This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
Super Easy One Pot Spicy Tomato Basil Pesto Pasta. Trust me, this is the pasta that everyone will beg you to make again and again. Shortcut pasta and spicy Italian seasoned chicken are cooked together to create a big pot of the most flavorful pasta! A couple of cans of tomatoes, basil pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and parmesan cheese are mixed in to create a creamy, cheesy pasta. Serve each bowl of pasta with creamy burrata and fresh basil on top. Simple, but totally delicious!
Half Baked Harvest At Home
20+ new recipes for wholesome comfort food made with everyday ingredients. Pre-order today! HBH At Home will be released on Tuesday, February 23rd!
It’s Friday night and we’re making pasta. A good one-pot pasta like today’s recipe is such a go-to dinner that I often make for my family. Sometimes, I’ll do something in a cream sauce. Other times, I like to go a more traditional route with a tomato basil style pasta.
Lately, I’ve been cooking with a lot of ground chicken or pork. It cooks up quickly, and I can easily season it with our favorite spice blends!
I use either ground chicken or pork to create a homemade Italian-style spicy chicken sausage. I LOVE making my own because I’m able to easily control the ingredients added. This means nothing weird, only the flavorings I know my family enjoys!
When my older brother recently requested a spicy Italian sausage dinner, I knew I could use the ground chicken in the fridge to create a delicious one-pot pasta!
I love a one-pot pasta! I’m not sure why this is, but for some reason, the idea of breaking out a separate pot just to boil off some pasta sounds so daunting to me. Does anyone else feel the same way?
Whenever I can make a one-pot meal, I do! Which is exactly what I did for today’s pasta. This is so easy to throw together and really delicious!
Let’s Jump Into The Details
Ingredients
- ground chicken, turkey, or pork – I use ground chicken or pork the most
- Italian seasoning – I’m challenging you to make your own blend, it’s so easy! I shared what I do below!
- smoked paprika
- crushed fennel seed
- onion powder
- chili flakes
- dry pasta – I love penne for this recipe
- crushed tomatoes – use an Italian-style tomato for the yummiest pasta
- basil pesto – this time of year, I usually use store-bought bought
- chopped up sun-dried tomatoes
- freshly grated parmesan cheese
- fresh basil
- burrata cheese – make sure this is room temperature
Special Tools
You really just need a big dutch oven for this one-pot pasta.
Steps
Step 1: brown the meat
Start with the meat in a big dutch oven. Get it cooking, breaking up the ground meat as it cooks.
Mix in the Italian seasoning: paprika, fennel, and onion powder. Make sure to season well with salt, pepper, and chili flakes (to taste).
Step 2: add the tomatoes and pasta
Next, mix in the cans of tomatoes with a couple cups of water. Add the dry pasta and bring the sauce to a simmer.
Cook the dry pasta in the sauce until the pasta feels al dente.
Step 3: finish the pasta
Mix in the basil pesto, the sun-dried tomatoes, and a handful of fresh basil. Oh, and of course, lots of parmesan cheese!
Step 4: serve
You can divide the pasta between bowls and top each bowl with burrata cheese.
This dish is great on its own with a nice big salad. We all really loved this meal!
To Make Homemade Italian Seasoning
This is my blend! It’s so flavorful and much better than the store! You can also adapt it to your liking.
In a bowl, whisk together dried basil, onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried parsley, dried thyme, dried sage, and dried rosemary.
You can add chili flakes to make it spicy! I usually do. Store in a sealed container. It will last a few months!
Looking for other one-pot recipes? Here are my favorites:
Easy One Pot Broccoli Cheese Pesto Pasta
French Onion Pasta with Crispy Prosciutto
One Skillet White Chicken Chili Bake
Healthier Homemade One Pot Hamburger Helper
Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta
Lastly, if you make this Easy One Pot Spicy Tomato Basil Pesto 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!
Easy One Pot Spicy Tomato Basil Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken, turkey, or pork
- 2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1-2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder
- 1 teaspoon crushed fennel seed
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- salt and black pepper
- chili flakes
- 2 (28 ounces) cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 pound short-cut pasta
- 1/2 cup basil pesto
- 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped basil or micro basil
- 2-3 balls burrata cheese, at room temperature
Instructions
- 1. In a large pot set over high heat, brown the meat, breaking it up as cooks. Add the Italian seasoning, paprika, chipotle, fennel, and onion powder. Season with salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Cook until the meat is cooked through and the spices are fragrant, 8-10 minutes. 2. Add the tomatoes and 2 big cups of water. Mix in the dry pasta and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. Do not drain the water.4. Stir in the basil pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and parmesan. Stir until melted and creamy. Remove from the heat. Stir in the basil. Season with salt and pepper. 5. Break the burrata over the pasta and divide the pasta between bowls. Top with extra olive oil and black pepper. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
This makes an excellent pasta sauce!
