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This creamy chicken spinach pasta recipe is a total comfort food dinner! It comes together quickly and can be on your table in about 30 minutes but feels special.
You may also like my Chicken Bacon Spinach Pasta or my Easy Creamed Spinach next.
Why you’ll love it
This spinach chicken pasta is great for busy weeknights since it’s pretty hassle free to throw together. The golden pan-fried chicken melts in your mouth, and spinach adds a pop of freshness. Many lovely readers have shared how their picky eaters devoured it!
To keep the creamy pasta sauce from being one-dimensional, a kiss of lemon juice and Dijon mustard add a little je ne sais quoi to the meal. I love adding Dijon to various recipes. It’s one of my favorite cooking tricks to give that extra something-something for flavor.
What you’ll need
- Pasta – I use penne, but any similar size pasta will work
- Chicken breasts – it’s cut up into tender bite-sized pieces
- Flour – for getting an irresistible crust on the chicken
- Butter and olive oil – for pan frying
- Garlic – more savory flavor
- Chicken broth – or use a dry white wine (e.g., sauvignon blanc) for an elegant variation
- Lemon juice and Dijon mustard – this duo is the ultimate flavor enhancer
- Italian seasoning – it’s an all-purpose blend of dried herbs in one jar
- Heavy cream – to make the sauce luxurious
- Spinach – for some added greens
- Parmesan – to top it all off. Always grate your own!
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- Chicken is cooked at 165F. Use an instant read thermometer so it’s perfect every time.
- I store my butter in this butter dish, and it has markings to measure it out easily!
- This is the skillet I use for this pasta.
How to make chicken spinach pasta
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Boil the pasta. Meanwhile, cut up the chicken, season with salt & pepper, and dredge in flour. Heat up the butter and oil in a skillet. Cook the chicken until golden, then transfer to a plate. Add the garlic, broth, lemon juice, Dijon, and Italian seasoning to the pan.
Let it bubble for a minute, scraping up the browned bits. Return the chicken, and add in the cream and spinach. Simmer until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked. Toss with the drained pasta, season with extra salt & pepper, and stir in the parmesan.
Substitutions and variations
- I don’t recommend substituting the heavy cream for anything lower fat. It will change the taste and texture substantially.
- You could use frozen spinach, be sure to thaw it and squeeze the water out really well.
- Adding in some sun-dried tomatoes is a good idea if you’re a fan!
What to serve with chicken spinach pasta
- Round out the meal with a dinner roll or a slice of fresh bread. I like French or sourdough. Or make it a feast with my Extra Cheesy Garlic Bread.
- Craving a salad? Spring mix with my Homemade Ranch Dressing, this Easy Italian Dressing, or Honey Mustard Dressing are all great pairings.
Leftovers and storage
- Store leftover pasta for 3-4 days in the fridge in a covered container.
- Reheat slowly over a low heat, but keep in mind that it’s best fresh. The spinach will wilt more, and the sauce won’t be as good reheated. You might need to add another splash of cream to revive it.
- I don’t recommend freezing this one.
More easy chicken pasta recipes
If you made this creamy chicken spinach parmesan pasta, please leave a star rating and review below! Questions? Feel free to ask. You can also find me on Instagram.
Creamy Chicken Spinach Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked pasta
- 2 chicken breasts cut into small bite-size pieces
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Flour for dredging
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/3 cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 5 ounces fresh baby spinach
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Boil a large, salted pot of water for the pasta. Cook it al dente according to package instructions.
- Meanwhile, cut up the chicken and season it with salt & pepper. Coat the pieces with flour.
- Add the butter and oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Once the pan’s hot, add the chicken and cook it until it’s no longer pink on the outside. Take the chicken out of the pan and set it aside.
- Take the pan off the heat and add the garlic, chicken broth, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and Italian seasoning. Return the pan to the heat and let it bubble for a minute or so. Scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add the chicken, cream, and spinach to the pan. Let it cook for around 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. You may want to reduce the heat if it’s bubbling a lot or if the sauce is thickening too fast.
- Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. Stir in the parmesan. Season with more salt & pepper if needed.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
This recipe was originally published on May 17, 2019. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
Made this for my family as I’m vegetarian, they loved it! Will use again x
Wonderful! 🙂
So quick and yummy! Always on the hunt for something that can be cooked and on the table in under an hour.
So pleased you liked it, Amanda! 😀
This was so so good! An easy dish for me to whip up with GF pasta and GF flour for me and my family! The dijon and lemon give it a unique flavor that stands apart from the average creamy alfredo-type of recipes flooding pinterest.
Can’t wait to try this recipe again, thanks!!
So glad you were able to make it GF, Kyrsten!
I did too with GF fettuccine and the whole family loved it even though i ommited the mustard. Thank you!
So glad to hear it!
This was so delicious, so easy, so simple, and so perfect! Made this with leftover pasta, some heavy cream + half & half (didn’t have enough cream), when it wasn’t thickening, threw in a little arrowroot powder and voila. The only downside is I had to share this dish 🙂 Saving this one to repeat in the very near future. Thank you!
Wonderful! So glad it was a hit. 😊
I made this tonight. It was delicious!!! The only thing I did different is add more lemon juice and chicken broth. Also. Not as much pasta so I would have more sauce. Next time, I would double the sauce.
I am so happy you liked it, Judith!
Made this for my family, Natasha, and they loved it!! Many thanks. Liked the additional lemon and mustard idea. Like the look of some of your other recipes so I’ll be following you. Thanks again.
So pleased to hear it, Rachel! You’re very welcome. 🙂 Thanks for following along!
Made this tonight for dinner my daughter needs the spinach for her iron so I made it. I had to chop up the spinach first and the chicken for her (she’s 19 months) but it was a success with my 3 year old as well!!! I added a touch more lemon and Parmesan cheese!!! Me and my husband enjoyed it as well!!
That makes me so happy!!
Hi Natasha,
I made this tonight for my family and it was truly wonderful. Thanks for a great recipe I will be trying others from your menu 😉
Yay! So happy to hear it. Thanks, Simon 😀
Hej,
why do you not tell us the amounts in Grams, Kilograms, LIter and Mililiter…
I do not even know how much is 1 ounce…., how big is the cup? A small one or a big one?
Kind regards from Afrika,
Claus
Hi Claus! I’m in North America, so that’s why I use the US measurement system (most of my readers are from the USA). A cup is 236 ml. An ounce is 28g… so the spinach would be 142g, for example. He’s a handy website that shows how to do many of the conversions: https://bit.ly/2AKTQ39 – hope this helps!
Do you leave the butter in the pan or do you take it out after removing it from the heat?
Leave it in 😊
Hi I’d like you to deliver this to me but without chicken thanks.
No.