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Chicken Florentine Pasta is made in one skillet in just 25 minutes with diced chicken, penne pasta, sun-dried tomatoes, and a creamy Parmesan sauce! This one skillet recipe is perfect for busy nights!
Get ready for a simple one dish dinner!
One Dish Dinner Winner
Saucy pasta is one of my go-to weeknight recipes, especially if I can manage to cook the pasta and the sauce and the rest of mix-ins all together in one dish. That’s a dinner time success in my book!
This Chicken Florentine Pasta is made in one skillet, loaded with chunks of tender chicken, tossed with a creamy Parmesan sauce that packs big flavor from the sun-dried tomatoes, and there is spinach involved so this is basically a super food. <— At least that’s what I tell myself as I go back for seconds.
We really love a saucy pasta moment, especially when sun-dried tomatoes are involved. They add such a big, bright flavor to every dish, like in our Greek turkey burgers. Obsessed.
And if chicken and spinach aren’t your thing? I have a smoked sausage version of this dish that is just the best thing ever. Get the recipe for the sun-dried tomato pasta recipe.
Or skip the pasta and go for my enchilada skillet! These dishes are great for the summer since you don’t have to heat up the oven!
What Is Chicken Florentine?
The term florentine comes from the city of Florence, in Italy, and is a way of preparing chicken with a creamy sauce and spinach! If this sounds a bit like a Tuscan recipe, that’s because Florence is in Tuscany.
Our creamy Tuscan white bean soup is another delicious option if you love Italian food.
Ingredient Notes:
Chicken – We prefer chicken breasts, but you can use thighs or tenderloins as well! Just chop them up nice and small.
Sweet Onion – We add onion to this pasta, but it’s easy to leave this out for picky eaters.
Penne Pasta – We’re using penne, but any small shape of pasta will work just fine.
Chicken Broth – I’d recommend using a good quality chicken broth that you know has lots of great flavor. The penne pasta is going to soak all that broth up so it will make big difference on the flavors.
Half and Half – This is a mixture of half whole milk and half heavy cream. In the US, you can buy this near the cream. Alternately, you can make your own by just combining the two.
Sun-Dried Tomatoes – I love the flavor of sun-dried tomatoes! I’m using the kind that are not packed in oil for this recipe. They add wonderful tomato flavor to the pasta.
Parmesan Cheese – Grate your own for the best results! Do not use the powdered kind in the green shaker can.
Baby Spinach – This is an easy way to work some extra nutrition into the pasta, plus it just tastes good! The baby spinach provides flavor and texture.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
What We Love About This CHICKEN FLORENTINE PASTA Recipe:
- One Skillet: This recipe is simple with everything prepared in one skillet, including the pasta! That makes for less mess and clean up.
- 30 Minutes: We love a quick dinner and this one is done in less than 30 minutes!
- Flavors: The sun-dried tomato in the rich, creamy Parmesan sauce with the tender pasta and savory, juicy chicken is pretty much perfect!
How To Make Chicken Florentine Pasta:
Dice up the chicken, season with salt and pepper, and brown in a large skillet. Toss in the onions to soften as well.
Add the pasta, sun-dried tomatoes, chicken broth, and half and half to the skillet. Give it a stir and bring to a boil. Cook covered for about 12 minutes.
Sprinkle on the Parmesan and give the mixture a stir. The pasta should be tender and lightly coated in a creamy sauce.
Add the spinach to the skillet, cover, and let sit off the heat for 5 minutes to wilt the spinach. Give it a stir and serve hot!
Chicken Florentine Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 pound chicken breasts diced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 sweet onion diced
- 4 ounces sun-dried tomatoes
- 8 ounces penne pasta
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 3/4 cups half and half
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 6 ounces fresh baby spinach rinsed and dried
Instructions
- Heat a 12 inch skillet over medium heat and add the butter to melt. Stir to coat the pan.
- Add the chicken to the skillet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the chicken is browned, about 5 minutes.
- Add the onion to the pan and cook 2 more minutes, stirring often.
- Add the pasta and sun-dried tomatoes to the skillet. Pour in the broth and half and half. Stir well to combine.
- Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer.
- Cook for 12 minutes or until pasta is tender.
- Remove the lid and stir in the grated cheese until melted.
- Stir in the spinach. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes to wilt spinach.
- Stir well before serving.
