Cheesy Chicken Pasta (Easy One Pot Recipe) + Video

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Cheesy Chicken Pasta is a rich and hearty Italian meal that is bursting with flavor. It’s so easy that it just about cooks itself. Make chicken pasta with cheese for an easy and tasty dinner! The tender chicken paired with the cheesy noodles creates a delicious recipe that any picky eater will love!  

titled: cheesy chicken pasta one pot meal


 

This simple one pot creamy chicken pasta features a rich sundried tomato sauce that soaks into the pasta. Just toss everything together in a pot and let it cook!

Your taste buds will love this one-pot meal. (It’s enough to feed the whole family – and easy to clean up!) 

ingredients for cheesy chicken pasta in a dutch oven

Cheesy Chicken Pasta

In just 20 minutes, you’ll be ready to dig into a bowl of chicken and linguine coated in cheesy goodness and dotted with fresh baby spinach, onions, and tangy sun-dried tomatoes.

A cheesy chicken pasta recipe that practically makes itself — now that’s my kind of meal!

I also have another incredible garlic chicken pasta recipe made with tortellini and a creamy homemade sauce.

For south-of-the-border flavor, make some Mexican spaghetti

Your favorite salsa ingredients come together with pasta and sausage to create another knock-your-sock-off, easy pasta dish!

chicken pasta recipe in dutch oven

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

  • Dried Italian Seasoning: 

    This is a fabulous convenience ingredient that’s common in Italian recipes. 

    If you don’t keep it on hand, combine 1 teaspoon each of dried basil and rosemary with ½ teaspoon each of oregano and dried thyme.
  • Red Pepper Flakes:

    If you’re sensitive to spicy flavors, reduce this ingredient to ½ teaspoon. The chicken cheese pasta sauce will be milder, but there will still be a little heat.
  • Chardonnay:

    The wine adds a rich, buttery flavor to the sauce, as well as a hint of citrusy brightness. If you can use the chardonnay, I highly recommend it. 

    Otherwise, you can use chicken stock, white grape juice, or equal parts lemon juice and water if needed.
  • Sun Dried Tomatoes:

    Use halved grape tomatoes instead if you’re not a fan of these. Also, reduce the liquid by ½ cup and add extra salt to taste at the end.
using tongs to stir garlic chicken pasta

Tips to make this Cheesy Chicken Pasta Dish

  • You can save time by using leftover chicken cooked or rotisserie chicken! This is a great option if you don’t have time to cook raw chicken breasts. 
  • Pay attention to the cooked pasta timing as you don’t want to overcook it! 

What to Serve with Chicken Cheese Pasta

No Italian meal would be complete without a side of garlic bread or homemade breadsticks

Make a big bowl of salad using this Olive Garden salad recipe, or roast some veggies to make your table complete. 

That said, you could easily enjoy this cheesy chicken pasta all on its own. With pasta, meat, veggies, and cheese, it’s enough to keep you feeling full!

adding parmesan cheese to one pot chicken parmesan pasta

One Pot Creamy Chicken Pasta FAQ

What are good substitutes for linguine in a one pot pasta dish?

You can use any pasta for your chicken pasta with cheese. As a substitute for linguine, use another long, thin pasta like fettuccine or angel hair pasta. 

Even shorter pasta like penne pasta, rotini, or rigatoni will work great. Whole-wheat penne pasta is a great option, too! And let’s not overlook the fact that eating cheesy chicken spaghetti would be super fun for the hungry recipe testers in your house! 

Just be sure to use enough liquid to cover the noodles, and then cook until al dente.

What type of white wine is best to cook with? 

I use Entwine Chardonnay. You can find it at Kroger brand grocery stores, and it runs about $10 a bottle.

No need for anything too expensive. As long as you’d enjoy a glass of it by itself, it’ll taste great when used for cooking!

Can I make this cheesy chicken pasta recipe in a slow cooker?  

I haven’t tried it with this particular recipe, but I don’t think the linguine will hold up very well under the long cook time.

If you want to try it, cook the rest of the ingredients in the crockpot first, then add the noodles during the last hour or so of cook time.

Or, cook them separately on the stove and mix together your cheesy chicken pasta just before serving. Just know that the flavor won’t be as rich since it isn’t cooked together with everything else.

How do I store leftovers of chicken cheesy pasta? 

The biggest thing to remember is that you want the recipe to cool down all the way, before storing it in an airtight container. Then the next time that you’re ready to eat it, you can add it to a skillet on the stove and reheat over medium heat. 

To add some different flavors to this easy pasta recipe, you can top with a little bit of white cheddar cheese or different types of cheese as well. Pre-shredded cheese is a fast and simple way to get that gooey melted cheese flavor back on top of the juicy chicken and noodles. 

Since I consider this recipe to be the ultimate comfort food, you can add all types of good options to the leftovers to give it a new flavor! Dicing a few bell peppers and adding them along with a little bit of garlic powder can make a leftover dish taste new and unique as well. One pot meals give a great variety on how to enjoy and eat them the next day! 

using tongs to stir one pot italian chicken pasta with chicken

Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours. 

