Chicken and pasta is the most-cooked dinner combination in most households, which is exactly why it is worth doing well rather than by habit.
There are 38 recipes here: creamy alfredos, one-skillet orzos, buffalo and cajun versions, baked pastas, a couple of noodle stir-fries and two slow cooker options. A third of them are on the table in half an hour.
Every recipe links through to the full method. If your cream sauce has ever split or gone grainy, the fix is in the FAQ and it takes one ingredient you already have.
Our Top Picks at a Glance
- Best overall: Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe – 40 minutes, serves eight, and it is the benchmark everything else is measured against.
- Fastest: Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta Recipe – nine ingredients, 25 minutes, serves four.
- Fewest ingredients: Broccoli Chicken Spaghetti Pasta Recipe – eight ingredients and it feeds six.
- Best for a crowd: Creamy Chicken Fajita Pasta Recipe – serves eight, and reheats better than most creamy pastas.
- Most hands-off: Crock Pot Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe – eight ingredients into a slow cooker and walk away.
Five Rules for Better Chicken Pasta
Save a cup of pasta water. Starchy, salted water is what turns a sauce from thin and separate into something that clings. Add it a splash at a time off the heat. This is the single most useful habit in pasta cooking.
Salt the water properly. It should taste like seawater. Pasta absorbs seasoning while it cooks and cannot be corrected afterwards – salting the sauce instead never quite works.
Cook the chicken separately, then add it back. Chicken simmered in a sauce for twenty minutes goes stringy. Brown it, remove it, build the sauce in the same pan, and return it at the end.
Undercook the pasta by two minutes. It finishes in the sauce, absorbing flavour instead of water. In baked pastas take off three minutes, since it keeps cooking in the oven.
Take cream sauces off the heat before the cheese. Boiling parmesan splits it. Off the heat, stirred in a handful at a time, it emulsifies smoothly.
38 Chicken Pasta Recipes
1. Buffalo Chicken Pasta Bake Recipe
Nine ingredients, 25 minutes, serves six. The fastest bake here. Use rotisserie chicken and it becomes an assembly job rather than a cooking one.
Key ingredients: penne pasta, chicken, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, ranch seasoning mix, Frank’s hot sauce
💡 Cook’s tip: Penne pasta – cook until al dente so it doesn’t turn mushy in the bake.
Total time: 25 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 9
2. Chicken Alfredo Sloppy Joes
Ten ingredients, 25 minutes, serves four. Alfredo in a bun, which is an odd idea that turns out to work. Worth trying once out of curiosity alone.
Key ingredients: Ground chicken, Butter, Garlic, Heavy cream, Mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese
💡 Cook’s tip: Garlic – fresh garlic enhances the sauce with bold, savory flavor, skip the garlic powder for best results.
Total time: 25 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 10 | Calories: 430 kcal
3. Chicken Penne Pasta Recipe
Fourteen ingredients, 25 minutes, serves four. The straightforward version, done properly. A good recipe to have memorised.
Key ingredients: ground black pepper, penne pasta, butter, garlic, all-purpose flour, heavy cream
💡 Cook’s tip: Fresh chicken works best for a juicy and tender bite.
Total time: 25 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 14 | Calories: 520 kcal
4. Chicken Teriyaki Noodles Recipe
Nine ingredients, 25 minutes, serves three. Noodles rather than pasta, and a useful change of direction when you have had enough cream.
Key ingredients: chicken breasts, noodles, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, garlic
💡 Cook’s tip: Don’t overcook – they should be slightly firm (al dente), as they’ll cook a bit more when stir-fried.
Total time: 25 min | Serves: 3 | Ingredients: 9 | Calories: 420 kcal
5. Cowboy Butter Chicken Pasta Linguine Recipe
Thirteen ingredients, 25 minutes, serves four. Cowboy butter is garlic, herbs, lemon and heat melted together, and it makes an excellent pasta sauce.
Key ingredients: linguine, paprika, garlic salt, cowboy butter, heavy cream, crushed red pepper flakes
💡 Cook’s tip: Linguine – use dried linguine and cook it until al dente for the perfect bite. Avoid overcooking.
