Pesto Chicken Alfredo

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Easy Pesto Chicken Alfredo uses rotisserie chicken combined with pesto and alfredo sauce for a quick dinner packed with lots of flavor.

Sometimes I find dinner time can be a battle between what I want and what everyone else likes.  Am I alone in this? Maybe I should institute the rule of whoever is the chef gets to choose the meal and no complaints. I wonder how well that would go over.

I happen to be a big fan of pasta.  I mean who isn’t, right?  Well, my husband is 50-50 on pasta.  Certain dishes he loves like sausage and veggie spaghetti, my mom’s pasta salad, chicken fajita pasta, or our favorite sweet potato gnocchi.  Otherwise he’s rather ho-hum about it.  Which means he’s always a little let down when he sees it on the menu for the week.  That leads to me feeling a little deflated when it’s something I was excited about.  Blah!

Half of it is just realizing what it is my family does and does not like about dishes.  I happen to love alfredo sauce but my husband doesn’t.  But he is a huge fan of pesto so I figured I would try one last time making an alfredo dish this time mixing in some kale pesto into the mix.

And guess what- the pesto chicken alfredo was a HUGE hit!  I get the added bonus of including the dreaded kale into dinner (HUZZAH!) and not having the let down of disappointing the masses when it comes to dinner.  Okay so maybe I’m being a bit melodramatic about the whole thing but it’s what my poor emotions go through in my head.

I use rotisserie chicken or leftover cooked chicken breasts to keep this pesto chicken alfredo a quick meal.  If you don’t have time or aren’t inclined to make pesto go ahead and use already prepared pesto.  For those who aren’t a fan of tomatoes and mushrooms you can swap those out for whatever veggies you might like.  You could try some combos like sauteed spinach or kale, garlic, or sauteed peppers.

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Easy Pesto Chicken Alfredo

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Pesto Chicken Alfredo

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

Plain alfredo is livened up with kale pesto. Add chopped chicken for a complete main dish.

Course: Main

Servings: 6 -8 servings

Author: Jonesin' For Taste

Ingredients

Pasta:

• 1 lb cooked chicken cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
• 8 oz mushrooms sliced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb pasta cooked according to package directions
• 1 12 oz bottle of alfredo sauce
• 1/2 cup prepared pesto or kale pesto (below)

Kale Pesto:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 cups firmly packed kale leaves removed from stem
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• More olive oil as needed

Instructions

1. Note: If you don't have or want to use kale go ahead and use basil or spinach or a mixture as desired.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions.
3. Meanwhile, saute tomatoes and mushrooms in 2 Tbsp olive oil until the mushrooms are lightly browned and tomatoes begin to release their juices.
4. Pour pesto over chicken and toss to coat.
5. Combine alfredo sauce and cooked pasta. Add chicken, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Toss to combine and serve with additional parmesan cheese if desired.

6. For kale pesto: Mix all pesto ingredients in a food processor. Cover and process, blending until smooth adding additional olive oil as needed about 1 tsp at a time. Stop and scrape sides as needed.