Creamy Chicken Mushroom Pasta
This Creamy Chicken Mushroom Pasta is packed with flavor, and it’s easy enough to make on a busy weeknight. Plus, it only uses one pot!
10 years ago, I would never have guessed I’d be a food blogger. After all, who says, “I’m gonna grow up and be a food blogger?” I’d guess that’s pretty low on the list for Career Day in 1st grade. But here’s the thing (and I quote Bob Dylan): The times, they are a-changin’. While the National Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t keep track of career changes in a lifetime, they do estimate that the average person changes jobs 11.7 times in their life.
As I’ve mentioned before, we moved up here to upstate New York from Atlanta. I was still in grad school, but I had the go-ahead to complete my remaining work away from campus. The job market was a bit bleak back in 2010, but my wife was lucky enough to get her dream job offer as a research scientist at GE. The problem? The job was in upstate New York. For a Southern boy like me, that job might as well have been on the dark side of the moon.
Fast forward 10 years. Laura still works as a research scientist for GE, and I now write a food blog. That brings me to an interesting topic. Income. Laura is the primary breadwinner in our family. Decades ago, this would have been unheard of. Not anymore. In 2015, the Center for American Progress found that 42% of working mothers are the sole or primary breadwinners in their families. I think that’s pretty cool!
I help make up for the imbalance by jumping in and handling a lot of the household duties. Dinner is always taken care thanks to this blog, and I’m usually the one that helps out with Robbie’s routine doctors’ appointments. So you can imagine how hard I laughed when I stumbled across this recent SNL clip. It pretty much describes our life perfectly…and I must say that they did a great job casting Jason Momoa to play me. (Hah!)
Creamy Chicken Mushroom Pasta
All jokes aside, let’s talk about food. After all, this is a food blog, and I like to write about (and eat) food! This Creamy Chicken Mushroom Pasta recently showed up in our kitchen, and I’ve got to say that it’s a winner of a recipe. Get this – it’s a one pot meal. Yup, the chicken and mushrooms get cooked at the same time as the pasta. When all is said and done, you’ve got an easy, delicious pasta recipe that’s perfect for weeknight dinners!
Instead of using one pan to cook the chicken, another pan for the onions and mushrooms and yet another pot for the pasta…just cook this entire Creamy Chicken Mushroom Pasta recipe in one stockpot or Dutch oven. And then toss that pot in your Big Boy Dishwasher when it’s all done. (Just kidding…I’m pretty sure the Big Boy Dishwasher would take the color right out of my pot.) Enjoy!
Did you make this Creamy Chicken Mushroom Pasta at home? Leave a comment and rating. Or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog)!
Looking for more tasty pasta recipes? Check out some of these other favorites:
3-Cheese Slow Cooker Pesto Chicken Pasta
Cajun Chicken Pasta
Spaghetti with White Wine Pasta Sauce
Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
Italian Sausage Pasta Skillet Bake
Creamy Chicken Mushroom Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup yellow onion diced
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts sliced into ½” slices
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 8 oz. cremini mushrooms sliced
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 16 oz. linguine pasta broken in half
- 3 cups fresh spinach stems cut off
- ½ cup roasted red peppers cut into thin strips
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese plus more for garnishing
- {garnish} Italian parsley chopped
Instructions
- Using a large stockpot or Dutch oven, add butter and place over medium-high heat. Once butter has melted, add onion and garlic; sauté for 3-4 minutes, or until onion has softened.
- Add chicken, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. Continue cooking for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add mushrooms and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add chicken stock, stir and bring mixture to a simmer.
- Once simmering, add pasta and stir. Cook uncovered for 9-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until pasta is fully cooked.
- Reduce heat to low and add spinach, roasted red peppers, heavy cream and Parmesan cheese. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Before serving, garnish with fresh parsley and additional Parmesan.
OMG – that video! Way too funny!!! Which of the appliances is on your wish list? 🙂 I love one pot dishes – cause clean up is so much easier. Pasta is always a winner in our house and all these flavors look yummy!
