Chicken Pesto Pasta

Fire up the grill and make easy Chicken Pesto Pasta! This pasta recipe, which is amazing as a weeknight dinner or the perfect entertaining dish, is elegant and easy to make. Makes 6 servings.

Love easy pasta meals? You should try Lemon Shrimp Pasta and Baked Gnocchi with Chicken!

Friends, it’s FREAKY FRIDAY—one of my favorite recipe-driven collaborations that I participate in every quarter—and I am so, so so excited about today’s dish and who I was paired with.

Lisa from Lisa’s Dinnertime Dish is a mama of three (!!!) who finds joy in cooking affordable, healthy meals and instilling a love in cooking in others. Her goal is to take the mystery out of cooking while keeping her readers within budget with the ultimate goal of inspiring others to get into the kitchen and to get cooking!

I love her mission and her website because it’s an amazing resource, especially for a busy mama like myself.

In true Freaky Friday fashion, I had the hardest time deciding what dish I would cook from Lisa’s blog because she has so many delicious recipes!

These Meatball Sub Sliders sound like the perfect dish to serve for a weeknight dinner or when entertaining. This Italian Cucumber Pasta Salad is summertime perfection in a bowl!

Her White Chocolate Blueberry Crisp is another summertime dish that sounds fabulous right about now.

However, I ended up choosing her Grilled Chicken Pesto Pasta as my recipe for this round of Freaky Friday.

Why? I love a good grilled chicken dish, we’ve been eating more pasta these days because the kids adore it (and so do we)… and this one just sounded AMAZINGLY flavorful.

Turns out, it hit the nail on the head for all three!

More family dinner recipes that are easy to make: Salmon Niçoise Salad | Beef Taco Pasta Salad | Slow Cooker Chicken Tortellini Soup | Southwestern Breakfast Burrito Bowls | Cajun Chicken Alfredo | Tortellini Butternut Squash Pasta with Pancetta and Spinach | Orzo Pasta Salad with Chicken

Looking for a Valentine’s Day recipe, but don’t know where to begin? Check out my Valentine’s Day recipe index.

So What IS Freaky Friday?

It’s an old-fashioned blog hop.

A blog hop, for those of y’all who haven’t been around the blogosphere for as long as I have, which is to say for-freaking-ever, is a collaboration between bloggers where everyone has a post to share and you link to one another in your posts as they go live.

Everyone is secretly assigned another blogger, who we make a recipe from. We make the recipe, photograph it like it was our own, write a post about it and share it on the selected Friday in the hopes that we help YOU (yes, you, dear reader!) discover new recipes and new bloggers to follow!

For previous Freaky Friday exchanges, I’ve made Shortbread Brown Butter Cookies, Boozy Bacon Pretzel Peanut Butter Bars, Instant Pot Macaroni and Cheese, Cherry Bourbon Slush , Halloween Peanut Butter Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies and a Valentine’s Day Dessert Board.

Take A Look At All Of Our 2020 Freaky Friday Spring Recipes:

• An Affair from the Heart – Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• Aunt Bee’s Recipes – Homemade Loaded Queso
• Bowl Me Over – Crispy Smashed Potatoes
• Hostess at Heart – Chocolate Coffee Cake
• House of Nash Eats – Asian Lettuce Wraps
• Lemoine Family Kitchen – Easy Homemade Flour Tortillas
• Life, Love & Good Food – Italian Grilled Burgers
• Lisa’s Dinnertime Dish – Lemon Garlic Brussels Sprout Linguine
• Or Whatever You Do – Air Fryer Shrimp
• Take Two Tapas –  Fried Mac and Cheese Balls
• The Foodie Affair – Strawberry Bread
• West Via Midwest – Loaded Baked Potato Skins – Air Fryer Recipes

What you’ll need to make this Chicken Pesto Pasta recipe

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• A grill (or a grill pan or a sheet pan)
• Tongs
• Meat thermometer
• A large Bowl that can fit all your ingredients

Now, for this pasta recipe, you have the option of using homemade basil pesto (like my recipe right here) or you can purchase some from the store.

