Healthy Tuscan Chicken Pasta Recipe

This healthy Tuscan Chicken Pasta is a popular menu item at the Cheesecake Factory and Olive Garden. It’s a decadent pasta dish loaded with Italian flavors. My copycat recipe adds a healthy twist to this classic meal.

Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta has all the flavors of the restaurant version, without all the calories, sodium, and fat. I love making this recipe in one pot using my Instant Pot, but it can also be made in the Crock Pot or right on the stove.

This is one of my favorite healthy pasta recipes, and it’s great for meal prep because it keeps well in the fridge for the week and it freezes and reheats well.

Where’s the recipe?

To better serve all of my readers here at My Crazy Good Life, I’ve made a commitment to put a ton of helpful information in all of my posts that everyone, regardless of cooking skills, can make these recipes.

If you’d like to skip over the detailed instructions, information about freezing, swapping ingredients, and diet information, please simply scroll to the bottom of the page, where you will find the easy to print Tuscan Chicken Pasta recipe.

Ingredients in Tuscan Chicken Pasta

How to make Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta

1. Set your Instant Pot to Sauté and lightly spray the pot with olive oil spray. Once your pot is hot add the garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, Italian seasonings. Cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
2. Add your cubed chicken to the pot, and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring often. This will prevent your chicken from clumping together while it’s under pressure. Once your chicken is browned on all sides, add your chicken broth.
3. Add the pasta to the pot and stir well, ensuring that all noodles are below the liquid.
4. Close and lock the lid and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Select Pressure Cook (high) and set the time for 3 minutes.
5. While your chicken is cooking, blend the cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, and parmesan cheese together until smooth, then set aside.
6. When the cook time is complete, quick release the pressure and remove the lid. Stir the contents of the pot. Drain any excess liquid from the pot, keeping aside 1/4 cup. Add the 1/4 cup liquid to the cottage cheese and Greek yogurt mixture and stir well.
7. While your noodles are still hot, stir in spinach and basil. Once the leaves have wilted, stir in your blended cottage cheese mixture. Serve immediately.  Garnish with additional parmesan and fresh basil.

How to make Crockpot Tuscan Chicken Pasta

1. Lightly spray a large skillet with cooking oil, then add tomatoes, garlic, Italian herbs, and pepper. Sauté over high heat for 30 seconds or so until it becomes fragrant.
2. Add your cubed chicken to the pan and brown for 1-2 minutes until the chicken no longer sticks together.
3. Transfer chicken and sun dried tomatoes (all of the contents of the pan) to your crockpot and top with chicken broth.  
4. Cook on high heat for 2-3 hours, or low heat for 4-5 hours.
5. About 20 minutes before you’d like to eat, boil the pasta in a separate pot according to package directions. Once cooked, drain and add to the Crockpot.
6. Drain any excess liquid (set aside 1/4 cup) and add spinach and basil. Stir until spinach is wilted.
7. Blend cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, and parmesan cheese in a blender until smooth, and add the mixture to the Crockpot.  
8. Stir the cottage cheese mixture and 1/4 cup pasta water into the contents of the slow cooker.
9. Stir one last time and serve immediately with extra parmesan cheese and fresh basil, as desired.

How to make Stovetop Tuscan Chicken Pasta

1. Spray a deep skillet or large pot with cooking oil and then add the tomatoes, garlic, Italian herbs, and black pepper. Sauté over high heat for 30 seconds.
2. Add the cubed chicken and sauté until browned on all sides, about 1-2 minutes. 
3. Add the pasta and chicken broth to the skillet. Stir and make sure all the noodles are just covered. Set aside ay extra broth. Once the broth begins to boil, cover your skillet and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
4. Once the pasta is cooked, add spinach and basil. Stir until spinach is wilted, then drain any excess liquid from the pan, setting aside about 1/4 cup of the pasta water in case you need it later. 
5. Blend the cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, parmesan cheese, and reserved pasta water in a blender or food processor until smooth, then stir the mixture into your noodles.
6. Stir one last time and serve immediately with extra parmesan and fresh basil, as desired.

