Cheesy Chicken Pasta (Easy One Pot Recipe) + 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!
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!)
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!
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.
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!
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
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.
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!
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.
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!
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Other One Pot Pasta Recipes
Cheesy Chicken Pasta Recipe (Easy One Pot) + Video
Equipment
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
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.
Originally published October 2016, updated and republished November 2023
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Could I sub broccoli florets for the spinach? My kids won't touch the spinach.
Really great, but was really glad I sauteed the onion until translucent before adding the other ingredients and chicken broth. Otherwise I don't think it would have passed the picky palates of my kids, they both refuse to eat onions with any kind of crunch/bite left to them.
Could you use shrimp instead of chicken?
Several of our readers have used shrimp. Just watch your cook time. I would only add them for the last 10 minutes (and they should be cooked through). Enjoy!
Wonder if you also could add some diced tomatoes?
I like to use Rotel but have to back off on the red pepper flakes but love this dish!
Could you tell me the name of the song/band?
I am having difficulty finding any measures so im winging it. Would like to make for group pot luck in a few days and don't have time to trial and error.
Quick, simple, delicious. Awesome!
Me too! Following
Made this tonight for dinner. It turned out very sour, I know it came from the tomatoes. The texture was beautiful, I will make it again but with just about 1 or 2oz of the sun dried tomatoes. Not sure how to fix the left overs.
I made this dish tonight ! My husband and I found this too salty and spicy, though I added 33% less salt chicken broth and 1 tsp. kosher salt, and less crushed red pepper.
I had no wine, spinach, chicken or sun dried tomatoes, so I used pork scalloppini strips and a 14 oz. can of Italian diced tomatoe, 2 cups of bell pepper strips and lemon water. Turned out ery tasty. Will try the original recipe once I get all the required ingredients for it.
Delicious and easy! The people concerned about the white wine I get that, but she was right it hads incredible flavor and richness. Really love this recipe. It was so easy. I also like someone who asked above just used a large steel pot and had no issues. Thank you for really good easy recipe!
I had no red pepper or tomatoes and also used a steel pot like someone mentioned above. I saw some people not liking the white wine, but I think she is right I had never cooked with white wine but did tonight and it came out delicious. I think it's an incredibly easy recipe and not very time consuming. Thank you for the great recipe!
How would it go with fresh pasta?
I have made this for dinner twice. my family and myself love it.
Any suggestions for what to substitute Parmesan cheese with? We have dairy allergies. Would it be okay without cheese?
We ate some before we added cheese, and it was tasty.
Would this work in a large saucepan?
Would this work in a large saucepan?
Can the recipe be halved as I am cooking for three people
Can the recipe be successfully halved in quantity for cooking
Sun dried tomatoes were $6.00 a jar. Roasted tomatoes 99 cents a can. They worked out fine and it was delicious.
I haven't tried it yet, but looks delicious … But i am actually wondering about the STARCH from the pasta, that means we get all that into us. And of course wonder how good that is
Haven't made it but looks delicious ..
But just wondering about all the starch from the pasta ….. is that so healthy to eat?
How much liquid? 1lb pasta?
Why doesn't the pasta stick together?