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!
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.
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!
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
- Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies: delicious, melt in your mouth shortbread cookies!
- Almond Pesto Salmon: easy pesto on top of fresh salmon. DELICIOUS!!
- Pecan Pie Cheesecake Bars: one of the most popular recipes on the blog every fall, so tasty and perfect for holidays!
More Family dinner recipes
Chicken Pesto Pasta
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
- 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.
- 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).
- To serve, toss hot, cooked pasta with pesto, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, chopped walnuts and cooked chicken! ENJOY!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount 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.
**This is a sponsored post on behalf of Fisher Nuts. I was compensated for my time, however all opinions expressed are 100% my own!
Perfect for us. we are a working couple and sometimes too much tired at end of the day. Thanks Aimee!!
This sounds unbelieveable! I love making pesto with different kind of nuts — it adds such a nice flavor. Toasted walnuts would be awesome!
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. 😉
Nothing better than homemade pesto!! can’t wait to try it with walnuts!
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!
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!
OMG i love pesto 🙂 Like, I hear ya on the middle name thing 🙂
Simply love all the delicious recipes
Pesto pasta is a favorite around here! I need to try this soon!
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!
I love Pesto! I can’t wait to try this, I especially love the nuts added! yum!