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
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.
I want to make this a day ahead. What is the best way to reheat it?
Because this recipe features a creamy sauce with cheese, it will not reheat well (will separate). I do not recommend making this ahead.
I am wondering if the chicken is supposed to cook longer then 2 minutes or am I using two thick of chicken tenderloins?
Thank you
Kirstie, cooking the chicken initially for about 1 or 2 minutes is OK. You will continue cooking the chicken in the sauce - since you will be adding the sauce ingredients to the skillet with the chicken in it.
This was so good! But my sauce dried up. I didn’t have any sauce after it was done cooking
If your sauce got too thick, I would thin it out by gradually adding small amounts of half-and-half or whole milk while the sauce simmers.
I made this with my husband before a big work trip as a special dinner, we added mushrooms and doubled the cream mixture. He absolutely loved it and he had never tried Sun-dried tomatoes before. I loved the recipe and think the mushrooms were a great addition
Yes, mushrooms are a great addition to this kind of sauce. Abby, I am glad the recipe was enjoyed! 🙂 Thank you for the comment and the 5-star review!
Does this freeze well?
I do not recommend freezing this dish because it has a creamy sauce with cheese - which will change the texture when reheated.
If you do decide to freeze it, thaw it completely before reheating, then reheat on the stove-top on medium heat by adding extra milk or half-and-half or cream to thin out the sauce.
This was my first time eating sun-dried tomatoes. This was amazing! I may add bacon the next time. Has anyone done that?
I am glad you liked sun-dried tomatoes - they are delicious, aren't they? Adding bacon would be quite tasty, too!
I didn’t have any sun dried tomatoes so I used a sliced red chili pepper. Then added a few tbsps of tomato paste at the end of the garlic and pepper sauté before adding the dairy to the sauce. I used 1/2 Latin American crema and 1/2 milk and shredded mozzarella from a block of part skim. I used some Italian seasoning mix and a scoop of sun dried tomato pesto on the chicken before pouring the sauce back on. I used some of the pasta water to thin the sauce out as suggested.
I know with my changes it isn’t exactly as the recipe, but thought I’d share how I made it work for what I had on hand. Served with spaghetti noodles. Thank you. The family loved it!
LOVE, LOVE your creativity and changes! Thank you for sharing this detailed, almost step-by-step process - very helpful for others who might want to make similar changes. I love that you used different kinds of cheese and sun-dried tomato pesto.
Best pasta dish we’ve had in forever! Made it exactly as written and it was perfection in a pan! I have 4 kids, 2 of which are extremely picky and everyone ate seconds! Huge win for this mama so THANK YOU!!
Melisa, I am so, so happy you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for stopping by and sharing such a positive and uplifting comment - comments like that make my day and make me want to do more recipes!
Probably the best pasta dish I've ever made! Thanks for this awesome recipe 🙂
WOW, Natalia, your comment truly made my day much better than it was! Thank you for being so kind. 🙂
Thanks for sharing! We enjoyed it very much. It was an easy dish to put together. The sundried tomatoes made it very tasty. I love sundried tomatoes!
Joy, I am glad the recipe was a success! 🙂 Thank you for your comment and the 5-star review! 🙂
Can I substitute with sun dried tomato paste instead of actual sun dried tomatoes?
Yes, you can use something like sun-dried tomato pesto instead of the actual sun-dried tomatoes.
Why pre-shredded cheese?
Dianne, I mention pre-shredded Mozzarella cheese to make a clear distinction not to use fresh Mozzarella (that is usually sold in large or small balls).
Use pre-shredded Mozzarella cheese is labeled as part-skim, low-moisture - which is very different from fresh Mozzarella balls.
Hello. Do the red pepper flakes make this meal spicy?
Not really. There is not enough red pepper flakes for all the sauce and the pasta and the chicken to make it spicy - just adds a nice flavor.
Delicious! It’s a fairly easy and quick recipe that never fails.
Made this last night and it is going to be a regular. My hubby (who doesn’t like pasta) devoured it!
I am so glad the recipe was enjoyed! And, thank you for taking the time to share this wonderful feedback!