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One Pan Creamy Pesto Penne

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This one-pan Creamy Penne Pesto Pasta is packed with flavor and ready in just 10 minutes! Perfect for an easy weeknight meal!

This one-pan Creamy Penne Pesto Pasta is packed with flavor and ready in just 10 minutes! Perfect for an easy weeknight meal!

Pesto Pasta

This pasta. This pasta! One pan, 10 minutes and a couple ingredients equals a very happy girl. I generally consider comfort food to be something like Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole, a big bowl of mashed potatoes, or a nice sunday roast. But this creamy pesto pasta is basically the definition of comfort food.

Easy, creamy, and cheesy. Those three things are good for the soul! I have been playing around with one-pan dishes for a while now, so one pan rice dishes are kind of a no brainer. However, one-pan pasta recipes are a little trickier. You have to have just the right pasta to liquid ratio, and just the right amount of spices so it is flavorful enough but not overpowering. For more ideas, check out this list of 15+ One Pan Pasta Recipes!

This one-pan Creamy Penne Pesto Pasta is packed with flavor and ready in just 10 minutes! Perfect for an easy weeknight meal!

Ingredients for the Penne Pesto Pasta 

The pasta and creamy pesto sauce get cooked in the same pot, so the pasta winds up being super flavorful! Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe: 

  • Liquid ingredients: Good quality chicken stock, White wine, pesto and heavy cream.
  • Penne pasta: your favorite variety, I used Barilla Gluten Free. 
  • Parmesan: good quality parmesan or asiago is best. 
  • Add Fresh basil, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste at the end. 

How to Make Penne Pesto Pasta

For this pesto cream pasta, bring broth, white wine, and pesto to a boil and add the penne. Cook the pasta covered according to the package directions, usually 7-10 minutes depending on the brand. 

When the pasta is al dente, stir in the heavy cream, parmesan. Add Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. 

What Basil Pesto Should I Use for creamy pesto pasta? 

You can use any you’d like, and both store-bought and homemade pesto will work. If you follow a gluten-free diet like we do, I recommend buying the Mezzetta brand pesto. Delallo brand is gluten-free as well, but that one is harder for me to find. 

Can I Use Another Type of Pasta? 

Yes, but note that different pasta shapes call for different cook times. However, another short, sturdy pasta should be fine to cook in the creamy pesto sauce. 

Can I Substitute the White Wine in this creamy pesto pasta? 

If you don’t keep wine on hand, you may substitute it with chicken or veggie broth. 

This one-pan Creamy Penne Pesto Pasta is packed with flavor and ready in just 10 minutes! Perfect for an easy weeknight meal!

Tips for Making Creamy Pesto Pasta 

  • I used Barilla Gluten-Free Penne for this recipe and 8 minutes was perfect. Read the cooking time on the specific type of pasta you are using and adjust accordingly.
  • I used a green pesto sauce to make this recipe, but a sun-dried tomato pesto or something similar would also work. 
  • Store bought or homemade pesto work for this recipe. 

More Quick Pasta Dinners: 

This one-pan Creamy Penne Pesto Pasta is packed with flavor and ready in just 10 minutes! Perfect for an easy weeknight meal!

One Pan Creamy Penne Pesto Pasta

Yield: 6
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

This one-pan Creamy Penne Pesto Pasta is packed with flavor and ready in just 10 minutes! Perfect for an easy weeknight meal!

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 3/4 cup basil pesto
  • 4 cups dry penne (one 12 ounce box)*
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup parmesan
  • Add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and basil to taste

Instructions

    1. In a large pot, bring the broth, wine and pesto to a boil.
    2. Add the penne and cover. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 7-8 minutes stirring occasionally.
    3. After 8 minutes check to see if pasta is al dente. Remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream, parmesan and spices to taste.

Notes

  • Read the cooking time on the specific type of pasta you are using and adjust accordingly.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 heaping cup cooked pasta
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 429Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 292mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 13g

To avoid any confusion I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it is not known to affect blood glucose levels. To calculate Keto recipes listed on this site carbs - fiber = net carbs. I use Nutrifox as my nutrition calculator. This nutrition information is an estimate based on the information provided by Nutrifox and the specific ingredients I used.

© Annie Holmes
Cuisine: Comfort Food / Category: Main Dish

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Comments

  7. Ceara+@+Ceara's+Kitchen says

    OH my gosh Annie!! This Pasta! This Pasta!!!! This pasta looks absolutely AH-MAZING! I can only imagine how rich and delicious it tastes!! Your pictures are stunnninng as always! Love love love it! Pinned 🙂

    Reply

  8. Stacey+@+Bake.Eat.Repeat. says

    That looks divine – and I love that it’s done all in one pan! Doesn’t get easier or quicker than that! Can’t wait to try this one, I was actually just mentally trying to figure out how to make it tonight, but I think I’m missing too many things! Oh well, pinned for later. 🙂

    Reply

  11. Isadora says

    I hate dishes which means that I love one pot meals! This pasta looks so creamy, cheesy and delicious! I also love all the fresh basil on tp. I bet it tastes awesome!

    Reply

  14. Katie (The Muffin Myth) says

    This looks so great! I haven’t quite nailed the one-pot pasta yet, and you’re right about the liquid to pasta to other stuff ratio being the culprit. I’ll have to give this version a go, that creamy pesto is calling my name! Pinned and pinned 🙂 Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply

    • Maebells says

      We are so on the same page Alyssa!! I did have to make some chicken because my husband just doesn’t eat a meal without meat but I love how easy this is!!

      Reply

  28. Penny says

    What basil pesto do you use for this recipe?
    So glad I found your site…I have celiac and it is so hard to find vegetarian gf meals that look good.
    Cant wait to try a bunch of your recipes.

    Reply

    • Annie Holmes says

      Hi Penny! I’m so glad you found our site!! I really love the Mozzetta brand pesto, they actually use olive oil in their pesto so it has a great rich flavor and it is gluten free. I believe the Delallo brand is gluten free as well, but that one is harder for me to find.

      If you are vegetarian I highly recommend trying this recipe, I use Udi’s GF wraps, it is one of my favorite recipes!

      If you try them let me know what you think! 🙂

      Reply

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