Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Florentine Pasta: this stuff is OMG good.
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I followed this recipe as written and it was delicious! Perfect for a cold, snowy night! I’ve already bookmarked it for when we have company.
CMLed
Today’s post is sponsored by DeLallo! They make the most delicious sun dried tomatoes which you’ll see pictured here 👆swimming in a luscious cream sauce. Don’t mind if they do.
GAH! Lover. This stuff is yummy. 💋😍
I have some truths to tell you today. The first truth is that this pasta rocked our world. Like, five times last week. Okay FINE 700 times or something but I wasn’t even counting and neither should you, so just … yeah.
The second truth is that sometimes, when you’re a food blogger and food lover, you want to be creative and fitspo and so you make things like sweet potato noodles with cashew sauce (for the record, also delicious). But then sometimes you still need to make Pasta with a capital P, because under all those fitspo vibes, you’re still mostly a real person who knows in her heart of foodie hearts that real pasta is lyfe.
Like this Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta with Spinach.
Am I being basic here? Maybe. And maybe I like everything about this kind of basic deliciousness.
This pasta = the moment when everyone in your family falls in love with you for cooking something seemingly-fancy 💅 and reminds you of how good a nice big pot-o-comfort-food pasta really is. No unnecessary ingredients. No excessive toppings – HOLD ME BACK. No veggies masquerading as noodles (of which I am a fan, but STILL just give it a rest already).
Just simple, comforting, creamy pasta with sun dried tomato cream sauce that helps people like me win at life.
HOW TO MAKE OUR FLORENTINE PASTA:
As long as we’re on a roll with the truth telling, the third truth of this post is that one little detail about how I might have picked out the bites of chicken in my bowl of pasta. WHAT IS MY DEAL.
I can’t even handle chicken sometimes. I kept the chicken in the written recipe, because a) my family wanted the chicken and your family might, too, and b) the chicken is actually decently good, for chicken, because it gets a little kick of spice from the cayenne, and c) it doesn’t even matter if you make this with chicken or not, because the star of this recipe is so obviously the combo of buttery garlic and spinach and sun dried tomatoes cream sauce on pasta.
And when it comes to such luscious, sun-dried-tomato-y things, I be like 👅👅👅.
HOWEVER if you absolutely do not want chicken, thankfully I have another deliciously creamy sun-dried tomato pasta right here for you.
A few things you should know about finding the right sun dried tomatoes for this recipe. Not all sun dried tomatoes are created equally! Don’t buy the sad, dry ones that come in a package – I mean, you can, I’ll still be friends with you, but I’m just telling you – they taste a lot better when packed in high quality olive oil and herbs and spices like the DeLallo tomatoes I’m using in this recipe. If you’re worried about the oil being too oily, no need to fear. We’re draining almost all of it off for this recipe. You just get the little bit of oil that’s clinging to the tomatoes, and instead of dry little shrivels, you get flavorful tomatoes that are moist and chewy and colorful.
Oh hey PS. All of DeLallo’s sun dried tomatoes are sulfite-free. Because they rock. Winning.
This recipe is going to make you really popular with your people. Are you even ready for that kind of love? Three, two, one…
More Perfect Creamy Pastas
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Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Florentine Pasta
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 large servings 1x
Description
Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Florentine Pasta – a 30 minute recipe with a sun dried tomato cream sauce, chicken, ziti, and Mozzarella cheese.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces ziti or other pasta
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 lb. chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon all purpose seasoning mix for the chicken
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 7–ounce jar DeLallo sun dried tomatoes, drained
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cups Mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups spinach
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Heat the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken and sprinkle with the seasoning and the cayenne. Sauté until the chicken is cooked through.
- Drain the oil from the sun dried tomatoes. Chop into smaller pieces if you want. Add them to the pan with the garlic and sauté for a few minutes, until fragrant. You will probably still get some of the oil from the sun dried tomatoes – that’s okay.
- Stir in the heavy cream and let the mixture come to a slow simmer. Add the mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted and incorporated.
- Stir in the cooked pasta and spinach – the spinach will start to cook down almost immediately. If needed, add in the chicken broth, a little at a time, to thin out the sauce. Season with salt to taste.
Notes
Recipe Update: This recipe was updated in June 2020 to make it even better. The previous version used 1/2 cup of half and half and 1 1/2 cups whole milk in place of the heavy cream, as well as 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella instead of the new amounts listed for mozzarella and Parmesan.
Vegetarian Version: If you want a similar version of this pasta without the meat, check out this sun-dried tomato pasta!
I’ve also used DeLallo’s sun dried tomato bruschetta in this recipe as well as DeLallo’s jarred cherry tomatoes (similar to the sun dried tomatoes but a little more plump and round).
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: sun dried tomato pasta, chicken florentine pasta, chicken pasta
Thank you again to DeLallo for sponsoring this post!
And thank you, readers, for supporting the high quality brands that support our little food blog operation. I truly love when you tag me on social media to show me that you’ve found and/or are using DeLallo’s pasta, tomatoes, and sauces in your cooking.
