This Chicken Pasta with Garlic Parmesan White Sauce is perfect for special occasions, but easy enough for weeknights! 

A lot has changed in our family in the past year. My in-laws retired out of the country, and won’t be back for the holidays. My mother-in-law is a fabulous cook and always hosted our Christmas Eve celebration. They aren’t able to return for the holidays this year, so I will be hosting our first Christmas here at our house! We’ll miss them, of course, but I am pretty excited to have everyone at the house and be able to do my favorite thing; feed people!

Normally, we would serve prime rib for dinner, or something similar. But, we just finished up a big house remodel and cash is honestly a bit tight! So, this year, we’re starting some new traditions and serving up a festive Chicken Pasta with Garlic Parmesan White Sauce  studded with bright red sun dried tomatoes and fresh green basil! I’m excited to serve something that’s easy on the wallet that I know all of my guests will love, including my son!

Chicken Pasta with Garlic Parmesan White Sauce

Chicken Pasta with Garlic Parmesan White Sauce

The base of this Chicken Pasta with Garlic Parmesan White Sauce is a delicious cream sauce made with the heavy whipping cream, garlic and Parmesan cheese. We aren’t skimping on calories here, folks! But, I think that special occasions call for the real deal and food comas are completely acceptable.  

Chicken Pasta with Garlic Parmesan White Sauce

I‘m planning to serve this delicious Chicken Pasta with Garlic Parmesan White Sauce with garlic bread, this delicious italian salad that gets RAVE reviews, and some yummy dessert!

You can use up any leftover sundried tomatoes by making this delicious Sun Dried Tomato Bread!

Chicken Pasta with Garlic Parmesan White Sauce

Chicken Sun Dried Tomato Pasta

Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta

Yield: 4-5
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces linguine or pasta of choice
  • ¼ cup butter
  • ½ small yellow onion or shallot, finely diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 heaping tablespoon flour
  • 16 ounces heavy whipping cream
  • ⅛ teaspoon of each: salt, pepper, oregano and parsley
  • 3 ounces sun dried tomatoes
  • 2 cups shredded chicken*
  • 1 cup pasta water, reserved
  • 2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced
  • ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated or shredded

Instructions

  1. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve up to one cup of pasta water for later.
  2. In a large, non-stick skillet, melt butter over low heat.
  3. Add onion and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic, saute for another minute.
  4. Add flour and stir quickly over low heat, until the mixture is well combined and foaming.
  5. Add cream and simmer for 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until it just starts to bubble. The sauce should thicken a bit. Add spices, sun dried tomatoes and chicken. Continue to stir for 1-2 minutes to soften dried tomatoes.
  6. Add cooked pasta to skillet, stirring with sauce to combine. If the sauce is too thick, slowly introduce some pasta water to loosen it up and get the pasta coated. I add ¼ cup of pasta water at a time. You may not need all of the pasta water that you reserved.
  7. Top with fresh basil and Parmesan cheese.

Notes

  • *I bought a rotisserie chicken and shredded the breasts.

Did you make this recipe?

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Chicken Pasta with Garlic Parmesan White Sauce