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This one pot creamy sun-dried tomato pasta recipe is easy to make with the most delicious garlic-basil cream sauce.
This pasta. ♡
I almost hesitated to share this recipe, because it was one of those clean-out-the-fridge meals that is anything but fancy. But the combination of flavors here ended up being SO rich and cozy and delicious that I have a hunch you’ll instantly love it too.
The sun-dried tomatoes are definitely the star of the show here, intensifying the sweet-tart tomato flavor in the pasta, plus we’ll use the leftover oil to sauté the chicken and veggies for extra flavor. I’m also partial to a good chewy small pasta shape in this recipe, such as the gnoccheti sardi pictured here, which adds such satisfying texture to each bite. I went big on the garlic and basil for the sauce and light on the cream, since it doesn’t need much, and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes adds the perfect hint of heat. Then I definitely recommend adding a generous handful of freshly-grated Parm to each bowl just before serving. So delicious!!
Everything here comes together in one pot in just a little over 30 minutes. So the next time you’re craving a cozy bowl of pasta, grab a jar of sun-dried tomatoes and let’s make a quick batch of this one together!
One Pot Pasta Ingredients
Here are a few brief notes about the ingredients you will need to make this one pot pasta recipe:
Pasta: I recommend a small pasta shape for this recipe such as gnoccheti sardi (pictured here), which has a satisfyingly chewy texture. But orzo, orrechiette, lumachine, anelli, tubetti rigate, or any other small pasta shape that you love best will also do. Please see the note in the tips section below about the cooking times for various pastas.
Chicken: I recommend using boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into small bite-sized pieces. We’ll season the chicken simply with salt and pepper and sauté in oil.
Sun-dried tomatoes: It’s essential to purchase the jarred sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil for this recipe, because we will also use the oil to sauté the veggies for extra flavor.
Veggies: I just used a simple mix of onion and baby bella mushrooms for this pasta, but feel free to add in any other saute-friendly veggies that might sound good.
Herbs and seasonings: We’ll use lots of fresh garlic and fresh basil, plus a generous pinch of crushed red pepper flakes to add a hint of heat to the dish.
Vegetable broth: I recommend using vegetable or chicken broth to cook the pasta, which will give it some extra depth of flavor versus just using water.
Greens: I love wilting a generous bunch of greens such as baby spinach or kale into this pasta.
Heavy cream: We’ll add a splash of cream at the end to bring this cozy pasta together.
Parmesan: I recommend adding a very generous sprinkling of freshly-grated Parm to each bowl before serving!
Tips For Making This Pasta
Here are a few tips for making this one pot pasta recipe:
The pasta shape you choose makes difference. One pot pasta recipes can be tricky when it comes to pasta-to-liquid ratios. If you are using a pasta shape that cooks more quickly than what the recipe calls for, for example, it can leave behind excess cooking liquid in the pot, resulting in a soupier sauce. If you are using a pasta shape that takes more time to cook, it can require more cooking liquid in order to fully reach al dente. I wrote this recipe using gnocchetti sardi, which has an 10 to 11-minute cooking time. If the pasta shape that you have on hand requires more or less cooking time, no worries, just increase or decrease the amount of broth used to cook the pasta as needed.
Stir more frequently as the pasta continues to cook. I generally give the pasta a stir every few minutes as it starts cooking. Then once it begins to soak up the broth, it’s essential to stir it more often so that it cooks evenly.
Add heat to taste. You’re welcome to double the amount of crushed red pepper flakes if you prefer a spicier pasta, but 1/2 teaspoon is a great amount to give this dish a subtle hint of heat.
Recipe Variations
Here are a few simple variations on this sun-dried tomato pasta recipe that you’re welcome to try:
Make it gluten-free: Use your favorite gluten-free pasta to make this recipe gluten-free.
Use a different protein: Italian sausage (traditional or plant-based) would be a delicious alternative to chicken in this recipe.
