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.
What does cooking the chicken on the stove top and then the oven do? Rather than just in the skillet? I was planning to cut my chicken up first and just skillet cook it. Would that not work? I’m cooking this today 🙂
You can cook it in the skillet, but it can get burnt on the outside. If you are cooking it completely in the skillet, just make sure it gets done.
I went ahead and followed recipe and baked it. I’m glad I did because it was juicy and tender! Delicious, thank you!
I made this recipe yesterday and it was a total hit with my husband. Will definitely make it again.
I made the Tuscan Chicken Pasta a couple of times for the church group I cook for in Wednesday nights and boy, was it a hit!! I did cut my chicken into bite sized pieces and cooked it first. Several people have asked me for the recipe, thank you
so you am baker AND homesteader? when do you sleep??? thanks for all the great recipes…
lol I am! Hope you enjoy!
Fantastic! I was really in the mood for Itailian and was thinking about going out for some. So glad I found this recipe instead:). Off the hook Good!
I made this for dinner and loved it.
Delicious 😋
What type of sun dried tomatoes did you use in this recipe.
This was a hit with my family. I doubled the recipe so there were a good amount of leftovers for the next night and of course it tasted better the second time around after all the flavors married together. I will definitely make this one again. Tonight I am trying the Lemon Chicken Pasta, I can’t wait. I will let you know how it goes. I am finding a lot of delicious recipes on this website. Thank you for posting them for us Amanda.
Thank you so much, Tricia!! Thrilled you and your family are enjoying the recipe!
Rich, savory, and delicious. I added a little cornstarch to the sauce and used smoked paprika instead of regular, which was yummy. I also pulled/shredded the chicken so it became more a part of the sauce and really soaked up the flavor.
If I were to make it again I’d keep the seasonings the same but add more tomatoes (both diced and sun-dried) and more spinach.
Great recipes….Great tips and great ideas
Can this be frozen?
Sure
Great recipe! I’m lactose intolerant so made this with alternative milk and added 2-3 tbsp of flour to thicken the sauce. Worked great!
Ooohhhh, great tip! Thanks, Summer!
This was a hit. My first time using this recipe. I did only use light cream.
This is delicious.
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it!!
Great tip! I was trying to use my lactaid milk instead of the heavy cream and cows milk. This will also be ate as leftovers the next day, and she mentioned the heavy cream becomes very oily when reheated. So thank you for the tip summer!! ❤️
Recipe is perfect as is! I doubled the recipe the first time, and glad I did!
Made tonight, followed the recipe exactly ( added some pepper flakes when the tomato paste was introduced, we like spicy) it was delicious!!!! Will make again😋. Thank you
Making this tonight looks delicous!!
Printed and cant wait to try.Looks delish
Made this for my family today and it was great. Wouldn’t change a thing. Will definitely make this again.
Loved it, thank you!
So good! I double the chicken for extra protein and love using bow tie pasta. I’ve made this several times and it’s always a crowd pleaser!
It was Devine. 10 out of 10
Very delicious
This was so good!