If you love creamy, hearty pastas, this creamy chicken pasta with spinach is going to change your life, or at the very least, it’ll make a really good dinner.
Mike and I are avid skiers, and that means that in the winter, we’re always hungry. Well, maybe not Mike, but I’m always starving. After coming off the mountain, I need to eat, like, five minutes ago.
As much as I love après, I love homemade food like this creamy, satisfying chicken and spinach pasta even more. It’s been my absolute food fixation as of late. It’s amazing because I prep it in advance so it’s ready to go. Mike cooks the pasta and sauces—saucing pasta is a true skill, and he’s the best at it—and then we’re ready to eat. By the way, if you love pasta recipes, check out our cookbook That Noodle Life for more of these!
Creamy Chicken and Spinach Pasta
This pasta is kind of a take on chicken pot pie. Essentially, it’s all the goodness of chicken pot pie: tender chunks of chicken and vegetables in a creamy sauce, but with pasta instead of pie crust. Somehow, it’s more filling and satisfying than pie. Plus, you don’t have to do any pie-crusting, which is a plus in my books. If you’ve ever made chicken pot pie filling, this recipe is essentially the same idea.
Chicken Pot Pie Pasta Ingredients
- Chicken – I like buying skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs because they’re super economical and delicious. I’ll debone the thighs, cut up the meat and skin into bite-size pieces, and use the bones for stock. If that sounds like too much work, buy boneless, skinless thighs and cut them into bite-size pieces. Or, if you’re really in a rush, ground chicken can work too, although it’ll be a different texture.
- Butter – We’re going to use butter two ways: to cook the aromatics and to make a roux to thicken the sauce.
- Aromatics – A mix of onions, garlic, and carrots adds sweetness and flavor.
- Flour – You need flour to make a roux, which is a fancy French way of saying you’re making a thickener for the sauce.
- Chicken stock and milk – Chicken stock adds an extra boost of chicken flavor, and milk adds creaminess.
- Cheese – Any kind of shredded cheese will work here, but it’s best if you stick to white cheeses: mozzarella, Parmesan, Gouda, Gruyère, and the like.
- Pasta – Short, spoonable pasta with lots of nooks and crannies for the sauce to hide in. Here we went with blah blah blah. Some shapes you can try are mezze penne, ziti, rigatoni, fusilli, and cavatappi.
How to Make Creamy Chicken Spinach Pasta
- Prep – Start by prepping the aromatics: peel and dice an onion and two carrots, then peel and mince the garlic. Roughly chop the spinach and shred the cheese, then set aside. Cut the chicken thighs into small, even pieces. You don’t need to be too particular about the size.
- Sauté – Sauté the onion, garlic, and carrots in butter until slightly soft and aromatic. Add the chicken to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and cook lightly, stirring as needed. At this point, the chicken doesn’t need to cook through, as it will continue cooking as the sauce thickens.
- Stir – When the chicken is lightly cooked, melt in some butter. Once melted, sprinkle in the flour and stir until it coats all the pieces of chicken and vegetables.
- Add – Slowly stream in the chicken stock and milk, stirring well. Let the sauce come up to a gentle simmer. When it starts to bubble, turn down the heat and let it simmer and thicken.
- Boil – While the sauce is thickening, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta 3 minutes shy of al dente. Reserve some of the starchy pasta water, then drain the pasta.
- Finish – When the pasta is ready, add the shredded cheese and chopped spinach to the sauce. Stir until the cheese melts and the spinach wilts. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.
- Sauce – Add the drained pasta directly to the pot with the sauce. Stir and continue to cook over medium-low heat until the pasta is al dente, about 3 minutes. Loosen the sauce with reserved pasta water if needed.
- Enjoy – Serve it up and enjoy!
My fave pasta shape
We love any kind of pasta that has lots of nooks and crannies for the sauce to sneak into. No long noodles here—short, scoopable pasta is what we’re after. Some of our favorites are the mezze kind. Mezze, in pasta talk, means half sleeves, or short. Mezze pasta shapes are shorter and smaller. We love mezze maniche, mezze rigatoni, mezze rigate, and mezze penne. Other short pasta shapes work great too: macaroni, fusilli, gemelli, cavatapi, conchigliette (shells), and fiorelli.
What to Serve with Chicken Pot Pie Pasta
This is an all-in-one meal with protein, vegetables, and carbs, so you don’t need anything else. But if you want to go all out, a simple kale salad and some homemade focaccia would take this from a weeknight dinner to a sit-down, semi-fancy affair.
xoxo
-steph
Creamy Chicken Pot Pie Pasta
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp butter divided
- 1/2 medium onion peeled and diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 carrot peeled and diced
- 1.25 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs 1/2 in cubed
- 5 tbsp flour
- 1.25 cups chicken stock
- 3/4 cups milk
- 2 cups shredded cheese of choice
- 4 oz baby spinach chopped
- 1 lb pasta of choice
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and translucent. Stir in the carrots and cook for 2–3 minutes.
- Add the chicken, season with salt and pepper, and lightly cook, stirring as needed. The chicken doesn’t need to cook through at this point, as the chicken will cook in the sauce as it continues to simmer.
- Add the remaining butter and stir until melted. Sprinkle in the flour and stir into the chicken and vegetables until evenly coated.
- Slowly stream in the chicken stock while stirring. Stir in the milk and let simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.
- While the sauce is thickening, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta 3 minutes shy of al dente, according to the package directions.
- Add the shredded cheese and spinach to the sauce. Stir until the cheese melts and the spinach wilts. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Reserve 2 cups of the pasta water, then drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the sauce and continue cooking until al dente, about 3 minutes. Add reserved pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce. Stir and toss until glossy, creamy, and perfectly al dente. Enjoy hot!
mmmm creamy and delicious – Nisal Nisanthra DeSilva 67