Creamy Pesto Pasta with Chicken
This Pesto Chicken Skillet with creamy garlic pasta is made in just minutes, perfect for leftover Rotisserie chicken, and can be served with your choice of vegetables in a skillet.
Servings: 6 servings
Chef Alli
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Ingredients
- 1-2 Tbs. unsalted butter
- 1 tsp. granulated garlic or garlic powder
- 1 sweet red pepper, optional seeds and membranes removed, diced
- 8 oz. sliced button mushrooms, optional
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 8 oz. angel hair pasta, broken into thirds may substitute any type of pasta
- 2 cups cooked chopped or shredded chicken
- 2 cups half and half, may substitute fat-free half and half
- 2-3 Tbs. jarred basil pesto, usually found in the pasta aisle
- ½ cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat melt the butter; add the garlic powder and bell pepper, cooking 3-4 minutes, then stir in the mushrooms, cooking an additional 2-3 minutes.
- To the same skillet, add the chicken broth; bring to a boil. Add the pasta, reducing the heat to low; cover the skillet and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until most of liquid is absorbed and pasta is nicely tender. Stir in the chicken half-and-half, and pesto, simmering again until the sauce thickens. Season to taste with salt and pepper; garnish with parmesan cheese and serve at once.**Note: the sauce will also thicken as it cools.
Notes
- If you opt to use fat-free half-and-half in a sauce, know ahead of time that you may have to add just a bit of a cornstarch slurry for thickening the sauce.
- A cornstarch slurry is made using equal parts of water and cornstarch. For this recipe, I suggest combining 1 Tbs. water with 1 Tbs. cornstarch, stirring until smooth. Add the slurry, a little at a time, to the sauce until it thickens to the desired consistency.
- Cream sauces will also thicken further as they cool.
- Any kind of vegetables can be added to this pasta skillet meal – asparagus, any color of bell pepper, diced tomatoes, onions, jalapenos – whatever your heart desires.
- We prefer angel hair pasta in this one-pan dinner since it cooks really quickly. However, small shell pasta is also good since each one of those little shells holds in a scoop of sauce!
- This pasta reheats well. If needed, add just a bit of milk or half-and-half when reheating since pasta always tends to absorb sauces and dressings like crazy as it sits.
Nutrition
Calories: 454kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 30gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 86mgSodium: 419mgPotassium: 617mgFiber: 2gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 1151IUVitamin C: 27mgCalcium: 207mgIron: 2mg
Nutritional Disclaimer
Chef Alli is not a dietitian or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate.
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