Total time: 25 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 13 | Calories: 761 kcal
6. Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Recipe
Fourteen ingredients, 25 minutes, serves four. Gnocchi cook in two minutes, so add them at the very end. Overcooked gnocchi dissolve into the sauce.
Key ingredients: chicken breast, Italian seasoning, butter, garlic, chicken stock, heavy cream
💡 Cook’s tip: Potato gnocchi – use shelf-stable or fresh gnocchi not frozen, for the best texture.
Total time: 25 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 14
7. Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta Recipe
Nine ingredients, 25 minutes, serves four. The fastest full dinner here. Stir the pesto in off the heat – cooking it turns the basil dull and bitter.
Key ingredients: penne, extra-virgin olive oil, chicken breast, thickened cream, basil pesto, chicken stock cube
Total time: 25 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 9
8. Lemon Chicken Pasta Recipe
Twelve ingredients, 25 minutes, serves four. Light, sharp and a relief after a run of creamy ones. Zest as well as juice, and add the zest last.
Key ingredients: linguini, garlic, shallot, shiitake mushrooms, crimini mushrooms, chicken thighs
💡 Cook’s tip: Linguini – a sturdy pasta that holds up well and absorbs the sauce beautifull.
Total time: 25 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 12
9. Blackened Chicken Alfredo Recipe
Fifteen ingredients, 30 minutes, serves four. Blackened spice against a rich alfredo. Get the pan properly hot for the chicken and open a window.
Key ingredients: fettuccine, chicken breasts, butter, garlic cloves, low-sodium chicken broth, cornstarch
Total time: 30 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 15 | Calories: 450 kcal
10. Creamy Lemon Artichoke Pasta with Chicken Recipe
Thirteen ingredients, 30 minutes, serves four. Artichoke hearts from a jar do most of the work. Drain them well or the sauce turns watery.
Key ingredients: chicken breasts, pasta, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, marinated artichoke hearts, red bell pepper
💡 Cook’s tip: Marinated artichoke hearts – homemade works best; skip jarred for a fresher taste.
Total time: 30 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 13
11. Easy Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta Recipe
Fourteen ingredients, 30 minutes, serves six. Grate your own parmesan – the pre-grated kind is coated in starch and will not melt smoothly.
Key ingredients: Chicken breasts, Italian-style breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, Garlic powder, Penne pasta, Butter
💡 Cook’s tip: The key is not to overcrowd the pan, so each piece gets perfectly crispy.
Total time: 30 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 14 | Calories: 550 kcal
12. Kung Pao Chicken Noodles Recipe
Thirteen ingredients, 30 minutes, serves four. Peanuts, chilli and Sichuan pepper with noodles. The most distinctive thing on this list.
Key ingredients: chicken breast, brown rice udon noodles, soy sauce or tamari, honey, chili paste, peanut butter
💡 Cook’s tip: Make sure the internal temperature reaches 165°F for safe consumption.
Total time: 30 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 13
13. Broccoli Chicken Spaghetti Pasta Recipe
Eight ingredients, 35 minutes, serves six. The shortest ingredient list on this page. Add the broccoli to the pasta water for the last three minutes and save yourself a pan.
Key ingredients: extra-virgin olive oil, garlic cloves, ground black pepper, broccoli, red pepper flakes, spaghetti
Total time: 35 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 8 | Calories: 500 kcal
14. Buffalo Chicken Pasta Recipe
Fifteen ingredients, 35 minutes, serves six. The stovetop version rather than the bake. Blue cheese crumbled on at the end is not optional if you want it to taste right.
Key ingredients: blue cheese dressing, butter, yellow onion, celery, garlic, tomatoes
Total time: 35 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 15
15. Chicken Alfredo Linguine Recipe
Eleven ingredients, 35 minutes, serves four. A lighter alfredo than the fettuccine version. Reserve pasta water – this sauce tightens fast as it cools.
Key ingredients: linguine pasta, chicken breasts, butter, garlic, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese
💡 Cook’s tip: Linguine pasta – linguine holds creamy sauces beautifully. Cook it just to al dente so it doesn’t turn mushy in the sauce.
