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This 30-minute Tuscan chicken pasta is easy to make and full of flavor! It has an amazing creamy sauce with a classic trio of sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and spinach.
Try my Creamy Tuscan Chicken or Marry Me Chicken Pasta next.
Why you’ll love it
This creamy Tuscan pasta recipe is so tasty, comes together fast, and isn’t complicated at all. In other words, my kinda pasta dish! It’s the ideal pasta recipe for busy weeknights, but it also happens to be very elegant and is guaranteed to impress your guests.
I can’t even begin to tell you how delicious the sauce is in this easy chicken pasta. I mean, who doesn’t love the classic Tuscan-inspired flavors of sun-dried tomatoes and basil? They’re even better in a rich garlic cream sauce! All of this in just 30 minutes? Yes please.
What you’ll need
- Pasta – I prefer a longer pasta like linguini, but any shape is great
- Chicken – we’re using chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
- Olive oil – for pan frying
- Garlic powder – along with salt & pepper, garlic powder infuses the chicken directly with flavor
- Italian seasoning – it’s a classic dried herb blend in a single jar
- Smoked paprika – my secret ingredient to amp up flavor
- Chicken broth – the base of the sauce
- Garlic cloves – more savory goodness
- Dijon mustard – don’t omit this! It gives a fantastic savory depth of flavor, and you can’t taste the mustard itself. It’s one of my favorite cooking hacks to make sauces incredible.
- Flour – to thicken the sauce
- Lemon juice – a burst of brightness and acidity to balance the flavors
- Sun-dried tomatoes – they’re a staple in Tuscan-inspired recipes
- Cream – use whipping/heavy cream to get that rich, luxurious texture
- Spinach and basil – hallmark fresh ingredients in Tuscan recipes
- Parmesan – pile on as much fresh parm as you like!
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- You don’t ever have to be in doubt about whether chicken is cooked with an inexpensive instant read meat thermometer.
- I store flour in one of these airtight pantry containers to keep it fresh.
- Mincing garlic is simple with a garlic press, and I always freshly grate parmesan with my Microplane zester.
How to make Tuscan chicken pasta
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Boil water and cook your pasta until al dente. In a skillet, add the chicken along with the garlic powder, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, and salt & pepper. Pan fry until golden, about four minutes. Transfer to a plate.
To the skillet add the chicken broth, garlic, Dijon mustard, flour, and lemon juice. Whisk until combined. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and cream to the pan and simmer for two minutes.
Return the chicken to the skillet and finish cooking it. Add in the spinach and basil, and simmer until the spinach is wilted. Toss with the pasta, and serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese!
Pro tip
Feel free to sub the chicken broth with a good dry white wine like pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc that you enjoy drinking for a touch of elegance (not cooking wine).
Substitutions and variations
- If you’re not keen on sun-dried tomatoes, you could chop up a medium fresh tomato instead. Keep in mind that the sauce may end up a little thinner. You can reduce it for longer if necessary.
- I don’t recommend substituting the heavy cream for anything else. It really enhances the flavor and richness, and using something with a lower fat content could cause the sauce to curdle.
What to serve with Tuscan chicken pasta
- It’s fairly hearty, so I’d recommend breadsticks or a dinner roll. You could also make it extra special with Extra Cheesy Garlic Bread for the table.
- A side salad pairs well too. My Creamy Balsamic Dressing or Homemade Italian Dressing (Olive Garden style) are great options.
Leftovers and storage
- This pasta will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days in an airtight container. I wouldn’t freeze it since cream sauces generally don’t fare well in the freezer.
- Reheat in a covered saucepan over a low heat so that the sauce doesn’t separate.
- Boil fresh pasta if you can, and add in a splash of cream to revive it if needed.
I hope you will love this creamy sun-dried tomato pasta with chicken as much as I do! Please leave a star rating and review below. You can also tag me on Instagram.
Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked pasta
- 2 chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup chicken broth or dry white wine
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon flour
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 1-2 cups baby spinach (loosely packed)
- Small handful fresh basil chopped finely
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese to taste
Instructions
- Boil a salted pot of water and cook pasta al dente according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, add the chicken pieces to a skillet, along with the olive oil. Sprinkle the chicken with the garlic powder, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, and salt & pepper. Give it a good stir and cook over medium-high heat for 4 minutes, until the outside of the chicken is no longer pink. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
- Add the chicken broth, garlic, Dijon mustard, flour, and lemon juice to the pan. Stir/whisk until well combined and let it bubble for a minute or so.
- Add the sun-dried tomatoes and cream to the pan. Let it simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken back into the pan. Cook for another few minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickned some more (be careful not to overcook).
- Stir in the basil and spinach. Let it cook for a minute or so until it wilts. Give the sauce a taste and season with extra salt & pepper if needed.
- Drain the pasta and toss it with the sauce. Serve immediately with some freshly grated parmesan.
Notes
- I used the julienned sun-dried tomatoes that are packed in oil (I drain them prior to adding them to the sauce).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This recipe was originally published on February 24, 2017. It’s been tweaked to be even easier, tastier, and has new photos!
This is absolutely my favorite pasta recipe! The flavor was incredible! The only this I changed was 1/4 cup less cream and 1/4 more broth. So easy to make and everyone loved it!
Wonderful to hear, Karyn 🙂
So delicious!
We used the white wine, tossed in some mushrooms, garlic and red onion. For tomatoes, we used our home-done oven roasted “tomato bombs”. (From our garden, split cherry tom’s with home-grown basil and garlic – oven roasted in olive oil). Added a wee bit of chicken “Better Than Bullion”.
Thanks for a great recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this one! I love your twist!
I don’t have any whipping cream, but I do have some cool whip. Do you think it would work?
Hi Jenny! So… I haven’t had Cool Whip in years, but I think there might be added sugar in it, so that would be a no go. I’m also concerned that the whipped texture is achieved by using oil (not just cream), so it might end up a separated mess if you try to cook it in a savory recipe (like instead of adding it to a dessert in its whipped form). I think waiting til you can buy whipping cream (or heavy cream) is probably the best bet so you don’t end up wasting ingredients.
Absolutely delicious recipe, loved by everyone in my home. They were looking for a chicken fettuccine alfredo, and I wanted to make something which stuck to those roots while bringing a more well-rounded punch of flavor to really make the dish sing.
This was an absolute success, and I thank you for the recipe.
You’re very welcome!! I’m happy that you all enjoyed it. 🙂 Thanks for letting me know, Gregg!
Amazing and hubby loved it too!
Thank you!!
Loved this recipe! I added fresh garlic, shallots and mushrooms to take it up a notch!
Wonderful!
So good!!
So glad you liked it!! 🙂
All time favourite recipe! This is a go-to for me. My husband absolutely loves it as well. So easy and the best flavours. Good with or without chicken. I prefer it with chicken broth but tried with wine tonight and my husband preferred it that way. Amazing either way!!!
Yay!! That makes me so happy! 🙂 XO
can you give nutritional info? Calories etc.?
Just added it for you. One serving includes 2 ounces of uncooked pasta. Keep in mind though that these are only estimates, and it could be off (I just plug it into a program and it pulls values from a database). So, if you’re asking for medical reasons, it’s probably best to calculate the info yourself by weighing the actual ingredients you’re using.
This was delicious! I may have cooked the sauce down a little too much because I added the noodles and it really absorbed the sauce. Next time, I won’t do that, but remaking a little more sauce tonight to have it for left overs because it was so good.
I’m so happy you liked it, Angie!! Yup, sounds like you did cook the sauce down, but that’s ok… I’m so glad it was still tasty!