Dry pasta cooks up perfectly tender in a luscious sauce with chicken, spinach and tomatoes in this one pot wonder. This utterly delicious Chicken and Spinach Skillet Pasta is on the table in about 30 minutes!
If you’ve read this blog for any length of time you know I’m pretty crazy about fast and easy one-pot meals. It stems from the “life is complicated, dinner shouldn’t be” philosophy that I’ve adopted over the years. This is what raising four boys while working both in and out of the home does to a woman!
After serving many of these simple, delicious meals to my family, I’ve determined that complicated does not necessarily mean better.
Ever since the momentous day when I discovered you could throw dry pasta into a pot with a slew of other ingredients and end up with a delicious result, things have never quite been the same around here. It led me to experiment with all kinds of different pastas, proteins, and veggies and this Chicken and Spinach Skillet Pasta has risen to the top as one of my favorites. My family loves this easy meal! It’s been a regular on our menu around here for so many years.
The funny thing is, I could work for hours in the kitchen to create a special meal and the next night pull off this easy chicken pasta and the crowd goes crazy. Go figure!
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken – You’ll need 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1-inch pieces.
- Spinach – Pick up a 5-ounce bag of fresh baby spinach. It will seem like too much but trust me, spinach has a way of almost disappearing as it wilts so you’ll need the entire bag.
- Chicken broth – I recommend using low sodium broth – always – and season with salt, to taste. I use reduced sodium Better Than Bouillon so that I can mix up exactly how much broth I need for each recipe.
- Fire roasted diced tomatoes – I prefer flavorful fire roasted tomatoes over regular diced tomatoes for this recipe. I just love that hint of smokiness.
- Penne – Uncooked, dry penne cooks up perfectly in this one pot pasta. You can substitute a different short pasta but I think penne is the best choice. While you can use a measuring cup, I highly recommend investing in an inexpensive kitchen scale with a bowl to ensure you are using the correct amount of pasta in recipes like this one.
- Onion – Diced yellow or white onion.
- Mozzarella and parmesan – A little shredded part-skim mozzarella adds a luscious layer but this is not an overly cheesy dish. Grated or shaved Parmesan is the finishing touch.
- Half and half – Combines with the diced tomatoes and mozzarella to create a light cream sauce.
- Oil – Extra virgin olive oil.
- Garlic – Minced garlic,
- Seasoning – The pasta is simply seasoned with a little Italian Seasoning, crushed red pepper, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. If you want a spicy pasta, add additional crushed red pepper.
How to Make Chicken and Spinach Skillet Pasta
Sauté the seasoned chicken in oil until browned. Transfer to a dish and set aside. Cook the onion and garlic until softened and lightly browned. Add the broth, tomatoes, pasta, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Stir in the cooked chicken and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until the pasta is tender. Stir in the half and half and mozzarella. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the fresh spinach.
- Heat the oil in deep 12-inch skillet and add the chicken. Season the chicken with Italian seasoning, a touch of salt, and pepper, and continue cooking for 3 or 4 minutes or until chicken is completely cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover to keep warm.
- Add additional olive oil to the pan and add the onions. Cook until softened and lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two until fragrant.
- Add the broth, tomatoes, pasta, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
- Stir in the cooked chicken and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the skillet, and simmer until the pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in half and half and mozzarella and simmer for minute or two until warmed through and the cheese has melted.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the fresh spinach until it wilts from the heat of the pasta. Top with Parmesan and serve.
FAQs and Valerie’s Tips
I have found penne to be the best choice but you can substitute any type of short pasta you love. Bowtie, shells, or fusilli will all work.
I recommend using fresh baby spinach, when at all possible. Frozen spinach can be used in a pinch but be sure it is fully defrosted and wring out as much of the liquid as possible before adding it to the pasta.
Yep! Other readers have added mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini, and more with great success. I recommend reading the reader comments section to see what has worked for others.
More One Pot Pasta Recipes
- Shrimp and Spinach Pasta
- Philly Cheesesteak Pasta
- Skillet Sausage Pasta
- Chicken Parmesan Pasta
- Meaty Tortellini Skillet
Chicken and Spinach Skillet Pasta
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 ½ cups low sodium chicken broth
- 14.5 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 8 ounces penne pasta (uncooked), approximately 2 ½ cups
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
- ½ cup half and half
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese (part skim or whole), shredded
- 5 ounces fresh baby spinach
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a deep 12-inch skillet or sauté pan and place it over MEDIUM heat. Add the chopped chicken and cook, stirring frequently. Season the chicken with Italian seasoning, a touch of salt, and black pepper, and continue cooking for 3 or 4 minutes or until chicken is completely cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover to keep warm.