Add extra veggies: Add different (or extra) veggies to the sauté, such as asparagus, bell pepper, broccolini, eggplant, peas, yellow squash or zucchini.
Add bacon: Cook a few strips of bacon, use the leftover grease to sauté the veggies, then crumble and stir the bacon into the pasta just before serving.
Add pine nuts: Add a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts to each dish before serving.
Add extra herbs: Fresh rosemary, tarragon, thyme or oregano could also be delicious additions along with the fresh basil.
More One-Pot Pasta Recipes
Looking for more one pot pasta recipes to try? Here are a few of our favorites:
8 ounces small pasta shape (such as gnocchetti sardi or orzo)
5 ounces fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup heavy cream
freshly-grated Parmesan
Instructions
Cook the chicken.Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes in a large nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until evenly cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a clean plate and set aside.
Sauté the veggies.Add 1 more tablespoon of the sun-dried tomato oil to the sauté pan. Add the onion and mushrooms and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Simmer.Add 3 ½ cups of the vegetable broth, pasta, sun-dried tomatoes and stir to combine. Continue cooking, stirring more frequently as the pasta continues to cook and soak up the broth, until the pasta is 1 minute shy of al dente. If the pasta seems to need more broth to finish cooking, you’re welcome to add a ½ cup extra (or more) as needed.
Finish.Stir in the spinach, basil, heavy cream and cooked chicken until the spinach is wilted and the pasta is al dente.
Serve.Serve immediately, garnished with lots of fresh Parmesan, and enjoy!
I made this recipe tonight after it popped up on key feed this morningb I’ve followed you for forever and I’ve never made anything of yours that I can remember.
That’s a little embarrassing considering I love your work and have every intention of making things you share. This was definitely a hit for my family of 4. I accidentally made it a little spicier than I should’ve, but they loved it. I added asparagus about half way through the mushroom sauté time and it did great.
Loved this, but added a small amount more of the cream to offset the tanginess of the sun-dried tomatoes…but the real issue is WHERE TO ADD THE SUN-DRIED TOMATOES themselves. I chose to do it right as the mushrooms/onions were completed cooking. But tell me where please.
I made this last night and it was wonderful! I used half chicken breast and half thighs. The pasta I used was a bit large, but still delicious in this! I definitely will makemitmake it again, and loved that I only used one pan!!
Ali – your recipes are BY FAR my favorite! Every recipe I’ve ever made from you has become a keeper in our family of four. I love how you give suggestions on substituting. Two in our house are vegetarians; two are not. I used veggie sausage instead of chicken in this recipe, but that wasn’t even necessary. So flavorful and delicious! I’m not sure if you have since added, but you did note when to add the sun dried tomatoes in the recipe… Thank you for always providing so many unique, flavorful recipes!
Delicious, I ate more than I should have. The basil was a bit lost in the strong flavors of garlic, dried tomatoes, mushrooms and chili so I would consider that optional.
Was ok, not fantastic though. I used low sodium chicken broth instead of veggie broth-needed ALOT of grated cheese to give it some flavor, rather bland
This was SO good! Quick and easy to fix, not too many pans to wash, and just a really great dinner! We’ll definitely be adding this to our menu rotation! Thank you for a great recipe!
I’ve made a bunch of different sun dried tomato pasta recipes (because I never save a recipe and just google it every time) but I only got 4 bites in before I saved it. The chicken cooked in the sun dried tomato is sooooo good. Thank you for this!! I’m so glad I made a double batch.
I don’t think I have ever left a comment on one of these blog recipes, but this pasta was so good I had to make you my first. I made it just like you said to (minus the chicken because I was grilling steak to go with it, and I put a few dashes of dried oregano in it) and I have never enjoyed a homemade creamy pasta like I did this one. I actually went back and ate a whole second helping of it. This one went straight to my recipe book. Super simple and easy but absolutely my new favorite. Thank you for sharing!
Hey, I’m Ali!
