Tuscan Chicken Pasta is rigatoni pasta tossed in cream sauce with spinach, cheese, and tomatoes and topped with baked seasoned chicken. If this sounds good to you, be sure to try my Tuscan Chicken, Creamy Tuscan Salmon and Tuscan Stuffed Shells.
Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Tuscan Chicken Pasta got rave reviews from everyone who tried this dish. It is a phenomenal mash-up of simple flavors that pull together for a strong Tuscan vibe. If you want a saucy, creamy, flavorful chicken dinner, this is the recipe to make! If you are looking for a lighter dish, I also have Tuscan Lemon Chicken you will enjoy.
Ingredients
There are two parts to this recipe–the chicken and the pasta with sauce. Make sure you have an oven-safe skillet (like a cast-iron skillet) to use.
Chicken: I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe.
Pasta: Tube-shaped pasta, like rigatoni, is perfect for this creamy sauce. You could use pasta you have on hand, or make your own homemade shaped pasta.
Sauce: The sauce is a cream sauce with sun-dried tomatoes and spinach (among other ingredients) added to the mix. I will let you know how to soften the sun-dried tomatoes before they go into the sauce.
Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is at least 30% fat (as opposed to half and half, which is only 10-18% fat).
How to Soften Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Before you make the sauce, be sure to soften and chop the sun-dried tomatoes. They are softened so they blend into the sauce (and not be crunchy). The packaging may give instructions on how to soften them. However, if not, first, bring a pot of water to a boil. Next, add the tomatoes to the boiling water, cover the pot, and bring to a simmer.
Let the sun-dried tomatoes simmer for about 3 minutes. Then, drain them and let them cool before chopping. Set them aside until ready to add them to the sauce.
Can I Make the Tuscan Chicken Pasta Sauce without Milk?
Yes, you can use just heavy cream in the sauce (3 cups total) if you leave out the milk. In fact, that is the first way we tested this recipe. Everyone loved it; it was super rich and creamy. However, when it came to reheating the leftovers in the microwave, the heavy cream would separate, leaving you with LOTS of oil (which is not the most appetizing).
Using half milk and half cream made the sauce slightly lighter, but still rich and creamy. If you are planning to reheat the sauce, no matter how you decide to make it, reheat it slowly in a saucepan over low heat on the stovetop.
How to Store Tuscan Chicken Pasta
If you have leftovers of Tuscan chicken pasta, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will last up to 3 days. Reheat the pasta in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stovetop.
More Pasta Dishes
Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, approximately 1 pound
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Pasta
- 8 ounces rigatoni pasta noodles, cooked al dente according to package instructions
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick, 57 g) unsalted butter
- ¼ cup (40 g) shallot, finely diced
- ¼ cup (27.5 g) sun-dried tomatoes, softened in hot water and chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ cups (357 g) heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups (245 g) milk
- 1 cup (30 g) fresh spinach
- 1 cup (100 g) parmesan cheese, grated (plus more for garnish)
- 1 cup (149 g) cherry tomatoes, halved
- fresh parsley, for garnish
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Chicken
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over chicken on all sides and rub it in.
- In a small bowl combine paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Sprinkle seasoning mixture over chicken on all sides.
- In a large, oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil. Once hot, add chicken. Sear for 3 minutes on each side (or until browned). The chicken will not be cooked through at this point.
- Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Place the chicken onto a plate and tent to keep warm as you prepare the pasta and sauce.
Pasta
- Add rigatoni to a pot of boiling salted water. Cook al dente according to package instructions (about 14 minutes for rigatoni).
- In the same large skillet as you cooked the chicken, melt butter over medium heat. Add shallots and sun-dried tomatoes. Cook until the shallots are softened (3-5 minutes). Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add tomato paste, oregano, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Add heavy cream and milk. Stir to combine.
- Add spinach, parmesan cheese, and tomatoes. Toss to combine. Reduce heat to low and simmer until cheese is fully melted and spinach is wilted, 8-10 minutes.
- Add the cooked pasta and toss to coat.
- Slice or cube the chicken and add to the pasta and sauce.
- Serve topped with more parmesan cheese and fresh parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
You can tag me at @iamhomesteader.
Great easy weeknight dinner. Start to finish it took about 30 minutes. I recommend dicing the chicken and sautéing it in the pan rather than baking it. Sup good!
Best soup I’ve ever made.
Would this be more flavorful with chicken thighs instead of brests?
This is time consuming, but is worth it!! So good! One of my husbands favorites!
Love this recipe! I add extra sun dried tomatoes and added mushrooms a crowd pleaser
This was absolutely delicious! It reminded me of something I would order at a restaurant. I left out the tomatoes because we’re not fans, but everything else was followed to a T. My husband loved it, and is excited for leftovers tomorrow!
Super delicious!! Wonderful flavors and texture.
I made this recipe the night before, but left out the spinach, and I used barbecue chicken not fresh breasts was very nice
I’ve been making this recipe for a couple of years now. We make meals for our elderly neighbour across the hall so I double it and we have two or three days of leftovers each! It’s so good and very filling. Thanks Amanda for such great recipes!!
Will try this tonight. I just wanted to ask, why is it preferred to cook chicken in oven versus finishing the cooking stove top? Does this enhance the flavor or something? Very curious! Thank you for the recipe. Can’t wait to try!
I made this tonight and my husband loved this recipe! I liked it too, but I’m realizing that I’m just not a huge fan of parmesan. Is there another type of cheese you would recommend? Thank you!
You can just leave it out. 🙂
I made this when my friend from Alberta was visiting and it was so delicious. It’s like a fine dining pasta experience.
Made this tonight. It was a huge hit… great flavor and will definitely be making this again. It was great!! Thank you!!! 😊
I’m picky, kids are even pickier and my husband is “protein, protein, protein”. We absolutely devoured this meal – EVEN THE KIDS (HOW?!), 10/10, going in the recipe book. Thank you so very much.