Don’t miss a thing! Follow us on
Facebook | Twitter Pinterest | Instagram 



overhead: cheesy chicken pasta in pot

chicken linguine in large pot

Cheesy Chicken Pasta Recipe (Easy One Pot) + Video

Donna Elick
Cheesy Chicken Pasta is a hearty Italian meal that simply bursts with authentic flavors! You need ONE pot for this easy pasta recipe!
4.91 stars from 10 reviews
Tried this recipe?Please comment and review!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Main
Cuisine American, Italian
Method Stovetop
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
 

  • 8 ounces baby spinach leaves, divided
  • 1 cup sun dried tomatoes packed in oil with Italian herbs, drained (about 7 ounces)
  • 1 large yellow onion, sliced
  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" bite sized pieces
  • 6 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1 pound dry linguine
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 32 ounces (4 cups) reduced sodium chicken stock
  • 8 ounces (1 cup) chardonnay wine
  • 4 ounces fresh Parmesan cheese, shredded

Instructions
 

  • Combine 1/2 of the spinach with the tomatoes, onion, chicken, garlic, pasta, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper in a 5-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Pour chicken stock and wine over top. Cover and bring to a boil.
  • Cook 7-9 minutes until pasta is al dente (with a bite to it). Toss pasta with tongs occasionally to keep the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot. You will still have some liquid in the pan when the pasta is done cooking. This is going to make the base for our delicious cheese sauce.
  • Turn off the heat and add the cheese to the pasta. Toss pasta with tongs until the cheese melts into the pasta. Toss in remaining spinach.
  • Serve and enjoy!

Video

Donna’s Notes

  1. Dried Italian seasoning is a fabulous convenience ingredient. If you do not keep it on hand, combine 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1 teaspoon rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon oregano and 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme.
  1. This dish is just spicy enough to make your tongue tingle. For a very mild sauce, reduce the red pepper flakes to 1/2 teaspoon.
  1. I know some people are sensitive to alcohol. The wine adds a fabulous rich buttery flavor and a bright citrus flavor to the pasta. If you can use the chardonnay, I highly recommend it. However, you can substitute with chicken stock, white grape juice, or lemon water (1/2 cup fresh lemon juice and 1/2 cup water).

Nutrition

Serving: 1. | Calories: 562cal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 1303mg | Sugar: 4g | Fiber: 5g | Calcium: 324mg | Iron: 4mg

All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
titled pinterest collage of chicken pasta recipe

Originally published October 2016, updated and republished November 2023

Disclosure: Posts may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link your price will remain the same and The Slow Roasted Italian will automatically receive a small commission. Thank you for supporting us, it helps us keep creating new recipes.

The Simple Kitchen cookbook affiliate linked banner

301 Comments

  1. After it comes to a boil, do you reduce the heat or let it boil for the remaining cook time while stirring. Thanks!

    1. You will leave it on medium-high the entire cook time, unless it seems too high then, naturally you will want to reduce it. You will remove the cover to toss with tongs a few times as well. I hope that helps. Enjoy and let us know how it goes!

  2. Amazingly delicious. As written except due to issues with too much garlic I reduced it. This was great! Thanks!

  3. I made this tonight! I opt out the white wine and added little bit of heavy cream and a little bit of chicken powder..I didn't add any lemon juice or anything and the red peppers and it was so good!! My daughter loved it. It's a keeper!

  4. Made this for dinner tonight and WOW it was fantastic! The only changes I made were: halved the red pepper because I'm not into spicy, halved the sun dried tomatoes and salt. Everybody loved it, thank you for this recipe ��

  5. My husband made this after I sent him the link! OMG it was AMAZING. One little tweak I would make is slightly less red pepper flakes. It had just a bit too much kick for my liking. But, other than that, perfection!!! And, EASY Cleanup!

  6. I made this last night and it was amazing! Will definitely make again! The only change I would make would probably be to use less pasta, after it was all done it seemed that the amount of pasta kind of overshadowed all the other ingredients. I also added some basil and extra parmesean on top, along with extra red pepper flakes for more spice!

    Thank you for the great recipe!

  7. just made it. the kitchen smelled WONDERFUL and it does have a bite!! LOVED IT and will make it again when the boys are home for college break. will have to look at halving the recipe for just the hubby and I. 🙂

  8. Olga Domimgue 1/04/2018 A 7:00 PM….I made this tonight and it was delicious the wine, it gave it such a great flavor.I can't wait to try another one pot recipe. Thankx

  9. Hello from across The Pond. Having translated this into English (!) it went down a storm. I now know what a dutch oven is and that red pepper flakes must be chili flakes. I say tomato….. and this is a great recipe!

  10. I made this dish today and oh my goodness….I never want to be without this recipe for the rest of my life! It is absolutely delicious.I followed it exactly as written, except I omitted the onions. The best part was that my kids and my husband were out to eat with the in laws so I got to have a huge bowl by myself! I couldn't stop eating it. I can't wait to have the leftovers! Awesome recipe! Thank you!

  11. Im going to try this tonight for my sweet man for valentines….minus the wine…wish me luck !! Happy Valentines day people!!

  12. Omg this is wonderful! The family loved it from the first bite! Thanks for making me look like a good cook! 😉

  13. This recipe came through my feed, and I thought that is pretty simple. I did have to get the parm, and used sundried tomatoes. and instead of fresh garlic I used jar garlic. I also didnt have any white wine but I had some local red wine, (Oregon) and that made it very nice. My mom doesnt like spicy, and this was just hot enough for me, but she couldnt eat it. I was disappointed for her. I think the base for this is great, and a person could add or dress it up or down to suit the needs of the diners. I will use this recipe again, but leave out the red pepper. And we used a roasted chicken breast from Costco so it made it very easy to prepare. I was amazed at how easy.

  14. I just tried this, and my mouth never knew what hit it. So much great flavor and textures. Since it is only for myself, I will get about four meals out of it. It is great if someone likes it spicy, but I will reduce the red pepper flakes in half next time.

  15. Question pleade,,,,,when u put the pasta together n cover pot,,,does it stick together,,,,or it will be fine,,,pleade id like to realy kno,,because id like to place it same exact way in video,,please someone tell me,,Thank You

  16. I am trying this at this very moment. I did use pinot grigio instead of chardonnay and substituted asiago…somehow the parmesan cheese was MIA in the fridge…can't wait to try this…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating