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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.
Oh my gosh! This was super delicious. I cut the chicken into bite size pieces. The sauce was the best I’ve ever had.
I didn't like sundried tomatoes before this recipe. What a dish! Thank you very much!!
Add spinach to get in a vegetable and bacon for an extra delicious taste. Thinking about adding pine nuts as well. Love this pasta!
I was excited to try this recipe because it didn’t call for cream cheese as the base for the cream sauce. This dish came together so quickly and was delicious. Definitely making it again.
I made this once and loved it. I’m trying it again with the addition of small meatballs in addition to the chicken. My husband does not like chicken. Your thoughts?
I look at all recipes like this...that recipe looks amazing but it’s a fish recipe and we don’t like fish, so I’m making it with chicken. We don’t like that vegetable so I’m using this one instead or leaving it out entirely. Tweak away!! You can also make the sauce, divide it and put chicken in one half and meatballs in another. I would definitely make extra sauce if I was doing that
very tasty and super simple. my favorite kind of dinners. i’ve had 3 jars yes 3 jars of sun-dried tomatoes in my fridge for the longest time! thank you for helping me put them to good use!
Looks great! But Why the aversion to fresh mozzarella in this recipe?
Wonderful recipe I used fresh basil and served with your simple spinach salad And a glass of red wine. Perfect pairing 🙂
I am so happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to share such a positive review. Love your pairing with a simple spinach salad and a glass of red wine. 🙂
Can this be frozen and still have a good texture and not separate because of the cream or half-abd-half?
Thanks!
If I could give this recipe 10 stars, I would. I did make changes, though. I used a full pound of pasta and added a cup of heavy cream to the already listed cup of half and half. I kept the amount of chicken the same, but after I cooked the chicken and removed it from the pan, I added 2 tablespoons of butter and then cooked a pound of peeled and de-veined shrimp with 1 teaspoon of garlic powder. Once cooked, I threw that in with the chicken. I doubled the mozzarella cheese to 2 cups, also. This pretty much filled my dutch oven and fed 5 adults (some took seconds) and still had a few servings left over. I used dry sun dried tomatoes that I had brought home from Italy and just rehydrated them night before by pouring 2 cups of boiling water over them and then just let that sit overnight. This also tempered the salt from the tomatoes.
Lisa, thank you so much for such a wonderful review! So glad you enjoyed this pasta! Love your addition of shrimp: shrimp and chicken together are delicious in a creamy pasta dish! Thank you for taking the time to share such detailed and helpful feedback. 🙂
Looks delicious. Can I substitute sun dried tomatoes for something else?
Hi Amanda! Sun-dried tomatoes are integral to this recipe, if you prefer not to use them, I would recommend the sauce with regular tomatoes, such as in this recipe (this recipe below uses shrimp but you can use chicken instead):
Spicy Shrimp Pasta with Garlic Tomato Cream Sauce
I made this with no changes, just double recipe since we are a family of 7, my 4 picky boys loved it .. They only picked out the red stuff.. ..
Brenda, so glad your family enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Can I use boneless skinless chicken thighs for this? It looks amazing and I am going to add spinach as some others mentioned.
Hi Lynn! Yes, using boneless skinless chicken thighs would be the same as using chicken tenderloins. The addition of spinach would be delicious!
Thank you so much for this recipe! The only change I made was using parmigiano reggiano instead of mozzarella. Delicious!!!!
Lauren, thank you for your comment! Glad you liked the recipe!
Enjoyed this recipe. Husband loved it. I did half the sundries tomatoes and added artichoke hearts (canned in brine not marinated). I would have liked to add spinach too. I will do that next time.
Natasha, I am glad you liked this dish! Love your addition of artichoke hearts. Spinach would taste great, too!
This is a great recipe as is.
For a bit of a southwestern flair, I like add a tsp of chipotle chile powder and I also replace the mozzarella cheese with quesadilla cheese. The quesadilla cheese leaves you with a nice, creamy sauce.
Rose, I love your changes! Love chipotle and I bet it tastes delicious in a cream sauce!