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 simple 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.
Talent Degree: This recipe comes collectively quick utilizing ready-made pesto and fundamental pantry elements.
Price range Tip: Add further 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 Ideas 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 good alternative for creamy pesto pasta. It cooks shortly and holds simply the correct amount of sauce in each chunk. It retains the dish gentle and easy, and likelihood is you’ve already bought some within the pantry! If you happen to’re out of spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, and even penne work simply as nicely.
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 by means of.
Variations: Be happy 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 the most effective outcomes, cook dinner the pasta to al dente since it should proceed to cook dinner when added to the sauce. Make sure you reserve a bit of pasta sauce in case it’s essential to thicken the sauce in Step 7.
Ensure the hen items are minimize into bite-sized items so that they cook dinner evenly and a bit of little bit of all the pieces 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

Maintain leftover hen pesto pasta in a coated container within the fridge for as much as 3 days. Take pleasure in it chilled for a straightforward workday lunch or reheat within the microwave with a bit of milk added to loosen the sauce.

It’s not really helpful to freeze this recipe because of the excessive quantity of dairy, which is able to develop into grainy as soon as thawed.

Serve Pesto Pasta With…

Did you get pleasure from this Creamy Pesto Pasta Recipe? Go away a remark and score under.

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 proper household meal.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Prepare dinner Time 20 minutes

Whole Time 40 minutes

Prepare dinner ModeForestall your display from going darkish

In a big pot, cook dinner spaghetti in keeping with 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 clean 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.

Diet data doesn’t embrace garnish.
Maintain leftovers in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days.

Diet data offered is an estimate and can range based mostly on cooking strategies and types of elements 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 carry 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 nice recipes you’re keen on!