I laugh out loud every time I watch that video! One of our friends (and Laura’s coworkers) passed it along to us, and it’s perfect! I’m thinking I need that gas-powered vacuum cleaner. *vroom vroom* On a different note, this pasta dish is so easy and so tasty…plus, clean-up is a cinch! Thanks, Kathy! 🙂
One pot meals are my favorite because I despise doing dishes. (And with that Big Boy dishwasher I don’t see dishes getting done in my house EVER.) So this is a total winner! And I just happen to looooove mushrooms too. Hope you guys had a great Easter!
Haha! You don’t think the Big Boy Dishwasher will help power through your dirty dishes? To be fair, you must have a lot of dirty dishes because you’re always whipping up some amazing desserts! We had a great Easter here, and Robbie found lots of Easter eggs. 🙂 Thanks, Kelsie!
Being a food blogger is so fun because I’m pretty much obsessed with cooking, eating ans talking about food. Sometimes I even have to hold back on how often I do talk a about it, lol. You can never go wrong with pasta and especially one that involves chicken and mushrooms! This is my kinda meal! Hope you had a lovely Easter 🙂
Tell me about it, Dawn! The funny thing is that people often assume I watch food shows on tv…and I rarely do. After spending all day reading and writing about food, I usually need to switch to something else. (Usually that’s sports!) Thanks so much, my friend! 🙂
Love the one-pot Pasta, David! Going to pin this one to make later! But I’m super-interested in that Big Boy Riding vacuum! I’d love to vacuum that way! Love this post BTW!
Yup, the Big Boy Riding Vacuum is the one I’ve got my eye on, too, Laura! *vroom vroom* I bet that thing wouldn’t even blink at misplaced legos. Haha! Thanks so much, my friend!
Sounds delicious david. One pot=tick chicken 🐓 and mushroom 🍄 =tick. Yum!
Thanks so much, Mackay! This really is an easy recipe…and so tasty, too! 🙂
This dish has so many of my favorite things: I’m a huge carb guy, I love mushrooms and chicken and especially love them together, and anything creamy is a yes in my book. That aside, 100% kudos to you for recognizing how to roll with a good thing when it came your way. As far as I’m concerned, most if not all the amazing things in life are found outside the box, not inside it. And all the most interesting people are – as a rule – the ones who stepped off the beaten path.
You make a good point, Jeff. Looking back, I would never have expected to be working from home writing a food blog…but that’s how things turned out. And you know what? I love it! Why trudge through some job I don’t like? Plus, I have SO much more respect for stay-at-home mom’s now. It’s a lot of work keeping up with a house, and we only have one kid! Those Big Boy appliances would definitely help out, though. Haha!
Hysterical! I do see a resemblance… I didn’t realize you blogged full time. How cool! I think I would have loved it years ago, but now I’m just happy to have it as a hobby. Plus it is a good way to document favorite recipes. This pasta is a perfect example of how easy home cooking is, and how special one can make a recipe be with great ingredients.
I do indeed write this blog as a full-time gig, Mimi. It’s pretty fun! I mean every job has it’s pluses and minuses, but this set-up works for us. And documenting recipes is one of the best side perks for sure! I can’t tell you how often I just use my phone to pull up an old recipe on here. 🙂 This pasta dish really is quintessential home cooking…and quintessential comfort food, too. Plus, it’s great that it only uses one dish! Thanks so much, my friend!
I am right now obsessed with mushrooms you know. Never tried mushroom with pastas yet but yeah I love mushrooms with creamy sauce. I am sure my family will love this recipe David.
I also want to tell you that I am so proud to be a food blogger just like you and Everyday I literally enjoy the process of growing. Food blogging is still a taboo career choice in my family but I don’t care anymore 🙂
You should definitely try mushrooms with the creamy sauce in pasta, Priya! Talk about delicious comfort food! Food blogging is definitely a bit of an ‘odd’ career choice here in the States, but I do think the entire blogging world is becoming more accepted. At first, though, it was definitely taboo for a career choice. We make it work around our house, though! Keep doing what you’re doing, my friend. As long as you enjoy it, then don’t let anyone stop you!
