Chicken Mozzarella Pasta – Farfalle pasta tossed with some seasoned cooked chicken tenders, sun-dried tomatoes and bacon in a creamy mozzarella sauce. An easy and delicious weeknight dinner.
How’s the end of your summer going?
Have you adjusted to the back-to-school routine or is it still a struggle to get the youngin’s up in the morning? And how’s the afternoon homework going?
SAVE THIS PASTA RECIPE TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
As you may know, our son graduated high school in June. I must say that it’s really odd to not have to deal with the drop-off line in the morning, the homework deadlines, and the shuttling to and from practices, games, etc.
Although the one thing I really miss is seeing him and his friends running on the cross country and track teams. It was so much fun to go to all the events and see kids from across the state and even country competing. There are so many talented children out there, it just amazes me.
Take a look at these great chicken recipes from my fellow bloggers…
One Skillet Chicken with Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce from Little Spice Jar
Creamy Parmesan Garlic Mushroom Chicken from The Recipe Critic
Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu from Recipe Tin Eats
Baked Paprika Parmesan Chicken from Sugar Apron
Bruschetta Chicken Pasta Salad from Cafe Delites
Chicken Mozzarella Pasta Recipe
I was browsing Pinterest the other day for dinner ideas when I came across this incredible looking recipe and just knew I had to make it that night. I also added a little bacon to it because everything’s better with bacon, right?
It just looked oh, so good as it was all coming together!
We’re past that busy school weeknight stage but I’m still always on the hunt for homemade dinner ideas that don’t take hour and hours of prep. This chicken pasta recipe is kid-friendly but full of flavor from Italian seasonings, sun dried tomatoes and garlic.
And bacon. Did I mention the bacon?
This chicken pasta recipe comes together in just one pan (plus the pot you use the cook the pasta). This means I didn’t have a ton of dishes to do after dinner, which is always a plus for a recipe!
The tangy sun-dried tomatoes, seasoned chicken and creamy cheesy mozzarella sauce make this just about the perfect weeknight pasta recipe. The smoky crispy pieces of bacon just made it that much tastier.
Needless to say, the family wasn’t disappointed. This recipe will be making a regular appearance in our menu rotation. 🙂
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Use these items to make your own Chicken Mozzarella Pasta – skillet, sun-dried tomatoes, and slotted spoon.
How to Make Chicken Mozzarella Pasta
- Chop a 4 ounce jar of sun-dried tomatoes into small pieces and sautee them in a pan with garlic and the oil from the sun-dried tomato jar.
- Season the chicken tenders with salt, pepper and paprika then cook them in the pan for a minute on each side. Remove the chicken from the pan and cut it into bite sized pieces.
- Add the chicken back to the pan along with the sun-dried tomatoes and pour in half and half and sprinkle in mozzarella cheese. Stir everything together until the cheese gets nice and melty and forms a thick sauce.
- Meanwhile, cook a pot of farfalle pasta according to the directions on the box. Set aside about one cup of the pasta water before you add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce.
- Add in a little of the pasta water to the sauce at a time, just to thin it out. The starch from the water helps make this sauce amazingly creamy. Be careful not to add too much water at once. Remember you can always add more if the sauce is still too thick for your liking.
- Add red pepper flakes and basil, then crumbled strips of bacon.
Serve and enjoy!
Chicken Mozzarella Pasta
Ingredients
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1-4 oz jar sun-dried tomatoes in oil drained and oil reserved
- small amount of olive oil if necessary
- 1 lb. chicken tenders
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 8 ounces Farfalle pasta
- 1 tablespoon basil if using dry basil, if using fresh basil you can add more
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes at least, add more to taste
- ½ cup reserved cooked pasta water or more
- salt to taste
- 6 slices cooked bacon crumbled
Instructions
- Drain the sun-dried tomatoes from the oil and reserve 2 tablespoons of the oil for sautéing.
- Chop the sun-dried tomatoes into smaller pieces.
