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This simple one pot Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta is the perfect winter dinner. Quick, easy, hearty, and so delicious! Pan-seared Italian seasoned chicken in a creamy sun-dried tomato spinach sauce. Cooked together with rigatoni pasta for a quick dinner made in one pot. Truly one of those all-in-one dinners that everyone at the table will love. Great for a weeknight, but equally fancy enough to serve up at your next holiday dinner. You can’t go wrong with this Tuscan style pasta.
This December has been a special one in that four out of six of my brothers are here in Colorado all month. Normally, they’ll all come in the days leading up to Christmas, but with some snowboard events happening here all month long, the boys have been at home.
And when I say the boys, I mean Kai and Red. Well, Creighton is here too. I’m not exactly sure of his reasoning for being here all month. But I truly believe it’s because he misses Oslo when he leaves. And Trevor has been back and forth. I love having them home. Each one provides a little inspiration on any given day.
Lately, the boys have been requesting a lot of pasta and chicken. I’ve been making random dishes every night. But this one turned out so good that I wanted to recreate the dish and share it.
Everyone at the table loved this pasta. Even my dad, who’s not that into chicken and pasta, said the flavor was delicious.
And what do I love about this dish? Just how quick and easy it is to prepare!
The details
Seeing as this is a one pot recipe, it’s pretty straight forward. I start with the sun-dried tomatoes. I love using a jar of oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes. Not only are the tomatoes delicious, but I also use the oil from the jar to cook the chicken. The oil is always seasoned, so it adds even more flavor. Just make sure it’s extra virgin olive oil.
While I’m cooking the chicken, I season it with a homemade Italian seasoning blend…dried basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary and sage. Then I add smoked paprika and chili flakes. It’s a delicious mix and makes the chicken very flavorful.
Oh, and I add some parmesan too!
Once the chicken has cooked, add some water to make a paste. Then add the pasta and cook until the pasta is just al dente. Stir in a bit if cream, lots of spinach, the sun-dried tomatoes, and parmesan.
Add the chicken back to the pasta and toss everything until it is creamy.
I serve each bowl with extra parmesan and a squeeze of lemon. DELICIOUS!
It’s everything you’d expect out of a multi-step recipe, but all made in way less than an hour – and in one pot too. Simple, simple – and we love that.
You can serve this up on busy weeknights, but it’s equally great for holiday dinners with friends and family. I’m sure I’ll be remaking this over the holidays. My family members are slowly starting to make their way back to Colorado for Christmas (my remaining brothers and cousins), so this will be on repeat.
Looking for winter pasta recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Pesto Tortellini Zuppa Toscana
Creamy Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Pasta
One Pot French Onion Pasta with Crispy Prosciutto
Basil Parmesan Pasta with Crispy Chicken, Prosciutto, and Arugula
Lastly, if you make this Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 519 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 (8 ounce) jar oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
- 4 teaspoons Italian seasoning (see note)
- 1 teaspoon paprika or smoked paprika
- red pepper flakes
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 medium shallot, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 pound short cut pasta
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach
- juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- 1. Drain 3 tablespoons of oil from the sun-dried tomato jar into a large pot or skillet with sides. Chop the sun-dried tomatoes and set aside.2. Set the pot over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, 3 teaspoons Italian seasoning, the paprika, and a pinch each of red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Cook until golden brown, 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup parmesan, cook another minute, then remove the chicken from the pot. 3. To the same pot, add the butter, shallot, garlic, and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning. Cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add 3 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil, add the pasta, and cook, stirring often, until the pasta is al dente, 8 minutes. Stir in the cream, mustard, parmesan, spinach, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Slide the chicken and any juices left on the plate.4. Serve the pasta topped with lemon juice and fresh parmesan.
Notes
Italian Seasoning: Mix 2 tablespoons dried basil, 2 tablespoons dried oregano, 2 teaspoons dried thyme, 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, and 1 teaspoon dried sage. Store in a sealed container.
