This Chicken Spinach Pasta features fresh spinach leaves, creamy feta cheese, and red peppers for a quick and easy pasta dinner on busy weeknights!
I grew up only ever having seen chopped raw spinach leaves in chilli bites (a kind of falafel-type finger food that my mom would deep fry for us as a snack).
These days, spinach has become one of my favorite greens to cook with. I love the savory, slightly earthy taste of sauteed spinach, onions, and feta, seasoned only with salt and black pepper. So good!
I first came across this combination served as a quesadilla filling at a restaurant in my city many years ago, and I enjoyed it so much that now I need to try different ways to serve it. I hope you give it a try.
More Pasta Recipes To Try
Easy Canned Tuna Pasta
Cheesy Pesto Pasta
Feta Pasta Without Tomato
Quick Curry Pasta
Table of Contents
Ingredients for Chicken and Spinach Pasta
This spinach pasta recipe doesn’t require any fancy ingredients, besides maybe the feta. The rest you’ll probably have in your kitchen most of the time, which makes this a great pasta to whip up for lunch or dinner.
Pasta: I used penne in this recipe, but any style of pasta will do.
Chicken breasts: For convenience, I suggest using skinless, boneless chicken for this recipe. You can use chicken pieces, but you’d need to extend their cooking time accordingly.
Salt: Be cautious with the quantity of salt you add, since the salt content in the chicken stock you choose to use, may be sufficient.
Black pepper: Black pepper pairs well with spinach, but you can swap it out for red chili pepper flakes if you want some extra heat.
Butter: I prefer to add butter to saute vegetables, as I feel it gives a great bit of extra flavor to veggies and sauces.
Olive oil: Mostly it prevents the butter from browning, while also making the pasta sauce quite silky.
Paprika powder (optional): I added paprika powder to the chicken, mainly for a hint of color. You could use turmeric powder for the same purpose if you like.
Cayenne pepper (optional): Sometimes I prefer a bit of a bite to my cheesy pasta sauces, hence the pinch of cayenne. Skip it if you’re sensitive to spicy heat.
Fresh garlic: Garlic powder doesn’t really do this spinach pasta sauce much justice, but you can use it if you don’t have any fresh garlic cloves.
Onion: The onion in this recipe isn’t vital, but I do think it complements the spinach to create a detectable savoriness that enhances the pasta sauce.
Fresh spinach: I used regular spinach leaves, but baby spinach works just as well. The flavor may be slightly different, but still good.
Fresh/roasted red pepper (optional): I added fresh red pepper strips because I needed to use them up, but you can omit them without compromising the taste of this pasta dish.
Chicken stock: When cooking any chicken pasta, I invariably prefer to use chicken stock to highlight the chicken flavor in the sauce, but you can leave it out, or use water instead.
Heavy cream: This time I used just a splash of heavy cream, because the brand of feta I chose was quite hard. Leave it out if you’re using a softer, creamier variety of feta cheese.
Feta cheese: This tangy cheese melts to make the creamy sauce base for this chicken pasta. It’s particularly delicious when paired with spinach, so I highly recommend not substituting it with another type of cheese.
How to make Pasta with Spinach and Chicken: Step by step
Step 1: Boil The Pasta
In a large pot, boil salted water and add the pasta.
Cook according to package instructions.
While the pasta cooks, cut up the chicken and season with salt and black pepper.
Step 2: Cook The Chicken
In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the butter and olive oil until hot.
Add the chicken and cook until lightly golden.
Remove the chicken and set it aside.
Step 3: Saute The Vegetables
Remove the pan from the heat and add the garlic, chicken stock (if using), heavy cream, and crumbled feta.
Return the pan to the heat and let it bubble for a couple of minutes.
Scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Add the red peppers (if using) and spinach to the pan.
Cook for 5 minutes or until the spinach has wilted.
Toss with a pair of tongs to combine.
Step 4: Combine And Serve
Add the chicken and stir to coat with the sauce.
Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce.
Season with more salt and black pepper if necessary, garnish with extra crumbled feta, and serve hot.
Chicken Pasta and Spinach Recipe Tips
Cut the spinach to make it easier to fit into your pan. I didn’t and the larger spinach leaves refused to blend into the sauce nicely.
Don’t skip the onion if you can help it. It really does enhance the flavor of the spinach.
Choose a brand of feta that isn’t too hard, because it may not melt fully into the sauce. It’s not crucial, but it does make things easier for you.
Storing Chicken Pasta with Spinach
Let the chicken spinach pasta cool completely before transferring the leftovers to an airtight container and storing them in the refrigerator.
To reheat, I recommend microwaving individual portions at a time, in short intervals, until heated through.
If you decide to make this chicken with spinach and pasta, I’m eager to know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Easy Chicken Spinach Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz uncooked pasta I used penne
- 2 chicken breasts sliced lengthwise and cut into bite-sized cubes
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper optional
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup chicken stock optional
- 2 Tbsp heavy cream
- ⅔ cup feta cheese crumbled
- 5 oz fresh spinach
- ½ onion chopped
- ½ cup fresh/roasted red pepper optional
Instructions
- In a large pot, boil salted water and add the pasta. Cook according to package instructions.
- While the pasta cooks, cut up the chicken and season with salt and black pepper.
- In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the butter and olive oil until hot.
- Add the chicken and cook until lightly golden. Remove the chicken and set it aside.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the garlic, chicken stock (if using), heavy cream, and crumbled feta.
- Return the pan to the heat and let it bubble for a couple of minutes. Scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add the red peppers (if using) and spinach to the pan. Let it cook for 5 minutes or until the spinach has wilted. Toss with a pair of tongs to combine.
- Add the chicken and stir to coat with the sauce.
- Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce.
- Season with more salt and black pepper if necessary, garnish with extra crumbled feta, and serve hot.
