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One Pan Tomato Basil Chicken Linguine is the easiest one pan meal I’ve ever made. Everything is cooked in one pan and it creates it’s own sauce as it cooks. This meal is ready in under 20 minutes making it perfect for those busy weeknights.
If I had to choose one food that I had to eat every day for the rest of my life, it would be pasta. Pasta with cheese, pasta in broth, pasta by itself…I could manage and manage beautifully. Pasta is my friend, my soulmate and it’s never let me down.
Okay I might be getting a little carried away, but the point is – I LOVE PASTA. I also love One Pan Meals. They are so easy to prepare and leave me with only one pan to clean. Anything that saves me time in the kitchen is high on my list of favorites! I’ve done a lot of one pan meals over the years, some of the most popular being One Pan Cheesy Smoked Sausage and Pasta Skillet, One Pan Spicy Lemon Chicken Pasta with tomatoes and most recently, One Pan Lemon Chicken Picatta Pasta.
A lot of the meals require browning and covered cooking, but I’ve found that it isn’t always necessary, and the one pan pasta can actually cook quicker with the lid off. Like this One Pan Tomato Basil Chicken Linguine; I decided not to brown the chicken since the browning step can sometimes lead to over-cooked/dry chicken and I stood at the stove while it cooked, turning and stirring the pasta. Smaller noodles wouldn’t require the same amount of babysitting, but the linguine would be a giant sticky mess if left unattended. Plus it only takes 9 minutes with this method, as opposed to 20-25 minutes with the covered pan. That’s some nice time-saving!
The chicken is bite-sized so it cooks fairly quickly, and the water is absorbed into the pasta as it cooks. The remaining water combines with the tomatoes and creates a luscious sauce that is heightened in flavor at the end with the added Parmesan Cheese.
This One Pan Tomato Basil Chicken Linguine has quickly become a favorite. Sometimes I’ll halve the recipe and make it for lunch (I can get two lunches out of it that way). It’s a nice departure from the boring sandwiches I’ll often have! My family loves it too, which is why it’s become a regular in our meal rotation. I hope your family enjoys it as much as ours!
One Pan Tomato Basil Chicken Linguine
Ingredients
- 1 small onion or half a large onion, cut into thin slices (about ¾ cup)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes slice in half lengthwise
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces (about 2 breasts)
- 16 ounces linguine uncooked
- 8-10 fresh basil leaves
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cups water
- 4 ounces Parmesan Cheese fresh, shredded
Instructions
- In a 5 quart saute pan or skillet, arrange onion slices, minced garlic, tomatoes, chicken, pasta, basil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Drizzle olive oil over the ingredients in the pan, then pour in water. Turn heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, simmering and stirring for about 9 minutes or until pasta is tender. There will be some liquid left in the pan - this will help to create the sauce.
- Add Parmesan cheese and toss to coat while the cheese melts.
- Serve immediately, garnished with fresh basil and Parmesan cheese.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer Kristin Maxwell of "Yellow Bliss Road" is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. For accurate calorie counts and other nutritional values, we recommend running the ingredients through your preferred online nutritional calculator. Calories and other nutritional values can vary depending on which brands were used.
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For all One Pan Meals go HERE, for all dinner recipes go HERE and for the Recipe Index go HERE.
I followed the recipe exactly as stated. But I’m now 20 minutes in and my noodles aren’t fully cooked. This recipe just did not work for me.
Hmm, I can only think that something went wrong in the kitchen, because 20 minutes is way too long to cook linguine, even on it’s own in a pan. Either not enough liquid or the flame was too high.
Quick,easy and tastes great!
Thanks for stopping by Tera!
Would this recipe work without the cheese? (Cheese allergy)
Yes it will work without cheese.
Those recipe is SO delicious and SO easy!! It’s one of my go to meals!!
Love the feedback Lilly! Thanks for stopping by.
Was AMAZING!!!
Thank you Lemon!
Kristin,
This looks delicious but I was wondering if you can substitute whole wheat pasta for regular pasta? Will this effect the cooking time, or change the whole recipe?
Whole wheat pasta usually takes a couple more minutes to cook, but it won’t affect the whole recipe. You coild cut the chicken a little larger to avoid overcooking.
Even after reading the comments, I was skeptical that this was really going to be a flavorful dish. However, it looked so easy and the ingredients so fresh, I had to try it. Oh, my goodness! Absolutely delicious! This is one of my all-time favorite recipes! Not only does it taste amazing, but it’s easy prep, quick to cook and is full of flavor….the perfect combination! I did marinate my chicken for a couple hours in Italian dressing but that is routine for me any time I’m using chicken in a dish.
Awesome feedback Susan! Thank you so much for stopping by.
Hello! I am interested in trying out this receipe tomorrow but had questions. How much water do I pour into the pan? And also, should I already bake the chicken and then cut them into bite sized pieces and throw them into the pan? Because it says to let it cook for about 9 or so minutes and chicken generally takes a while to cook all the way through.
I am extremely new to cooking, but been practicing and trying new things lately.
Thank you!
Hi Brynn, if you follow exactly what the instructions say, you’ll do great! It’s 3 cups of water – all of the measurements are in the ingredients list. The chicken goes in raw and will cook in that 9 minutes (you’ll cut them up first so that helps them cook faster. Good luck!
Super fast and simple meal!! I swapped the basil for spinach and added a shake more red pepper flakes. It turned out really well!
Nice! Thank you for your feedback Billy.
Absolutely delicious and so easy. Great meal after a long day.
That’s awesome christine! Thanks for stopping by.
Can I sub linguine for fettuccine?
Yes you can! It might take a little longer to cook, but just a minute or two so watch it closely.
It was good but super spicy and Need to double the chicken !
This is excellent! We made it without onions though. The sauce you are left with at the end is rich and theres plenty of kick but not too much. 15/10! Great recipe
Simple and easy!
Thanks Tito! So glad you enjoyed it!
I love pasta and honestly could eat it everyday, thanks for sharing these super recipes, i shall give them a go.