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to watch the video as it’s “not available for your country” (Why don’t you like Canada, David?), so I’ll try finding it directly on youtube later. But at least I can enjoy this creamy dreamy pasta – the combo of chicken, mushrooms, and cheese is one of my favourite. And say what? One pot? Cool. That means I’ll only use up 3 or 4 pots )))
Say what!? That video is not available in Canada? Do this: just google “Saturday Night Live GE Big Boy”…I’m hoping another video will pop up that’s available in Canada. It’s worth looking for it! 🙂
In other news, this pasta really is delicious. It’s the perfect combination of flavors for an easy, comfort food meal! Also, I think even you can manage 1 pot…unless you blow it up and leave pasta on your ceiling. Haha!
Hilarious clip from SNL. I try to watch every week, and somehow missed this one. Love! Sounds like you and Laura have a great balance, which is no small feat. Good for you both. Work, jobs, house, and a toddler. That’s a lot. And how lucky is everyone in your house to get a meal like this every night!? Yum!
We definitely don’t watch SNL live anymore, but I do try to catch some of the clips. This one nailed it!
You’ve totally been there with toddlers, though…and you did it with 2! How that’s possible blows my mind. 1 is seriously a full-time job in and of itself. But we love the little guy! Anyhoo, this creamy pasta recipe is definitely one to keep in mind for busy nights…and you won’t have to spend hours cleaning dishes either! Thanks, Valentina!
David, you hit two areas of interest (or more) to me in just one post. First, let’s talk about that Creamy Chicken Mushroom Pasta dish. Wow, you know me, I love pasta and throw in mushrooms and cream, yummy! I’ve cooked many of mushroom pasta, but never one pot. I love this idea. I’m guessing you break the pasta so it will fit in the pot under the stock. Is that correct?
Second, careers. I went to university hoping to become a photojournalist. But, as I was advised by my campus mentor, I focused on my second major of engineering. Over a period of 43 years, I worked (engineering) for 8 companies but all within the same field. Then retirement and finally my dream job of blogging (or photojournalist). I was the primary breadwinner for those years, but not anymore. I’ve got to tell you I really like it. Kudos to you for enjoying that experience at a younger point in your life. Great post.
Yes, I did indeed break the linguine in half so that it would fit in the pot. Of course, you could use other pasta shapes to make it work, too. Anything you have in the pantry should be just fine here! 🙂
It is strange to wrestle with the fact that you aren’t following the career that you went to school for. I struggled with that for a while, but I chalk it up as experience. Plus, I really wanted to prove to myself that I could do the PhD…even if I don’t actually use it now. With that said, though, writing that dissertation reminds me a lot of writing blog posts. Granted, the posts are a lot shorter and more casual in tone…but the similarities are there for sure. Either way, we made it work for us, and that’s the most important! Thank you so much for your support, my friend. It really does mean a lot, and I enjoy our conversations!
I think it’s huge progress that we’re giving the boot to traditional roles. It’s so important for couples to figure out what works for them and not look to arbitrary rules set by society.
Love this one pot dish, David. Looks creamy and delicious – love that it’s easy enough to whip up on a busy weeknight
I hear ya, Marissa! At first, it was really a challenge for me as I grew up in a traditional household. But we’ve figured out what works for us, and that’s the most important thing! Plus, I just love to cook and bake. 🙂
Haha, that video – good old SNL!!
This sounds delicious – love a good pasta dish. Any recipe that contains the word “creamy” always makes me happy!
Tell me about it! I feel like SNL used to be way better, but every once in a while they come up with a real winner. And this video nailed it! 🙂
Also, I hear ya on creamy pasta dishes. They’re one of my favorite types of food! I think I could eat pasta every single night and not get tired of it! I hope your week is off to a great start, my friend!
Loving those big slices of mushroom you’ve got in this creamy chicken mushroom pasta David! Watched that SNL clip. That was brilliant! Had me laughing out loud. Yep, here Lynne is out working daily and I’m cooking and doing the household chores too! I really want that tractor vacuum cleaner that would help clean my carpets properly. However, I don’t think Lynne would allow that. She’d certainly welcome this excellent pasta dinner though! Thanks for that!
I figured you’d love this video just as much as I did, Neil! And, yes, now we just need to figure out how to get that Big Boy Vacuum Cleaner. Wouldn’t that be great! 🙂 I’m thinking if you had this creamy pasta dish ready for dinner, then you might be able to convince Lynne to let you get that ride-on vacuum. It’s worth a shot! Haha!