Phenomenal Chicken and Pasta in Creamy Pesto Sauce

  4.5 – 188 reviews  • Pesto Chicken Recipes

The decadent filling of German chocolate cake is transformed into a delectable pie in this recipe for German chocolate pie.

Prep Time: 40 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 55 mins
Servings: 6
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  1. 2 cups fresh basil
  2. 3 cloves garlic
  3. ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  4. ⅓ cup pine nuts
  5. 1 medium ripe tomato, chopped
  6. ¼ cup olive oil
  7. ¼ cup chicken broth
  8. 1 cup white wine
  9. 2 tablespoons dried basil
  10. 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  11. 2 cloves garlic, minced
  12. 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
  13. 1 (16 ounce) package dried penne pasta
  14. 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  15. 1 large onion, diced
  16. 1 tablespoon sugar
  17. ½ (8 ounce) jar oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and sliced
  18. ⅓ cup pine nuts
  19. ½ cup white wine
  20. 1 cup heavy cream
  21. salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Place basil, garlic, Parmesan, pine nuts, and tomato in a food processor. Gradually add olive oil, while pulsing, until mixture is smooth and creamy.
  2. In a bowl, stir together chicken broth, 1 cup white wine, dried basil, oregano, and minced garlic. Stir in chicken pieces.
  3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until just al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain, and rinse under cold water. Toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Set aside.
  4. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions, and sprinkle with sugar. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent. Stir in sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts, and cook about 3 minutes. Stir in chicken and marinade. Stir in 1/2 cup white wine. Simmer chicken pieces, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.
  5. Add pasta and pesto to the skillet. Stir in cream, and cook until the sauce is thickened. Adjust salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, and serve with freshly grated Parmesan.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 943 kcal
Carbohydrate 71 g
Cholesterol 127 mg
Dietary Fiber 6 g
Protein 46 g
Saturated Fat 15 g
Sodium 221 mg
Sugars 8 g
Fat 50 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Kylie Gay
We liked the taste but the sauce was rather watery which is why I gave it four stars. I would like to find a way to make the sauce creamier.
Kimberly Rush
Loved it just make sure you taste it . it does need salt. very good
Eric Craig
exquisite, I loved it
Dr. Jennifer Howell
I used jarred pesto and leftover cooked chicken. I know – the modifications are too great to be a fair rating. This was, however, a great combination of flavors. I can’t wait to do this recipe properly when I have more time.
Megan Quinn
The name says it all – this was phenomenal. Since a lot of reviews said they couldn’t fit everything in the same skillet, I cooked my pasta first, and then used my big pasta pot to cook up the rest. Not very healthy, but YUM.
Jacqueline Hart
Delicious! I added the mushrooms as suggested and added salt and pepper to taste.
Dale Lee
Ever start a recipe and realize that you’re missing about HALF the ingredients? That’s okay! This recipe can handle substitutions beautifully. No basil? Cilantro was my second choice – weird I know, but it WORKED. Traded pine nuts for pecans. Yum. No parmesan, so I grated up gouda. The meal ended up with a nice round flavor. A good recipe like this can be reworked 600 different ways. I left out half the ingredients because I didn’t have the time and energy for the whole marinade. Poured the pesto into the partial marinade and it simmered down beautifully. SO TASTY.
Jenna Taylor
this really is phenomenal!! I make it at least once a month!!
Denise Patterson
Amazing! Definitely will make again.
Kylie Ortiz
Big hit with my family! To speed things up, I used jarred pesto, and substituted fresh tomatoes for the sun dried, as they can be pretty strong. Family doesn’t like nuts in cooked food, so omitted the pine nuts. My chicken breasts were over a pound each, so I used about 1/2 lb. chicken per person. Used half & half instead of cream, since I had some on hand.12 oz. of pasta would have been plenty for six servings. But my sons devoured the leftovers the next day and raved. We’ll make this again!
Christopher Ramos
Not a fan. Maybe I have a simple pallet but the wine was overpowering.
Carlos Ali
I’m still ‘taste-testing’ the next morning – really enjoyed this. I only used 400g chicken breast, didn’t add the extra pine nuts or parmesan, didn’t coat the pasta in oil, used Xylitol in place of sugar & Evaporated milk instead of cream & it was still really good. The calories I saved with these mods, I made up for in the accompanying wine 🙂 This is saved for future ref & will definitely make again.
Jennifer Powell
Yummy!
Martha Jensen DDS
I made this last night for a dinner party I had.. Came out really good except I used bottled pesto and added way more spices than this recipe called for like chili flakes, fresh and powdered garlic and some other seasonings in addition to the oregano and basil. Also added mushrooms and next time I’ll add some spinach too. It tasted a lot better the next day!
Sabrina Mendoza
Excellent flavour!
Gabriel Hoffman
My 10 year old son found this recipe with the dinner spinner!!! We like penne and pesto; but had no idea this was homemade pesto for this recipe. We don’t have a food processor so he just used our blender. This meal was so flavorful and DELISH!!! I highly recommend it. We forgot to put the Parmesan on top; but that’s okay!!!
Samantha Griffin
I made this and it was wonderful!!! All the flavors complimented each other 😀 I would definately make this again.
Richard Johnson
This was a phenomenally addictive dish 🙂 Thank you for posting this fabulous recipe.
Alicia George
Absolutely delicious! Great for a get together used light cream, will use half and half next timed
Stephanie Myers
Did the recipe to a T. Simply awesome loaded with flavor!!!
Christina Jones
Didn’t have pine nuts (and they’re expensive) so we used pecans. Just as delicious!

 

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