Cheesy Chicken Pasta Recipe (Easy One Pot) + Video

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Cheesy Chicken Pasta is a rich and hearty Italian meal that is bursting with flavor. It’s so easy that it just about cooks itself. Make chicken pasta with cheese for an easy and tasty dinner! The tender chicken paired with the cheesy noodles creates a delicious recipe that any picky eater will love!  

titled (and shown) one pot cheesy chicken pasta


 

This simple one pot creamy chicken pasta features a rich sundried tomato sauce that soaks into the pasta. Just toss everything together in a pot and let it cook! 

Your taste buds will love this one-pot meal. (It’s enough to feed the whole family – and easy to clean up!)

The recipe card gives all the simple steps to make this easy meal – it’s perfect for busy weeknights! 

When it comes to delicious pasta recipes, this cheesy delight is a must-make! The pasta noodles pair perfectly with the tender chicken and fresh basil! 

adding seasoning to pot of uncooked linguine and vegetables

Cheesy Chicken Pasta

In just 20 minutes, you’ll be ready to dig into a bowl of chicken and linguine coated in cheesy goodness and dotted with fresh baby spinach, onions, and tangy sun-dried tomatoes.

A cheesy chicken pasta recipe that practically makes itself — now that’s my kind of meal!

I also have another incredible garlic chicken pasta recipe made with tortellini and a creamy homemade sauce.

For south-of-the-border flavor, make some Mexican spaghetti

Your favorite salsa ingredients come together with pasta and sausage to create another knock-your-sock-off, easy pasta dish!

chicken pasta recipe in dutch oven

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

  • Dried Italian Seasoning: 

    This is a fabulous convenience ingredient that’s common in Italian recipes. 

    If you don’t keep it on hand, combine 1 teaspoon each of dried basil and rosemary with ½ teaspoon each of oregano and dried thyme.
  • Red Pepper Flakes:

    If you’re sensitive to spicy flavors, reduce this ingredient to ½ teaspoon. The chicken cheese pasta sauce will be milder, but there will still be a little heat.
  • Chardonnay:

    The wine adds a rich, buttery flavor to the sauce, as well as a hint of citrusy brightness. If you can use the chardonnay, I highly recommend it. 

    Otherwise, you can use chicken stock, white grape juice, or equal parts lemon juice and water if needed.
  • Sun Dried Tomatoes:

    Use halved grape tomatoes instead if you’re not a fan of these. Also, reduce the liquid by ½ cup and add extra salt to taste at the end.
using tongs to stir garlic chicken pasta

Tips to make this Cheesy Chicken Pasta Dish

  • You can save time by using leftover chicken cooked or rotisserie chicken! This is a great option if you don’t have time to cook raw chicken breasts. 
  • Pay attention to the cooked pasta timing as you don’t want to overcook it! 
adding parmesan cheese to one pot chicken parmesan pasta

What to Serve with Chicken Cheese Pasta

No Italian meal would be complete without a side of garlic bread or homemade breadsticks

Make a big bowl of salad using this Olive Garden salad recipe, or roast some veggies to make your table complete. 

That said, you could easily enjoy this cheesy chicken pasta all on its own. With pasta, meat, veggies, and cheese, it’s enough to keep you feeling full!

One Pot Creamy Chicken Pasta FAQ

What are good substitutes for linguine in a one pot pasta dish?

You can use any pasta for your chicken pasta with cheese. As a substitute for linguine, use another long, thin pasta like fettuccine or angel hair pasta. 

Even shorter pasta like penne pasta, rotini, or rigatoni will work great. Whole-wheat penne pasta is a great option, too! And let’s not overlook the fact that eating cheesy chicken spaghetti would be super fun for the hungry recipe testers in your house! 

Just be sure to use enough liquid to cover the noodles, and then cook until al dente.

What type of white wine is best to cook with? 

I use Entwine Chardonnay. You can find it at Kroger brand grocery stores, and it runs about $10 a bottle.

No need for anything too expensive. As long as you’d enjoy a glass of it by itself, it’ll taste great when used for cooking!

Can I make this cheesy chicken pasta recipe in a slow cooker?

I haven’t tried it with this particular recipe, but I don’t think the linguine will hold up very well under the long cook time.

If you want to try it, cook the rest of the ingredients in the crockpot first, then add the noodles during the last hour or so of cook time.

Or, cook them separately on the stove and mix together your cheesy chicken pasta just before serving. Just know that the flavor won’t be as rich since it isn’t cooked together with everything else.

How do I store leftovers of chicken cheesy pasta? 

The biggest thing to remember is that you want the recipe to cool down all the way, before storing it in an airtight container. Then the next time that you’re ready to eat it, you can add it to a skillet on the stove and reheat over medium heat. 

