It really doesn’t get much easier than this dinner ideas. Some chicken and pasta in a garlic cream sauce all made up in #onepan – its the perfect homemade on a Weeknight meal! One-pan Chicken & Pasta is exactly ideal simple and delicious as it sounds. You also likely have most of the ingredients in your kitchen already, which is why its one of my 5 staple dinners I always have ingredients for, and you should too!
One trick I’ve learned about getting small even cubes of the chicken- cut it while its still semi-frozen. I let the chicken thaw to the point I can easily separate the pieces but each piece is still fairly solid. It should be just soft enough for your knife to cut as if you are dicing raw carrots. This makes it easy to cut up into strips and then small cubes, perfect to cook up quick and work with the smaller pasta.
Substitutes and Variations:
I’ve listed oil for cooking the chicken but you can use butter if you prefer. I’ve also listed small shells for the cut of pasta but you can use small elbows or other small pastas. Penne, rotini, or even medium shells or elbows would work. Just adjust the cook time to the type of pasta you select.
Suggestions for Sides:
I would suggest some garlic butter grean beans (my family likes the regular cut, not french-cut). I drain 2 cans of green beans and add them to a pot with half a stick of butter, a squirt of lemon juice, and a teaspoon each of garlic powder, paprika, salt, onion powder, parsley and pepper. Cook it on medium until the butter melts then reduce to medium low until ready to serve. Don’t forget to shimmy the pan occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
Tools that may make this recipe easier:
You will need a really big (14inch) wide pan with deep sides (3inch). I love my LivWell Everyday Pan. I use it allll the time! Just make sure when you order it that you get the one with the lid! Because you definitely need the lid to make any one-pan meals in it.
Now Let’s Get Cookin’!
One-Pan Chicken & Pasta
Ingredients
- 1½ lb Chicken Breast small cubed
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 tsp Dried Oregano
- 2 tsp Dried Basil
- 2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Black Pepper
- ¼ cup Cornstarch
- 2 cups Chicken Broth
- 2 cups Milk
- 2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tbsp Dried Parsley
- 24 oz Small Shell Pasta
- 1 cup Heavy Cream
Instructions
- In a small jar combine oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Sprinkle half of this mixture over the cubed chicken and toss to coat. Set aside remaining mixture.
- In an extra large saute pan over medium high heat, add oil and garlic. Let cook for 3 minutes then add seasoned chicken. Cook for 5 minutes.
- In a large measuring cup, whisk together chicken broth, corn starch, remaining seasoning mixture, garlic powder, onion powder, and parsley.
- Add broth mixture to pan with chicken. Also add milk and pasta. Stir to combine. NOTE** If the pasta is not fully submerged, add enough water to cover.
- Bring to just a bubble then reduce heat to medium and cover pan. Let cook for 20 minutes.
- Remove lid and stir in heavy cream. Let cook another 5 minutes, so the sauce can thicken before serving.
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This looks so creamy and delicious!!
I love a delicious one pan dish and this looks so good!