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Chicken Mozzarella Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes - Italian-inspired dinner with the best homemade creamy pasta sauce! The sun-dried tomato pasta sauce is made from scratch using basil, red pepper flakes, garlic, paprika, cream, and shredded Mozzarella cheese.
I am a huge fan of pasta, and some of the most popular pasta recipes on this site include this chicken mozzarella pasta that you are reading right now, creamy chicken pasta with bacon, and pesto chicken pasta. One thing all these pasta recipes have in common is that they use creamy, comforting sauces.
If you want to try chicken pasta that is more refreshing, without the creamy sauce, I whole-heartedly recommend family favorite chicken pasta with spinach and tomatoes or super flavorful Italian sausage pasta.
Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta with Chicken
- This recipe features sun-dried tomatoes and basil. Both ingredients are popular in Italy and in the Mediterranean region.
- The most prominent flavor in this recipe is the homemade sun-dried tomato sauce. The sauce is made from scratch by combining cream with shredded Mozzarella cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, basil, and red pepper flakes.
- Cooked chicken and penne pasta are then smothered in this delicious creamy Mozzarella pasta sauce. There is enough sauce to coat every single bite.
Ingredients for sun-dried tomato sauce
- 3 garlic cloves
- 4 oz sun-dried tomatoes
- olive oil
- salt
- paprika
- basil
- 1 cup half-and-half (or ½ cup heavy cream + ½ cup milk)
- 1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
How to make sun-dried tomato sauce
- In a large skillet, cook 3 cloves of minced garlic and 4 oz of chopped sun-dried tomatoes in 1 tablespoon of olive oil on high-medium heat for about 1 minute.
- Add ½ cup of heavy cream + ½ cup of milk (or 1 cup of half-and-half) to the same skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer.
- Add 1 cup of shredded Mozzarella cheese.
- Simmer and stir until the cheese melts and forms a creamy pasta sauce.
- Add 1 tablespoon of dried basil, paprika, and at least ¼ teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Stir to combine.
- Season with about ¼ teaspoon of salt.
Cooking Tips
- Use either sun-dried tomatoes without oil or sun-dried tomatoes in oil (in a jar). Note: if using sun-dried tomatoes in oil (in a jar), make sure to drain sun-dried tomatoes from oil, before using them.
- Sprinkle a small amount of paprika over the chicken before cooking - it adds flavor as well as the color to the dish.
- Make sure to reserve some pasta water as you will DEFINITELY need it to thin out the cream sauce.
- Feel free to increase the amount of spices for this recipe: basil, red pepper flakes, paprika. This will make the sun-dried tomato sauce even more flavorful!
- Make sure to season the chicken mozzarella pasta with just the right amount of salt. That means you might have to add more salt. Salt will enhance the flavors of basil and sun-dried tomatoes.
How to Make Chicken Mozzarella Pasta
1) In a large skillet, on medium heat sauté garlic and sun-dried tomatoes in the olive oil. Remove the sun-dried tomatoes from the skillet.
2) Season sliced chicken with salt and paprika.
3) Add the chicken to the skillet and cook on high heat.
4) Add back the sun-dried tomatoes. Add half-and-half and shredded Mozzarella cheese.
5) Bring the mixture to boil, then reduce to simmer and stir the sun-dried tomato sauce until the cheese melts.
6) Add spices: basil, crushed red pepper flakes, salt.
7) Add cooked and drained penne pasta and stir to combine.
More recipes featuring sun-dried tomato pasta
- Creamy Shrimp Pasta with Mozzarella Sauce features shrimp instead of chicken.
- Asiago Chicken Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Spinach - this sun-dried tomato pasta is made even more flavorful with the addition of Asiago cheese and spinach.
- Scallop Pasta features scallops - another protein you can use in place of chicken in a recipe that is otherwise very similar to this one.
- Creamy Mozzarella Pasta with Smoked Sausage is a great choice if you want to make the same pasta with sausage.
- Sun-Dried Tomato and Mushroom Pasta is the meatless version of this recipe.
Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta with Chicken and Creamy Mozzarella Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 4 oz sun-dried tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lb chicken breast tenderloins , sliced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- 1 cup half and half (or use ½ cup heavy cream + ½ cup milk)
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese , shredded (do not use fresh Mozzarella, use pre-shredded Mozzarella)
- 8 oz penne pasta (for gluten free, use gluten free brown rice pasta)
- 1 tablespoon basil
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ cup reserved cooked pasta water or more
- ¼ teaspoon salt to taste
Instructions
- In a large skillet, sauté garlic and sun-dried tomatoes (drained from oil) in 2 tablespoons of olive oil (reserved from the sun-dried tomatoes jar) for 1 minute on medium heat until the garlic is fragrant.
- Remove the sun-dried tomatoes from the skillet, leaving the olive oil.
- Add sliced chicken (salted and lightly covered in paprika for color) and cook on high heat for 1 minute on each side. Remove from heat.
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve some cooked pasta water. Drain the pasta.
- Slice sun-dried tomatoes into smaller pieces and add them back to the skillet with chicken.
- To make creamy pasta sauce, add half-and-half (see substitution for half-and-half in the Recipe Notes section below) and Mozzarella cheese to the skillet, and bring to a gentle boil.
- Immediately reduce to simmer and cook, constantly stirring, until all cheese melts and creamy sauce forms.
- Add cooked and drained pasta to the skillet with the cream sauce, and stir to combine.
- Add 1 tablespoon of basil, and at least ¼ teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Stir to combine.
- If the creamy sauce is too thick: Add about ½ cup of reserved cooked pasta water to the skillet to thin it out. Do not add all of pasta water at once - you might need less or more of it.
- Season the chicken pasta with salt and more red pepper flakes, to taste, if needed. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes for flavors to combine.
- Note: Make sure to salt the dish just enough to bring out of the flavors of basil and sun-dried tomatoes.
Notes
- What is half-and-half? Substitute ½ cup of milk + ½ cup of heavy cream for 1 cup of half-and-half.
- If using sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil (in a jar), make sure to drain sun-dried tomatoes from oil, before using them. Reserve 2 tablespoons of this drained olive oil.
- Do not use fresh Mozzarella. Fresh Mozzarella is usually sold as a large ball or small balls in a brine or water solution. Do not shred fresh Mozzarella. Use pre-shredded Mozzarella cheese sold in bags.
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.
This recipe was originally published in October 2014 and updated in 2018.
Hi Julia, what is half and half?
Nina, half and half is the US milk product that combines half milk half cream to form a lighter cream (unlike heavy cream). Half and half is still creamy and perfect for sauces, but it's not thick as heavy cream so you can't whip it to make whipped cream, for instance. Here is a good article: http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/glossary/g/Half-And-Half.htm
Made this for lunch today. My husband liked it very much and packed the leftovers for work tonight. Thank you
Carol, thank you! I am glad you both liked it! 🙂
The sundried tomatoes can be julienned prior to sautéing. Also, next time I will hold off on adding the garlic until the chicken is almost done. Having garlic sautéing on high heat for that amount of time results in charcoal bits. I was suspicious of adding the cheese and sauce to the pan with the chicken and sundried tomatoes already in it- especially at high heat. I went ahead and did it for the sake of experimenting but on MEDIUM heat and the sauce of course still separated. It's science. The cheese and half and half need to be brought to heat slowly and separately in a sauce pan and THEN added to skillet, particularly if you're using a cast iron skillet, in order for the sauce to stay together the night of and for re-heats. The flavor was there, but the texture of the globby cheese/oil/liquid mixture was repulsive. I'll try it again but much differently.
Thanks for the tips! Regarding the sauce separating, I usually heat the half-and-half until very hot, add cheese, and immediately reduce heat to the lowest (simmer) and stir constantly to melt the cheese. Works for me every time!
Hello I had a question 🙂 I'm going to make this dish tonight for dinner and I was wondering should I make the sauce before adding the chicken and sundried tomatoes in or should I make the sauce while the chicken is already in the pan??