There were only 3 of us, so I cut the recipe in half and added sweet mini tomatoes, double the sundried tomatoes and a touch more basil pesto. The homemade Italian seasoning is the way to go. I also cooked the penne separately and then added a cup of pasta water to the sauce. Very yummy!
Hey Val,
Thanks so much! Love to hear this dish turned out well for you, I appreciate you making it!
Made this awhile ago and was delish. If I use Italian sausage instead of plain ground meat, what seasonings can I skip? Or would you still add them all?
Hey Steph,
Wonderful! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, so glad it was enjoyed!🍀
You could skip the seasonings:)
Is this (2) 28-oz cans of tomatoes or a total of 28 oz?
Hey Keri,
It’s two 28oz cans:) I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions!
Ok wow!!! Sooo good easy to make full of flavor adding to my favorites!
Thanks so much, Alexia! Love to hear this recipe was enjoyed, I appreciate you making it!
This was so easy and so good. And it made excellent leftovers. Thank you!
Hi Travis! SO glad you loved this pasta! Thanks so much for giving it a try! 🙂 xT
This recipe is absolutely terrific! I used 2 cans of fire roasted tomatoes in place of the crushed tomatoes and since I didn’t have any sun dried tomatoes on hand, I roasted some grape tomatoes with a little olive oil and Italian seasoning and tossed them in. I also added 1 Tbsp of brown sugar to offset the heat just a little bit.
The leftovers also froze and reheated very well.
Will definitely be making this many times again!
Hi Janice,
Awesome! Love to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! xx
I made this last night and absolutely loved it!!!
Hey Alice,
Happy Sunday!! Thank you so much for making this recipe and your comment, love to hear it was enjoyed:) x
Way too tomato-heavy. It overpowered the many other competing flavors.
Hi Suzie,
Thanks for trying this dish and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! If there is anything that I can help with, please let me know! xx
I think maybe Suzie did what I did – added 2 28 oz cans of tomato, so 56 total oz! Oops!! I now read it as 28 oz total. Most 14 oz cans I have found are 14.5oz so that would be 29 oz total. the 28 threw me off! No biggie, still great!
Loved this! Just a note that chipotle chile powder is in the ingredients down below, but not in your article. It was good in the recipe, but wanted to let you know!
Hey Dana,
Happy Friday!! Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a try, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! Thanks for the heads up! XxT
Thanks for another great recipe! I cooked the noodles separately and it worked out perfect. Great flavor and very easy to put together! Keep doing you queen. ♥️✔️
Hey Crystal,
Fantastic! I appreciate you trying this recipe, I’m so glad it turned out nicely for you! xx
I wanted to like this but not my favorite HBH pasta recipe. Noodles took longer to cook in the sauce, and too tomato-y.
Hi Kristen,
I appreciate you trying this dish and sharing your feedback, so very sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! xx
I wanted to love this, with the basil, pesto and sundried tomatoes, however the two, 28-oz cans of crushed tomatoes really overpowered the dish. It was so tomato-y that we couldn’t taste the pesto or sundried tomatoes…the only flavour was of the crushed tomatoes. Thanks for the idea, Tieghan! I appreciate your recipes and love trying them.
Hi Samantha,
Thanks so much for trying this dish and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear you didn’t love it! xx
I used my homegrown basil pesto and it complemented the recipe’s rich tomato base to make a delicious sauce. Definitely a hit in our household! Thank you!
Hey Marsha,
Yay! Love to hear this:) Thank you so much for making this recipe and your comment! Have the best day!!
Do you think this recipe could work with diced chicken breast? Thanks!
Hi Liv,
Sure, that would work nicely for you! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
I made this with my five year old. He had so much fun pulling down every spice in the cabinet for this recipe! Although, cinnamon was the one thing that wasn’t in the recipe, he threw a sprinkle in anyway when I looked away for a second. Oops! Haha luckily I don’t think anyone noticed with all the other bold flavors mixed in. Thanks for always sharing your creativity with us!
Hey Carly,
Wonderful! Love to hear this recipe was a winner, I appreciate you making it! Have the best weekend:)
Hey just wondering..Is it 2 cans that are 28oz or 28oz all together?
Hi Justine,
You will want to use 2 cans that are 28oz each, so a total of 56oz. Please let me know if you have any other questions! I hope you love this dish! xx
Should I drain the liquid from the crushed tomatoes?
Hey Victor,
Nope, you do not want to drain the tomatoes for this recipe:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx