10-Minute Chicken Pesto Pasta Dinner
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
I created this chicken pesto pasta recipe to be extremely quick and simple to cook with ingredients straight from your pantry. It’s an Italian-style chicken pasta dinner that combines tender chunks of chicken breast with a silky pesto sauce, and plenty of grated Parmesan cheese. With only 10 minutes of cooking time, this quick pasta dinner is an absolute winner for busy nights.
The search is always on — meals to cook at home that are effortless AND family-friendly — not just for kids, but adults too. This pesto chicken pasta recipe has your back!
It’s one of my personal favorite weeknight pasta dinner recipes. The best part is this recipe uses basic pantry ingredients, hopefully saving a trip to the grocery store.
What you need to cook this chicken pesto pasta
If you’re craving a creamy pesto chicken pasta, see the recipe notes section for my suggestions and variations. Instead of cream, you’ll be using a little of the starchy pasta cooking water to bind with the pasta and enrich the sauce.
- Boneless skinless chicken breast: Chicken breast meat really soaks up the flavor from the pesto, and doesn’t become dry when it’s cut into bite-size pieces and cooked quickly. Swap them out with boneless, skinless chicken thighs if you like dark meat chicken.
- Pesto sauce: If you have extra time and lots of fresh basil to use up, by all means make a batch of homemade basil pesto sauce. Otherwise choose a good-quality store-bought pesto.
- Dried pasta: This recipe is super versatile, so go ahead and use whatever dried pasta shape you have in the pantry. Long pasta shapes such as spaghetti or fettuccine, or short pasta types like rigatoni, penne or bow ties will all capture the sauce perfectly.
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Grated Parmesan cheese: Switch this out with another grating cheese you have in the house, like grana Padano or pecorino Romano.
- Chopped nuts: Toss these over the cooked dish for a pleasing, crunchy garnish. I love pistachios, walnuts, or chopped almonds. Use unsalted nuts if possible.
- Crushed red pepper
Recipe steps:
- Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and the pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the cooking water before draining the pasta.
1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until it’s no longer pink. 2. Stir the garlic and red pepper flakes into the pan and cook until fragrant.
3. Stir in the pesto and reserved pasta water. 4. Add the cooked pasta and cheese to the skillet. 5. Remove from the heat. Stir everything well and serve.
10-Minute Chicken Pesto Pasta Dinner
Ingredients
- 12 ounces (340 g) dried pasta
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound (450 g) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (about 2 medium breast halves) sliced into 1 ½-inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh garlic
- ¼-½ teaspoon crushed red pepper, to taste
- ½ cup basil pesto sauce
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup chopped nuts, such as pistachios, pine nuts, walnuts or almonds, preferably unsalted
Instructions
- Bring large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water generously (about 1 tablespoon kosher salt or 2 teaspoons table salt per quart). Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve about ½ cup of the cooking water before draining the pasta.
- While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook until it’s cooked through no longer pink, 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic and red pepper to the pan, cooking just until the garlic smells good, about 30 seconds. Stir in the pesto and ¼ cup of the pasta water.
- Adjust the heat to low and add the cooked pasta and cheese to the pan, stirring to combine. If the sauce looks too thick, drizzle in a bit more pasta water to reach your desired consistency.
- Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl. Serve hot, with additional grated cheese alongside.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
-
- Stir in about 1/2 cup heavy cream with the pesto for a creamy sauce.
- Substitute the chicken with sausage or shrimp, or leave it out for a vegetarian dish. Swap out chicken breasts for boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
- Add about a cup of sliced cherry tomatoes or 1/2 cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes.
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
Leave a comment and star rating
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Very good. I added cherry tomatoes and some pasta water when I added the garlic.
This is one of the BEST chicken dishes yet- and with my homemade pesto – I “wowed” my guests! I also added, “fresh shredded Asiago cheese” ( along with the regular amount of fresh Parmesan) as well as the 1/2 cup cut (small skinny pieces ) of sundried tomato to it !! It is simply the best dish I have found yet for my pesto-a MUST to try and also very simple!!!! Thank you so much! (I even laminated the printed recipe for my favorites book) lol! Erin
Erin, that’s amazing! Thanks for sharing your tips (I love the idea of sundried tomatoes with this recipe!)
Yes, it is absolutely delicious! Thanks again! 🙂
Yum! Super easy and fast!
Hubby says, “5 Stars!” I used Barilla Bucatini (thick spaghetti with a hole in it) and would recommend a substantial pasta (e.g. bow tie) rather than a delicate pasta (e.g. thin spaghetti). We had a rotisserie chicken stewing down in the crockpot, so I used some of that rather than raw chicken. We used Rao’s pesto, and Frigo fresh shredded parmesan. We used brazil nuts we had on hand. Delish! Very filling. For the two of us, I made a half recipe and have a “lunch” left over (as expected). Great with a piece of garlic toast. A fresh salad would be an excellent side dish.
I really love pasta. All I know to to cook is the common recipe for it. Thanks,to Karen I will learn a lot more recipe for pasta…
I’m happy you love pasta too!
I made this tonight and it was absolutely amazing. I used barilla brand Pesto which does not contain pine nuts. This is easy and 5 stars for sure.
So glad you enjoyed it! Next time try my recipe for homemade pesto where you can use whatever nuts you like (or none at all)
I actually used Classico pesto!! I will try making your Pesto next time. Thank you.