To add some different flavors to this easy pasta recipe, you can top with a little bit of white cheddar cheese or different types of cheese as well. Pre-shredded cheese is a fast and simple way to get that gooey melted cheese flavor back on top of the juicy chicken and noodles. 

Since I consider this recipe to be the ultimate comfort food, you can add all types of good options to the leftovers to give it a new flavor! Dicing a few bell peppers and adding them along with a little bit of garlic powder can make a leftover dish taste new and unique as well. One pot meals give a great variety on how to enjoy and eat them the next day!

using tongs to stir one pot italian chicken pasta with chicken

Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.

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overhead: cheesy chicken pasta in pot

chicken linguine in large pot

Cheesy Chicken Pasta Recipe (Easy One Pot) + Video

Donna Elick
Cheesy Chicken Pasta is a hearty Italian meal that simply bursts with authentic flavors! You need ONE pot for this easy pasta recipe!
4.91 stars from 10 reviews
Tried this recipe?Please comment and review!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Main
Cuisine American, Italian
Method Stovetop
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
 

  • 8 ounces baby spinach leaves, divided
  • 1 cup sun dried tomatoes packed in oil with Italian herbs, drained (about 7 ounces)
  • 1 large yellow onion, sliced
  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" bite sized pieces
  • 6 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1 pound dry linguine
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 32 ounces (4 cups) reduced sodium chicken stock
  • 8 ounces (1 cup) chardonnay wine
  • 4 ounces fresh Parmesan cheese, shredded

Instructions
 

  • Combine 1/2 of the spinach with the tomatoes, onion, chicken, garlic, pasta, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper in a 5-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Pour chicken stock and wine over top. Cover and bring to a boil.
  • Cook 7-9 minutes until pasta is al dente (with a bite to it). Toss pasta with tongs occasionally to keep the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot. You will still have some liquid in the pan when the pasta is done cooking. This is going to make the base for our delicious cheese sauce.
  • Turn off the heat and add the cheese to the pasta. Toss pasta with tongs until the cheese melts into the pasta. Toss in remaining spinach.
  • Serve and enjoy!

Video

Donna’s Notes

  1. Dried Italian seasoning is a fabulous convenience ingredient. If you do not keep it on hand, combine 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1 teaspoon rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon oregano and 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme.
  1. This dish is just spicy enough to make your tongue tingle. For a very mild sauce, reduce the red pepper flakes to 1/2 teaspoon.
  1. I know some people are sensitive to alcohol. The wine adds a fabulous rich buttery flavor and a bright citrus flavor to the pasta. If you can use the chardonnay, I highly recommend it. However, you can substitute with chicken stock, white grape juice, or lemon water (1/2 cup fresh lemon juice and 1/2 cup water).

Nutrition

Serving: 1. | Calories: 562cal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 1303mg | Sugar: 4g | Fiber: 5g | Calcium: 324mg | Iron: 4mg

All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
titled pinterest collage of chicken pasta recipe

Originally published October 2016, updated and republished November 2024

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301 Comments

    1. I know some people are sensitive to alcohol. The wine adds a fabulous rich buttery flavor and a bright citrusiness to the pasta. If you can use the chardonnay, I highly recommend it. However, you can substitute with chicken stock, white grape juice, or lemon water (1/2 cup fresh lemon juice and 1/2 cup water).

    2. I had another recipe that called for white wine and was told to substitute "white wine vinegar" it turned out great so I'm sure you could also substitute it in this recipe…

    3. I did not use dried tomatoes but a can of tomatoes roasted with basil and sauce 15 oz can. And cream of chicken soup with wine and also chicken broth too. So tasty.

    4. I substituted 1cup of white wine vinegar and it unfortunately overpowered the dish, making it really acidic. I love the dish otherwise, but will at least half the vinegar next time.

    5. It was unanimous…" Wine and Parmesan cheese (in those proportions) DON'T MIX"! And the aftertaste…had quite the bite! We all had to brush our teeth immediately,LOL!
      oh, and one last thing,the kitchen smelled like someone just got sick!

    6. Wine and Parmesan go fabulous together! I have fed this to 10 people ALL of them loved it and wanted the recipe!!

    7. I would like to thank you for this fantastic recipe it was so easy and it so YUMMY this will something I will be cooking forever.

    8. You can purchase Dealcholized wine. It is so much better than cooking wine and much less salty. "Fre" makes a good alcohol removed wine, both red and white. You can purchase it at Wegmans. Many grocery stores now carry it.

    9. Donna, was one of the best tasting and efficient recipes I've ever made. We are old and have dietary issues. Plus, I'm a foodie and I can't wait to try this recipe again with the twists below. I think this recipe is perfection! Thank you! everyone for letting me sing the praises:

      We used boneless, skinless thighs–I do not like white meat. I think that you might find boneless, skinless, white meat in prepared in 1/2" pieces so you have no prep–I was pleased that our grocery store had boneless, skinless dark meat but we still had to carve the chicken into the pieces.
      We should have bought the pre-chopped onions that are available in produce. It would have saved a short bit of time. We used one yellow onion as the recipe specified.

