This easy Tuscan Chicken Pasta recipe includes seasoned, crusted chicken in a creamy tuscan sauce, served over your favorite kind of pasta.
Make it a fancy meal by serving with green salad and homemade breadsticks.
There’s a reason this Tuscan Chicken Pasta has been so popular over the years; it’s delicious! We enjoy it for Sunday dinner but it come together fast enough to enjoy during the week as well.
How to Make Tuscan Chicken Pasta:
- Make Chicken Coating: In a large bowl whisk together ¾ cup flour, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, dried basil, oregano, and onion powder.Â
- Coat Chicken: Dip chicken breasts into bowl and flip to coat completely. Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat.Â
- Cook: Once hot, add chicken to the pan. Cook chicken for a few minutes on each side, flipping only once, until golden brown and just cooked through. Remove chicken to a plate and cover with tinfoil to keep warm.
- Make the sauce: Add a little more oil to the pan, if needed. Add bell pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add 2 tablespoons oil the pan. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Add chicken broth and whisk until smooth. Bring sauce to a simmer.Â
- Slowly whisk in cream and milk. Season with garlic powder, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer until just slightly thickened. Stir in fresh spinach, parmesan cheese and cook for 2 more minutes.
Serve over hot cooked pasta and garnish with extra fresh parmesan cheese.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: The sauce could be made 1-2 days ahead of time, stored in the refrigerator. The chicken can be coated in flour mixture a few hours ahead of time.
To Freeze: The sauce can be made and frozen before adding the milk and cream. I don’t recommend freezing the cream sauce because the texture will be a little off.
Consider trying these popular dinner recipes:
- Slow Cooker Pot Roast
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
- Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas
- Italian Grilled Cheese
- Gourmet Baked Mac N Cheese with Bacon
- Crispy BBQ Chicken Wraps
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Recipe
Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds chicken tenders (or halved chicken breasts)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
For the Tuscan Sauce:
- 1 red bell pepper , chopped
- 1 Tablespoon garlic , minced
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves , roughly chopped
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon italian seasoning
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 lb dry pasta cooked, for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl whisk together ¾ cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, dried basil, oregano, and onion powder. Dip chicken into bowl and flip to coat completely.
- Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add chicken to the pan. Cook chicken for a few minutes on each side, flipping only once, until golden brown and just cooked through. Remove chicken to a plate and cover to keep warm.
For the Tuscan Sauce:
- While chicken is resting, prepare the sauce. Add a little more oil to the pan, if needed.Â
- Add bell pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add 2 tablespoons oil the pan. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Add chicken broth and whisk until smooth. Bring sauce to a simmer.Â
- Slowly whisk in cream and milk. Season sauce with garlic powder, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer until just slightly thickened. Stir in fresh spinach, parmesan cheese and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Serve chicken and sauce over hot cooked pasta. Garnish with extra fresh parmesan cheese and parsley, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I originally shared this recipe in January 2014. Updated February 2021.
Very good, and surprisingly a sure pleaser for fussy eaters. This recipe was easy to make the directions were easy to follow I did add some onions and mushrooms and used chicken burgers to make it easy. Thanks for the recipe will be adding this to our menu planner. 🙂
Absolutely wonderful! Family loved this dish
I was looking for a sauce for my pasta when this popped up in my email. Delicious, only used almond milk as that is what I had and added more garlic.. will make again..
Absolutely delicious! This was another huge hit in our house, from adults to teens to toddlers!
Hit a major pregnancy craving for me as well that I’ve been struggling with satisfying
Only negative was that there were no leftovers, so if you want leftovers make sure you put them away somewhere safe before letting your family try this dish!
So easy and it looks and tastes amazing! We felt like we were at an Italian restaurant. I’ll make this again when I have company!
Love receiving these recipes!! Because of some diet restrictions I need to modify some, but what a help with meal planning
Loved it! Super easy to make and really delicious. My picky husband even loved it! Will be adding it into the rotation!
Wow, this was delicious!!!
We really expected to love this but it had no flavor. We cooked it for guest and they weren’t impressed either.
Delicious! The sauce is fantastic!
Any recommendations of how to give the sauce a bit of a stronger taste?
The flour needs a lot more seasoning – a LOT more – and the chicken should be dipped into olive oil or egg before being dipped into the flour…or the flour will not adhere to the chicken. Lame recipe.
Another great recipe!!
Yes, this recipe is worthy of 5 stars! I was looking for a sauce recipe to go with some leftover rotisserie chicken breast, when I ran across this recipe. I didn’t have fresh spinach, so I used frozen. I defrosted it in the microwave and used many paper towels to squeeze the water from it. Luckily, I did have a red bell pepper and plenty of parmesan cheese. And, I used garlic paste. I sliced the chicken breasts and placed them alongside the pasta combined with the sauce. The flavors melded together so beautifully! I’ve never been a fan of cooked spinach, but it sure was good in this sauce! I loved this dish from the very first bite! I’ll definitely make this again … and again!
Please give us more one pan meal recipes. We love your recipes.
Very good. Quick and easy. The whole family loved it.
