This Chicken Penne with Swiss Chard & Sun Dried Tomato Pesto is a way to seriously step up your pasta night! This recipe is fairly balanced nutritionally and is made from common ingredients you can easily find at most grocery stores. Between making the pesto sauce and marinating the chicken, there is a tad bit of planning involved, but this dish is so worth the energy.
Every time I’m feeling uninspired in the kitchen, I start with a box of pasta. Pasta is such a simple yet lovable ingredient that’s easy to riff off of and create new wonderful meals with. This was one of those meals for me. It started kind of lazy, honestly. I had already created the sun dried tomato pesto sauce for the blog and had a mish mash of ingredients in the fridge and what do you know? It all came together to make something great. Crisp and colorful swiss chard, savory and salty pesto sauce, aromatic garlic, hot and tender chicken, and soft yet al dente penne pasta… Hungry yet?
Ingredients
- Chicken breast
- Garlic salt
- Garlic clove
- Black pepper
- Red pepper flakes
- Italian Seasoning
- Penne pasta
- Swiss chard leaves and stalks
- Sun dried tomato pesto sauce
- Alfredo sauce
. You don’t have to, but I recommend trimming the undesirable bits off your chicken breast before marinating it. I know it’s a little extra work, but removing some of the fatty or tendinous parts of the breast can really save you some yuck factor later on.
. If you aren’t a garlic person, choose between the clove and the salt while marinating your chicken. If you remove the garlic salt, make sure to sub it with regular salt.
. I prefer the Italian seasoning paste to the dried seasoning. I find that the flavor is stronger and more aromatic when the herbs are fresher or rehydrated. However, the paste costs more than the dried stuff so use what you’ve got and remember to follow the recipe but taste along the way so you can adjust to your liking.
. If swiss chard is hard to find or not to your liking then you can sub this our with chopped spinach leaves instead. The taste will be different but you’ll still have some veggies in the dish which matters most.
. Many major grocery stores have one or two options for sun dried tomato pesto in the aisle with other jarred pesto sauces. I highly recommend making your own (a post will come out this week for my recipe) as it’s often tastier and less expensive for how much it yields, but you choose whichever option works better for your lifestyle.
. The Alfredo sauce is an optional addition. My recommendation is to put the whole thing together, then taste it and decide if you’d enjoy it more with a little creaminess added into the mix.
How to Make this Pasta
Begin by cubing and marinating the chicken. Add the chicken cubes and the seasonings to a bag or other sealable container, then let it sit at least 30 minutes to really absorb the flavors. While the chicken marinating, chop your chard and boil and cook your pasta until it’s al dente. For penne I find 7-9 minutes is the perfect time range, but make sure to test your pasta along the way to check on the texture. Once the pasta has cooked, strain it and set it aside for later.
When the chicken has marinated long enough, drizzle a bit of oil into a large frying pan and once heated, add your chicken. Cook this on medium high heat and stir every minute or so until it’s cooked and browned on all sides. Toss in the chopped chard and lower the heat, then continue to stir until the chard leaves have wilted down. Stir in the penne and sun dried tomato pesto sauce. Stir consistently while the dish heats, then once it’s ready, taste, make any adjustments necessary, and serve.
What to Pair this With
This dish is balanced and decently high in calories, so my suggested pairings would be a small leafy salad and perhaps a cup of minestrone soup. If you’ve looking to carbo load, my go to is always some easy homemade garlic bread, which I’ll be releasing a recipe for in the next few weeks!
Chicken Penne with Swiss Chard & Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1 chicken breast, cooked and cubed
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 clove garlic, chopped or shredded
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
Pasta
- 4 cups penne, cooked
- 4 cups swiss chard, chopped
- 3/4 cup sun dried tomato pesto sauce, linked in notes below
Optional
- 1/4 cup Alfredo sauce
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, for topping
Instructions
- Trim and cube chicken, then toss into a bowl and marinate with dry seasonings for at least 30 minutes.
- Boil and cook penne, then drain and set aside.
- In a large pan, pour a dash of oil and heat. Once heated, toss in chicken and cook on medium high heat until it browns on all sides.
- Toss in the chopped chard and turn the heat down to medium. Continue to sauté until the chard is cooked, about 3-5 minutes.
- Stir in the penne and sun dried tomato pesto. Heat through and then serve.
Notes
- If you prefer a slightly less acidic pasta dish, calm down the pesto by adding the dash of Alfredo sauce at the end.
- Recipe link coming this week for the Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Sauce!