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Amazing 40-Minute Creamy Spinach Chicken Pasta

Creamy Spinach Chicken Pasta
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This Creamy Spinach Chicken Pasta brings a hidden vegetable boost right into a perfectly smooth, comforting sauce. It’s a simple dish that tastes like a cherished memory made new.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 pound chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 10 ounces fresh spinach
  • 8 ounces pasta (fettuccine or penne work well)
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened (for extra smoothness)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water before draining.
  2. While pasta cooks, season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
  3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until browned and cooked through. Remove chicken and set aside.
  4. Add onion to the skillet and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more until fragrant.
  5. Add chicken broth and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
  6. Stir in heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, and cream cheese. Whisk constantly until the cream cheese melts and the sauce is completely smooth.
  7. Add dried oregano. Stir in the spinach in batches, allowing it to wilt completely into the sauce. The spinach blends in nicely!
  8. Return the cooked chicken to the skillet. Add the drained pasta.
  9. Toss everything together. If the sauce seems too thick, add a splash of the reserved pasta water until you reach your desired creamy consistency.
  10. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

Notes

  • For the smoothest sauce, make sure your cream cheese is fully softened before adding it.
  • Using a blender to briefly pulse some of the wilted spinach with the broth before adding the cream can further hide the green color while keeping the nutrition.
  • This recipe tastes best when the pasta is just slightly underdone before adding it to the sauce to finish cooking.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://delishdiarist.com/creamy-spinach-chicken-pasta-smooth-sauce/