My favorite thing in life is time spent around the table. And all the better with some seriously tasty food to bring us all together. more about me »
When do you add the chopped sundried tomatoes?
My apologies for leaving that detail out. You add them at the same time as the pasta. Enjoy! :)
I made this recipe tonight after it popped up on key feed this morningb I’ve followed you for forever and I’ve never made anything of yours that I can remember.
That’s a little embarrassing considering I love your work and have every intention of making things you share. This was definitely a hit for my family of 4. I accidentally made it a little spicier than I should’ve, but they loved it. I added asparagus about half way through the mushroom sauté time and it did great.
Thank you!
Thanks for giving the recipe a try! I’m so happy you enjoyed it! :)
When do you add the sun dried tomatoes?
My apologies for leaving that detail out. You add them at the same time as the pasta. Enjoy! :)
This looks amazing! When do you add sun dried tomatoes themselves?
My apologies for leaving that detail out. You add them at the same time as the pasta. Enjoy! :)
Loved this, but added a small amount more of the cream to offset the tanginess of the sun-dried tomatoes…but the real issue is WHERE TO ADD THE SUN-DRIED TOMATOES themselves. I chose to do it right as the mushrooms/onions were completed cooking. But tell me where please.
My apologies for leaving that detail out. You add them at the same time as the pasta. Enjoy! :)
When do you add in the sun dried tomatoes? With the veggies?
My apologies for leaving that detail out. You add them at the same time as the pasta. Enjoy! :)
When do you add the jar of sun dried tomatoes?
My apologies for leaving that detail out. You add them at the same time as the pasta. Enjoy! :)
When do you add the roughly chopped sun dried tomatoes?
My apologies for leaving that detail out. You add them at the same time as the pasta. Enjoy! :)
Looks great! Making this tonight. When should I add the sun dried tomatoes to the pan?
My apologies for leaving that detail out. You add them at the same time as the pasta. Enjoy! :)
Really good! Did you forget to say when to add the Tomatoes?
I made this last night and it was wonderful! I used half chicken breast and half thighs. The pasta I used was a bit large, but still delicious in this! I definitely will makemitmake it again, and loved that I only used one pan!!
Easy dish and oh so good!
Ali – your recipes are BY FAR my favorite! Every recipe I’ve ever made from you has become a keeper in our family of four. I love how you give suggestions on substituting. Two in our house are vegetarians; two are not. I used veggie sausage instead of chicken in this recipe, but that wasn’t even necessary. So flavorful and delicious! I’m not sure if you have since added, but you did note when to add the sun dried tomatoes in the recipe… Thank you for always providing so many unique, flavorful recipes!
Delicious, I ate more than I should have. The basil was a bit lost in the strong flavors of garlic, dried tomatoes, mushrooms and chili so I would consider that optional.
Was ok, not fantastic though. I used low sodium chicken broth instead of veggie broth-needed ALOT of grated cheese to give it some flavor, rather bland
SO good. I added some extra garlic because I love garlic and threw in some Parmesan rinds I had, but love how this came together.
I will def cook again, might try it with Italian sausage next time too!
This recipe is such a winner! We all loved it.
This was SO good! Quick and easy to fix, not too many pans to wash, and just a really great dinner! We’ll definitely be adding this to our menu rotation! Thank you for a great recipe!
I’ve made a bunch of different sun dried tomato pasta recipes (because I never save a recipe and just google it every time) but I only got 4 bites in before I saved it. The chicken cooked in the sun dried tomato is sooooo good. Thank you for this!! I’m so glad I made a double batch.
Can I substitute chicken stock?
I don’t think I have ever left a comment on one of these blog recipes, but this pasta was so good I had to make you my first. I made it just like you said to (minus the chicken because I was grilling steak to go with it, and I put a few dashes of dried oregano in it) and I have never enjoyed a homemade creamy pasta like I did this one. I actually went back and ate a whole second helping of it. This one went straight to my recipe book. Super simple and easy but absolutely my new favorite. Thank you for sharing!