Chicken Pesto Pasta is a quick, easy, and creamy pasta loaded with juicy chicken and tender asparagus. It’s a quick 30-minute meal that’s both satisfying and delicious. Everyone in our family adores this meal, so I know it will become a staple in your meal rotation as well.
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Helpful Reader Review
“Loved this quick and easy recipe. Had my son, wife and their young daughter for dinner and she ate 5 helpings. Think this recipe is a keeper. I loved the crisp tenderness of the asparagus most of all. From 8 servings-no leftovers” – Judy ★★★★★
Chicken Pesto Pasta Video
Watch me create this 30-minute meal using simple ingredients for a spectacular dinner in just a few easy steps. You’ll love the simplicity!
Easy Chicken Pesto Pasta Recipe
I love the story of this Pesto Chicken Pasta dish! It was actually shared by one of our readers, Katie N., and it was love at first bite – an instant hit! Thank you, Katie, for generously sharing your amazing recipe with all of us.
This Pesto Pasta is simple with a very short list of ingredients, but the flavor is delicious. All you need is heavy whipping cream and Basil Pesto for the sauce, and then I cook the chicken, asparagus, and sauce in one skillet. It doesn’t get any easier, and clean up is a breeze.
My family and I love creamy pastas like our Cajun Chicken Pasta, Baked Feta Pasta, or Creamy Shrimp Pasta. This chicken pesto pasta recipe takes a cream sauce to the next level.
Ingredients for Pesto Chicken Pasta
You’ll need just 5 Ingredients for my chicken pesto pasta recipe, along with olive oil, salt, and pepper. It’s that simple to make a complete and satisfying 30-minute dinner.
- Chicken Breasts – or chicken thighs, chicken tenders, or swap with 2 cups of pre-cooked rotisserie chicken or leftover Spatchcock Chicken (skip step 2 if already cooked).
- Asparagus – to clean and trim the asparagus, first rinse in water, and then cut the ends where the green begins to turn white. Cut the stalks into 3rds.
- Heavy whipping cream – the basis of the rich and creamy sauce. You can swap with dairy-free (one of my readers reported great results using canned coconut milk).
- Pesto sauce – Pesto is a creamy, blended, bright green sauce originally from Italy, typically made from basil, nuts (often pine nuts), parmesan, garlic, and olive oil. Homemade Pesto tastes best, but store-bought pesto works fine (I like Kirkland Signature Pesto from Costco). Pesto sauce is freezer-friendly, so if you make or buy a big batch, you can freeze portions of it for later.
- Pasta – I prefer fettuccini for this recipe since it holds the sauce nicely, but any kind of pasta will work (try my Homemade Pasta), like rigatoni, spaghetti, penne pasta, or pappardelle.
Substitutions
The ingredients for this chicken pesto pasta recipe are so easy to swap to fit what you have on hand. Try these easy variations:
- Protein – use pan-seared steak, pork, shrimp, or tofu, or omit the meat for a vegetarian dish.
- Vegetables – use whatever fresh veggies you have on hand, or leave the veggies out. Try frozen peas, broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, blanched green beans, or mushrooms. Also, try adding halved cherry tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes at the end.
- Pasta – go low-carb or gluten-free! Replace the pasta with Spaghetti Squash or with zucchini noodles made with a spiralizer.
How to Make Chicken Pesto Pasta
Whip up this quick chicken pesto pasta for dinner tonight. It’s quick and easy and can be served right in the same pot!
- Cook the pasta – boil salted water in a large pot and cook the pasta according to the package directions. Do not rinse the pasta – the starchy exterior will cling to the sauce better.
- Cook the chicken – season the chicken and slice it into two cutlets. Cook in a large skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes on each side. Then remove and slice in half, and then into strips.
- Saute asparagus – add olive oil and asparagus pieces and cook 2-3 minutes.
- Make the Sauce – heat the heavy whipping cream to a simmer for 3 minutes. Toss in the pesto and cooked chicken, and then cook for 2 more minutes to warm through. Do not boil the sauce or the sauce can separate. Season the sauce with salt to taste.
