings or for cooking, this way you’ll totally lift up the flavors.
RECIPE NOTES
- try to buy sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil and herbs, and don’t forget to drain the oil, otherwise you’ll end up with an oily sauce if you don’t
- however, if you buy sun-dried tomatoes without oil, you can hydrate the tomatoes first, to prevent them from being tough and chewy. Just put the sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl, add some hot water and let them stand for about 20 minutes, then drain and you’re ready to go
- you can add some extra’s to this sauce, like pine nuts, spinach or a squeeze of lemon
- swap chicken for bacon or make a vegetarian version
- use any of your favorite pasta shapes
- serve with a big side salad drizzled with balsamic vinegar
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Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 250 g/9 oz pasta
- 1 tbsp oil reserved from the sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 450 g/1 lb chicken breast fillet
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 120 g/4 oz sun-dried tomatoes drained
- 1 cup half-and-half or low fat cream
- 150 g/5 oz cream cheese with black peppercorns I used Boursin
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley for serving
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes for serving
spices
- 1 tsp each: salt black pepper, sweet paprika, dried thyme, dried sage, dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Get all the prep done before you start cooking: cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, mince the garlic and chop the sun-dried tomatoes into strips.
- Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of cooking water.
- Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, cook until it starts to brown. Stir in spices, cook until crispy and golden brown. Reduce the heat to medium low and add garlic, cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Pour in chicken broth, stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve the brown bits on the bottom of the skillet, simmer for 2 minutes. Add sun-dried tomatoes, cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in cream, bring to a boil. Stir in cream cheese and simmer until sauce starts to thicken. Toss with pasta, simmer for 1 minute. Adjust salt and add a splash of cooking water to thin out the sauce.
- Finish off with some extra black pepper, red pepper flakes and parsley. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Delicious! It’s a fairly easy and quick recipe that never fails.
Made this last night and it is going to be a regular. My hubby (who doesn’t like pasta) devoured it!
Fantastic, that’s really nice to hear!
Amazing!!
Made this the other night and my picky teenager who doesn’t eat pasta dishes, devoured it. Then, ate left overs the next day!! That’s a win!!
Fantastic! That’s so nice to hear!