Deglazed with wine and doubled the chicken. Omitted mustard and lemon. This was very tasty, hubby had seconds! I love how easy the recipe is to follow.
Hi Brighton,
Thanks a lot for trying this recipe, I love to hear that it turned out well:) Happy Sunday! xT
This dish is delicious! I omitted the mustard (just didn’t seem necessary), and I also cooked the pasta separately, reserving some of the pasta water for the sauce. It was a hit with my husband as well, and we hardly have the same taste. Will definitely be making this again!
Hi Kelly,
Amazing!! So glad to hear that both you and your husband enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for making it! xT
I love all of your recipes, but this is my favorite. I make this one very often, I find it freezes well also.
Thanks so much for your kind message, Francine! So glad to hear this recipe always turns out well for you:) xT
This is very good, easy to make. I did use chicken broth instead of the 3 1/2 cups of water for cooking pasta .
Hi Lorrie,
Fantastic! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment! So glad it turned out well for you:)
This was soooo good!! Had never thought to use the oil from sun-dried tomato jar…made this dish so flavorful. I love your recipes, keep them coming. 🥳
Hi Heather,
Thanks so much for your kind message and trying this pasta! So glad to hear it was enjoyed! xT
I guess I’m confused…based on recipe you add the water and pasta to the butter/shallot/garlic mixture but you never end up draining this? Doesn’t this just end up soupy/watery?
Hi Paige,
Most of the water is going to absorb while the pasta is cooking, any remaining water (which isn’t a lot) becomes part of the sauce. I hope you love this recipe! xT
I want to add 5 more stars. This was so delicious and so easy and relatively quick. It is now one of my favorite pasta dishes.
Hi Pam,
Amazing!! Thanks so much for trying this recipe and your feedback! Love to hear it was a hit! xT
Very good! I added the Parmesan cheese to the chicken outside of the skillet. I was followed the recipe otherwise, delicious and flavorful!
Thank you for trying out the recipe! I’m so so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 xT
We’ve made this recipe many times and love it! We’ve made some modifications.
– The pasta takes quite a bit longer to cook and requires extra water. We start with 4 cups and add an additional 1-2 cups as needed. The pasta I use takes about 15 mins to cook vs the 10 mins on the package.
– Omit or drastically reduce the amount of lemon juice. We find that it overpowers the dish.
– Chop the chicken into much smaller pieces, across the grain
– Omit the pepper flakes (personal preference)
– Mix the Dijon into the cream first
– DO NOT be tempted to cook the sun-dried tomatoes with the onions, it turns out poorly
Thank you sooo much Colin! So glad you enjoyed this recipe! xT
Really easy to make and impressive but we all felt the Dijon mustard flavour was too strong
Thank you for the feedback Leah! xT
This is incredible! SO flavourful and so easy to throw together. Even my fiancée who doesn’t like sundried tomatoes or creamy sauces liked this one.
Happy Friday! Thank you for trying out this recipe, and have a great weekend! xT
Super easy to make. I boiled the pasta separately before adding it into the mix of everything else- didn’t have parm or Dijon and added more seasonings in the recipe as I needed. Came out delicious! I ended up deglazing the pan I cooked the chicken in with the butter/cream sauce. Delcious! Would make it again
Hey Nat,
Happy Monday!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out and your feedback! Love to hear it turned out well! xT
Fast, flavourful and fantastic!
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe and leaving a comment! Have a wonderful week! xT
Makesa lot! Deglazed my pan with white wine. But followed the recipe otherwise. Filling almost healthy with the spinach added in. Very good
Thanks for trying out the recipe Mary! 🙂 xT
Very tasty! Subbed kale for spinach as I don’t love how wilty spinach is in hot dishes. Also used white wine to deglaze the pan after cooking the chicken. Recommend more red pepper flakes if you like some spice!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for giving it a try! xT
I had the whole gang home and I tripled the recipe and it is a good thing I did because we went thru 3/4 of it. Everyone loved it. Will be going into my rotation!
Thanks so much for trying out the recipe! Love to hear you enjoyed it! xT