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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.
I've pinned this recipe about 4 different times and finally tried it tonight. Now I'm deleting it. The dish barely had any taste. Using chicken tenders was a mistake....they broke down in the thickening of the sauce. The cheese made the dish unmanageable....very gooey and too hard to serve (and yes I added pasta water and extra half and half to try to thin it). Skip this one.
I made the chicken mozzarella with sun dried tomatoes and it was bland so I added bouillon cubes and if I decide to make it again I'll use half as much basil because it was way too much.
I had all the ingredients for this and almost didn't make it based on the couple of "bland" reviews! Boy am i glad I made it! I ended up having it for lunch instead of dinner! The only difference I did was use 5 cloves, 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil, a little extra red pepper flakes and definitely salt to taste - I didn't need to use much with my sea salt. I can't wait for my hubby to get home and have some! This will definitely be added to our weekly menu. Yum Yum!
Very tasty. I used Alessi brand sun-dried tomatoes and they were absolutely delicious. The sauce and spices were a bit heavy, but overall I enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for sharing it!
This is SOOOO good. Thanks for sharing such a tasty recipe.
This is just gross...I am Italian and this is not Italian food and Italians would never eat this mix and match...call it American spaghettos but please do not pretend you know how to cook Italian food...
My, why so angry? I would not want an American to go to another country and profess to speak for me; likewise, I don't think you speak for all Italians. There is nothing wrong with providing feedback that you did not enjoy the recipe. However, attacking the woman who posted this recipe is unkind. This is my first visit to this website, but these recipes look wonderful and I can't wait to try them.
Love love love this dish! I've made it several times in the past few years; it is a family favorite.
The last two times I have attempted to make this dish, it has not turned out as before.
The pasta sauce is somewhat of a tan color, unlike the normal white(ish) cream with a hint of red(from the paprika), and I just can't seem to get the mozzarella to fully melt, it forms into little clumps.
PLEASE help with any tips and/or recommendations you may have as to what i'm doing wrong.
I NEED this pasta dish back into my life !!
Thank you !
Love love love this dish! It's a family favorite; I've made it several times.
The last two times I've attempted to make it, the pasta sauce hasn't turned out right.
Rather than being a creamy white with a touch of red (paprika), it comes out to be an ugly tan color, not appetizing at all. Also, the Mozzarella just can't seem to melt completely, it clumps up.
PLEASE let me know any tips or suggestions as to why this is happening.
I need this dish back in my life!
Just made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious. Very flavorful and, frankly, to me it rivaled anything that I usually get at Maggiano's. The only thing I did differently was to use chicken thigh meat and to cook it a bit longer in the initial stage to get a nice brown crust on it (yum, yum). This one is going into the rotation. Thank you!
I have made this twice (tonight is my 2nd time) and it so yummy! I have one small addition though - instead of using regular paprika I used smoked paprika and a little more than just a pinch - gave the dish a nice smoky flavor! Thank you for posting!
I like this recipe.. I didn't use the crushed red pepper because my hubby doesn't like spicy. What I didn't enjoy about it was that the chicken wasn't cooked enough and there wasn't much sauce. Tasted more like a alla vodka than anything.. I'll make again, just no chicken.
I have made this a few times. Each time, the cheese clumps together. It tastes fine, but it's frustrating!
Omg....this was So Good! I'm so making this again! I think it would be really good with shrimp also. I will cut the sundried tomatoes smaller next time but that was my fault. Quick, easy, and delicious! And leftovers reheat awesomely. Love love love
This is a great base to play off any other flavors you wish to impart. Instead of chicken breasts I used thighs, and velveted them for better texture...thanks Julia for a great recipe!
Gravitated to your recipe using the sun dried tomatoes, which I love in oil or not. Flavorful punch. Wanted to share something I learned many many years ago from my Cecilian Mother in Law about "cooking pasta". It has worked very well for me and maybe you'd appreciate. Also, as a "Chopped" fan, am often reminded by one of the judges the "correct" method, according to him, of cooking pasta. First, the pasta should be cooked in the pot of boiling water just short of it's finished cooking time and allow the pasta to finish cooking in the sauce. And never rinse the pasta. The pasta will absorb the sauce better. So here’s the trick: one minute before the cooking time is over pour one or two table spoons (or per your recipe) of cooking water from the pot in the pan where you are heating the sauce, then strain the pasta out of the water and pour it directly in the pan, mixing it with the sauce and ending the cooking time in there. Let it heat for a minute to a minute and a half, then take the pan from heat and serve your pasta. Does that make sense? Mangia Mangia.