Martha Stewart Chicken Fettuccine With Pesto Cream Sauce Recipe

If you have a jar of pesto and a quarter cup of cream, you already have the sauce. Martha Stewart’s Chicken Fettuccine with Pesto Cream Sauce is a 30-minute pesto chicken pasta recipe with pounded chicken breast sliced over fettuccine tossed in a basil pesto cream sauce that takes about 2 minutes to make on the stove.

This pesto chicken recipe is one of Martha Stewart’s fastest chicken pasta recipes and I make it all summer and into the fall when I want something that tastes fresh and herby without a lot of time in the kitchen. It is lighter than a regular cream sauce because there is only a quarter cup of cream in the whole thing. The pesto does the real work and the cream just smooths it out.

Try More Chicken Recipes:

• Chicken Puttanesca
• Chicken Alfredo
• One Pot Pasta

Why You Will Love This Pesto Chicken Fettuccine:

• 6 ingredients, 30 minutes: Chicken, oil, fettuccine, pesto, cream, salt and pepper. That is the entire recipe. I counted twice because I did not believe it either. The first time I made it I kept checking the recipe thinking I was missing something.
• The sauce takes 2 minutes: Heat the pesto in a small pot until it melts, stir in the cream, done. There is no chopping, no sauteing, no building anything. I have spent more time looking for a pot than it takes to make this sauce.
• It is lighter than it looks: Most cream pasta recipes use 1 to 2 cups of cream. This one uses a quarter cup. The pesto carries all the flavor and the cream just rounds it out so it coats the pasta. I expected it to feel heavy and it does not at all.

Chicken Fettuccine With Pesto Cream Sauce Ingredients

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces each)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 pound fettuccine
• 4 cubes (1/2 cup) frozen basil pesto
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

How To Make Martha Stewart Chicken Fettuccine With Pesto Cream Sauce

1. Pound the chicken: Put the chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap. Pound them with a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy pan until they are an even 3/4-inch thick. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
2. Cook the chicken: Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet. Cook the chicken until golden brown and cooked all the way through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Slice each piece across the grain into 4 or 5 strips. Cover to keep warm.
3. Cook the pasta: While the chicken cooks, boil the fettuccine according to the package instructions. Before you drain it, save 1/4 cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and put it back in the pot.
4. Make the pesto cream sauce: In a small saucepan, heat the pesto over low heat until it melts and turns liquid. Stir in the cream and heat until warm.
5. Toss and serve: Add the reserved pasta water and half the sauce to the pasta. Toss until the pasta is coated. Split the pasta among shallow bowls, lay the sliced chicken on top, and drizzle the rest of the sauce over everything.

Recipe Tips

• Pound the chicken to an even thickness: Martha says 3/4 inch. If the chicken is thick in the middle and thin on the edges, the thin parts dry out before the center is done. I skipped pounding once and had to cut one breast open to check if it was cooked. Two minutes of pounding saves you from guessing.
• Save the pasta water: Martha says 1/4 cup and do not skip it. The starchy water helps the sauce stick to the pasta instead of pooling at the bottom of the bowl. I forgot it once and the pasta felt dry even with the sauce on it.
• Heat the pesto on low: If you turn the heat up too high, pesto can get bitter and lose its bright green color. Low heat, just until it melts. It takes a minute. I burned it once on medium-high and the whole batch tasted off.
• Use half the sauce for tossing, half for drizzling: Martha is smart about this. Toss the pasta with half so every strand gets coated. Drizzle the rest on top of the chicken so you see the green sauce on the plate and get extra flavor in every bite.

How This Is Different From Regular Alfredo

I just made Martha’s chicken alfredo and these two recipes could not be more different even though they both use fettuccine and cream. The alfredo uses 2 cups of cream and the sauce is white, rich, and garlic-heavy. This one uses a quarter cup of cream and the sauce is green, herby, and light.

• I make the alfredo in the winter when I want something heavy and warming. I make this one in the summer when I want pasta that does not put me to sleep after dinner.
• The pesto does the work that garlic and Parmesan do in the alfredo. Different flavor, different mood, same level of easy.

If you cannot decide between the two, make both in the same week. I have done it and nobody complained.

What Goes Well With This Pesto Pasta

This is already a full dinner but I like something cold and fresh next to it. A simple cucumber salad with a little vinegar is my go-to because the acid cuts through the cream. Some green beans tossed with lemon work too.

Warm bread on the side is good for mopping up the extra pesto cream sauce at the bottom of the bowl. I always make sure there is bread when I make this because people tilt their bowls to get the last drop.

How To Store Leftovers

Keep the chicken and pasta together in a covered container for up to 3 days. The pesto cream sauce soaks into the pasta overnight and it actually tastes better the next day because the basil flavor spreads through everything. I would not freeze this because the cream can separate and the pasta gets soft.

Reheat on the stove over low heat with a splash of water to loosen the sauce. The pesto color stays green even after reheating, which surprised me. I eat leftover pesto pasta cold for lunch and it is one of those things that works just as well out of the fridge as it does hot.

FAQs

• Can I use store-bought pesto instead of frozen cubes? Yes. Martha calls for frozen pesto cubes but a half cup of any jarred basil pesto works the same way. I use jarred pesto most of the time because it is easier to find. Just heat it on low and stir in the cream the same way.
• Can I use chicken thighs? You can. Boneless thighs are fattier so they stay juicier, but you do not need to pound them as thin. I have made it with thighs and the flavor is richer. Martha uses breast but either works.
• Can I skip the cream? You can but the sauce will be thinner and taste more like straight pesto on pasta. The cream rounds out the flavor and helps the sauce coat the fettuccine. A quarter cup is not much and it makes a real difference.
• What if I do not have fettuccine? Any long pasta works. Linguine, spaghetti, or pappardelle would all hold the sauce well. I have made it with penne in a pinch and it was fine, but long pasta looks better on the plate and catches more sauce.

More Chicken Recipes:

• Chicken Paillards
• Chicken Milanese
• Chicken Piccata

Nutrition Facts

(1 serving, serves 4)

• Calories: 600
• Total Fat: 24g
• Saturated Fat: 7g
• Cholesterol: 90mg
• Sodium: 500mg
• Total Carbohydrates: 48g
• Protein: 42g