Chicken pasta in a garlic tomato cream sauce is the ultimate comfort meal. Made with pasta, chicken, spinach, seasonings, lots of yummy garlic, and parmesan cheese, you can make this incredible dish in under 30 minutes!
If you have been in the mood for a chicken dinner that is creamy and delicious that your whole family will love, this is perfect for you. Everything from the juicy chicken breast all the way to the healthy spinach gives this dish so much flavor.
It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for something that’s easy for a busy weeknight or if you’re coming over for dinner. Everyone is going to rave about the amazing way this pasta tastes.let’s get started so you can head in the kitchen and whip up a batch.
What You Will Need To Make Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta
- Pasta: What I love about this garlic chicken pasta recipe is you can literally use any kind of pasta that you like. I typically alter my recipe, depending on what kind of pasta I found on sale.
- Chicken breast: I typically use boneless skinless chicken breast; you could also use boneless skinless chicken thighs. It’s entirely up to you, and whatever you prefer will be fine.
- Seasonings: Normally, I use a combination of garlic powder, Italian seasoning, paprika, salt, and pepper to add more flavor to this dish.
- Olive oil: You want a good quality olive oil to cook the chicken in.
- Butter: The butter helps cook the garlic and adds to the flavor.
- Garlic: For best results, use minced garlic. I stick around to four cloves for this recipe, but you could always add in more or less depending on what you like.
- Tomatoes: The tomatoes enhance the way the chicken pasta looks, but it also makes it taste extra hearty and delicious.
- Spinach: Spinach gives you a boost in vitamins and minerals. You can leave it out if you want to, but I love the flavor.
- Heavy cream: The real star of the show is the heavy cream! It gives this chicken pasta a creamy texture that is crave-worthy.
- Parmesan cheese: You can’t really have an Italian dish without some Parmesan cheese, right?
How To Make Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta
I don’t know if you can make an easier pasta dish with as much flavor as this one. You’ll need to start off by preparing the pasta according to the package directions. You want to cook it till it’s al dente and not overly cooked.
Then you’ll take the seasonings and add it to both sides of the chicken breast.
Warm up the olive oil in a heavy-duty pan using medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, add the chicken breast and cook them for 5 minutes on each side or until it’s cooked all the way through. After the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan and set it aside.
Using the same pan, add in the garlic and butter. Sautee for 1 minute or until the garlic is fragrant. Then add in the diced tomato and fresh spinach. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the spinach has wilted and the tomatoes have softened.
Turn down the heat and add in the heavy cream along with the parmesan cheese. Use a whisk and stir until it is fully incorporated in creamy. Add in a little bit of salt and pepper to taste.
Drain the pasta and slice up the chicken into thin slices. Place them in both in the pan and stir well. Serve, and enjoy!
How Do You Store Leftover Chicken Pasta?
Let the chicken cool all the way down. After the dishes cooled you can place it in an airtight container. Keep it in the refrigerator for up to four days.
More Yummy Pasta Dishes
- 4 Ingredient Chicken Pasta Casserole
- 15 Minute Chicken Pasta
- Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Creamy Chicken Fajita Pasta
Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta {with Tomato & Spinach}
Ingredients
- 10 ounces dry pasta, (any kind)
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup tomatoes, diced
- 2 cups spinach, chopped, optional
- 2 cups heavy cream, (or 16 oz)
- 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, shredded or grated
- salt & pepper , to taste
Instructions
- Prep Pasta: Boil water in a large pot and cook pasta al dente according to package instructions.
- Season both sides of chicken breasts with salt garlic powder, Italian seasoning, paprika, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a large heavy duty pan over medium-high heat and cook chicken breasts 5 minutes per side or until cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside.
- To the same pan, add the butter and garlic and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the tomato and spinach and cook 2-3 minutes or until the tomato and spinach are soft and wilted.
- Reduce the heat and add the heavy cream and parmesan cheese. Whisk until fully incorporated and creamy. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
- Drain pasta and slice chicken into thin slices or cubes and return to the same pan. Stir to combine and serve!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Excellent, easy recipe! Only modification made was to use a bit of dry white wine to deglaze the pan before adding the heavy cream and parmesan. Dinner was unexpectedly delayed by nearly an hour yet the dish held perfectly well covered on the stove top. Voted a keeper by the crew!
Absolutely delicious! make it for the family every Friday, it’s now a a signature dish in my house hold!
