Asiago Chicken Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Spinach - with everything smothered in a delicious Asiago cheese sauce. Easy recipe that tastes great and looks great.
If you love Asiago cheese, this is a great recipe to try! Asiago definitely has a very strong and distinctive flavor, and when melted into a creamy sauce for this Asiago Chicken Pasta, that flavor becomes more smooth yet you can still recognize it's an Asiago cheese. To me, using Asiago cheese in a pasta sauce is my favorite way to use it. And it is perfectly complemented by chicken sauteed with garlic, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes!
Short pasta, such as penne, is perfect for creamy pasta recipes like this one - Asiago cheese cream sauce perfectly coats every single pasta bite. Both pasta and chicken are literally drowning in the Asiago sauce deliciousness! This recipe can easily be made gluten free by using gluten free brown rice penne.
Asiago Chicken Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Spinach
Ingredients
- 8 oz penne pasta (use gluten free brown rice penne, for gluten free version)
- ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes with oil 2 tablespoons
- 1 lb chicken breast sliced in half, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- salt
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- 1 cup half and half and more - (half milk - half cream to form a lighter cream)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup Asiago cheese shredded
- 2 cups spinach fresh
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain, rinse.
- Use sun-dried tomatoes in oil - if the sun-dried tomatoes are too big, chop them into smaller bites.
- Heat sun-dried tomatoes (cut them) in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and chopped garlic on medium heat. Add chopped chicken breast to the sun-dried tomatoes and oil - generously season the chicken in the skillet with salt and paprika. Cook chicken until it's cooked through completely.
- To the same skillet with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes, add 1 cup of half and half and ¼ teaspoon salt - bring to boil. Add ½ cup of grated Asiago cheese (half of what the recipe calls for) and stir for about 30 seconds to melt the cheese. Reduce the heat from boil to medium and continue stirring to make sure all cheese melts. At this point, if the sauce is too thin, gradually add the remaining ½ of Asiago cheese on medium heat, constantly stirring all around the skillet.
- If the sauce gets too thick, add another ⅓ cup of half and half and stir.
- Taste the sauce - if ¼ teaspoon salt was not enough, add more.
- Add cooked and drained pasta to the sauce. Add spinach, mix everything - cover with the lid and let the pasta sit to allow spinach to wilt, on low simmer. After spinach has wilted, stir everything together to combine, taste and add more salt, if needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
So good! My daughter always asks for this every time I ask her what she wants for dinner. So easy and tasty!
Hi Shannon! I'm so glad to hear that your daughter loves it! Thank you for your 5-star review! 🙂
Hi Julia,
What can I use as alternative for Asiago cheese? We do not have it here unfortunately.
Delicious! Made per the recipe. The Asiago I makes a very rich flavor.
Glad you liked it, Danya! Yes, Asiago adds so much flavor that's why I love this cheese!
What cheese works if Asiago is not available?
You can use Parmesan or Pecorino Romano. Or, use shredded Mozzarella (low-moisture, part-skim) that comes pre-shredded in a bag or as a block of cheese - not fresh Mozzarella that is soft and shaped like balls.
I’ve made this several times over the years. It’s always great. Bought myself a nice, new recipe book and this recipe is finally moving from “saved Pinterest post” to a permanent spot in the book! My pickier kids even like this one, too. I add chopped up artichokes, too. Thanks so much!
The sauce never got thick cheese did not melt properly. I don’t know what happened i followed the recipe to a t. Please help
Try using heavy cream next time (instead of half-and-half) and shredding/grating the block of cheese (don't use pre-shredded cheese). The cheese should be at room temperature, and the sauce should be boiling on the lowest setting.
Can I cook this the night before? I have a large group (12 people) and I'd like to put it in a 9 x 13 pan. I will be using shredded roasted chicken. Could you let me know if it would be good to put all of this in the oven?
Hi Debbie, you can reheat this in the oven (once the dish is completely made) in a 9x12 pan. Reheat it on lower heat so that the sauce doesn't separate into grease.
Hi,I made the Asiago chicken pasta dish yesterday,it was very good,my issue was seems the cheese that
I stirred in see. To like almost curdle up,,it seemed I hardly had any sauce,can you help..Not sure What exactly Went wrong
THANKYOU, Donna S
Hi Donna! Here are some troubleshooting tips:
1) Next time, try using heavy cream instead of half-and-half. Sometimes, the sauce will curdle when there is not enough fat in the sauce.
2) Make sure the cheese is at room temperature. Before you start making the recipe, take the amount you need out of the fridge and set it out on the counter to warm up. Just bring the cheese to room temperature before adding it to the sauce. I would buy a block of Asiago cheese and grate/shred it myself.
3) Bring the sauce to a stable simmer (but not boil). Mix the sauce ingredients on a low simmer, slowly, and patiently. Do not boil the sauce—just simmer.
4) Alternatively, you can bring the sauce to a boil and then remove the pan from the heat. Add cheese (sprinkled across the whole surface of the sauce), cover with the lid for a couple of minutes, then stir. Continue with the recipe on low heat.
Best recipe ever!!! Super delicious and easy to make. I used thin spaghetti and doubled the recipe. I didn’t double the oil because I made that mistake in the past and the sauce was too oily. Whole family loved it and I will definitely make again.
Great quick thinking on not doubling the oil - I've made that mistake before and my husband hated the oily sauce, LOL! Glad you loved this recipe! 🙂
Made this and it was not only an excellent recipe for a weeknight but it was delicious. I don’t like penne so I used bucatini. It was fast and easy
So glad the recipe turned out well, Lisa! 🙂
This was a fun dish. It could use twice the spinach easily.
Anne, I am so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Very good! Added some red pepper for a little more pizzaz. Yumm!
Yes for red pepper flakes!!