Jenna Strait says
I am not a fan of sun-dried tomatoes. Could I sub them out for canned or fresh diced tomatoes?
Karly says
You could, but it’ll really alter the flavor of the dish. Most of the flavor comes from the sun-dried tomatoes.
Mildred Larcom says
Does your husband hate the taste of onions or doe he not like it when he get a bite of one?? My husband does not like to bite into any so in lots of things I put them in the blender and make them liquid.
Karly says
He’s a bit of both, but it’s mostly the texture. I’ll have to try the blender trick!
Jane says
This has become a regular meal in our house. Thank you.
Karly says
So glad to hear that!
shay says
I want to make this look so good! But does the chicken breast get dried up after being in the pan for so long adding the rest of the ingredients? Thx!
Karly says
It’s cooked in liquid and mostly with a lid on, so it really doesn’t dry out. 🙂
Meena says
Hi there , I just cooked this recipe . It came out very saucy . It looks more like a casserole or a bake.
I did substitute the half and half with evaporated milk , as I could not find half and half in supermarket here in Melbourne , Australia.
Karly says
Hmm, I would think that evaporated milk would work much the same as half and half, so I’m not certain that’d be the issue. You still used the same amount of pasta and cheese? If you’d like to try again and create your own half and half, it’s just half whole milk and half whipping cream.
Elaine Lukawski says
Can you tell me how many servings this makes and how many calories are in this.
Karly says
I’d say it makes 4-6 servings depending on how hungry your crowd is. I don’t have nutrition info for this one.
Jamie says
Made this for dinner today and it was a hit! I could only find the tomatoes in oil with seasonings. I put them on some paper towels for a minute or two so there wasn’t too much oil but I think they subbed fine. I did add a few shakes of red pepper flakes but other than that I made it as written and it was tasty and quick to the table…double win for me!
Karly says
So glad to hear that it turned out! I bet the red pepper flakes were a great addition!
Alyssa says
What kind of skillet are you using? I’ve been wanting to buy one but don’t where to start as I’ve never used cast iron!
Btw, tried this recipe and it was so yummy!!!! I added red pepper flakes and it added such a yummy spice to it
Kim says
Thank you SO much for sharing!! It actually tasted just as it looked … which was incredibly, amazingly DELICIOUS !!!!!
Tena says
So what happens if I use the sun=dried tomatoes I have on hand that are packed in oil. I have never seen them sold otherwise?
Karly says
You can use the oil packed version, just dry them well.
I prefer the dried ones as they don’t have additional seasonings added and I am a weirdo that sometimes sneaks a few and eats them like raisins. 😉 I find the dry ones on the very top shelf in a bag near the canned tomatoes, if you’d like to give them a try sometime.
Tom says
This recipe is delicious. I changed the amounts of half and half and chicken stock. I used a quarter cup less stock and a quarter cup more hald and half.
Karly says
Oh, I thought you were going to say you reduced the half and half for more stock to save calories. You’re my kind of people. 😉 Glad it was a hit!
Julie says
Wish more people would give reviews AFTER trying the recipe. “This looks good” is not helpful. Yes, it does look good but how did it turn out for you?!
Karly says
Food blogs are meant to be social places. I appreciate all the comments I get as it lets me know people are reading and care what I’m posting. If you’re looking for a website that just shares reviews, you might try allrecipes. 🙂
Delvie autor says
What is half and half
Karly says
It’s half heavy cream and half milk, basically. In the US, it’s sold with the milk and cream in the dairy section.
Sophie | Delightful Plate says
I have been skeptical about one skillet paste meal, but now I seriously think I need to give it a try :).
Karly says
So easy and the pasta really takes on the flavors in the dish! 🙂
Katherine says
I made it tonight & thought it was okay but maybe that is because the half and half curdled while I was simmering the pasta. Is this because my pan was too high when I brought it to a boil?
Karly says
Sorry to hear you had problems with that! I’m guessing that it was too high of a heat – a lower heat and a slower boil should reduce that. 🙂
Rach says
I made this and the leftovers were gone in less than a day. I made some modifications however, Added less chicken broth and more half and half because I prefer a creamier sauce, used boneless skinless chicken thighs simply because they always turnout more flavorful and tender in dishes, added more spinach because cooked spinach is a guilty please of mine, and I also used a can of drained fire roasted tomatos instead of sundries tomatos because I prefer that extra demension of flavor and don’t like the chewy consistance dried tomatos tend to have.