Impressive meals don't have to take hours and hours in the kitchen. Take this beautiful pesto chicken pasta, for example, which is ready in just 30 minutes! You only need a handful of ingredients to make the fresh, from-scratch pesto. Its bright flavor is the highlight of this super-fast pesto pasta recipe, packed with cherry tomatoes and chicken.
Pesto Pasta with Chicken
- Prep Time 15 min
- Total 30 min
- Servings 6
- Ingredients 11
Ingredients
Pesto
- 1 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted
Pasta
- 12 oz uncooked penne pasta (3 1/2 cups) (from 16-oz package)
- 3 cups Progresso™ chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 cup julienned fresh basil leaves
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Make With
Progresso Broth
Instructions
-
Step1In blender or food processor, place Pesto ingredients.
-
Step2Cover and process on medium speed about 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides with rubber spatula, until smooth. Set aside.
-
Step3In 4-quart saucepan, heat penne and broth just to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until al dente and liquid is almost absorbed. Remove from heat. Add pesto; stir in chicken and tomatoes; cook over medium 2 to 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
-
Step4Garnish with basil and 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
480
Calories
19g
Total Fat
27g
Protein
52g
Total Carbohydrate
3g
Sugars
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 1/2 Cups
- Calories
- 480
- Calories from Fat
- 170
- Total Fat
- 19g
- 28%
- Saturated Fat
- 4 1/2g
- 22%
- Trans Fat
- 0g
- Cholesterol
- 45mg
- 16%
- Sodium
- 740mg
- 31%
- Potassium
- 360mg
- 10%
- Total Carbohydrate
- 52g
- 17%
- Dietary Fiber
- 4g
- 15%
- Sugars
- 3g
- Protein
- 27g
% Daily Value*:
- Vitamin A
- 20%
- 20%
- Vitamin C
- 8%
- 8%
- Calcium
- 15%
- 15%
- Iron
- 15%
- 15%
Exchanges:
2 Starch; 0 Fruit; 1 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 1 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 2 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 2 Fat;Carbohydrate Choice
3 1/2Tips from the Betty Crocker Kitchens
{{tipItemHeadingFormat.replace('{0}',props.index + 1)}}
© 2025 ®/TM General Mills All Rights Reserved