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Tuscan Chicken Pasta is cheesy, creamy and a little spicy with hearty chicken and pasta mixed with sun dried tomatoes and pancetta. Made in just 30 minutes, this Tuscan Chicken Pasta is the perfect quick meal!
This Tuscan Chicken Pasta has become my Go-To Need Food Now recipe. Seriously!
Has this ever happened to you? You are hungry. No, make that starving! You are absolutely starving for something so specific that you can’t even figure out what it is? You mentally run through your top 5 recipes that you make on a regular basis and none of those will do. Then you run through the next five recipes that take a little more time and effort and that maybe you don’t make so often and those won’t do either.
Take out? Nope! Delivery? No shot! Then you find yourself wandering around the grocery store like some pathetic lost individual with no destination in sight and you can’t even put together a meal at this point because you know you really, really, really, are craving something but you just can’t figure it out. You grab a frozen dinner and go home dejected, rejected, sad and completely unsatisfied.
Yep! That was me this weekend. I just couldn’t figure out what to make and my husband was not helping with his helpful suggestion of ‘I don’t care’ or ‘whatever’ or ‘it doesn’t matter’. So I raided the pantry and dug through the freezer and put a little bit of elbow grease into the thought process and now we have this recipe for Tuscan Chicken Pasta! This Tuscan Chicken Pasta recipe is to die for and it totally cured my mystery craving and just made my tummy happy, happy, happy!
WHAT IS PANCETTA?
Pancetta is typically made from pork belly is simply cured. The curing process is done with salt, spices and other aromatics to infuse the pancetta with particular flavors. Bacon is handled the same way as pancetta but it is then smoked after the curing process. You can easily substitute bacon for pancetta in most dishes.
WHERE DO YOU FIND SUN DRIED TOMATOES IN THE GROCERY STORE?
You can most often find sun dried tomatoes in the canned/dried fruit section, the deli section, or the produce section. They are often packaged dried in a pouch or sold submersed in oil. I find mine in the produce section of my grocery store.
HOW DO YOU MAKE TUSCAN CHICKEN PASTA?
Easy! To make Tuscan Chicken Pasta, start by bringing large pot of water to boil and cook pasta based on manufacturers instructions. Drain and set aside. In a large skillet over medium- high heat, add pancetta and cook until crispy. Remove pancetta with a slotted spoon to a small bowl, leaving the grease behind. Add chicken to grease and cook until no longer pink in the middle, approximately 5 – 7 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Pour into skillet broth, cream and spices and bring to a low boil. Add in Parmesan and Asiago cheeses and whisk until cheese is melted. Add in sun-dried tomatoes and basil along with pancetta, pasta and chicken. Stir Tuscan Chicken Pasta to combine and lightly simmer for 10 minutes. Serve Tuscan Chicken Pasta with good crusty bread and an extra sprinkle of basil and cheese on top.
This 30 minute meal / quick dinner idea is super easy to put together and this Tuscan Chicken Pasta is almost a one-pot meal except for having to cook the pasta off. Tuscan Chicken Pasta is creamy and a little spicy with hearty chicken and pasta and the sun dried tomatoes add an amazing contrast of texture. This Tuscan Chicken Pasta has definitely become my new favorite go-to meal and I hope yours, as well.
Looking for more quick dinner ideas? Check out my Five Ingredient Baked Tortellini Casserole, Easy 30 Minute Chicken Piccata and Jalapeno Popper Chicken Macaroni and Cheese.
ENJOY!!
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Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 oz penne pasta
- 4 oz panchetta diced
- 3 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 1 3/4 cup half and half
- 3 oz sun-dried tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 cups asiago cheese grated
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated
- 16-20 fresh basil leaves stacked, rolled and sliced thin
Instructions
- Start by bringing large pot of water to boil and cook pasta based on manufacturers instructions. Drain and set aside
- In a large skillet over medium- high heat, add pancetta and cook until crispy. Remove pancetta with a slotted spoon to a small bowl, leaving the grease behind.
- Add chicken to grease and cook until no longer pink in the middle, approximately 5 - 7 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside
- Pour into skillet stock, cream and spices and bring to a low boil. Add in Parmesan and Asiago cheeses and whisk until cheese is melted
- Add in sun-dried tomatoes and basil along with pancetta, pasta and chicken. Stir to combine and lightly simmer for 10 minutes
- Serve with good crusty bread and an extra sprinkle of basil and cheese on top.
This Tuscan chicken pasta looks so good and delicious. Great idea for a rainy day like today.
I love how warm and comforting your photos look. Panchetta is delicious, especially if paired with chicken in a great pasta dish.
Sometimes you find a recipe that is so amazing you have it as a regular dish. Finding a recipe that is not only easy but delicious is a treasure!! I’m dying to try this out.
That looks so creamy and delish, My kids would love this. I love anything with a variety of different cheeses. Sounds yum.
Thank you its the perfect recipe for our dinner.I have all the ingedients to hand and its so quick to make. A winner all round
wow so many nice ingredients in this pasta, love the addition of pancetta and the sundried tomatoes. I bet it is wonderful and easy to make.
What a hearty meal. I know for sure my grandson would love this. I love all the flavors in this and chicken and pasta go together perfectly!
That happens to me all the time — run through all the options for a nice meal in the head but I end up cooking some oats or quick grits in the microwave 🙂 🙂
Your Tuscan chicken pasta looks creamy and absolutely delicious. Love sweet and tart sundried tomatoes in any dish.
I seriously love every single ingredient in this recipe! I especially love how you added a touch of cayenne! Yum! This is going on the list of weeknight meals for sure!