Recipes

Chicken Pesto Pasta

January 15, 2016

You know when you just throw what you have left in the fridge into a pan and hope for the best? Well that’s pretty much what I did with this recipe a few weeks ago. And I was pleasantly surprised when it tasted bloody lovely! and It’s now one of our favourites. Comfort food for me, is a big old bowl of pasta. And I love that I can enjoy this without all the guilt. This pesto pasta dish still tastes super creamy but with a lot less calories. It’s also super quick and easy to make and very family friendly!

Ingredients (Serves 4 but can easily be halved and is 3 syns per portion on Slimming World)

  • 2-3 Chicken breasts, cut into chunks (you could replace this with any variety of sausages, bacon or even pork loin)
  • Half a pack of mushrooms, cut into slices
  • 1 red onion, sliced
  • 1 red or yellow pepper, chopped
  • A handful of baby leaf spinach
  • 1 tub of lightest Philadelphia
  • 3 tbsps. of green pesto
  • 300g – 400g Penne pasta depending on your usual portion size

Method

  1. Cook the penne pasta as normal
  2. Whilst your pasta is cooking, spritz a non stick frying pan with some fry light and cook your chicken over a medium to high heat
  3. Add in the onion, mushrooms and pepper and fry off until soft
  4. In a bowl mix together the Philadelphia cheese and the pesto, add 1 tbsp. of water to loosen the mix slightly
  5. Once your pasta is cooked, drain and return to the pan then mix in the chicken, onions, mushrooms and pepper mix followed by the spinach
  6. Stir the pesto Philadelphia sauce through the pasta then serve with lots of ground black pepper and a side salad / extra veg if you wish!
  7. ENJOY!

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Harriet XO

9 Comments

  1. Emily

    January 15, 2016 at 7:12 pm
    Reply

    Mmm I looovee chicken and pesto and pasta, they are a match made in heaven! The fact that it’s healthy as well is so good too 🙂

    1. Harriet Lee

      January 18, 2016 at 9:21 am
      Reply

      I totally agree! I think I was inspired by a dish I had in pizza express once but this is a much healthier version! Thanks for your comment Emily xo

  2. Jasmine S.

    January 15, 2016 at 7:19 pm
    Reply

    Love when you’re able to throw together something awesome from the ingredients in your fridge. This chicken pesto pasta looks delicious!

    1. Harriet Lee

      January 18, 2016 at 9:20 am
      Reply

      Me too! Sometimes unplanned dinners turn out the best. Thanks for your comment xo

  3. Cher|cherthatdish

    January 16, 2016 at 2:46 am
    Reply

    Is totally know what you mean about throwing whatever’s left in the fridge together to make a dish… I have been doing that for the past week since its been raining and I have no motivation to head out in the rain to buy groceries, your pesto chicken pasta sounds delicious will keep this in mind XD

  4. Antonia Ludden

    January 25, 2016 at 8:12 pm
    Reply

    Had this tonight, it was lovely thanks!

    1. Harriet Lee

      January 25, 2016 at 8:37 pm
      Reply

      So glad you liked it!! Xo

  5. Kimberley

    August 6, 2018 at 9:36 am
    Reply

    Hi! could I ask, are the syns for the pesto and the cream cheese or are you using the cream cheese as heA? Ive made this a few times since finding your recipe and I love it! But I don’t use the cheese as my HeA so was wondering if I needed to add syns etc

    Thanks! xxx

    1. Harriet

      August 6, 2018 at 9:44 am
      Reply

      Hello! I thiiiiiink when I wrote it I used the syns for just the pesto and used my hex a for the cream cheese! I am about to give this post a revamp as have changed my method slightly and will take some better photos too. I shall amend the wording too about syns! Hope this helps xx

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