Creamy chicken broccoli pasta with the addition of pesto and parmesan takes this humble dish to a whole new level. This easy dish comes together in under 30 minutes and makes a great weeknight dinner!
When I think comfort food the first thing that pops in mind is pasta. Pasta is the ultimate comfort food. It’s hearty, easy to make, and is always perfect for dinner.
This pesto chicken and broccoli dinner is a jazzed-up version of my favorite creamy chicken and broccoli pasta. It’s loaded with garlic, parmesan, pesto, and chicken + broccoli.
What you Will Need
To make this delicious pesto chicken pasta, you will need a few main ingredients as well as some pantry staples such as olive oil and seasoning.
- Chicken breasts
- Cooked aldente pasta
- Light or heavy cream
- freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Fresh or jarred pesto
- Broccoli florets
How to Make Creamy Chicken Pasta with Pesto
This dish is super easy to make and comes together in just a few minutes. The chicken is first cooked in browned garlic and onions then the parmesan, pesto, and cream are added.
Aldente pasta and broccoli is then added to this delicious mixture of creamy heaven and the result is the BEST most FLAVORFUL pesto pasta you will ever have. I used penne but you can use any pasta you have on hand.
Lastly, Add the broccoli (frozen or fresh) to the pasta while it’s cook just a minute before draining in.
How to store
Store in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 months. Serve with more freshly grated parmesan.
Chicken Pesto pasta
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 onion, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 chicken breasts, sliced into ½ inch strips
- 1 cup light cream
- 1/4 grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup pesto
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 4 cups aldente pasta, drained (appx)
- 2 cups broccoli florets, frozen or fresh
Instructions
- Begin by cooking the pasta in a large pot according to package directions. Add the broccoli into the pasta pot 1 minute before turning off the heat. Drain, set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, Pour 1 tablespoon oil into a large pan. Add the onion and cook for 3-4 minute or until golden. Add the garlic and cook for just a few seconds then add the sliced chicken. Season with salt & pepper and cook the chicken for 5-7 minute or until browned.
- Add the parmesan, cream, pesto, and salt & pepper. Simmer mixture for 2-3 minutes. Add the cooked pasta and broccoli. Stir until fully combined. Simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and garnish with more parmesan. Enjoy!
Equipment
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this with leftover Costco BBQ chicken, and it was amazing! Also added some sundried tomatoes.
This recipe is delicious and easy to make. The pesto smell is awesome and the fact that there is a crinchy veggie – broccoli is a bonus.
Sauce was yummy. My family didn’t like the broccoli- too mushy. They are used to roasted veggies. I’ll make this again, but add roasted broccoli in at the end. Very easy.
Absolutely delicious! We used the light cream and added more broccoli than was recommended. The broccoli is a great part of the dish so I would recommend that but I think it used a little more of the sauce since we didn’t increase those portions. May want to add a little pasta water or something to keep the sauce quantity portions correct if you do extra broccoli.
Absolutely delicious and such a quick and easy meal to prepare on a Sunday night. Hopefully, there will be leftovers for lunch tomorrow!!
I might make this now!
Im making this as is with totellini.This is for will make a hearty meal for my son whose is remodelling his kitchen.Going to take it frozen,and he will re heat in his intsa pot
Thank you for all the great recipies!.
Hi when it says 4 cups cooked pasta could you let me know how many cups of dry pasta is needed to make this please?
This is a very adaptable recipe. I have quite a bit of pesto from last summer’s garden still in my freezer and wanted a good pesto pasta recipe. I also had some leftover steamed broccoli I wanted to use, but didn’t really want to have a chicken dish. So I adapted this recipe to make it vegetarian, and included the sauce (as in recipe), veggies (my leftover broccoli, some frozen peas, and toward the end a small amount of diced roma tomato). It was very flavorful and coated the pasta so very nicely!
Made this recipe tonight for girl’s night and everyone loved it! I couldn’t for the life of me find “light cream” so I used whole milk and tossed in a bit of butter (internet suggestion for light cream sub). Will definitely make again sometime!
If I freeze this, how can I reheat it when I’m ready? On the stove or oven?
You can preheat in the oven or microwave
How should this dish be re-heated out of the freezer? Do you put it in the oven or do you reheat on the stove?
You can re-heat in the oven or microwave
Is it 4 cups of cooked pasta ir 4 cups of non cooked pasta?
It’s 4 cups cooked aldente.
Made it for my wife and three kids today – they loved it. This site is great, I did two nice dishes already on two different Sundays.
Thanks for the feedback!!
Made this a few times now. It’s so tasty and easy to make. No too many ingredients either. Thanks for a great recipe!
Yes so easy! Happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Delicious and super creamy dish. Used single cream and it still turned out perfect. Had to grab for another serving! Will be making again
Enjoy!
Family loved it! My son had thirds! I did use a fire roasted tomato pesto in my recipe. It was delicious!
Delicious! Didn’t have half and half so I used half can of condensed cream of cauliflower soup and cup of whole milk.
what can you substitute heavy whipping cream for?
You can try half and half or coconut cream.
This is soo good and looks so appetising! Highly recommend using this recipe for lunch/dinner. Thxs so much for sharing all the recipes u have made!
Delicious, even my toddler enjoyed it!
Can i just use 2% milk? I dont have loght cream or half & half.
I used 1 cup 2% milk and 2 tablespoons butter in place of half and half. I had some homemade garlic scape pesto, so used that and did not have to add the garlic. So simple and so delicious.
AbsolutelY delicious! I made with farfalle pasta & im obsessed. Will be making again, thank you xoxo
I’m making this tonight. I’m going to add pine nuts.
What type of pesto did you use?
We used basil pesto.
This has become a family favorite recipe. I usually also add some sliced mushrooms and some sundried tomatoes to the pan after the chicken is half way cooked. Thanks for the wonderful recipe 🙂
Great Recipie really delisH! And so quick to make, i used single cream and it worKed a treat
Really good!!
Can this be frozen does anybody know??
This was a very flavorful pasta!! I used a pre-made pesto by Buitoni, which was very very good! I did not add the broccoli because I was short on time, but I will add it next time…. once I added the cream, pesto, parm cheese,salt, and pepper, everything thickened up nicely! Thanks for an easy and flavorful recipe!
Love your receipes, thanks for sharing. Can you share a pesto receipe? Thanks
Thanks so much Jacqueline. Yes, I will share a pesto recipe in a few weeks 🙂
Doubled the cream (used full cream) and cheese and added Goya chicken seasoning powder for more flavour and it was AH-MA-ZING!!!
Het is heerlijk.! Delicious 😋
Yes I made this big hit i doubled the recipe because me and my two sisters eat big very good though will do again
My boyfriend hates cream & cheese, but I made this recipe & he ASKED me to make it again. Highly recommend & super easy! Easy meal for family or a nice quick dinner. So much flavor.
This was delicious!
what type of cream do you use ??
Light cream or half and half should work! You can also use heavy cream too if you want 🙂
Made this last night and it was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!! I got ALL my ingredients (including the Pesto) from Aldi! I used Whole Wheat Past instead and I more then doubled the recipe because I am greedy, but it was sooooo good!! This is my first time making one of your recipes and I want to say thank you and keep them coming!! The flavors were so vibrant and blended very well together. I am actually making it again for some family this coming into town. YUM YUM!!!!!
Do you make your own pesto? If not, what brand do you recommend?
I make my own pesto but I also like the Trader Joe’s pesto. Hope that helps!