Sun-dried tomato pesto pasta is an easy dinner with fresh asparagus, garlic, and onion tossed with bowtie pasta, chicken, and pesto. It’s full of fresh flavors and a great weeknight dinner.
This pesto bowtie pasta with chicken is a quick and easy chicken pasta that is light and delicious. It’s a combination of tangy sun-dried tomato pesto, fresh vegetables, pasta, and cheese that is ready to serve in about 30 minutes.
Instead of making pesto, we use a jarred pesto. It’s a great shortcut and makes this dish quick to make. It’s also easy to adapt to what you have on hand, so be sure to read some suggestions later in the post.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts – you can cook the chicken in the skillet first, use leftover grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken for this dish.
- Diced yellow onion
- Farfalle (bowtie) pasta
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Sun-dried tomato pesto – looked for jarred pesto in the pasta aisle at the store.
- Minced garlic
- Chopped asparagus
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Basil, for garnish
How to Make Pesto Pasta
Boil the pasta in a large pot according to the package instructions. Before you drain it, reserve some of the pasta water. You only need a few tablespoons. Set the water aside.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and asparagus and cook until the asparagus is cooked through.
Stir in the garlic and cook it with the vegetables for one minute. Add the cooked pasta, chicken, and pesto and stir to combine. Pour a little of the reserved pasta water in.
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Once the chicken is heated through, take the pan off the heat. Add half of the cheese and stir. Season with salt and pepper to your taste, and then serve.
I like to serve the rest of the cheese on the side so everyone can add more if they want.
What can you add to pesto pasta?
I like this recipe because you can substitute ingredients based on what you have on hand. Here are some swaps we make that work well:
- Vegetables: Try using green beans, green peas, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, or snow peas. Depending on the vegetable, the cooking time will change.
- Cheese: Any hard Italian cheese will work great like Asiago, Romano, or Parmigiano-Reggiano. You could also add shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Pasta: Many pasta shapes will work like penne, rotini, spaghetti, linguini, or fettuccini.
- Pesto: We love sun-dried tomato pesto, but any pesto you like will work. It’s an easy way to change the flavor – try traditional basil pesto or browse the other options at the store.
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pasta Recipe Tips
To make this recipe really easy, use rotisserie chicken. We also like to use leftover grilled chicken.
If you have leftovers, they will keep for three to four days in the refrigerator. You can reheat them in the microwave.
We like to add some crusty sliced bread and a salad on the side to make it a complete dinner. This chicken pesto pasta recipe is always a favorite at our house – fresh, fast, and full of flavor. We hope you like it, too!
Other Pasta Recipes You’ll Enjoy
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pasta with Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces and cooked
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 8 ounces farfalle pasta
- 1 cup parmesan cheese grated
- 4 tablespoons sun dried tomato pesto
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 bunch asparagus chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Basil to garnish
Instructions
- In a large skillet add olive oil and pre-heat to medium heat. In another pot Cook pasta per instructions and save a little pasta water when you drain the pasta. Add onion and asparagus to the skillet and cook until onion is soft, and asparagus is cooked through.
- Add Garlic and let cook for about 1 minute. Add pasta, chicken, pesto and mix well. Add a little pasta water and stir in.
- Once chicken is heated remove from the heat. Add half of the parmesan cheese and stir well. Salt and pepper to taste. Add Basil for garnish. Put the rest of the parmesan cheese in a bowl for the table. Serve.
Recipe Nutrition
Sun-dried tomato pesto pasta is a combination of tangy sun-dried tomato pesto, fresh vegetables, pasta, and cheese that is ready to serve in about 30 minutes.
I made the Sun-Dried Pesto Pasta Last night. It was delicious and so easy to make. Thanks for a great recipe..