This was DELICIOUS!! With two picky little ones and a picky husband-this recipe passed with flying colors. I am one happy momma and i was surprised at how easy it was to fix. I'm not one to throw things together and make them taste amazing. A recipe is a must. I bought bruschetta with italian basil sun dried tomatoes at walmart. They were already chopped and full of flavor. The rest of the recipe i followed to a tee-used regular organic penne and added some parmesan to thicken in addition to taking the dish off the heat and letting it thicken on its own for a few minutes. Another huge plus was this dish was a two dish meal! Thank you! We really enjoyed it!! Hope this helps someone else.
Olga, so great you liked it! Great tips on letting the sauce thicken on its own - I do that too and need to include it in the recipe instructions!
I made this yesterday , yummmmy every one enjoyed and will definitely will b making it again , i have been looking for a creamy sauce pasta for a long time and this just hit the spot , thanks
S, thank you so much! Love creamy pasta dishes - they are good to have in a weekly or monthly rotation. 🙂
I made this last week and it was DELISH! Not to mention, extremely easy to prepare. I followed Julia's directions to a "t" and it turned out great. My roommate said it was the best pasta dish she'd ever had and she's a huge fan of italiano. So easy and so delicious. Thank you for sharing Julia!
Michelle, thank you so much for your comment! I am glad you and your roommate like it! I love Italian food and love simple recipes. This combines both. 🙂
This was good. I added a splash of wine to the leftovers before reheating in a skillet and it put the flavor over the top. It is something to try for fun!
I know wine should be good in this recipe. I got to try adding wine too.
I made this and my half and half separated and the mixture glommed onto the chicken. The flavor was good. I can't figure out what happened.
Rick, when you add cheese, always bring the liquid sauce (half and half, in this case) to boil, add cheese, and then IMMEDIATELY reduce the heat to the lowest, or remove from heat and stir the cheese in until it melts. The logic here is that you want to heat half and half (or milk) until boiling point, then remove it from the boiling point as you're adding and stirring the cheese.
If you add the cheese while the liquid is boiling on high heat - it might separate.
I had the same Issue with the sauce. Everything was so delicious and flavorful but my sauce was a little coagulated. Not sure if this also caused there to not be a lot of sauce either. That was one thing I wish was different there was no runny sauce. I will totally try this again though! Delicious!
It would be helpful if you included these instructions in the recipe. I'm just learning how to cook, so I'm glad I scrolled through the comments and saw this. I bought the ingredients this weekend and am going to try the recipe tomorrow night!
A little bland; by a little I mean very. I like the idea, just wasn't near the flavor I expected. Needs something else in the sauce to give it some more love.
Mason,
Try adding more salt, more basil and more red pepper flakes. 🙂 It says so in the recipe too. 🙂 I am always conservative about adding spices because most people don't like overly spicy or overly salty dishes.
Thank you for the delicious recipe! I made this tonight and added some fresh sliced mushrooms and baby kale. It was a hit, and my husband said he could eat this every week!!!
Ha-ha! Thank you, Deb! Your comment made my day: "your husband said he could eat this every week!" Adding mushrooms and kale is a great idea!
Can't wait to try it!!! The recipe calls for 3 cloves of garlic - whole or do they need to be minced?
Thanks!
I have the same question! 🙂
Yes, garlic has to be minced. 🙂 I just corrected the ingredient list!
I was just wondering what is "half and half"????
Half and half is half milk, half cream. I think it's also called 'blend cream'. It's sold in the US and canada for sure, not sure about elsewhere.
Just came back to print..because I am making this for Jacques and I Sunday..tomorrow we have the boys and they are pizza fans..
Just wanted to say..
SALT is key..and tasting in everything.
AND red pepper flakes in any dish like this IMHO..
Looking forward to it..will let you know..
Wonder if Marsala would add a bit of..je ne sais quoi:)..or sherry..love that in dishes like this..anyways until I try it..and so many of your dishes are staples now:) I won't even speak alcohol add-ins:)
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Monique. I agree - in this dish it's better to oversalt than undersalt. 🙂