Sooo good! I added paprika and cayenne pepper to my sauce for a little kick 🙂 thanks for sharing your recipes.
I made this for Father’s Day luncheon and it was a hit! It was easy enough for me to follow, and my father had seconds! Thank you so much for sharing!
Wow, this was a little difficult to execute, but boy does it taste delicious! (I am not too experienced in the kitchen)
Will have to try some other veggies with the pasta, my husband and I didn’t care for
the bell pepper flavor. I have made several of your recipes and am so grateful I stumbled across your
site! Thank you 🙂
Hi Lauren,
Due to intolerance to cream, Is there something you can suggest I could replace it with?
Thank you. Fiona
You could try coconut milk, evaporated milk, soy milk, almond milk…hopefully one of those would work for you!
The recipe says “While chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce. Add a little more oil to the pan, if needed.” Is it supposed to say after the chicken has cooked? I assume the sauce is made in the same pan? Thanks! I am excited to try it!
Thanks, it should say “resting”. Fixed! Hope you enjoy it.
I have made this recipe about 5 times now. Never disappoints, its delicious!
I love all your 30-minute meals! It’s amazing to be able to make something so delicious in such a short time. It felt like we were eating at a fancy Italian restaurant! Delish
I do not consider myself a chef, but I thought I would try and make something outside my comfort zone for my wife for her birthday. I came across this recipe and decided this is just what I was looking for. I followed the recipe exactly and I was amazed by the results. My wife could hardly believe I made it. It was delicious! She loved it, I loved it, it was a huge win. Thank you for making me look good on her special day.
What a great compliment, and well done cooking dinner for your wife! I’m so glad you both enjoyed it.
Absolutely delicious…A nice combination of ingredients. Lauren, I have teenage boys and I have not missed with any of your recipes yet. Thank you for doing the hard work. I look forward to cooking your recipes.
What an amazing compliment–thank you Dave! I’m so happy you and your boys have enjoyed some of my recipes. Thanks so much for commenting and for following me on TBFS.
I’ve made the Olive Garden version a few different times. Found use a good wine as oppossed to a cooking wine, as it destroys the flavor the cheaper you go. This recipe looks good, I may just have to try it, although I’ll have to go to store again. I love this dish and will try it without the wine and the higher fat content.
I made this last night. It was delish! I used whole wheat penne pasta since I did not have fettuccine. I also added mushrooms because we do not like peppers. I have to say it was a lot of steps, but worth it. My husband said this is definitely a keeper.
Thanks for sharing Mary Ann! And I like your additions!
These sound great. I can still make these gluten-free.
I had been drooling over this since I came across it this past week. Let me just say that any time a recipe calls for cheese, I imagine a typo occured where the author forgot to add X 100 right next to amount. That being said, all I did different wad increase the amount of cheese and add more garlic salt, cause garlic is another one of ny weakness. This meal is to die for. So, so good. Thank you for sharing. Love you…it. love IT. Oh who am I kidding, you’ve made the list too.
Hahaha, thanks so much for your comment 🙂 I’m so glad you loved it!!!
So so good!!! Way better than any restaurant. Make sure to season your chicken.
Im from Trinidad and we don’t sell half and half in our grocery stores so I used coconut milk instead…amazinggggg
We live in Grenada, this is a great suggestion! I’m going to try it tonight 🙂
Hi, I was wondering if I use heavy whipping cream would i still need to use corn starch?
and would the milk need to be adjusted?
Hi Priscilla, that should work great to just use heavy whipping cream!
This was VERY good! I was a little confused when it said add red pepper and onion,,, but onion isn’t in the ingredients so I guessed at how much to add. Including prep time, from start to finish, this took me about an hour to make for a family of five.
this recipe was amazing!! I adjusted the dry mix for only 2 chicken breasts, but made the recommended amount of sauce. Next time I might add the whole bag of baby spinach and another bell pepper! YUM! and thank you!!
So glad you liked it! Thanks for your nice comment 🙂
boyfriend is lactose intolerant… I know I can use cream, but what do you think about cheddar with this? Parm is definitely off the table. Also, we have a wheat allergy here too, and I was wondering how the chicken would come out without the flour?
You could use cheddar, it would just taste different, but still be yummy I’m sure. You could leave the flour out but coat the chicken lightly in cornstarch instead! Hope this helps!
Another yummy looking chicken recipe to try out.
We really like our spinach and I’m always looking for new ways to use it in food.
Thanks for this idea! 🙂
That chicken looks great. I love spinach but also have to sneak it into meals for my kids!
Wow! This looks absolutely incredible. I know what I want to make for dinner tonight!
Thanks Debra! It makes a great weeknight meal!
Maureen, Jim made this gorgeous item the day after your post, and we have been dhetgliing in it ever since. We’ve used it as a condiment for roast chicken and grilled fish, dipped steamed green beans and potato chips (!) in it, tossed it with warm red potatoes for a salad and, just now, with pasta, julienned basil and pine nuts for a deconstructed pesto. Nell spent the morning scouring the fridge for things I can put the garlic sauce on. In other words, we are addicted!!