- Add the remaining olive oil to the pan and add the onions. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes, until softened and lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two until fragrant. Add the broth, tomatoes, pasta, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Stir in the cooked chicken and bring to a boil, cover skillet, and reduce heat to MEDIUM-LOW. Simmer until the pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in the half and half and mozzarella and simmer for minute or two until warmed through and the cheese has melted. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the fresh spinach until it wilts from the heat of the pasta. Top with Parmesan and serve.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
This post was originally published on October 23, 2014. It has been updated with new text and images.
Fast and Easy Dinner Recipes
It was fine. I had spinach spaghetti noodles to use up so I broke them up and used that. I had decreased the broth as people said it was runny and wound up needing to add the held back broth in. Added mushrooms and home grown tomatoes (should have bought fire roasted as my 1.5 cups of cherry toms weren’t enough. Ommited chili flakes as I have husband who is sensitive to it bur I think it would have tasted better with it in. Needed to turn the stove back on to low for the spinach to wilt all the way.
Great Flavor but had the same issue as another reviewer. Watery and the spinach/cheese stuck together. Will adjust next time with possibly less broth or half&half.
Great recipe will make it again
My husband devoured two plates! He said it was so good, he wants me to make it again. My daughter wholeheartedly agreed.
I added an extra teaspoon of red pepper and for my family, it was perfect. This is a great recipe and I love how it cooks in one pot/skillet.
Good, but watery for some reason & the spinach & cheese coagulated together! Next time, I would use less broth
Hi Trish. I haven’t had anyone tell me this has turned out watery for them and it has never been an issue for me. It could mean you used less pasta or didn’t cook it as long, There should be some liquid left after it cooks but after stirring in the spinach, it shouldn’t be excessive. Sorry you had this issue.
I made this dish adding fresh mushrooms, and using rotini pasta, which I had on hand. I used two chicken breasts which weighed 1.5 pounds, so I adjusted the quantities of some other ingredients (broth, cheese, half and half). Next time I will omit the crushed red pepper flakes because they made the dish extremely HOT, which is not to my liking. Everything came together very well and we (2 people) have enough left for another meal.
I tried a similar recipe the week before but this one was better. I did add more garlic and also added garlic powder to the chicken and I’m glad I did because I found the sauce a little bit bland. However, that could be my fault because I was afraid if I added the chicken breast back in for 15 minutes with the pasta, that it’d end up tough and dry as it’s such a lean protein. So I didn’t add my chicken back in until I was ready to add the half & half and cheese. Next time I think I’ll still avoid putting the chicken in for the 15 minutes and just add about 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning directly to the sauce too. Some reviews had said they found the sauce a bit too watery, so I avoided that by leaving the lid cracked open a bit so a little more broth could evaporate. I also added up to an ounce more penne. I found the sauce to be the perfect consistency- not too watery/ too much or too little/too thick.
My family loves this recipe and we make it at least once a month. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
This dish was easy to make and delicious! I followed the recipe (I’ve been known to switch things up a bit) I’m glad I made it as directed because I wouldn’t change a thing! I used mini penne pasta. The size fit perfectly in my pan, as I didn’t have a big pan. The family loved it. I am saving this recipe as one of my go to dinners! Thank you
Delicious recipe and one of our favs! Can you sub whole wheat penne pasta?
Glad you love it! Whole wheat pasta absorbs more liquid as it cooks so without testing, I can’t say for sure how it would work out in this one-pot recipe. I might be inclined to add a bit less pasta or a bit more liquid. Let me know how it works out if you try it!
This is my fiancés favorite dinner! Super easy with virtually no cleanup and very easy to customize with different flavors!
So happy you’re enjoying the recipe! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment. 🙂
Loved the dish. One thing though – the spinach turned out with that chalky feeling. Any suggestion how to reduce/avoid this?
Hi Trish. I’ve never experienced a chalky feeling with fresh baby spinach. Wish I could be of more help!