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Making easy pasta recipes is always a win! And you know me when it comes to making delicious and easy pasta recipes. Made this Creamy Chicken and Tomato Pasta recipe and it’s soooooo delicious. It took me a little less than 30 minutes to make this pasta recipe so it’s a perfect weeknight recipe for families.
This Creamy Chicken and Tomato Pasta is loaded with tomatoes, succulent chicken and smothered in a deliciously cheesy sauce. This easy pasta recipe serves up pure comfort food, bound to satisfy the hungriest of customers.
If you’re looking for other delicious pasta recipes, why not also try my Creamy Alfredo Chicken Pasta, Meat Lasagna, and my Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta!
Why you’ll love this Creamy Chicken and Tomato Pasta
- A dreamy, creamy pasta sauce. This is such a rich and velvety sauce, made with heavy whipping cream, milk and mozzarella – divine!
- An easy pasta recipe. Made with kitchen staples, this Creamy Tomato Pasta goes from pantry to table in 30 mins.
- Versatile. Got loads of veggies doing nothing in the fridge? Throw ’em in!
Ingredients you’ll need
- Rotini Pasta
- Chicken Tenders
- Veggies – cherry tomatoes and onion.
- Seasoning – salt, pepper, paprika
- Minced Garlic
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Milk
- Cheese – mozzarella, Parmesan
- Pasta Water
- Basil
- Olive Oil
How to make this Creamy Chicken and Tomato Pasta
- Cook the pasta – Cook according to package instructions. Save 1 cup of pasta water.
- Cook the chicken – Cook the slices of chicken until they are almost fully cooked and obtain a nice crispy gold color on each side. Remove and set aside.
- Add your sauce – Add in your sauce ingredients, including the onions and tomatoes, cook for a few more mins. Then add in the Parmesan and basil.
- Add the pasta – Stir for another couple minutes.
- Garnish, serve and enjoy!
Recipe notes and tips
- Get your pasta cooking first, and prep your other ingredients will it cooks.
- Bring the water to a rapid boil and be sure to add the pasta to boiling water.
- As soon as you drop in the pasta be sure to give it a good stir, this prevents the pasta from sticking.
- Always make sure there’s enough water for the pasta to move around freely.
- Drain your pasta but don’t let it dry out. Allow the pasta to drain in a sieve or colander but don’t let it sit out too long and dry off, this will cause it to get too clumpy.
- You can use chicken tenders or thinly sliced chicken breast.
- Make sure to cut your chicken into similar sized pieces, so they cook evenly.
- Don’t buy pre-shredded cheese, ideally shred your own as it melts better.
- You can grate some fresh Parmesan cheese on top for garnishing or toss some chopped or whole basil leaves on top.
- Ideally use fresh basil not dried because it gives it such an amazing flavor
- Use gluten free pasta to make gluten free.
FAQ’s
Add ins and swaps
This Creamy Tomato Pasta is such a versatile recipe, feel free to add in your favorite veggies. Bell peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, baby spinach and peas are all great, but feel free to pop in whatever you fancy (or whatever needs using fro the fridge!).
In terms of proteins, you could easily swap the chicken for shrimp or turkey.
Storing leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days. Be sure to refrigerate within two hours of cooking. Be mindful that the pasta will soak up all the sauce, which is actually great for a deeper flavor! Reheat through in a pan.
What to serve with this Creamy Chicken and Tomato Pasta
This creamy pasta dish is a super hearty meal on its own but by all means feel free to add in your favorite sides! Some crusty bread would be great to mop up all that lovely pasta sauce, or a fresh and light side salad, like this Strawberry Spinach Salad with Feta.
What’s the best pasta to use?
I used rotini pasta for this as it grabs all the creamy sauce so well but you can use any type of pasta you like. The best kind of noodles for this are short and shape pasta, fusilli, penne and shells are great as they have lots of nooks and crannies for the sauce.
More pasta recipes you might like
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Creamy Chicken and Tomato Pasta
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb rotini pasta, cooked al dente
- 1 lb chicken tenders, thinly sliced (can use breasts)
- 2 cups of diced cherry tomatoes, (can use one can of diced tomatoes)
- 1 small-medium onion, finely diced
- 1 1/2 tsp. fresh crack black pepper
- 1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 2 tbsps. fresh minced garlic
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup pasta water
- 1 tsp. salt, to taste
- 2 tbsps. olive oil
Instructions
- Start cooking the pasta al dente according to package instructions. Save 1 cup of pasta water.
- Prepare ingredients: Dice the onions and cherry tomatoes, slice the chicken, mince the garlic and chop the basil.
- In a skillet, heat up one tablespoon of olive oil and cooked the slices of chicken until they are almost fully cooked and obtain a nice crispy gold color on each side.Typically takes 3-5 minutes because they are thin. Remove and set aside.
- In the same skillet, add one more tablespoon of olive oil and cook the diced onions until they are translucent.
- Add in the diced tomatoes and garlic. Stir to cook for a minute of 1 minutes then add in the salt, black pepper, paprika, heavy cream, milk and pasta water.
- Simmer for 2 minutes then add in the cooked chicken. Stir and let everything cook together for 2 more minutes.
- At this point, add in the grated parmesan cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese and fresh chopped basil.
- Stir and cook on low for 2 minutes then add in the cooked pasta. Mix everything very well together so the pasta gets coated with the sauce.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes and then remove from heat. You can grate some fresh parmesan cheese on top for garnishing or toss some chopped or whole basil leaves on top.
Notes
- Get your pasta cooking first, and prep your other ingredients will it cooks.
- Bring the water to a rapid boil and be sure to add the pasta to boiling water.
- As soon as you drop in the pasta be sure to give it a good stir, this prevents the pasta from sticking.
- Always make sure there’s enough water for the pasta to move around freely.
- Drain your pasta but don’t let it dry out. Allow the pasta to drain in a sieve or colander but don’t let it sit out too long and dry off, this will cause it to get too clumpy.
- You can use chicken tenders or thinly sliced chicken breast.
- Make sure to cut your chicken into similar sized pieces, so they cook evenly.
- Don’t buy pre-shredded cheese, ideally shred your own as it melts better.
- You can grate some fresh Parmesan cheese on top for garnishing or toss some chopped or whole basil leaves on top.
- Ideally use fresh basil not dried because it gives it such an amazing flavor
- Use gluten free pasta to make gluten free.
Also, my kids are asking for seconds and I barely took my second bite!!!
Thanks so much for the review April. Glad your kids enjoyed them!
This came out so delicious. So easy and quick! Thank you for this recipe. Your Instagram follower-April
Thanks for the review April! Really appreciate it.