- Add the pasta – add the cooked pasta, stir, and serve immediately!
Natasha’s Tip for Salting Pasta Water
To flavor the pasta, from the inside out, salt should be added to the pasta cooking water so that the water tastes like ocean water before adding the pasta. This will season the pasta from the inside out. Plan on 1 1/2 Tbsp fine sea salt per 6 quarts of water, or 2 Tbsp Morton kosher salt, or 1/4 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. I learned this tip from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat, and it’s a game-changer.
What to Serve with Chicken Pesto Pasta
I love serving Chicken Pesto Pasta with a Crusty French Bread, Garlic Bread, or Sourdough bread to soak up all the delicious pesto sauce. Since it’s very hearty on its own, I like to pair it with one of these simple salads:
Make-Ahead
This pasta is best served right away, but it makes for great leftovers as well. Be sure to allow the dish to cool and then package it in an airtight container.
- To Refrigerate: refrigerate in an airtight container for 3-4 days (per USDA guidelines for storing cooked chicken).
- Freezing: You can freeze up to 1 month, but cook the pasta al dente so it doesn’t get too mushy when reheated. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
- To Reheat: Warm the pasta on low heat, stirring often. If you overheat, the cream can separate and seem oily. You can add a splash of cream, broth, or milk to bring the sauce back together.
My 30-minute chicken pesto pasta recipe is the perfect meal for any night when you need a quick, flavorful, and satisfying meal. Wow–it’s delicious! I know you’ll love this recipe and make it over and over again!
Chicken Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts, trimmed
- 1 tsp salt, (divided)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 lb asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 2″ pieces
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 4 Tbsp pesto sauce
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 12 oz fettuccini pasta, (or linguine)
Instructions
- Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water* according to package instructions to your desired doneness. While pasta is cooking, proceed with the recipe then add drained cooked pasta to the sauce in step 5.
- Cook Chicken – Cut chicken breasts in half lengthwise and season all sides with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat with 2 Tbsp olive oil. When oil is hot, add chicken in a single layer and saute until fully cooked through (3 min per side). Remove from pan and rest 5 minutes, then slice into bite-sized strips.
- Saute Asparagus – Add 2 Tbsp olive oil to the same pan with asparagus pieces. Sautee stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes or until crisp tender.
- Make the Sauce – Add 2 cups heavy whipping cream, bring to a simmer and cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 4 Tbsp pesto then add chicken breasts and cook 2 minutes. Season sauce with 1/2 tsp salt or to taste.
- Combine and Serve – Add cooked pasta, stirring to coat noodles in sauce. Remove from heat and serve right away. Garnish with basil or parsley if desired.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More 30-Minute Meals to Try
If you love this chicken pesto pasta recipe, you have to try these other quick and tasty meals:
- Shrimp Fried Rice
- Shrimp Scampi Pasta with Asparagus
- Chicken Stir Fry
- Beef Chili
- Chicken Fried Rice
- Monterey Chicken
- Sloppy Joes
I made this last night for dinner. The only thing I did not add was the asparagus & I served it with garlic bread. It was delicious & I will definitely make it again!
Hello Hope, thanks for your good feedback. So nice to know that you enjoyed this recipe!
This was absolutely delicious!! I even added garlic when frying the asparagus. I’m going to attempt to make this with pieces of beef. My hubby hates chicken. We’ll see LOL. I highly recommend this to anyone!!! Very easy delicious meal!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!! I’d love to know how you like it with beef if you test that, Dannielle!
It was absolutely delicious with the beef. I also used broccoli and spinach this time around. My hubby really enjoyed it 🙂
Hi Dannielle, great to hear that you and your hubby enjoyed this pasta. Thanks for sharing that with us!
Made this last night and it was delicious! Didn’t change a thing with the recipe.
Nice! Glad you loved it Nicole, thanks for sharing that with us.
I made this for dinner tonight but couldn’t get asparagus so i used baby spinach and added peas instead. Tastes Yummy! Thankyou Natasha for sharing this. 😃❤️
Sounds delicious, glad you liked it, Megan!
