This 30 minute Tuscan Pasta is an easy and delicious weeknight meal. Packed with chicken, bacon, and flavorful sun-dried tomatoes, it's sure to be a family favorite!
I'm a big fan of 30 minutes meals, especially for busy weeknights. That's why I love this Tuscan inspired pasta recipe. The angel hair pasta cooked up quickly while you assemble the meat and sauce in a skillet, then toss it together for a fast, flavorful meal the entire family will love!
This recipe came together when I had a hodge-podge of ingredients to work with one evening. With some leftover chicken breast, a few slices of bacon, and a jar of sun-dried tomatoes, you can create a restaurant-quality meal in less than 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- extra virgin olive oil
- thick cut bacon
- chicken breast
- garlic
- sun dried tomatoes
- chicken broth or white wine
- milk
- mozzarella cheese
- angel hair pasta
Step by step
Set the water for the pasta to boil before you start on the sauce. The angel hair pasta will cook quickly, making the timing perfect for this meal to come together quickly.
The chicken is browned quickly in a large pan, followed by the bacon. After cooking the meat, pour white wine or chicken broth into the pan and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze all of those yummy brown bits. This adds so much flavor to the sauce, it's a step you can't miss!
After deglazing the pan add the milk and tomatoes and simmer. Finally, remove from heat and add the cheese and stir until it melts into a thick, flavorful sauce! Toss with the pasta you've cooked in the meantime and enjoy this taste of Tuscany!
FAQs
You can prep the chicken and sauce ahead of time and refrigerate in an airtight container. When ready to serve, cook pasta while you reheat the chicken mixture and toss together before serving.
You can freeze this meal in an airtight container up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat on the stovetop or microwave.
Variations
- add in spinach, asparagus, broccoli, or peas
- use chicken cutlets instead of chicken breasts, you may need to cook a little longer to cook through
- try it with shrimp instead of chicken: skip the browning step and move straight to the bacon cooking, add the shrimp to the pan after you deglaze the bottom of the pan and cook until bright pink
I like to serve this pasta with Homemade Texas Toast or Homemade Garlic Bread.
You might also like other easy weeknight meals such as my Easy Chicken Marsala, Creamy Garlic Chicken recipe, 10 Minute Homemade Alfredo Sauce, or Sheet Pan Sausage and Veggies.
If you’ve tried this recipe please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!
Print
Chicken, Bacon, and Sun Dried Tomato Cheesy Pasta
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 4
- Category: dinner
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: italian
Description
This 30 minute Tuscan Pasta is an easy and delicious weeknight meal. Packed with chicken, bacon, and flavorful sun dried tomatoes, it's sure to be a family favorite!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 6 pieces of thick cut bacon, cut into 1" pieces
- 1.5 lb thin cut chicken breast cut into 1" pieces
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 8.5 oz jar julienne sun dried tomatoes, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup chicken broth or white wine
- 1 cup milk
- 1 ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 8 oz angel hair pasta, cooked
Instructions
- Before cooking the meat, set pasta water to boil so it can cook at the same time.
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat.
- Add chicken and cook until done, about 4 minutes.
- Remove chicken from pan, set aside.
- Add bacon, cook until browned.
- Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add wine or chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze for an additional minute.
- Return the chicken to the pan, add milk and tomatoes and stir.
- Simmer five minutes.
- Remove from heat, immediately add cheese and stir until melted.
- Toss with pasta and serve immediately.
Notes
- Don't skip the deglazing step, it adds so much flavor to the pasta!
Keywords: tuscan pasta, tuscan chicken pasta
Kate says
This has been one of my go to recipes for years, I’m sorry I’m just now getting around to rating it. Thanks for the fab recipe!
★★★★★
Somer says
Sounds delicious! What kind of cheese do you recommend?
Melissa says
loved it!
★★★★★
Yvonne says
Excellent! I used bow tie pasta and my hubby loved it! Thank-you for the excellent recipe!
Kim says
sounds good...what do you suggest to serve along side this? Salad< bread?
Melissa says
I usually do a light mixed green salad Kim...I think it's hearty enough to forgo bread but of course that's just me!
Liz says
Sounds good. Thank you.
Melissa says
You're very welcome Liz!