Grilled Chicken With Pesto Pasta with curly lettuce and cherry tomatoes is a fast and easy, weeknight go-to for me. This might be the easiest, most delicious pasta dish you’ve ever made. You’ll only need 10 minutes, 20 ingredients and $15 to make 4 servings! It’s my go-to meal when I want something family friendly and quick. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Grilled Chicken and Asparagus Pesto Pasta
Grilled Chicken and Asparagus Pesto Pasta is perfect for summer! Simple ingredients, but tons of flavor thanks to grilling and the pesto lemon sauce. Serve it warm or cold for a delicious and healthy weeknight dinner!
A pasta recipe that’s perfect for summer! This Grilled Chicken and Asparagus Pesto Pasta turned out even better than I thought it would. The best part, other than it’s easy to make and doesn’t use too many ingredients, is it can be served warm or cold.
Grilling the chicken and asparagus for this pasta adds a ton of flavor. Grilling asparagus is my favorite way to prepare it. This Lemon Parmesan Grilled Asparagus is one of my favorite side dishes to make when we need a vegetable on our dinner plates. The grill gives the asparagus a hint of smoky flavor and it only takes about 3-5 minutes to cook.
In my opinion, grilling asparagus is the easiest method for cooking it. If you’ve never tried grilling it, here’s how you do it.
How to Grill Asparagus
- Heat the grill to high. Mine is usually around 425°-450° when I add the asparagus.
- Cut the woody ends off of the asparagus then lay them out in a single layer on a foil lined sheet pan.
- Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Toss them around until they are all coated.
- Place the asparagus horizontally on the grill grates, cover with the lid and cook for about 2 minutes.
- Use tongs to roll or flip them over once they have nice grill marks, then cook another 1-3 minutes depending on the size. The asparagus should be tender, but not mushy.
On top of it being easy to grill asparagus, there’s also very little to clean. Especially if you line your baking sheet with foil.
The grilled chicken is also quite simple. All it needs is salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. The reason the asparagus and chicken don’t need much added flavoring is because of the pesto that will become the sauce for the pasta. I used one of my favorite store bought pesto, but feel free to use homemade.
Along with the pesto, there is also fresh lemon juice and shredded Pecorino Romano cheese. Pecorino Romano is a sheeps milk cheese. It’s similar to Parmesan cheeses, but has a sharper and saltier flavor. It’s also less expensive than Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, which is always what I recommend buying when you need parmesan cheese in a recipe.
This Grilled Chicken and Asparagus Pesto Pasta is delicious when eaten warm for dinner. However, you can also serve it cold like you would a pasta salad. It would be a wonderful addition to a barbecue or picnic. Want to make it vegetarian? Skip the chicken and add more grilled asparagus or cannellini beans. If you’re gluten-free try using a chickpea pasta such as Banza, that’s what I used. Enjoy!
The Best Grilled Chicken Pesto Pasta
If you’re searching for the best grilled chicken pesto pasta recipe that’s healthy and full of flavor, look no further! This is sure to be a hit with the entire family.
Pesto Chicken Pasta
We have been loving everything pesto in our house these days, between making our homemade pesto and spreading on bread, or our chicken pesto pizza we are in heaven!
This week, we were so busy! So, I was trying to come up with a healthy easy recipe to serve in between all our activities.
I had some homemade pesto in the fridge and some cherry tomatoes so I decided to create this simple meal, Grilled Chicken Pesto Pasta!
It was a crowd favorite in our home and it was a definite favorite for me, because it was so easy to make! I always have all the ingredients on hand and this grilled chicken pesto pasta can easily be served cold as a grilled chicken pesto pasta salad if people have to eat a bit later (or for leftovers the next day!
Pesto Chicken Pasta Recipe
Grilled Chicken Pesto Pasta
Serves- 4-6
Prep Time- 20 minutes (10 minutes noodles, 10 for rest of prep)
Cook Time- 5 minutes (grilling chicken)
Total Time- 25 minutes
Tips And Tricks For Pesto Chicken Pasta
Best Serving Temperature For Pesto Chicken Pasta
I love Pesto Chicken Pasta served as a cold pasta. I promise you will too. If you want to serve it cold you’ll have to time it just right. You will need about 2 hours to allow the dish to cool down before placing it in the fridge.
However, if you are in a hurry and don’t have time to let it cool serving it warm is just as tasty!
What Is The Best Pasta For Pesto Sauce?
Any type of pasta works great in pesto sauce, but I like to use short and compact noodles like farfalle, penne or rigatoni. Shorter noodles allow the pesto to coat the noodles evenly and are much easier to eat!
Is Pesto Sauce Healthy?
Yes! In fact, our nut-free pesto sauce recipe is made of just basil leaves, garlic cloves, parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper! It is a great, healthy way to add a ton of flavor to your dish!
Should Pesto Be Heated?
You should never heat your pesto! The heat from the noodles will warm the pesto sauce enough without you having to place it over direct heat.
Direct heat can destroy the aroma as the basil is cooked and can also cause the cheese to clump.
It’s best just to spoon your pesto sauce onto your warm pasta and serve from there!
Why Is My Homemade Pesto Bitter?
If your homemade pesto sauce is bitter? Olive oil is most likely the culprit. Occasionally, the process of emulsifying the olive oil in a food processor will cause it to retain a bitter taste.
If this is happening to you, try mixing in the olive oil by hand after the rest of the ingredients are blended together.
How Do You Thin Out Pesto?
Is your pesto sauce too thick? If needed, simply add a tablespoon at a time of water until the sauce reaches the consistency you are after!
What Side Dishes Go With Grilled Chicken Pesto Pasta?
I love serving my grilled chicken pesto pasta with a rustic loaf of bread and usually a caesar salad.
How To Store Grilled Chicken With Pesto Pasta Leftovers
This grilled chicken with pesto pasta can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.
I don’t recommend freezing grilled chicken pesto pasta, but the pesto can definitely be frozen on its own and brought to room temperature before adding it to fresh noodles.
To reheat, simply place the pesto pasta in a microwave-safe dish and heat until the desired temperature.
basil pesto chicken spaghetti
basil pesto chicken spaghetti is packed with flavour and comes together so quickly. it’s sure to become a week-night favourite!
Basil Pesto Chicken Spaghetti… Head turning recipe? I think so!
One of the easiest recipes on this whole entire site is this Basil Pesto Chicken Spaghetti, while also being one of the most flavourful meals you will ever try. This Basil Pesto Chicken Spaghetti is so easy to make and ready and on the table in under 20 minutes. Especially if you happen to have a jar of this Homemade Basil Pesto lying around. If not, you can always use a store bought pesto!
The only effort in this recipe is boiling the spaghetti according to packet instructions; grilling your chicken and cherry tomatoes in pesto for even MORE pesto flavour following this recipe; then mixing it all together.
I’ve included the cherry tomatoes in this pasta recipe BECAUSE they add a beautiful flavour into the pasta. Feel free to leave them out if you wish.
Also, the pasta is equally delicious without chicken if you’re in a real big rush, and perfect for a meatless Monday the of deal.