Pesto Alfredo

This delicious dinner features tender chicken and sweet sun-dried tomatoes tossed with al dente pasta and a creamy pesto alfredo sauce.

My pesto alfredo recipe starts with a classic alfredo sauce base, with the bright punch of fresh pesto blended into it. This is served over noodles with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes. The tomatoes can be removed from the recipe if you don't care for them, without greatly affecting the final dish. This flavorful comfort food is a great twist on a chicken alfredo dinner the whole family will love.

Chicken Pesto Alfredo

Chicken alfredo is a classic combination, so I added chicken to my pesto alfredo as well. The recipe calls for pan-searing the chicken breasts, which works great, however, you can bake them instead if you wish. You could even use leftover chicken in a pinch.

I recommend using a meat mallet to pound the chicken breasts into a 1" thickness. This will allow them to cook more evenly, as well as cook quicker. The slightly thinner breasts will also be a better size for slicing and incorporating into the dish. No one wants a giant chunk of chicken on their fork!

What are the best noodles for alfredo

I used penne pasta in this alfredo recipe, however, that is admittedly not the traditional choice. Penne pasta just sounded really good to me at the time, so I ran with it. The traditional noodle choice for an alfredo dish is fettuccini. You can certainly substitute fettuccini noodles instead of penne in this dish, but penne works great too!

Ingredients Needed

• Penne pasta - Or substituted fettuccini noodles.
• Chicken breast
• Butter
• Flour
• Half and half - Heavy cream also works well to make a luxurious cream sauce. Milk can also be used, but doesn't make as thick of a sauce because it has less fat.
• Basil Pesto sauce
• Shredded parmesan cheese
• Sundried tomatoes - For a brighter flavor, fresh cherry tomatoes can be used instead.

How to Make Pesto Alfredo Sauce

This pesto alfredo sauce is made the same way as my traditionally flavored homemade alfredo sauce. Start by making a roux, which is an equal mixture of butter and flour continuously stirred in a skillet until the flour cooks out. Then slowly add half and half to create the base of the sauce.

Tip: It is important to add the half and half a few splashes at a time, while stirring, to ensure it incorporates smoothly.

Once the half and half has been added, then you can sprinkle in Parmesan cheese. Keep stirring, and slowly add more cheese until it has all melted into the sauce. Parmesan is the primary flavoring agent for alfredo sauce. Finish your pesto alfredo sauce by adding fresh pesto and sundried tomato to finish it off, then gently simmer until it reaches your desired thickness.

How to serve this dish

Finish your pesto alfredo by adding the sliced chicken and cooked noodles to a large bowl and pour the pesto alfredo sauce over them. Then toss to combine with the creamy sauce. Top with additional shredded Parmesan cheese if desired and serve immediately.

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