Penne Pasta with Pesto and Pre-Cooked Chicken
This dinner of penne pasta with pesto and chicken is quick, healthy and kid-approved! Have dinner on the table in under 15 minutes.
I received this product for free from Moms Meet (momsmeet.com) to use and post my honest opinions. Compensation for this post was provided and this page may contain affiliate links.
Now that we’re back to school and back to everything, dinner has to be quick and something my kids will eat. (Or at least adaptable for them. They can be picky.)
I normally make pesto, but I like having a good back-up in case my pesto stash is low. Barilla® Creamy Genovese Pesto is an excellent pesto and my kids had ZERO complaints about this dinner.
I love having pre-cooked chicken on hand and we’ve made this meal of penne pasta with pesto and chicken for years. It’s incredibly easy. This week, I made the chicken while the pasta cooked, and then I added it to my bowl, while my kids had pesto pasta. (My kids aren’t big meat eaters.) Dinner took less than 15 minutes to cook and be on the table.
Pesto is generally purchased and consumed on the same day. Because the color of the basil can change so quickly, Barilla minimizes the handling of ingredients and can make their recipe in under 3 hours in order to preserve the color of the pesto in the jar. Pretty wild, when you think of it.
The pesto was really tasty – and creamy with the cheese! It doesn’t require any cooking or heating to be eaten. I mixed in with the cooked pasta, and it was perfect. This small jar was great for a box of pasta, and we had a little left over (it could be added to someone’s plate if they wanted a little more.)
The recipe for penne pasta with pesto and chicken is simple.
Ingredients:
- A box of Barilla penne pasta
- 1 jar of Barilla® Creamy Genovese Pesto
- Chicken – one pound (optional)
- Olive oil for cooking the chicken
Directions for making Penne Pasta with Pesto and Chicken
- Cut the chicken into smaller bite sized pieces. While the penne pasta is cooking according to the directions on the box, cook the chicken in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil.
- Drain the pasta, mix the pesto in with the pasta and serve. (If eating the chicken, add the chicken into the pasta and pesto mixture.)
How can you use pesto:
- On chicken
- In pasta
- As a dipping sauce
- As a pizza sauce
- On top of vegetables
Penne Pasta with Pesto and Chicken
This dinner of penne pasta with pesto and chicken is quick, healthy and kid-approved! Have dinner on the table in under 15 minutes.
Ingredients
- A box of Barilla penne pasta
- 1 jar of Barilla® Creamy Genovese Pesto
- Chicken - one pound (optional)
- Olive oil for cooking the chicken
Instructions
Cut the chicken into smaller bite sized pieces. While the penne pasta is cooking according to the directions on the box, cook the chicken in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil.
Drain the pasta, mix the pesto in with the pasta and serve. (If eating the chicken, add the chicken into the pasta and pesto mixture.)
Additional chicken recipes to check out:
Pre-Cooked Chicken and Easy Chicken Recipes
Enjoying Panera at Home – Chipotle Chicken and Ranch Flatbread
