My family loves this easy Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Pasta dish made with penne noodles, chicken and asparagus tossed in a creamy parmesan sauce.
When people find out about my blog, they often always, “do you cook every night?!”
My answer is “yes”, but I like to keep things simple too! Tacos, spaghetti, and tomato basil mozzarella toasts are dinner rotation regulars. Most nights I choose from one of my favorite 30-minute meals.
I’m a believer that cooking for your family at home can be just as easy as picking up a pizza or ordering take-out. (It’s less expensive and healthier too!) This Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Pasta can be ready, fridge to table, in 30 minutes.
How to make Chicken and Asparagus Pasta:
Start by cooking the pasta in boiling water. I add the asparagus towards the end, so that it can cook in the boiling water and I don’t have to dirty another pan. You could roast or grill it as well, and then add it to the finished pasta at the end. You could also substitute another vegetable, or add more vegetables.
Next, brown the chicken. Add garlic and dry spices.
Add the chicken broth and half and half. Half and half is just a mixture of half milk, and half heavy cream. You can buy it at the store, or just mix heavy cream and milk. You could also substitute regular milk for a healthier substitute, but the sauce wont be quite as creamy.
Add the cream cheese and half of the parmesan cheese. Cook and stir until everything is melted and combined, and the chicken is cooked through.
Add the cooked pasta and asparagus to the pan and toss to coat in the sauce. Add remaining parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.
CHECK OUT ALL MY 30 MINUTE MEALS! SOME OF MY FAVORITES INCLUDE:
- Sun Dried Tomato Pasta
- Taco Soup
- Creamy Tomato and Spinach Tortellini
- Tuscan Sausage Pasta
- Crispy Bean and Cheese Burritos
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Recipe
Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Pasta
Ingredients
- 12 ounces penne pasta , or other bite size pasta
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts , cut in small pieces
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 bunch fresh asparagus spears , ends removed
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons garlic , minced
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 cup half and half , or substitute whole milk or cream
- 4 ounces cream cheese , cut into pieces
- 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the asparagus to the water. Drain pasta and asparagus.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook for 2 minutes, browning it on all sides.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add the garlic, onion powder, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes to the skillet. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add chicken broth, half & half, cream cheese, and half of the parmesan cheese. Stir until well combined. Cook until cream cheese is melted and chicken is cooked through.
- Add cooked pasta and asparagus toss to combine.
- Add remaining parmesan cheese and salt and pepper, to taste.
- Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed. You could also add a splash of milk or chicken broth to thin the sauce, if needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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I originally shared this recipe in July 2014. Updated January 2018.
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
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When u cook the asparagus with tbe pasta your throwing all the nutrients down the drain
The recipe was good, but not flavorful enough.
All I knew is I wanted creamy chicken n asparagus, this recipe not only cured that craving but really hit the spot, everyone loved it!
Thank you!
Was delicious. The only changes are: 16 oz pasta instead of 12 oz. Added more half&half, cream cream and stock because of the extra pasta.
Delicious! So simple that I halved the recipe and made all in one pot. Cooked the chicken and sauce while pasta and aspargus drained. Substituted diced red onion for onion powder and used milk instead of heavy cream (the sauce was still very thick and cheesy). Also made with linguine noodles. Great recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Very tasty, easy recipe to work with if you don’t quite have all the right ingredients on hand. I’m grateful you posted this! I especially love the way you explained how to cook the asparagus. Thanks so much!
This is absolutely delicious! My husband is really picky and it’s his favorite homemade dish.
The family loved it. It is easy. Added to my saved recipes. Added white wine and 1/2 the broth.
Made this tonight. At the end I added quite a bit of salt and pepper and increased all of the spices until I could taste them. Also used fat free half and half and lite cream cheese. Was really delicious! My family loved it!
Very tasty. I didn’t have cream cheese and substituted sour cream. I imagine it is even better with cream cheese. A nice spring dish, pretty easy to pull together. Thank you!
So very easy and tasty!!
Hi, I’m an Aussie and was wondering if red pepper flakes were chilli or dried red peppers (capsicum, no heat)?
They are chilli so spicy!
I used Asiago cheese in the place of Parmesan. Turned out good.
I have a ton of fresh kale left over from another meal, any ideas of how to include this in the pasta? Planning to make it for dinner tonight…
Just throw it in towards the end! Enjoy.
I googled for leftover chicken pasta and asparagus, and your suggestion popped up. I cook for one or 2 portikns only, for myself, and i made a delicious quick dinner. Added 3 sliced crimini mushrooms first sauteed in butter and then i followed through with my leftover half of a chicken breast heated it with the mushrooms and added the chicken broth and the half and half and the rest of the ingredients out of my fridge and my pantry. Used some red pepperflakes for seasoningc the cream sauce. The key of that sauce was the cream cheese. I left out the parmesan cheese, did not want to add it, it is not needed the sauce is perfect without. Used bow tie noodles and cooked 4 aspargus spears in the pasta water. A glass of white wine or water . Yum
Wow, just wow that is all I can say.
Thanks for that, will definately be doing that again, both my wife and myself loved it
excellent
Thank you for this easy and delicious recipe. My family just loved it.
Made this but instead of asparagus to expensive here right now. We used broccoli.
I’ve not made this yet but it sounds lovely. Can you make it and put in fridge for following day?
This was a huge hit at our house. Thanks!
Used shrimp instead of chicken and added crimini mushrooms. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!!