Carry on and eat pasta!
This cooked up exactly like in hoped it would. So yummy and rich!
My 18-year-old son said he cannot stop thinking about this meal since we had it a week and a half ago! He loved it. It will go in our winter rotation and also be on the menu when he visits from college next year.
I live with boys and final vote was 4.5/5. Delicious. I used a 7 oz. jar of sun-dried tomato pesto ?all my local grocer had ans it turned out great. No broth needed.
Sooooooo good!!
Hello! I’m making this recipe for my sister in laws bridal shower. Would it be okay to make the sauce the night before and then add the pasta next day?
Made this for my husband’s birthday, we all really enjoyed it! My 2 year old grandson couldn’t get enough! I think I will try it with Italian sausage next time. Definately a hit!
My favourite dish for years!
I made the recipe (with the June 2020 updates) tonight and it turned out great!
I did, however, make several modifications. I didn’t use chicken – instead, I sauteed an onion in the spices. I used approximately half of the sun dried tomatoes the recipe calls for and used half and half instead of heavy cream. At the end, I mixed in steamed broccoli and most of a can of white beans.
Just want to say I’ve made this recipe several times for my family and my boyfriend and now my boyfriend’s family are begging me to make it for them after getting a taste! One of my absolute favorite recipes by far! Thank you!
Yay! So glad it’s been a hit with everyone!
This is an awesome weeknight meal, the family LOVED it, we are not fans of sun dried tomatoes so I used Dellalo roasted red peppers as an alternative…..AMAZING!!! I’ve cooked the recipe the way it’s printed and I’ve cooked it with my own twist….my favorite change was that I used split chicken breast I pan seared them and then finished them off in the oven, we ate the chicken as the main protein and the delicious pasta as the side!!!! It was a huge it!!! Thank you for the recipe it’s a keeper!!!
Yum! Sounds delicious, Jae!
SO good!
I’m eating a Paleo/keto diet so I adjusted the recipe by using 1.5 cups broth and 1/2 cup heavy cream. I ate mine on a bed of sweet potato noodles and cauliflower. Delicious!
Sounds yummy!
Easy and delicious. I added 8.5 oz of tomatoes and used heavy cream. Yum.
Glad to hear you enjoyed this! 😊
Hello,
I was wondering if I could use fresh mozzarella or does it have to be regular kind?
Fresh mozzarella would probably work here. Just make sure it gets all nice and melted. 🙂
What type of all purpose seasoning do you use for the chicken? I have McCormick Montreal chicken seasoning and also a Weber beer can chicken seasoning. Would either work ok?
Either of those should work, Dawn. Just something to give the chicken a little extra flavor. 🙂
This was my first time making this and OMG I am in love . with mine also added turmeric and a little more sage and thyme. Just wanted to put a little more twist on it. Thank you
So glad you liked it! 🙂
This was decidedly bland and lack luster. The only saving grace was it was fast, and easy.
We made this for Mother’s Day dinner tonight, and it was delicious! I wanted a little extra flavor, so I added parmesan in addition to the mozzarella. Everyone in the family liked it, which is a pretty rare occurrance
The flavors of the dish were good but the sauce was total soup. I followed all of the instructions for the specific type of cheese and cream and stirred as directed but it never thickened and was very watery.
What a great idea! The buttery, creamy avocado sounds like an amazing addition!
Hi i tried to make this and it was a total fail. The cheese got gritty the sauce did not thicken. I believe it was too hot and moz. Cheese should not have been added so soon. I think this recipe needs some major adjustments. I hope i dont get sick from eating this.
Just made this for dinner and it’s amazing! The sauce does take quite some time to thicken up, so follow Lindsay’s notes and just keep stirring! I got impatient and added in some fresh grated Parmesan cheese as I was stirring because I felt adding more mozzarella was just way too much. Oh I also sautéed a chopped onion in the pan before adding the chicken, because I literally can’t cook anything without both onions and garlic lol. Thanks for an awesome recipe!
Oh my gosh- insanely delicious! I needed to use up a sun dried tomato spread and that worked fine. I also skipped the salt because of the other ingredients I used and added an additional cup of spinach! This was a big hit in our house! Next time I will reduce liquid by a tiny bit or cook longer, rather than being so impatient to try it! Thank you!
Looks delicious! I am going to try it this evening.
A saucy note: I agree one needs to use half and half or even full cream on those non guilt days. To thicken I sometimes use a heaping tablespoon or 2 of sour cream, then I let it sit for a few. Yummy!
Just made this. YUM! I did opt for Ricotta cheese and lactose free milk as I’m not quite sure ‘half n half’ exists in OZ? ( and we’re not good on too much dairy )
Anyways, it worked out well and was yummy 🙂
Thanks again, it was just what I craved on a winter evening xx
Glad to hear that, Nadia!
Could I use heavy cream instead of milk and half and half?
Yes, should be just fine!