Total time: 35 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 11
16. Cream Cheese Bacon Chicken Pasta Recipe
Nine ingredients, 35 minutes, serves six. Cream cheese makes a stable sauce that will not split, which makes this a forgiving recipe for a distracted evening.
Key ingredients: spaghetti, thick-cut bacon, garlic, chicken broth, milk, cream cheese
💡 Cook’s tip: Spaghetti – I recommend spaghetti because its long strands help catch the sauce. Cook to al dente so it doesn’t go mushy when mixed with sauce.
Total time: 35 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 9
17. Easy Chicken Spinach Pasta Recipe
Thirteen ingredients, 35 minutes, serves six. Spinach wilts in under a minute, so it goes in at the very end with the heat off.
Key ingredients: quarts water, kosher salt divided, penne, chicken breast, black pepper divided, olive oil divided
Total time: 35 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 13
18. Bruschetta Chicken Pasta Recipe
Ten ingredients, 40 minutes, serves six. Fresh tomato and basil rather than a cooked sauce. Salt the tomatoes and let them sit for ten minutes first.
Key ingredients: long pasta, chicken breasts, tomatoes, basil, Salt and black pepper, Balsamic glaze
Total time: 40 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 10
19. Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Pasta Bake Recipe
Fifteen ingredients, 40 minutes, serves six. Undercook the pasta by three minutes – it keeps absorbing liquid in the oven and mushy baked pasta is unrecoverable.
Key ingredients: pasta, broccoli florets, butter, yellow onion, chicken breast, garlic cloves
💡 Cook’s tip: Broccoli florets – Use fresh not frozen, for the best texture and vibrant color.
Total time: 40 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 15 | Calories: 540 kcal
20. Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe
Eleven ingredients, 40 minutes, serves eight. The best recipe on this list and the standard everything else is compared against. Cheese off the heat, always.
Key ingredients: chicken breast, fettuccine, white mushrooms, onion, garlic, half and half*
Total time: 40 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 11
21. Hot Honey Chicken Pasta Recipe
Twelve ingredients, 40 minutes, serves two. Sweet and hot together. Scaled for two, which is unusual and genuinely useful.
Key ingredients: fusilli pasta, chicken breast, crushed cornflakes, egg, flour, Parmesan cheese
Total time: 40 min | Serves: 2 | Ingredients: 12 | Calories: 696 kcal
22. Lighter Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe
Thirteen ingredients, 40 minutes, serves four. Creamy without the full weight of cream. Cajun seasoning varies enormously in salt, so taste before you season further.
Key ingredients: Chicken breast, Cajun seasoning, Olive oil 1 tablespoon, Butter, Garlic, Red bell pepper
💡 Cook’s tip: Garnish with fresh parsley and serve hot for the best texture and flavor.
Total time: 40 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 13
23. Mediterranean Chicken And Orzo Recipe
Nineteen ingredients, 40 minutes, serves six. Olives, lemon, herbs and orzo. Orzo cooks in the pan with the sauce, so there is only one pot to wash.
Key ingredients: oregano, sweet paprika, coriander, Juice of ½ lemon, bell peppers, yellow onion
Total time: 40 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 19
24. Applebees Three Cheese Chicken Penne Recipe
Nine ingredients, 45 minutes, serves four. A copycat of the restaurant dish and a close one. Nine ingredients for something that tastes considerably more elaborate.
Key ingredients: chicken breasts, Italian salad dressing, penne pasta, Alfredo sauce, Italian cheese blend, Roma tomatoes
💡 Cook’s tip: Keeping the pasta firm helps it hold up under the creamy sauce.
Total time: 45 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 9
25. Baked Chicken Ricotta Meatballs Recipe with Spinach Alfredo Sauce
Twenty-one ingredients, 45 minutes, serves four. Ricotta keeps chicken meatballs tender – lean ground chicken without it goes dry and dense.
Key ingredients: ground chicken, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic
💡 Cook’s tip: Plate and serve immediately for the best texture and flavor.
