★★★★★

Chicken Pesto Pasta- an easy 30 minute dinner idea!

Whether you’re looking for an easy weeknight meal or a dish to share at a potluck, this Chicken Pesto Pasta is your delicious answer! Packed with flavor from the homemade walnut pesto, you’ll love how tasty this easy dish is to eat!

Oval white baking dish filled with pesto pasta, grilled chicken, sliced tomatoes, walnuts, and parmesan cheese.

I’m so torn this time of year. Do I want comfort food or do I want to keep using the grill? Either way, I need dinners that can be made fairly quickly, as our weeknights are hectic!

Today’s Chicken Pesto Pasta is super easy and versatile. It starts with a homemade pesto.

Ingredients for pesto in a food processor before mixing.

Not just any pesto though, today’s recipe uses WALNUTS.

Oh my gosh, I always thought pesto had to be made with pine nuts. I was wrong. The walnuts add a delicious nutty flavor to the basil and garlic!

In my ongoing partnership, I use FISHER NUTS brand walnuts, as they are preservative free. They also have the best flavor, in my opinion!

Once you have your pesto made, you’ll add it to some cooked pasta.

Pesto Pasta is a match made in heaven! However I took it a step further.

I use angel hair pasta for this recipe, as it doesn’t overwhelm the dish, however any noodle would work. Toss in some tomatoes, parmesan cheese and extra walnuts and you’ve got a delicious dish.

Make it a meal by adding in grilled chicken!

Pesto Pasta in a baking dish with chicken, tomatoes, and walnuts.

Serving Suggestions

  • Swap out the angel hair pasta for bowtie noodles
  • Dice up the tomatoes and cooked chicken
  • Mix everything together and refrigerate until ready to serve
  • DELICIOUS cold or hot
  • Serve with a copycat Olive Garden salad and some homemade garlic bread.

More Fisher Nuts Recipes

More Family dinner recipes

Yield: serves 6

Chicken Pesto Pasta

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes

Whether you're looking for an easy weeknight meal or a dish to share at a potluck, this Chicken Pesto Pasta is your delicious answer! Packed with flavor from the homemade walnut pesto, you'll love how tasty this easy dish is to eat!

Ingredients

For the pesto:

  • 2 cups fresh basil
  • ½ cup Walnuts
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ cup parmesan cheese
  • ½ cup olive oil

For the pasta:

  • ½ pound angel hair pasta, cooked
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 3 roma tomatoes, diced or sliced
  • ¼ cup parmesan cheese
  • ¼ cup Walnuts, chopped

Instructions

  1. In a food processor, combine basil, walnuts, garlic, salt and pepper. Process for several minutes until blended. Add in parmesan and olive oil and blend until desired consistency.
  2. Flatten chicken breasts to about ¼-inch thick and grill for several minutes on each side, until fully cooked (or cook them in a skillet on the stove top).
  3. To serve, toss hot, cooked pasta with pesto, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, chopped walnuts and cooked chicken! ENJOY!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 494Total Fat: 33gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 75mgSodium: 391mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 32g

*Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

**This is a sponsored post on behalf of Fisher Nuts. I was compensated for my time, however all opinions expressed are 100% my own!

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About Aimee

Aimee is a dessert lover (specifically rice krispie treats), workout enthusiast, self-taught foodie, and recipe creator.

Learn more about Aimee.

Affiliate Disclosure:**There may be affiliate links in this post! By clicking on them, or purchasing recommended items I may receive a small compensation. However, I only recommend products I love! Thank you for supporting Shugary Sweets! See my disclosure policy for more info**

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Posted on August 26, 2016

Comments & Reviews

  1. Perfect for us. we are a working couple and sometimes too much tired at end of the day. Thanks Aimee!!

  2. This sounds unbelieveable! I love making pesto with different kind of nuts — it adds such a nice flavor. Toasted walnuts would be awesome!

  3. I’m so glad that out here in CA, we get a little while longer before summer fades and it turns into fall… I’m SO indecisive that I can’t decide between grilling and cozy comfort food either! But with how amazing that walnut-based pesto looks, it makes the decision so much easier. 😉

  4. I love making homemade pesto and using walnuts instead of pine nuts is such a great idea.  I will definitely add this to my weeknight rotation!

  5. I am pretty sure that pesto should be my middle name, I love it SO much! I love Fisher nuts, and using walnuts is genius!

  6. What a great looking plate of pasta this is! I love that you used walnuts for the pesto, I can’t wait to give it a try!

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