      I used garlic from a jar, which saved prep time. So sue me….it saved time.

      That was all the prep work that it took and it was very quick (like 10 minutes).

      My mother doesn't like heat, so I only added a dash of the red pepper flakes. This was not my preference, because I like things spicier. But a dash did give it a nice little kick.

      The jar of sun dried tomatoes we purchased, weren't cut. They were large tomatoes. I'd suggest cutting these in half before you put them in the pot.

      Next time I make this I'd like to try it with three Italian cheeses sprinkled over the top of each plate. The parmesan that was in the dish was fabulous. But I love cheese. I'd like to see what those other flavors would do. I might even try it with a little mushroom.

      But it is perfect as it it.

      This is a perfect recipe. It took us at most 30 minutes from prep to finish. You only have one dish to clean, the pot that you dump everything and cook in, and a few prep utensil. I cannot wait to make this again! One of the best and easiest recipes I've ever made.

    10. I really dislike drinking white wine but I keep vermouth on hand, so I used vermouth in this and it worked out great.

    11. Mark Gaulding, I agree mincing garlic is time consuming, so I use a garlic press. I love the fresh garlic, jarred garlic isn't fresh. And I never can tell in the finished dish the difference between minced and crushed.

    12. If it makes a difference, alcohol evaporates when met with heat. I thought everyone knew that. So all that remains is the enhanced flavor. You should only have to worry about the alcohol if you poured it over a rum cake, for example.

    13. I was wondering if you could use red wine and subsitute chicken with shrimp. Canned tomatoes strained instead of roasted tomatoes

    14. hi, Donna, I can't wait to make this recipe, but I have a problem : no stovetop. I have been getting by with a slow cooker and a microwave. Could you please tell me how to adapt the instructions for the slow cooker? BTW, I ordered your cookbook. Thank you, Diane DeLuca

    15. This is an amazing dish! It is easy to make and it rivals some of the best Italian eateries in flavor, texture and presentation. Everyone was impressed. I would like to see some more recipes…Thank you.

    1. I saw the recipe written, in fact the video wouldn't come up for me, so maybe just scroll on down. Good Luck.

    2. Can you cook chicken and noodles in separate pans? I'd just worry the noodles would get to done and the chicken wouldn't get done enough.

    3. I'm going to make this using a light Rose wine that I have on hand & I'm throwing in a few fresh mushrooms. I hope it will be OK….:)

    4. I always cook my chicken separate because I don’t like the thoughts of raw chicken with the rest. I use the broth from this for the recipe. Just add the chicken near the end of cook time.

  1. This dish looks amazing! Would love to try it ~ is there any way of finding out the calorie count? (i.e. Per cup or per grams). Thank you!

    1. Wonderful, thanks so much!! Made this today & omgosh it was soooo yummy!! A new fave in our house for sure! The calorie count website was super helpful, thanks again! 🙂

  2. Hi! Could I substitute a different pasta such as penne or rigatoni? I prefer the bitesized pastas because I always end up with sauce all over myself using the string noodles!!! 🙂

    1. Absolutely. You can use any pasta in this recipe. Just make sure it is covered by the liquid enough to cook and then cook until al dente. Enjoy and let me know how it goes.

  3. Absolutely gorgeous recipe. Made it tonight. I had no parmesan so i used mature white cheddar, I'm not a fan of sundried tomatoes so I put in fresh cherry tomatoes. And bacon just because it's bacon. Kids loved it.

    1. We don't like sun dried tomatoes either and the store that would have great fresh tomatoes 30 min away and would like to keep ingredients on hand to make quickly. Couldn't I use a large drained can of diced tomatoes. By the way loved the white grape juice substitute.

    1. I made this for my parents this week. They absolutely loved it and have already shared the recipe with several of their friends- they can't stop talking about it! This is a good one!

  4. I made this last night and it was delicious! Did not have the tomatoes and I used about 6oz of parmesan instead of 4.. Definitely will make again.

    1. I do not think the pasta would hold up very well. I haven't tried it though, so let me know what you come up with!

    2. I did crock pot ~ it worked but I cooked on slow but for only 4-6 hrs long…and I did the cheese at the end, several times before serving good and cheesey(added Asiago cheese also) Plus I did a Chili version with white bean and chicken with Macaroni noodles (chili mac) delish. Thanks for the goodies…

    3. I also used crockpot for this recipe but it was a total disaster. The pasta disintegrated into mush after 1.5 hours on high.

  5. Made this tonight. It was amazing! I highly recommend making this. It was not expensive and super easy to make. Thank you for such a great recipe!

  6. Thanks for sharing! I made this tonight, with gluten free pasta. It was so good and flavorful! Plus there's a little leftover.

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