Do you like pasta? What about chicken? How about leftovers?! If you answered yes to all of these questions then you will love this super easy creamy pesto chicken pasta skillet! One thing I always try to do in my house is make enough food for leftovers. At the moment, we’re a family of two. Most recipes serve at least four people so we usually have a ton of leftovers! One of my biggest pet peeves, however, is letting leftovers go bad, or just not using them. That’s why I created this recipe. If you’re planning on using leftovers for this recipe, it should only take you roughly 15 minutes to make! Even if you do choose to make it all fresh, you can still finish within 20 minutes.
How To Make Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta With Leftovers
This recipe is so easy here’s all you’ll need:
- Fresh chicken
- Leftover pasta noodles (any type of pasta will work, I used linguine)
- Leftover broccoli (any leftover vegetables will work)
- Jar of pesto sauce
- Half & half (or cream)
- Flour and seasonings
Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta Skillet
- 1.25 lbs chicken breast/chicken tenders (boneless, skinless)
- ¼ cup flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ⅓ cup pesto sauce
- 1 cup half & half ((or heavy cream))
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese
- 2 cups broccoli florets (cooked)
- ½ 8 oz package linguine pasta (cooked (or use leftover noodles))
Pre-heat a cast iron skillet on medium-high heat with olive oil .
In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Lightly coat each chicken breast into the flour mixture and place in the heated skillet. Cook chicken for about 4-5 minutes on either side until the chicken is golden brown and cooked all the way through. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
In the same skillet, heat the pesto sauce for about 1 minute and then add the half & half. Cook for another 1 minute until it's warm. Add parmesan cheese and stir. (Add salt and pepper to taste).
Once the sauce is thick and creamy, add the leftover cooked pasta noodles and the broccoli. Mix until the noodles and completely coated in the sauce.
Add the chicken back into the skillet and nestle the chicken in the noodles and sauce.
Cover the skillet and cook on low-medium for 5 more minutes, adding a little bit of half & half if needed. Serve immediately.