FAbulous ! Tossed it with spaghetti squash ! Well make again !! Love your dishes
Thank you for sharing that great review with me, Karen! I’m so happy you enjoyed that.
I made this tonight for my family but substituted green peas for the asparagus. It was delicious and my husband, 8 year old daughter and I cleaned our plates with left overs for tomorrow. Every time I make one of your recipes, they turn out great!
Keep doing what your doing Natasha! I love your recipes, humour and energy you bring to your page.
Aww, that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that wonderful review and compliment with me. I’m all smiles
Can we replace heavy whipping to half and half
Hi Diana, that may work, here’s what one of our readers wrote: ” I too am Lactose free and I have used Land O Lakes Lactose free half and half in place of my heavy whipping cream and it turns out just wonderfully.” I hope this is helpful.
Delicious and quick and easy recipe. I found I didn’t need the extra oil to sauté the asparagus. I did add some grated parmesan cheese to help thicken the sauce as I was afraid to simmer it too long to reduce it. We also added parmesan to each serving. My husband and son gave it rave reviews.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Marilyn! I’m glad you all enjoyed it!
OMG TASTE AS GOOD A OLIVE GARDEN ANY DAY OF THE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!WE NEEDED SOMEHING NEW AND WE LOVE THIS ONE !!!
Glad you loved this recipe!
We loved it!! I added some sliced grape tomatoes for color. Definitely will be making again!
I’m glad you loved the recipe, Christina! Thank you for your great review and feedback.
Natasha, this was amazing! My entire family enjoyed it and my 6 year old doesn’t eat a lot of foods. My only question is, that mine turned out so runny. How can I make this a thicker sauce?
Hi Sara, you can try adding some flour but I haven’t tried that yet I saw others tried that to make the sauce thicker. Did you use heavy whipping cream for this recipe?
Try adding some shredded cheese, like Parmesan. As it melts, it seems to thicken the sauce.
Thanks for that tip Sharri, I will try adding the cheese.
You did something wrong. It’s not runny at all.
Hi. Any replacement for heavy cream?
Hi Kindlee, I don’t think the sauce would have the same desirable creamy consistency with a substitution. Something different may seem watery especially if you use 2% milk or another substitution; half & half may work. I would stick with heavy cream.
I would try this recipe with one cup heavy cream and one cup drained Greek yogurt to cut down on the calories and let you know how it turned out.
This recipe is fantastic! My husband said it’s one of the best chicken recipes ever. I will certainly make this again soon. How would shrimp work in this recipe?
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Debbie! I haven’t tested this with shrimp, but I bet that could work.
I tried it with shrimp, and it’s even better than with chicken!
Wow that sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Same! I think it pairs very nicely with shrimp! Delicious!
Hi Natasha,
I made this recipe last evening and it was wonderful, easy and tasty. I didn’t take a picture but next time I make this or one of your other great recipes, I will make sure to.
Stay well
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This is my all time favourite recipe, The family just love the flavours of the pesto in the sauce. Thank you so much.
You are very welcome, Sharon. Thanks for sharing that with us!
Amazing! Only regret is not trying this sooner! I made the pesto recipe too. My family really enjoyed it. Thank you!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that, Stacey!
I plan on making this this week. I have everything in the house to make it.
Sounds like a great plan, Collete. I hope you love it!
Could you use green beans or broclie.
I haven’t tried that yet to advise but I imagine that should work well too. Please let us know how it goes if you try that!
I’ve used fine green beans in the absence of asparagus and they work well.
I just done that pasta, looks so amazing😋😋😋 I really love your reciept🥰🥰.
I’m glad you enjoyed this pasta recipe!
Cooked this today for the first time, husband and I really loved it, will try also with mushrooms. Thank you for making cooking such fun and enjoyable.
Hello Helen, sounds great! These are also good with mushrooms, I’m glad you both enjoyed this recipe.
As a nurse in Australia, I don’t want to spend hours cooking after a shift. I cooked this on Australia for my family, it was a Hugh Hit! Thanks for sharing
You are most welcome, Sandi. I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe and I hope you’ll love every recipe that you will try!