Total time: 45 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 21 | Calories: 580 kcal
26. Baked Feta Tomato Pasta with Grilled Chicken Recipe
Nine ingredients, 45 minutes, serves four. The baked feta pasta with chicken added to make it a full dinner. Nine ingredients, mostly unattended oven time.
Key ingredients: cherry tomatoes, block feta cheese, garlic cloves, oregano, pasta, basil
💡 Cook’s tip: Make sure not to overcook it, as it will later mix with the sauce.
Total time: 45 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 9 | Calories: 355 kcal
27. Chicken Alfredo Lasagna Roll Ups Recipe
Eleven ingredients, 45 minutes, serves four. Individually rolled, which makes serving neat and portions obvious. Assembles a day ahead.
Key ingredients: lasagna noodles, chicken, Alfredo sauce, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley
💡 Cook’s tip: Avoid overcooking as soft noodles may tear during rolling.
Total time: 45 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 11 | Calories: 380 kcal
28. Chicken Alfredo Monkey Bread Recipe
Nine ingredients, 45 minutes, serves eight. Pull-apart bread stuffed with chicken alfredo. Not dinner in any conventional sense, and a very good thing to put in front of people.
Key ingredients: chicken, Alfredo sauce, refrigerated biscuit dough, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder
💡 Cook’s tip: Mozzarella cheese – grate your own from a block for the best melt-in-your-mouth results.
Total time: 45 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 9 | Calories: 350 kcal
29. Creamy Chicken Fajita Pasta Recipe
Sixteen ingredients, 45 minutes, serves eight. Best for a crowd, and it reheats better than most cream sauces because the peppers hold moisture.
Key ingredients: fettuccine pasta, chicken breasts, chili powder, paprika, cumin, garlic powder
💡 Cook’s tip: Fettuccine pasta – I prefer fresh fettuccine if you can find it; it soaks up the sauce beautifully.
Total time: 45 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 16
30. Creamy Ricotta Chicken and Orzo Skillet Recipe
Twenty-one ingredients, 45 minutes, serves four. One skillet, ricotta stirred through at the end. One of the best dinners here and there is almost no washing up.
Key ingredients: chicken breast, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic cloves, shallot, baby Bella mushrooms
Total time: 45 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 21 | Calories: 636 kcal
31. Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta Bake Recipe
Nine ingredients, 45 minutes, serves four. Nine ingredients for a full baked dinner. Cover it for the first twenty minutes so the top does not dry before the middle heats.
Key ingredients: rotini pasta, chicken, Alfredo sauce, garlic parmesan sauce, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese
💡 Cook’s tip: Chicken – Rotisserie chicken works best for ease; freshly cooked chicken is also great.
Total time: 45 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 9
32. Baked Rosemary Chicken Meatballs with Tomato Orzo Recipe
Thirty-nine ingredients, 50 minutes, serves four. By far the longest ingredient list on this page – it is genuinely a project. The results justify it.
Key ingredients: Italian bread, warm water, butter, shallot, garlic cloves, red pepper flakes
Total time: 50 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 39 | Calories: 520 kcal
33. Chicken Noodle Casserole with Vegetables Recipe
Twelve ingredients, 50 minutes, serves six. Old-fashioned, filling and cheap. The kind of casserole that gets made on repeat once it enters a household.
Key ingredients: chicken, egg noodles, carrots, peas, broccoli florets, milk
💡 Cook’s tip: Cheddar cheese – Grate fresh cheese instead of pre-shredded for smoother melting.
Total time: 50 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 12 | Calories: 350 kcal
34. Lemon Pepper Chicken Alfredo Fettuccine Recipe
Sixteen ingredients, 50 minutes, serves six. Lemon and pepper cut through alfredo’s richness, which is the main thing a plain alfredo is missing.
Key ingredients: chicken breasts, lemon zest, ground black pepper, butter, lemon juice, garlic cloves
💡 Cook’s tip: Chicken breasts – use fresh not frozen. It sears better and holds flavor longer.