Recipe Tips

Healthy Eating Plans

More healthy Instant Pot recipes

More Instant Pot Pasta Recipes

• Cajun Chicken Alfredo
• Philly Cheesesteak Pasta with Chicken
• Homemade Hamburger Helper
• Instant Pot Pad Thai with Tofu
• Instant Pot Macaroni and Cheese

4.43 from 396 ratings

click the stars to rate!

Healthy Tuscan Chicken Pasta Recipe

Created by: Becca Ludlum

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 minutes mins

Total Time 28 minutes mins

Approximate Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups

Servings 6

Print

Pin

Save Collections

Add to List Go to Shopping List

This healthy Tuscan Chicken Pasta recipe will satisfy your craving for creamy pasta without the calories! It's an easy healthy chicken recipe that your family will love, and you can cook it in your Instant Pot, slow cooker, or on the stove.

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• Instant Pot 6 qt
• Sealing Rings
• Vitamix Blender

Ingredients 

• ▢ 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes  sun dried with no oil or grape tomatoes, halved
• ▢ 3 tbsp Italian seasoning
• ▢ 2 tbsp garlic minced
• ▢ 2 lbs chicken breast  (about 2 large breasts, diced into 1-inch cubes)
• ▢ 3 cups chicken broth 1 cup only for Crockpot method. See article above for details.
• ▢ 3 cups whole wheat pasta I used one 12 oz. box
• ▢ ¾ cup cottage cheese 2%
• ▢ ¾ cup Greek yogurt 2%
• ▢ 2 cups spinach baby
• ▢ 2 tbsp basil  fresh, or 1 tsp dried basil
• ▢ ⅔ cup parmesan cheese

Instructions

Instant Pot Instructions

• Set your Instant Pot to Sauté and lightly spray the pot with cooking spray. Once your pot is hot, add the sun-dried tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and garlic. Cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant. 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes  3 tbsp Italian seasoning 2 tbsp garlic
• Add your cubed chicken to the pot and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Once your chicken is browned on all sides, add your chicken broth. 2 lbs chicken breast  3 cups chicken broth
• Add your pasta to the pot and stir well, ensuring that all noodles are below the liquid. 3 cups whole wheat pasta
• Close and lock the lid and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes.
• While your chicken is cooking, blend the cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, and grated parmesan together until smooth (in a blender or food processor), then set aside. ¾ cup cottage cheese ¾ cup Greek yogurt ⅔ cup parmesan cheese
• When the cook time is complete, quick release the pressure and remove the lid. Stir. Drain any excess liquid from the pot, keeping aside 1/4 cup. Add the 1/4 cup liquid to the cottage cheese mixture and stir well.
• While your noodles are still hot, stir in spinach and basil. Once the leaves have wilted, stir in your blended cottage cheese mixture. Serve immediately. Garnish with additional parmesan and fresh basil. 2 cups spinach 2 tbsp basil 
  

Video

Notes

*For stovetop/crockpot directions, please see original post

Recipe Tips:

• You can substitute fresh, halved grape tomatoes in place of sun-dried tomatoes. Reduce your cooking liquid by ½ cup when using fresh tomatoes.  
• While this recipe tastes best when followed exactly, you can add more Greek yogurt or more cottage cheese if you don’t have one of them.
• Cut your chicken into equal-sized pieces to make sure they are cooked evenly.
• Add more spinach and tomatoes to increase your vegetables per serving, or add a salad as a side dish.
• I don’t typically add salt to my recipes so that you can add salt and pepper to your taste and dietary needs.
• If using crockpot or stovetop cooking method, start with 1 cup of water and slowly add more if needed to keep the recipe from becoming watery. *This amount will change if not using whole wheat pasta*
• If using gluten free pasta, reduce Instant Pot cook time to 2 minutes. 

Healthy Eating Plans: 

• 21 Day Fix: For the entire recipe: 2 ½ Green Containers, 10 Red Containers, 12 Yellow Containers, and 2 Blue Containers. For each 1 ½ cup serving: 1/3 Green Container, 1 2/3 Red Containers, 2 Yellow Containers, and 1/3 Blue Containers.
• 2B Mindset: I would eat this as a healthy lunch with extra vegetables. 

Nutrition

Calories: 467kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 113mg | Sodium: 318mg | Potassium: 673mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1371IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 201mg | Iron: 3mg

Make This Recipe?

Make sure to follow on Pinterest @bludlum and on Instagram @beccaludlum