I love this recipe its perfect if you are having a dinner party, I cook it the night before and serve the next day it give the pasta time to absorb all the cream, Parmesan and tomato sauce. I also cook in a large batch and freeze it. It is fantastic. The only mods I make is, I add a jar of tomato sauce to my liking (Vodka sauce from Aldi’s) and I add a little more cheese and garlic.
Everyone loves this dish!
5 stars
Delicious !
Good but my sauce turned out pretty watery. Not sure if it’s supposed to, but will probably use less heavy cream next time. Otherwise very delicious!
This was so good! I used whole milk instead of cream, and brought it to a boil once all ingredients were added to thin the sauce. Really yummy and will make again!
Loved it. Easy and quick and super tasty.
What paprika to use. Hungarian, sweet or smoked? I never know what to use when it just says paprika.
If you’d like spice go ahead and use smoked paprika. If not, sweet paprika works too!
thank you
your steps was easy to follow and the pictures was every help
My picky eater loved it
Wow this was sooooo good! I only had 1.5 cups of cream and added chopped onions and this was bomb! better than Olive Garden and I love their Alfredo!
It was quick and easy! I think the sauce was a little thin at first, but after letting the pasta absorb some of the liquid it turned out great. I added Tony’s seasoning and it really made this dish pop! The only thing is, I cannot figure out what the actual serving size is (ounces, grams, etc.) Which makes this difficult to portion. Does anyone know?
Can onions he added to the recipe?
Yes, onions are a delicious addition! To add onion, cook the onion down before adding the garlic.
Easy & very tasty. But had to add quite a bit of salt to get enough flavor out of the sauce, even though I’d added some of the chicken seasoning blend directly to the cream – perhaps i needed so much because I was using kosher salt? Anyway, I think I’ll add some lemon juice and possibly more tomatoes next time for more complexity and a slightly thinner consistency as it’s quite thick and rich when it all comes together. Still, it’s a great recipe!
Yes, more kosher salt is needed compared to table salt. Everyone has a different salt tolerance so I would season to taste!
I didn’t have fresh tomatoes and had to use canned and it still turned out super yummy!
Just made it, I added some red pepper flakes for some additional kick to the chicken.
Loved it.
I’m not normally a cheesy creamy sauce type person, however, this is now a firm family favourite and I would urge everyone to try it at least once
I haven’t actually made this dish… But my Dad (who is a chef) said that this looks like a really good recipe. Can’t wait to try this for supper tonight!!
Just made this for dinner!! It was a hit!!
Delicious and so flavour full!
I made this for 3 hungry hockey boys. It was sooo easy to make (especially since I used left over rotisseire chicken). 😆They all agreed that it was delicious and should go in rotation!
So glad to hear that!
I busted
D E L I COUS! Had everything in stock and was craving this type of dish. Excellent recipe. Only thing was i cooked breasts in oven broiler. I burn them on the stove. Then used that cast iron to do rest of recipe. Hands down all around good. 5/5.
Delicious and easy! I used roasted chicken for ease of prep and added chicken seasoning (garlic powder, italian seasoning and paprika) directly to cream sauce. I suggest doubling amount of spinach if you like more greens. Our protein rotini absorbed the sauce like a champ!!! 🙂
I’m so happy that you’ve enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
This was tasty. I used a rotisserie chicken.
Easy to follow recipe, and it is delicious! A new family favorite and fun to make.
delicious and highly praised by my husband and 2 lovely neighbors.. everyone enjoyed it and came back for seconds. this was an easy and simple recipe, i enjoyed making the dish!
Get yo a** outta here
It was so quick and easy! Loved the detail instructions. Added a little bit of lemon juice at the end for my personal preference
I enjoyed how easy it was to make. Not expensive. Not messy,lol. Just a quick and easy mean. And it taste delicious!
THIS RECIPE IS SO GOOD MY SKINNY HUSBAND HAD SECONDS!
Wow! Had to create a Recipe category in Pinterest! Thank you so much for sharing this Deliciousness!
For those of us who can’t handle tomato seeds, I used sauce, and because we had it on hand, used 2 rotisserie chicken breasts. This recipe is as satisfying as mac and cheese! Wonderful sauce.
This is amazing! Very easy to follow. I made a Vegan version. I’m in the UK, so I substituted the real chicken for plant based chicken “What the Cluck”, the butter for Flora spread, the cream for Oatly cream cheese and plant based Philadelphia cheese, and sprinkled with vegan parmesan from M&S.