- In a large skillet over high heat, sauté the minced garlic and sun-dried tomatoes in the 2 tablespoons of reserved oil for about a minute.
- With a slotted spoon, remove the sun-dried tomatoes from the pan.
- Season both sides of the chicken tenders with salt and pepper, and evenly distribute the tablespoon of paprika among them.
- At this point, it may be necessary to add a small amount of olive oil to the skillet. Add the chicken to the pan and with the heat on high, cook on each side for one minute. . Remove from heat and cut chicken into bite-size pieces.
- Cook farfalle according to manufacturer's directions. Remove 1 cup of pasta water and drain the pasta.
- Return the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and the chicken to the skillet. Gently pour in the 1 cup of half and half and add the mozzarella. Bring to a slow steady boil. Reduce heat immediately to a simmer and stir constantly until cheese melts forming the sauce.
- Add the cooked pasta to the pan and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Add the basil, and red pepper flakes (more if you like an extra kick!).
- Slowly pour in approximately a 1/2 cup of the pasta water to thin the cheese sauce, making it creamier. Be mindful to not add all the water all at once, use your judgement as to how thick or thin you want your sauce. You don't want it to be too watery.
- Add the crumbled bacon and mix to combine.
- Season with salt to taste.
- Allow the contents of the skillet to simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Garnish with additional basil and red pepper flakes, if desired.
Chicken Pasta Recipes
Chicken and pasta dishes make frequent appearances at my dinner table.
Chicken Parmesan Spinach Pasta Bake can turn anyone into a spinach lover and comes together so easily. You should also check out this Buffalo Chicken Spinach Alfredo if you love cheesy creamy pasta sauces and spinach.
Speaking of Buffalo sauce flavors, these Buffalo Chicken Meatballs are amazing served on their own as an appetizer or tossed with noodles for a different fun take on spaghetti and meatballs!
Don’t forget to give my creamy and comforting Chicken Noodle Casserole a try, too! When you’re in the mood for a rice based casserole, check out Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole a try. Both of these casseroles are family favorites and have never failed me once!
Looking for a great use for leftover cooked chicken? You can’t go wrong with a simple Chicken Salad.
If you like this Chicken Mozzarella Pasta, then you’ll love…
Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad
Chicken ‘N’ Dumplins
Easy Chicken Marinade
Comments & Reviews
This looks amazing, all of my favorites in one dish! Sun-dried tomatoes are so good in pasta!
Thanks, Holly! It’s hard not to stop eating this dish, especially with all of those sun-dried tomatoes!
This sounds lovely. Going to give this a go. thanks for sharing this recipe.
Simon
Thanks so much! Hope you enjoy it!
I am going to have this very soon look so delicious
Thank you, Pat. I hope you like it!
Can you please email me the recipe, please. Thank you
I sent it! Please sign up for my weekly newsletter!
Hi Lynne please send me the recepie this i must try thankyou!
This is the best!! I made it last night and my kids loved it!! Will do again!! Thanks
Vida, I’m so please that your kids enjoyed it so much! Thanks so much for letting me know and adding it to your menu rotation! 🙂
Can I ask what half and half is in the ingredient list ?
Lena, half and half is a combination of half whole milk and half heavy cream. So use both of those in the recipe to substitute for the half and half– 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup whole milk. Hope you like it!
I am assuming that half half is some sort of cream, as we don’t have that in Australia. Am I correct? This sounds very yummy and I will try very soon. Thanks.
Yes, Solange, half and half is a combination of half whole milk and half heavy cream. You can use both of those in the recipe – 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup whole milk. Hope you like it!
Could you e-mail me the recipe. Could not get the recipe. Thank you
Done!
You only cooked the chicken for a total of 2
minutes? Did I miss something? This does sound delicious
Pat, because they’re chicken tenders, they’re thinner and don’t take as long to cook. They’re cooked for one minute on each side initially and then added back to the pan to simmer in step 8 and will be completely cooked through. Hope that helps!
Love farfalle. Coz its shape’s like a ribbon. Cute!
