Tuscan chicken pasta is a delicious pasta dish that the whole family will love. Juicy and tender chicken in a creamy parmesan sauce with sun-dried tomatoes and spinach, served with tagliatelle pasta. It comes together quickly and tastes so good!
Tuscan Chicken is a popular dish served in the Olive Garden restaurant. Try my take on it!
This recipe makes a 30-minute comfort food pasta dish! It’s creamy and flavorful. It will be great for adults and kids!
Ingredients
Below you will find information about the ingredients and how to prepare the recipe. For the measurements and detailed instructions scroll down to the printable recipe card.
Here’s what you need to make this delicious pasta dish:
- Chicken breasts – chicken tenders would also be great. Just use them as they are, there’s no need to cut them into smaller pieces.
- I recommend using jarred ‘soft’ sun-dried tomatoes for this recipe, not the dry ones. They are more flavorful and ready to use (don’t have to be softened). Here you can find all my sun-dried tomato recipes.
- I like to use oil from the sun-dried tomatoes jar for this recipe. This way you don’t have to throw it away and it’s infused with lovely herb and sun-dried tomatoes flavor.
- Flour – thickens the sauce which makes it cling nicely to pasta. Dredging the chicken in flour makes it more juicy. It creates a crispy ‘shell’ outside the chicken and prevents escaping the moisture from the meat.
- If you don’t want to use wine, you can omit it and add broth with a little lemon juice to the sauce (see this recipe for chicken zucchini pasta with creamy lemon sauce). Wine adds flavor and acidity to the sauce so you need to use something sour instead, that will cut through the richness of the cream, or the sauce will be too heavy.
- Instead of Italian seasoning, you can use French seasoning (Herbes de Provence) or a mix of basil, rosemary, thyme, and oregano.
- You can use any kind of pasta. I like to use egg tagliatelle pasta with this recipe.
- You can omit the spinach and use a smaller amount of fresh basil leaves instead. I don’t recommend using frozen spinach – it’s too chewy.
- What you could also add: some cherry tomatoes to the sauce, diced red bell pepper, you can sprinkle the sauce with crispy bacon bits.
How to make Tuscan Chicken Pasta step by step
STEP 1: Cook the pasta (8oz/230g) al dente according to the package instructions (it should have a bite to it).
Cut the chicken breasts (2 large) in half horizontally so that you have 4 thinner cutlets. Season the chicken on both sides with 1 ts Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
Dredge in 2 1/2 tablespoons flour, reserve the remaining 1/2 tablespoon for the sauce.
If you’d like, you can also dice the chicken.
STEP 2: Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large frying pan. Add the chicken and cook over medium-high heat on both sides until browned. Transfer to a plate (the chicken doesn’t have to be cooked through at this point).
STEP 3: Lower the heat to low and add finely chopped garlic (5 cloves) and the remaining flour (1/2 Tbsp). Cook for 30 seconds.
Chop the garlic with a knife and do not press it through a garlic press or the garlic flavor will be too harsh.
Add the wine (1/3 cup) and cook over medium heat until almost evaporated.
STEP 4: Add the broth (3/4 cup), cream (1 cup), and sun-dried tomatoes (1/3 cup of chopped sun-dried tomatoes). Cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened.
STEP 5: Add parmesan cheese (1/2 cup grated) and cook briefly until melted. Season the sauce with salt (if needed) and pepper to taste.
STEP 6: Add the chicken back to the pan. Simmer in the sauce until cooked through.
STEP 7: Add the spinach (a large handful) and cook for about 30 seconds or until wilted.
STEP 8: Serve the chicken and sauce with cooked pasta.
Enjoy!
Storage
This dish reheats well but it would be best to store the pasta and sauce separately otherwise the pasta will become soft. It’s best to cook the pasta just before serving. Don’t store the cooked pasta with the sauce, because it will soak up the sauce and taste not very good. The sauce itself (without spinach) reheats very well.
More quick and easy pasta recipes
- Creamy Tuscan Chicken with Gnocchi – a similar recipe to this one but a little bit different. The sauce is made with tomato paste, the chicken is diced and served with gnocchi. We love both of these recipes! You may also like this Tuscan Chicken Soup
- Jerk Chicken Pasta (Rasta Pasta)
- Chicken Fajita Pasta
- Shrimp Pesto Pasta
- Spaghetti Puttanesca
Did you make this recipe? RATE THE RECIPE or tell me in the COMMENTS how you liked it! You can also add a photo of your dish. It would make me very happy and will help other readers. Thank you!!
Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces tagliatelle pasta 230g
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 3 tablespoons flour divided
- 2 tablespoons oil from the sun-dried tomatoes jar or frying oil/clarified butter
- 5 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1/3 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes from a jar
- 1/3 cup dry white wine or more broth with a drizzle of lemon juice
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream 240ml
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 45g
- a large handful fresh spinach
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta al dente according to the package instructions (it should have a bite to it).
- Cut the chicken breasts in half horizontally so that you have 4 thinner cutlets. Season the chicken on both sides with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Dredge in 2 1/2 tablespoons of flour, reserve the remaining 1/2 tablespoon for the sauce.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the chicken and cook over medium-high heat on both sides until browned. Transfer to a plate (the chicken doesn’t have to be cooked through at this point).
- Lower the heat to low and add finely chopped garlic and the remaining flour. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the wine and cook over medium heat until almost evaporated.
- Add the broth, cream, and sun-dried tomatoes. Cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Add parmesan cheese and cook briefly until melted. Season the sauce with salt (if needed) and pepper to taste.
- Add the chicken back to the pan. Simmer in the sauce until cooked through.
- Add the spinach and cook for about 30 seconds or until wilted.
- Serve the chicken and sauce with cooked pasta.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Chop the garlic with a knife and do not press it through a garlic press or the garlic flavor will be too harsh.
- Calories = 1 serving (1/4 of the recipe). This is only an estimate!
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