Pesto Pasta - Spend With Pennies

Seasoned chunks of hen breast are simmered in a creamy basil pesto sauce with tender spaghetti. It’s a full meal that’s straightforward to make any day of the week!

creamy pesto pasta in a white serving bowl garnished with basil

Taste: Creamy, tacky pesto sauce with tender bites of hen and pasta.
Ability Stage: This recipe comes collectively quick utilizing ready-made pesto and primary pantry components.
Price range Tip: Add additional pasta to stretch the meal additional.
Swaps: Make it a meatless meal and swap out the hen for blended veggies. Swap for rotisserie hen, shrimp, or roasted veggies for a full meal.

Substances Suggestions for Pesto Pasta

Creamy Pesto Sauce: Jarred pesto makes this dish a cinch. But when your backyard is brimming with basil, make a homemade model and have tons left over.
Pasta: Spaghetti is a superb alternative for creamy pesto pasta. It cooks rapidly and holds simply the correct quantity of sauce in each chunk. It retains the dish mild and easy, and likelihood is you’ve already obtained some within the pantry! Should you’re out of spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, and even penne work simply as properly.
Hen: Use recent boneless, skinless hen breasts, cutlets, or, if time is brief, toss in a bag of frozen hen meatballs in Step 7 and warmth via.
Variations: Be at liberty so as to add diced zucchini, sliced mushrooms, asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, or chopped spinach or kale.

creamy pesto pasta in a cooking dish with a wooden fork

For one of the best outcomes, cook dinner the pasta to al dente since it should proceed to cook dinner when added to the sauce. Make sure to reserve somewhat pasta sauce in case that you must thicken the sauce in Step 7.
Be sure that the hen items are reduce into bite-sized items so that they cook dinner evenly and somewhat little bit of every little thing will get onto each forkful.
Take away the skillet from the warmth in Step 6 to stir within the parmesan cheese and pesto to stop the dairy from scalding.

Leftovers

Hold leftover hen pesto pasta in a lined container within the fridge for as much as 3 days. Get pleasure from it chilled for a simple workday lunch or reheat within the microwave with somewhat milk added to loosen the sauce.

It’s not really helpful to freeze this recipe as a result of excessive quantity of dairy, which can change into grainy as soon as thawed.

Serve Pesto Pasta With…

Did you get pleasure from this Creamy Pesto Pasta Recipe? Depart a remark and ranking beneath.

image of Everyday Comfort cookbook by Holly Nilsson of Spend With Pennies plus text

5 from 14 votes↑ Click stars to rate now!
Or to leave a comment, click here!

Creamy Pesto Pasta

Creamy pesto pasta combines tender spaghetti and juicy hen in a deliciously wealthy creamy pesto sauce for the right household meal.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook dinner Time 20 minutes

Whole Time 40 minutes

Cook dinner ModeStop your display from going darkish

In a big pot, cook dinner spaghetti in response to bundle instructions. Drain and reserve 1 cup pasta water.
In a frying pan, warmth olive oil over medium warmth. Season hen with dried basil, oregano, salt, and pepper.
Add hen to the pan and cook dinner till no pink stays, about 5-6 minutes. Take away from pan and put aside.
In the identical pan, add the butter and flour. Stir till easy and cook dinner 2-3 minutes.
Add half and half, heavy cream, and hen broth. Carry to a simmer over medium warmth and permit to simmer for 2-3 minutes or till barely thickened.
Take away from warmth, and stir in parmesan cheese and pesto.
Add cooked pasta to the pesto sauce and toss. Add extra pasta water as wanted to achieve desired consistency. Return the hen to the pan.
Garnish with basil, pine nuts, and parmesan cheese if desired.

Vitamin info doesn’t embrace garnish.
Hold leftovers in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days.

Vitamin info supplied is an estimate and can fluctuate primarily based on cooking strategies and types of components used.

Course Hen, Dinner, Pasta

Delicacies American

© SpendWithPennies.com. Content material and images are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is each inspired and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.

This scrumptious dish is sponsored by Walmart and SheKnows Media.

I’m excited to have partnered with Walmart & SheKnows Media to convey you this pesto pasta recipe. Whereas I used to be compensated, all ideas and opinions are my very own. Working with nice manufacturers I really like permits me to maintain bringing you the good recipes you like!