I had wanted to make my own pesto, but the reality of the situation we are living in right now made it to where I could not get my hands on enough basil. I ended up purchasing some jarred pesto from the grocery, and it was lovely!

That said, if you have enough basil, please consider making your own pesto! The color alone makes it stand out!

How to make Chicken Pesto Pasta

Cook the chicken

Preheat your grill. If you don’t have a grill, you can preheat your oven to 400°F or heat a grill pan on the stovetop over medium heat.

While the grill/pan/oven preheat, season the chicken. The amount of seasoning this recipe calls for seems like a lot, but I promise you that the flavors are worth it.

Grill/cook the chicken until cooked through. On our grill, it took about 4-5 minutes per side.

The cooking time is dependent on the thickness of the chicken breasts. If they’re thicker, they will need more time, and if they’re thinner, they will cook faster.

Let the chicken cool for 10 minutes before slicing into thin pieces using a sharp knife.

Prepare the pasta salad

On the stovetop, cook your pasta. I recommend reading the notes on the box/container of the pasta and taking 1-2 minutes off the total cook time to ensure your pasta is al dente, meaning it’s got a little bite to it still.

When the pasta is almost done cooking, scoop some of the pasta water into a bowl and reserve for later. We’ll use this if our pasta appears to be dry when everything is tossed together.

Drain the pasta, and toss into a large bowl.

Add the chicken, pesto sauce and cheese. Toss with tongs until both the chicken and pasta are coated with the pesto. You can add a little bit of the pasta water here if it feels a little dry.

Finish with lots of fresh cracked pepper, more parmesan cheese and toasted pine nuts. Enjoy warm or at room temperature!

Erin’s Easy Entertaining Tips

Pasta is a classic entertaining dish for a reason! It’s easy to make, easy to store and easy for everyone to enjoy.

One of the things I love about this recipe from Lisa is that it can easily be made in pieces and in advance.

Here’s how I recommend making it work if you’re serving this at a gathering this summer:

• Grill the chicken early. Since this dish can be served warm or at room temperature, I suggest doing this in advance so that all you have to do is toss the final ingredients together.
• Make the pesto in advance, too. Or get the jarred kind. No judgment either way!
• Serve in the bowl you toss the ingredients together in. This chicken pesto pasta recipe is easy to put together in one dish, so save yourself from washing more dishes by mixing the final dish in a pretty bowl. 😉

Frequently Asked Questions

I don’t have a grill. Can I cook the chicken in another way?

Of course! Bake the chicken in the oven or sear it in a skillet. It will work any way you cook it, so long as you cook the chicken all the way through.

How will I know the chicken is done?

Take its temperature with an instant read meat thermometer! Gently stick the thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken and let it read. We’re looking for a temperature of 160°F to pull these off the grill because they will continue cooking for a few minutes when off the grill. (We want the internal temperature to reach 165°F.)

Can I use a different type of pasta?

Yes, you can. This chicken pesto pasta recipe is fantastic with short cut pastas like rotini and farfalle because they are easily coated in the sauce, but also very easy to eat at an event.

How do I toast the pine nuts?

Place them on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F in the oven for 5-7 minutes, or until browned. Keep an eye on them because all ovens run at different temperatures and pine nuts can burn easily.

Quick tips for making this Chicken Pesto Pasta recipe

• We love grilling the chicken because it’s the summertime, but you can cook the chicken however you’d like.
• Chicken Pesto Pasta shortcuts: Use jarred basil pesto AND shred a rotisserie chicken from the store to speed up this quick dish.
• To elevate the serving of this pasta recipe, serve with toasted pine nuts and extra grated parmesan cheese.
• If you want to make this dish fancier, add fresh spinach or sun-dried tomatoes to the pasta for extra punches of flavor and color!