Will definitely be making again!
I expect the recipe as posted is very good, but as I didn’t have heavy cream, so made a slight adjustment and added some extra herbs. (it still turned out to be a 5* keeper)
Instead of the heavy cream I used some Marscapone, thinned down with some milk to the consistency.
I also added chopped fresh herbs – Parsley, Thyme and Corriander/Cilantro – and used Smoked Paprika., which gave plenty of flavour, avoiding the need to use salt (Except when boiling the Pasta).
My wife certainly enjoyed it – she had more than I did!
Wow! All I can say is wow! Definitely adding this to my list of dinners! Total crowd pleaser all 4 of my kids, my husband, and I lived it! Definitely recommend!!!!! Simple fast delicious!
Made this for the family today and they loved it. It is delicious. My family is crazy about sun dried tomatoes so I added a cup of that and the recipe went to another level! . I used 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of half and half and it was still creamy and delicious. My husband kept saying he wanted more but was too full, he is not really a pasta fan so that is saying a lot for him!
Guys if you like sun dried like we do, add those – delicious!
Boil the pasta or it cooks in the pan?
Looks pre-boiled/cooked and then added.
I did not have spinach so I put peas in the dish. It is a keeper.
I need to triple this but I only have about 3 cups of heavy whip on hand, do you think milk will work?
Would this sauce still be good without the chicken?
Going to be totally honest, found this recipe on my mobile, couldn’t see measurements or weights, so threw the ingredients in without scrolling to the measurements at the very bottom (my bad), but…… it was gorgeous, loved it and will definitely be making this often.
Looking forward to making tonight, one question – can I replace the spinach with spring mix from the grocery store? It seems to be safe from what I’ve seen online just wanted to check with the chef. Thanks!
Quick and simple to prepare and tasty too. Everyone enjoyed it, even the fussy eaters.
Think this has just become one of the family favourites.
Just made this, loved it and definitely saved the recipe. I used some homemade sauce instead of tomatoes for the tomato cream sauce. Seriously, so good
This was surprisingly delicious! I only say surprising bc it seemed so much simpler than other cream sauces pastas I’ve made. The seasoning for chicken was on point and it was so simple I was able to let the hubs take over midway so I could run to an appt – and then devour the spoils later! This will definitely be on rotation it was a huge hit!
My family is quite picky about meals. I try new recipes often. This one they loved. We thought it tasted like something served at a nice restaurant, so we call it the restaurant meal. It’s not difficult to make, and it tasted so good!
Bloody lovely
Oh my gosh!! This was a huge hit in my family! Loved it so much thank you for sharing this amazing recipe!
I knew from the ingredients that I’d enjoy this recipe. To my surprise my wife and picky kids also greatly approved. Added a bit of cumin for flavor and corn starch to thicken the sauce. My saucepan wasn’t big enough to hold all of the ingredients, so I needed the sauce thick enough to stick to the pasta.
My Family loved this!!
Fantastic recipe!!
This was so, so delicious- it’s a keeper. Thank you!
This was the best version of this recipe that I have made. It’s perfect the way it is with no changes.
Loved it! Added mush of course, and deglazed with white wine. 1 c. Heavy cream and splash of half & half. Loved it and will make again and again. Luckily had fresh Toms but canned will work great. Also used fresh fettuccini pasta and my hubby and I were in heaven!! Just missed some crusty bread to go with. Thanks for a super balanced flavor meal. Ps. Added crushed peppers on top but we love it warm
Takes way more time to make than the recipe said
This recipe is absolutely delicious! My picky eaters really enjoyed it as well. I used broccoli instead of spinach since that’s what I had on hand, and a lb of pasta. Well definitely keep this recipe on rotation for pasta nights!
Delicious! And easy to make.
Next time, I would use a full pound of dry pasta and maybe 8-9 oz. of spinach, as there was quite a bit of sauce.
Also, since tomatoes are usually only good when in season & fresh from the farmer’s market (and to conveniently skip chopping), I used a can of diced tomatoes, drained of juice. The combination of the diced, drained, canned tomatoes and cream made for a lovely pink sauce!
This was easy and yummy, I will make it again! Like a couple of other reviewers I would use less cream (maybe 1 cup) next time, so that it was a thicker sauce and all the other delicious ingredients could play a more prominent role.
