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Who doesn’t love dinner made all in one pot, with minimal mess? No one! This Tuscan Chicken Pasta Skillet recipe will satisfy your Italian food cravings and your desire for a quick and easy meal.
Typically, the noodles and chicken are cooked in different pans, then tossed together right before serving—but for this dish, I layer the flavors and make the whole meal in one skillet! It’s magical and makes mealtime so much easier.
An Easy-Peasy One-Pot Dinner
The chicken is marinated with olive oil and Italian seasonings for maximum flavor on the surface. It’s seared until golden brown, then sliced. The dried pasta, minced garlic, and tomatoes are cooked in the same pan with boiling water. In just a short time, the noodles become al dente, and the tomatoes burst to create a vibrant sauce to lightly coat the pasta.
Brined pantry staples like artichoke hearts and Kalamata olives add a burst of pungent flavor right before serving. Toss them with the pasta, Parmesan cheese, and herbs, and dinner is ready!
You’ll be delighted to see how quickly the dish comes together for an uncomplicated, gourmet meal.
WHAT’S THE BEST PASTA TO USE?
Long, slender noodles like spaghetti or linguine work best. The sauce is light, so the size of those noodles is perfect for soaking up the tasty olive oil infused tomato sauce, without overpowering the dish. I love twirling the noodles and grabbing little bites of all the ingredients in one forkful!
This one pot pasta cooking method makes it easy to adjust the doneness of the noodles. Four cups of water for a half pound of dried pasta yields an al dente texture. However, more water can be added as needed, a half cup at a time if you want the noodles to be softer.
SWAPS AND SUBSTITUTIONS
This recipe is so easy to adapt to your own personal tastes. Personally, I love the delightfully briny, pungent taste marinated artichoke hearts and Kalamata olives bring to the pasta, but really, almost anything goes. Try any of these ideas:
- Slice up summer squash and let it simmer along with the tomatoes.
- Toss small pieces of asparagus spears in for the last four to five minutes of cooking.
- For cheese, swap Parmesan for Pecorino Romano to add a stronger nuttiness.
- Use fresh mini mozzarella balls for an antipasti vibe.
- Basil and parsley are my go-to herbs for Italian dishes, but some fresh oregano would also be lovely.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH CHICKEN PASTA SKILLET
This one pot meal delivers protein, vegetables, and carbs all in one bowl. Serve it with some of these favorites:
- Warm crusty no-knead bread
- Fresh baked make ahead dinner rolls
- Fresh green salad with a bright vinaigrette
- Caesar salad
MORE GREAT SKILLET DINNERS
Tuscan Chicken Pasta Skillet Recipe
Ingredients
For the marinade:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
For the dinner:
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 12 ounces cherry tomatoes (about 2 cups), halved
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 8 ounces spaghetti
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup quartered marinated artichokes hearts, drained
- 1/3 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 6 basil leaves, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Method
1 Marinate the chicken: In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and Italian seasoning. Cut each chicken breast lengthwise to create 4 long, thin pieces. Place chicken in a shallow dish. Pour marinade over the chicken, turn to evenly coat. Let sit for 15 minutes before cooking.
2 Cook the chicken: Heat a large high-sided skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken. Cook until the chicken is golden brown and fully cooked, about 6 to 8 minutes per side.
Transfer chicken to a cutting board to rest while cooking the pasta.
3 Cook the pasta: Add tomatoes, garlic, spaghetti, 4 cups water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the skillet. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook and stir frequently, until the pasta is tender and water has mostly evaporated—about 9 to 11 minutes. You want to have a small amount of water in the pan to create a light sauce.
Add more water if needed, 1/2 cup at a time for a softer pasta. Turn off the heat.
4 Finish and toss: Cut the chicken into 1/4-inch thick slices. Add the artichoke hearts, olives, Parmesan cheese, sliced chicken, and basil. Toss to combine. If you'd like a thicker sauce, you can add 1 or 2 tablespoons of butter. Taste and season with more salt and pepper as desired.
5 Serve: Garnish pasta with parsley, then divide among plates and serve warm.
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Jessica Gavin is both a Certified Culinary Scientist and Certified Food Scientist. Her first cookbook is Easy Culinary Science for Better Cooking.
Tuscan Chicken Pasta Skillet
My compliments to the cook !!! oh, wait a minute , I am the cook !!! This was sooo delicious !! I followed the recipe exactly . I used a half box of pasta as stated and next time I will cut the water a little, anyways , this was something I would order in a restaurant ! Be making this again and again. Thanks so much for posting this !!!
Really delicious flavors here, but the 32 oz of water to cook the pasta is waaaay too much and resulted in a more soupy dish (even after I removed about a cup of water from the dish). I want to make this again for sure, but would use 16-18 oz of water and add more if needed.
Love the flavor and moistness of the chicken in this recipe! It turns out so beautifully golden brown. Will use your marinade to make chicken for chicken salad in the future. It is so good! I made the pasta skillet and added sliced yellow squash which turned out great. I also sprinkled it with a little balsamic vinegar at the table with good results.
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This sounds delicious. I am wondering how you would convert it to make in a 3 quart Instant Pot or possibly an air fryer.
Hi Linda,
It’s possible you could make this in an Instant Pot, but for a 3-quart one you may need to reduce the amounts to get the pot to come to pressure…plus do quite a bit of tinkering with the method, cook times, and liquid levels.
And we’ve not made pasta (wet cooking method) in the air fryer (dry cooking method) before, so we can’t speak to how that would work.