Chicken Tomato Pasta

In this delicious pasta recipe, linguine noodles are tossed with seasoned chicken breasts and a quick and easy tomato sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword pasta dinner

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 40

Total Time 55

Servings

Calories 514kcal

1– 1½ pound Chicken Breast boneless, skinless, cut in half to make two thinner pieces
2 teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
½ teaspoon Dried Rosemary
½ teaspoon Dried Thyme
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
Pinch Crushed Red Pepper optional
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Small Onion diced
5-6 Garlic Cloves minced
1 28 ounce can Crushed Tomatoes, or 2 (14.5 ounce) cans
12 ounces Linguine cooked to package directions for al dente
Salt for the Pasta Water
1-2 tablespoons Chopped Parsley for garnish
Parmesan Cheese for serving if desired

Cut the chicken in half lengthwise, to make two smaller pieces.
Add the salt, dried oregano, garlic powder, rosemary, dried thyme, black pepper and the crushed red pepper (if using). Stir the spices together to combine.
Season the chicken on both sides with about half of the seasoning mix. Reserve the remaining mix for the sauce.

Heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat.
Add the chicken to the skillet. Cook the chicken for 5 minutes. Turn and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and at least 165°F at its thickest part.
Take the skillet off the heat. Remove the chicken from the skillet and place on a plate or pan and keep warm.

Do not wash or wipe the skillet.
Place the skillet back over medium heat, add the onions and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Add the tomatoes and the reserved seasoning mix. Stir the sauce well, while gently scrapping any bits off the bottom of the skillet. Slowly bring the sauce to a simmer, lower the heat to medium-low and cover.
Cook the tomato sauce for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep the sauce at a simmer, if it’s boiling too vigorously, lower the heat a bit.

When there’s about 10-15 left on the sauce, crank the heat on the boiling water. Remember to add a generous amount of salt to the pasta water. Cook to package directions for al dente. Before draining the pasta, reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water.
Set the cooked pasta aside and slice the chicken breasts into thin slices or cubes.
Taste the tomato sauce, add extra salt and black pepper to taste, if needed. As a reference we did not add extra salt to our tomato sauce.
Add the linguine to the tomato sauce along with about a 2-3 tablespoons of the reserved pasta water, toss well to coat. Add the sliced chicken and chopped parsley and toss until combined.
Serve the chicken tomato pasta with parmesan cheese and extra crushed red pepper, if desired.

Use a skillet that is large enough to hold the sauce, chicken and finish by tossing the pasta at the end.

The cooking time for the chicken will depend on the thickness of the chicken. It could be more or less time.

Add more pasta water if needed to make the noodles easier to toss.