Chicken Pesto Pasta
This Chicken Pesto Pasta is so fresh, delicious and so easy to make. Made with pre-cooked shredded chicken, creamy pesto, gluten-free pasta, plump and juicy cherry tomatoes, and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Perfect dish for a quick and light dinner or even for a summer picnic.
Ingredients
To Cook Pasta:
- 12 oz uncooked pasta
- 4-5 quarts water
- pink sea salt
To assemble:
- 1 cup pesto
- 2 cups shredded chicken
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup whole cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp pink sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
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Fill up a large pot with 3-4 quarts of water. Add a lot of salt and mix until most of the salt has dissolved. Place on stovetop on high heat and bring to a boil. Once water starts boiling, add in pasta. Give it a stir and allow it to boil until al-dente. Follow cooking time according to package instructions. Depending on what kind of pasta you are using, cooking times may vary. Drain pasta (reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water) and add in a large mixing bowl. Allo pasta to cool-off.
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While pasta is cooling-off, prep the rest of ingredients. Slice cerry tomatoes is half, shred chicken if you haven't yet, grate parmesan cheese and measure put 1/2 cup. In a small mixing bowl, mix together pesto and reserved pasta water.
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Drizzle pesto mixture over cooked pasta and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix everything together. Toss in parmesan cheese making sure it's well combined with the pasta. Add in cherry tomatoes and give pasta another toss. Drizzle with lemon juice and mix evetyhing together one last time.
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Place pasta in the fridge for 20 minutes to 1 hour at least to chill. This pasta is better served chilled. Serve and garnish with more parmesan cheese and basil if desired. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Tips and Substitutions:
- Follow package cooking instructions- Gluten-free pasta cooks differently from regular pasta. In addition, different gluten-free pastas cook differently from others. This varies depending on the brand, type of gluten-free flour, etc. Make sure to follow package instructions on how to cook the gluten-free pasta you’re using for cooking it al-dente.
- Salt your water- This adds flavor to your pasta.
- Drizzle a bit of oil on your cooked pasta once it’s drained and rinsed- Gluten-free pasta tends to clump up and stick together as it cools-down. Drizzling a bit of oil over it and stirring wile it’s still hot will prevent it from sticking together. I like to use extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil for this.
- Use any shredded chicken for this recipe- Use this flavorful shredded chicken, rotisserie chicken. or any leftover over chicken you may have.
- Place pasta in the fridge for 20 minutes to 1 hour at least or overnight- This pasta is better served chilled.