This was awesome so flavorful! I used the tri-colored pasta instead but all the flavors just go together perfectly….
Excellent, I substituted half and half for heavy cream, therefore a bit runny, it did thicken thou as it sat. Otherwise delicious!
This recipe is superbly delicious! We loved it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have cream on hand so I improvised. I used lactose free cream cheese and mixed it with 14% sour cream with a dash of milk, which I whisked til smooth. M-m-m-m-m!
Your rating is affecting the over all rating of this recipe. Just sayin…
This was awesome!
I used 1 cup double cream and added chilli flakes, grated carrot instead of spinach and diced peppers instead of tomato
Definately would make again. My son found this recipie and asked me to make it. He had 3 bowls. May poind the chicken breast a bit thinner next time as it did take much longer to cook than 5 per side, and the yummy spice mix sticking to the pan (essential for the sauce) was getting a bit dark. Skipped the spinach and used broccoli instead. Make sure you use REAL parm cheese, not the powdered Kraft stuff. This was very tasty.
Awesome recipe! Followed the recipe exactly, but also added frozen corn and peas to give it even more color. Delicious!!!
I made as directed except I only had half and half instead of heavy cream and I didn’t add spinach because my kids don’t like it. Like most sauces they look thin but once they sit a bit they thicken up. I used a lil Tony’s creole seasoning instead of all salt and this was so so good. Kids loved it as well.
So delicious 😋
Made this tonight for my family of 5. Everyone loved it!
Thanks a lot! my son loved it!
Second time cooking this meal and it’s delicious.
Although, my seasoning differs, and I use one cup of heavy cream and one cup of light cream, it’s still super tasty. This recipe is a keeper!
I stumbled across this recipe wondering what to make for dinner one night for friends. It was an absolute hit and easily declared the favourite of the meals we often have together.
I do use semi-dried tomatoes and also sometimes switch the pasta for cauliflower rice to lessen the calories a bit, and it is still amazing and delicous!
I did read the comments before I made this which really helped me. I’m not a huge tomato lover so I put just a little and I put 1/2 cup of the heavy cream. I didn’t have Italian Seasoning so I used Season All. I love this dish!!!! It was super super delicious!!!!
VpExcellent base for a creamy sauce. Easy to build o . I added mushrooms and carrots.
This is my family’s favorite dad dish! Just came back to make sure I haven’t lost any steps. My picky 5 and 6 year old even love the spinach. Its clean plate club for everyone! Great recipe!
My family absolutely loves this!!!!! Easy and soooo delicious.
WAYYYY too much cream for me. The cream would not reduce no matter what I tried. Had to take out 8 ounces of liquid from the pan, re add the seasoning I lost bc of it and add cornstarch to thicken, and it was still runny. Next time I’ll probably do only 6-8 ounces, or just replace it for something else. Overall it was okay. Not any better than starting with an Alfredo sauce base but it was fun to experiment with homemade.
Just made this and for sure a BIG keeper. I also had some Baby Bella mushrooms that I needed to use up so added right before the garlic and sauteed a bit and I also splurged on some Artisan Pasta.
Well that isn’t rlly there fault now is it?
We tried this last night with a single cup of heavy cream. We reserved some pasta cooking water in case it needed more liquid, but it really didn’t. Delicious!
We’re going to try this tonight. While I agree with the comments stating that it won’t be the same dish without cream, that is way too much saturated dairy fat per serving! I think we’ll start with about a cup of cream and retain some of the hot, starchy pasta cooking water to add to get to the right consistency. I think it will retain a silky, creamy mouthfeel better than broth will.
Fantastic flavors and super easy. To save on calories, I substituted the heavy cream for 1 cup half and half, and 1 cup chicken broth. Everything else I followed exactly. It came out wonderfully. The sauce was perfect and creamy- not thin at all. It was a restaurant quality meal. Everyone raved about it! Truly delicious.
Love it! Makes my family think I can cook!
May I add weights for non Americans, it makes it less frightening :
285g dry pasta
15g butter
200g chopped tomatoes
250g spinach (550g is too much)
600ml double cream
45g parmesan
Neil can I ask is it freshly diced tomatoes? I know a lot of American ingredient recipes it’s canned diced tomatoes and I’m not sure I’ve ever noticed them here in any of our supermarkets.