Total time: 50 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 16 | Calories: 477 kcal
35. Chicken Alfredo Casserole Recipe
Eight ingredients, an hour, serves six. Eight ingredients and it feeds six. Assembles ahead and bakes from cold with an extra fifteen minutes.
Key ingredients: chicken breast halves, penne pasta, Alfredo sauce, mozzarella cheese, milk, onion powder
💡 Cook’s tip: Penne pasta — sturdy noodles like penne hold up beautifully in casserole form.
Total time: 60 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 8
36. Honey Sesame Chicken Noodle Bake Recipe
Thirteen ingredients, an hour, serves four. Sweet and savoury noodles baked rather than stir-fried, which is unusual and holds up well as leftovers.
Key ingredients: chicken breasts, spaghetti noodles, vegetable medley, chicken broth, soy sauce, honey
💡 Cook’s tip: Vegetable medley – frozen veggies are convenient and hold up well in the bake; using fresh is fine but you’ll need to adjust cooking so nothing gets mushy.
Total time: 60 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 13
37. Chicken Bacon Ranch Baked Penne Recipe
Thirteen ingredients, just under six hours, serves eight. Mostly unattended time. Chicken, bacon and ranch is a combination that has never lost an argument.
Key ingredients: chicken breasts, seasoned salt, ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, thyme, chicken broth
💡 Cook’s tip: This slow process develops depth in the base broth, rather than rushing with high heat.
Total time: 355 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 13
38. Crock Pot Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe
Eight ingredients, a little over six hours in the slow cooker, serves six. The most hands-off recipe here. Add the pasta near the end, not at the start.
Key ingredients: Chicken Breasts, Heavy Whipping Cream, Chicken Broth, Butter, Cajun Seasoning, Garlic Powder
💡 Cook’s tip: Whisk the sauce in the Crock Pot to make sure everything is smooth and well-mixed.
Total time: 370 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 8 | Calories: 465 kcal
On reheating creamy pasta: add a splash of milk or cream and warm it gently in a pan rather than blasting it in the microwave. Cream sauces separate when reheated too fast, and the milk gives the emulsion something to reform around. Tomato-based and baked pastas are far more forgiving.
On shortcuts: a supermarket rotisserie chicken turns most of the 40-minute recipes here into 20-minute ones, and the meat is usually better seasoned than plain poached breast. Two cups of shredded meat is roughly one bird, which covers any recipe on this page that serves four to six.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my cream sauce split or go grainy?
Almost always heat. Cream and cheese both split when boiled – the fat separates out and the proteins seize into grains. Keep cream sauces at a bare simmer, and add cheese off the heat, a handful at a time, stirring until each addition melts.
If it has already split, take it off the heat and whisk in a splash of hot pasta water or cold cream; that will usually bring it back.
Should I use chicken breast or thighs?
Thighs, in almost every case. They stay moist in a sauce, they carry more flavour, and they are harder to overcook. Breast works well when it is seared separately and sliced back in at the end, which is how most of the quicker recipes here handle it. If you are simmering the chicken in the sauce at all, use thighs.
What is pasta water for?
It is salted and full of dissolved starch, which makes it both a seasoning and an emulsifier. A splash added to a sauce off the heat helps the fat and liquid bind, so the sauce coats the pasta instead of pooling at the bottom of the bowl. Save a cup before you drain – the number of pasta recipes improved by this is close to all of them.
Can I prepare chicken pasta ahead of time?
Baked pastas, yes – assemble up to a day ahead, refrigerate, and bake from cold with an extra ten to fifteen minutes. Creamy stovetop pastas are best eaten immediately, but you can cook the chicken and make the sauce ahead and combine with fresh pasta at the last minute. Cooked pasta stored in sauce keeps absorbing liquid and softens overnight.
What pasta shape should I use?
Match the shape to the sauce. Long strands like fettuccine and linguine suit smooth cream sauces that coat. Tubes and shells – penne, rigatoni, shells – catch chunkier sauces with chicken and vegetables in them. Small shapes like orzo work in one-pan dishes where the pasta cooks in the sauce. Ridged shapes hold sauce better than smooth ones.