Have been making my own sauce for years. Will be using this one going forward.
Hello,
I am a first time visitor to your blog- I found this recipe by googling for asparagus pasta. I made this tonight and my husband and I both loved it! I never really think to leave reviews, but this was just that good! Will definitely check out more of the blog. Thank you!
Thanks so much Kim–I’m so happy you found me and I hope you get to try more recipes here soon!
Made this last night and it was delicious. Not one bite left!
Delicious! I made it exactly as recipe stated, we all loved it!
I thought it was great but hubby was not so keen of the cream cheese. So I was wondering if you could substitute sour cream for cream cheese?
Sure, it may just be a little more runny 🙂
Excellent recipe. So easy to make and delicious. Thanks for sharing.
What a great, fresh Pasta entree! I had to make it without chicken but it was just as delightful as a vegetarian dish! At the table we added just a touch of lemon zest and a bit more Parmesan. My husband and boys all went back for more pasta! Thank you for sharing this great recipe.? HMWagner
I had to reply..i found this last week..was looking for something to do with extra asparagas..i had a heart attack in 2014….at 43 yrs old..i started paying attention to what i was eating..and i started to cook..im not great..but its now my dirty little habit..a lot of baked chicken..brown rice..olive oil..vegs..fruits..the whole deal..my first break thru that i was all excited about was chicken marsala..no flour..lots of mushrooms..and i add onions..but i love the smell of my kitchen lol..like i said..i found this recipe last week and tried it..followed your recipe to the letter…i have no words lol.AMAZING..i made it again..just now..i did tweak a little..i added a SMALL amount of turkey bacon..a handful of chopped red onions..i did cut the cream cheese down a little…other than that…holy macaroni..im walking around licking my spatula lol ..a great recipe..THANK YOU. I took pics of everything..i dont know what i like more..cooking it or eating it lol
PS…i used veggie pasta also…
What a great story, thank you so much for sharing with me Chuck! I’m really happy you’ve learned to enjoy cooking, and I’m glad you’ve gotten to play around with this recipe. Your adaptions sound delicious! Thanks for your comment, and I hope you get to try more of my recipes soon.
The basil and oregano were all wrong, as they completely overpowered the fresh spring taste of the asparagus. In addition, they looked just awful floating around in the sauce–when I make this recipe again, I will leave them out completely.
On the plus side, the sauce had a rich, creamy texture and coated the pasta beautifully. The recipe was quick and easy to assemble and the tip about cooking the asparagus with the pasta was genius.
Just finished making this meal not too long ago, and just wanted to comment that it was better than I expected it to be! I doubled the sauce recipe (the broth, half&half, cream cheese) but followed everything else to a T including boiling the asparagus with the Penne. It was SO good. Definitely going to be making again in the near future!
So happy you liked it! Thanks for your comment 🙂
This is a 100 star recipe! Thank you. I had roasted chicken and fresh asparagus in the fridge and didn’t want the same old dinner with chicken, side, and salad. Trying to use up everything and not waste food because we are going on vacation next week – so I googled chicken + asparagus and ran across your recipe. I had all of the ingredients – and it snowed today, so this is the perfect lighter type comfort food for a fast family meal. It is delicious and everyone asked for seconds. A keeper – and thank you so much!!
Thanks so much Jerri! I’m happy your family enjoyed it, and I’m so happy you found me. Hope you get to try some more of my recipes.
Was great. Definitely will make again!
Just made tonight and made as called but added bell pepper and onion to the chicken for additional flavor. It was amazing and will be made again.
Thanks Susan! I love those addition ideas. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
This was a family favorite! Will definitely make this one again!
Thanks so much Patti! <3
Made this for dinner today. Have been trying to make new recipes at least once a week. This was delicious!!. I doubled the sauce, added fresh green beans and spinach along with the asparagus. Bought tri-color pasta too. My husband loved it!!!
Delicious–I love your adaptions! Glad everyone liked it!
Eating this right now!! Delish!!!! Love it! So glad I found your blog! Every dish has been amazing!
Thanks Kristi! I love when you comment and let me know what you’ve tried! 🙂 Hope you guys are doing well.
I picked up a bunch of asparagus because they were on sale and was looking for an easy and family friendly recipe. I made this tonight just as described above. Very easy and tasty weeknight meal. I precut the chicken and asparagus and easily put together after work. My vegetable averse toddler had a serving without asparagus and he loved it…everyone was happy.n looking forward to leftovers!
Happy to hear you liked it and it fit into your busy weeknight! Thanks for commenting 🙂
Omg! Absolutely wonderful! My husband and kids don’t do pasta dishes especially anything with vegetables…but they had double servings and still wanted more! This dish definitely gets there attention!
Love to sneak veggies in for the kids 🙂 Glad they liked it!
All of my favorite things in one dish, I can’t wait to try this. It looks so delicious!! I also have a food blog and I am hoping to become more prominent in the blogging world. I would love if you checked my blog out as well http://shansthecollegecookbook.blogspot.com/. Thanks for a great recipe!!
Making this right now for my husband and I to take to work. Looks and smells amazing!! Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks Kim! Hope you both love it!
This looks great, too. Always on the look out for easy things during the week.
Just made this tonight. Super yummy! Thanks for the great recipe!
So glad you liked it! Thanks for your comment!
Nice! And your other pasta salads look awesome too! Love the name of your blog 🙂
I absolutely love all of your pasta creations! So many on my “to make” list!