You are correct! They are fresh diced tomatoes. No canned tomatoes here 🙂
Thanks Neil!! No idea what heavy cream was!
This is useful thank you – but what would be the equivalent measure for the chicken?
This is useful thank you – but what would be the equivalent measure for the chicken?
Ah thank you, Neil!!! So helpful.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I read through the comments and adjusted the cream to 1 cup and the parmesan to 1/4 cup and added 1 cup of chicken broth. I used a full box of pasta which was 16 oz so more than the recipe called for. I didn’t have enough spinach so I chopped up a few leaves that I did have and added them. I didn’t make any other adjustments and was a little nervous because the sauce was expectedly thin with the addition of the broth. My daughters went back for seconds and thirds so the dish was a big hit! Thank you for this easy to follow recipe that made me feel like I served restaurant quality food.
Can you use jar minced garlic?
Yes, between 7g and 10g per clove.
Can this be made ahead of time and reheated? If so, how do you suggest reheating?
Has become one of my family’s favorites! If don’t add the cream though for a lighter meal.
How can it be “Creamy Garlic Chicken” without the cream.
You can substitute many things for heavy cream to make it creamy still.
Very well aware of the things that can be used (Chef for 40 years) but it will NOT be the same dish.
I cut the chicken in smaller pieces before cooking and added the spices right into the pan with the chicken. It cooks faster. I used 1 cup of half and half (the store was out of heavy cream) and 1 cup of leftover marinara sauce. That cut down on the fat and was still delicious. My kids said to keep this recipe! I will definitely make this again.
Made a huge batch , grilled the chicken breast. D-licious! Had same problems as some other folks on here with it being too runny. Added more butter some milk since I didn’t bring enough heavy cream and added flour to thicken up. Good enough to compete with local Authentic Italian Restaurants. At least in my opinion, my guest and the empty pot.
Yes, I rarely use heavy cream.
I use Greek yogurt and maybe some chicken stock as well…depends on how thin/thick I want it!
My family loved this recipe. I’m making it for a group of 12 tomorrow!
I didn’t add the cream because I like the full flavor of the pasta and that wonderful seasoned chicken! And it’s just a lighter dish.
Does this work OK without cream?
Some are saying it works without cream. Take it from a chef of 40 years IT CAN’T. It will be a TOTALLY different dish.
I had to really tinker, but ended up with a good finished product. The flavors were there, but 2 cups of heavy cream was too much. I ended up putting in almost 1 1/2 cups of parm, and still had to reduce over heat before getting to the consistency I wanted.
This was sooooo good! Very easy to follow recipe and it turned out divine. Next time I will double the spinach and tomato and/or put less cream. (Too much liquid) The flavors were spectacular. Thank you!
Wonderful! We really enjoyed this. Even as leftovers, it held up well.
I followed the recipe to the letter and it turned out great! This would also be a great way to use leftover cooked chicken. Thank you!
Wow! This was absolutely delicious. I wanted to cut back the amount of heavy cream so I used 1c heavy cream and 1c chicken stock. I also used only a 1/4c parmesean cheese and it was still creamy, cheesy and delicious! Thank you!
Delicious! So simple but so so tasty
Cooking chicken breasts for 5 min on each side will not cook it thoroughly. I had to finish mine off in the oven.
Cody, simply slice chicken breast before you cook them. I did this and incorporated slices into my sauce with pasta as opposed to ontop or side as illustrated.
Can you use frozen spinach instead of fresh.?
Yes, thawed frozen spinach will work!
Can you substitute Parmesan cheese with mild cheddar cheese?
I would make a roux at the butter and garlic step, as it came out REALLY watery and not creamy at all. I ended up needing to add flour at the end to thicken it up. And I added a full cup of Parm to (a) try to thicken it and (b) cause Parm is delicious. I’d double the veg, too – it was not as veggie rich as I’d like, but that’s just preference.
Did you use heavy cream or another type of dairy product? The pasta thickens as it sits. It thickens up within 5 minutes.
Did you allow it to simmer? The pasta will thicken as it rests.
Excellent!
I’m thinking of using sundried tomatoes next time!
i used sundried tonight. it was great.
So easy and so good!
This recipe rocks. Easy and delicious.
Out of this world!
Can you substitute heavy cream with cashew milk?
I haven’t tried it with cashew milk but I would imagine it will thin out the sauce. Instead, I suggest using cashew cream or just 1 cup of cashew milk. Hope that helps!