Hello , this sounds yummy so will be trying it out as soon as poss , but in the recipe it says 1 cup of half and half , what does it mean please x
Thank you, Joanne. Half and half is a mixture of equal parts of light cream and whole milk.
You can find some substitutes here if you can’t locate it: http://www.thekitchn.com/4-easy-ways-to-make-your-own-halfandhalf-substitute-tips-from-the-kitchn-216621
will this freeze? I have a new first time mama as of last Fri, whose own mom went into a coma a month ago from a long time medical condition, and her hubby is deployed, so I am cooking dinners for the new mom and her dad. She is our daughters close friend from their time at college in biology lab.
Could I substitute the half and half for something with less calories? Maybe 2% milk?? And can leftovers be frozen?
Just made this for dinner tonight. We all agreed “delicious!”
Is this spicy as I’m hoping to make for a new mom who is breastfeeding.
Shannon, it’s not that spicy, but in this case, it’s a dish I wouldn’t suggest for a breastfeeding mom. You could omit the red pepper flakes, but the recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of paprika and the only substitutes for that that I’m finding are all sorts of chili powder or spicy substitutes.
Your best bet might be this https://www.365daysofbakingandmore.com/day-112-chicken-noodle-casserole/ (sorry, don’t know why the link’s appearing this way).
There are definitely foods a mother wants to avoid while breastfeeding and this page I found might help you look for other recipes as well. https://www.mommynearest.com/article/why-it-s-important-to-eat-healthy-while-breastfeeding
Hope it helps! I need to thank you, too for bringing to my attention that I need to get busy making more dinner recipes for the blog. Time to get to work!
How many servings does this make and what size are the servings?
It will generously serve 4 people.
How much is a serving? One cup?
This was a huge hit! Glad I tried it. I used smoked paprika, so that added a nice flavor to the dish. I didn’t have bacon, and definitely did not feel the dish was missing anything. I will probably add some green peas to it next time I make it. Husband declared it was great upon 2nd bite!
I’m so glad you liked it and yes, smoked paprika will add some great additional flavor. Thanks so much for letting me know!
How many servings is this recipe?
Erica, it will serve 4.
Now this is my kind of dinner! Full of flavour, and smothered in cheese. Yummy!
the dish looks so so delicious i will made to the dinner now… thanks
Made this this past week. I was skeptical but it was delicious!
The meal came together quickly and was enjoyed by my family who aren’t fans of sun dried tomatoes.
Every leftover was eaten!
I’ll be keeping this recipe for remaking in the future!
Give it a try, I think you will enjoy it!
Yay, Virginia! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and I appreciate the comment! Funny how sometimes you can give someone a food they aren’t nuts about and they’ll enjoy it, hunh? I’m happy to hear you might have some sun dried tomato converts now on hand. haha 😉
Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing. Simple to make and delish. Instead of cooking the chicken I bought a rotisserie chicken and shredded it. Im not very good at cooking chicken for some reason it always comes out dry. I will make this very often
I have not made this but was wondering if you could suggest an alternative to the tomatoes. We aren’t fond of them. Can we use another type of pasta?
Anne,
I would recommend asparagus. I’ve had a few people tell me they’ve substituted the tomatoes for that and really liked it. Or maybe some red bell pepper.
Hope those work for you. I’d love to hear back what you used and your feedback, so please let me know!
Have a question about this dish. Can you just cook cut up chicken in olive oil and then add the garlic and the sundried tomatoes to the pan once the chicken is cooked? Is there a reason the tomatoes need to cook first, be removed from the pan and later re-added? Thanks! Can’t wait to try this one.
Trina, you can do that. Cooking the sun dried tomatoes beforehand is to soften them up a bit. If they’re added after the chicken is cooked, there is a chance that the chicken will be overcooked. You can give it a try and cook the chicken before adding the tomatoes, and if you do, let me know what you think!
How many servings is your Chicken Mozzarella Pasta recipe?
Lisa, this Chicken Mozzarella Pasta will serve 4 people. I have updated the recipe to reflect that.