Pesto chicken pasta is an easy, 20 minute meal that's made with just five shelf-stable ingredients. Bow tie pasta and chicken are coated in a rich and flavorful pesto sauce with sun-dried tomatoes.
Pesto chicken pasta is a great meal to prepare when you can't make it to the grocery store and don't have fresh ingredients on hand. You only need five shelf-stable ingredients and the entire recipe comes together in about 20 minutes.
Two main ingredients do the heavy lifting in this recipe - pesto and sun-dried tomatoes in oil. Together, they create a delicious and flavorful oil-based sauce to coat the chicken and pasta.
Serve pesto chicken pasta for a quick weeknight meal. It's easy to make ahead for meal prep and can be served warm or chilled.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Pasta - I used bow tie pasta for this recipe, but feel free to use any shape or size of pasta you have on hand. Spaghetti, penne, or macaroni will all work fine.
- Canned chicken - Can be substituted with cooked and cubed chicken or shredded rotisserie chicken. Chicken could also be substituted with a can of rinsed and drained cannellini beans for a vegetarian variation.
- Garlic cloves - Can be substituted with ½ teaspoon of garlic powder. However, I prefer the flavor from garlic cloves and suggest using them if you have them on hand.
- Sun-dried tomatoes - We're utilizing the tomatoes as well as some of the oil from the jar to create a flavorful sauce for our pasta. I don't recommend omitting this ingredient because it does some heavy lifting in this recipe.
- Pesto - Adds a bright, herb flavor to the dish and coats the pasta to create a sauce along with the sun-dried tomato oil. Pesto from a jar or homemade fresh pesto works in this recipe.
Tips and tricks
Reserve pasta water - Before draining your cooked pasta, reserve ½ cup of the pasta water and set aside for later. We'll use this to combine with our pesto sauce, which will emulsify with the starchy pasta water to create a 'creamy' sauce.
Toss pasta until creamy - After adding your pasta water and remaining ingredients, continue stirring and tossing pasta until the sauce looks creamy and coats your pasta all over.
Serve warm or chilled - Pesto chicken pasta is versatile and can be served warm immediately after cooking, or chilled, like a picnic pasta salad. It makes a great cold lunch and is easy to meal prep for the week.
Storage
Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.
Cooked pasta doesn't freeze and thaw well, so I don't recommend freezing this recipe.
Frequently asked questions
I'd recommend any medium shaped pasta, like bow ties/farfalle, penne, or even macaroni. Long pasta like spaghetti or fettuccine also make a great choice.
Yes, store bought or fresh homemade pesto works in this recipe.
Add a handful of baby spinach, frozen peas, or canned corn to the pot along with the chicken. A can of drained and rinsed cannellini beans can add bulk and fiber to the recipe.
Cheesy garlic bread makes a great addition to this recipe. I like to keep extra in the freezer for a quick dinner side dish.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Pesto Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces dry pasta
- ¼ cup pesto
- 4 ounces julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 12 ounces canned chicken, drained
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente pasta. Before draining, reserve ½ cup of pasta water for a later step.
- In a pot over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes, then add sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, and minced garlic. Stir and cook for about 1 minute.
- Add cooked pasta, pasta water, and chicken. Toss until ingredients are evenly combined. Cook for another 1-2 minutes or until ingredients are heated through.
- Remove from heat, add salt and pepper as desired, and serve.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- For whole sun-dried tomatoes - Give your whole tomatoes a chop before adding to the recipe.
- Canned chicken alternatives: canned tuna, freshly cooked chicken, shredded rotisserie chicken, or a can of drained and rinsed cannellini beans.
- Garlic: 2 garlic cloves can be substituted with ½ teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Add veggies: Add a large handful of baby spinach when adding pasta and chicken to the pot. Top with grated parmesan cheese before serving.
- Storage: Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator. Cooked pasta doesn't freeze and thaw well, so I don't recommend freezing this recipe.
Hi Heather,
This is the second time I have made this recipe. The first time it was with the dried tomatoes; it wasn't bad, but I said I would probably not make again. This time I decided to try again, but I didn't have the dried tomatoes. Instead I decided to use a can of Rotel tomatoes with habeneras which made it spicy and a little juicy. It was delicious for my sister and me. Will make again this way.
We didn't love it, but it wasn't bad. Probably won't make again. I think the tomatoes should have been chopped to bite-size pieces in the prep stage.
Hi Abby, you can definitely cut the julienne-cut even further if you prefer smaller pieces. If you're using full-size sun-dried tomatoes I'd definitely recommend giving them a chop beforehand. I'll add this as a note in the recipe card to help future readers.