A creamy pasta recipe in one pan? With lots of chicken and mushrooms? Wait, it gets better. Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Rotini is made without pre cooking the pasta so it literally is a one pan meal.
There are so many more good things about this recipe. You can serve 4 people with 2 chicken breasts. It’s creamy but not full of high fat ingredients. There are vegetables as well as protein and starch so it’s a complete meal. And, best of all, you don’t have to babysit Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Rotini while it’s cooking. Once the main ingredients are combined, the cooking is finished in the oven.
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The concept of making a meal with uncooked pasta isn’t a brilliant idea I just came up with. Remember Hamburger Helper? Well, this is almost as easy but with fresh ingredients and much better flavour. I was told once by the 2 guys in my home that I put too much emphasis on meals and that they didn’t need to have all these nice dinners. So, I decided I’d teach them a lesson by making Hamburger Helper. They both said it wasn’t too bad. I really showed them. Backfire. They have since admitted they do appreciate the meals we have at home.
How to make Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Rotini
The difference between restaurant or frozen creamy pasta dishes compared to homemade is that you almost always get more of the good stuff in your own creations. There is plenty of chicken in this recipe despite being only two chicken breasts. Searing the meat in the pan before adding the liquid helps build the flavour. Yes, you can substitute cooked chopped chicken. Just add it to the pan with the liquid and don’t stir it too much so it doesn’t break up.
Using the right amount of liquid to dry pasta is the secret to this recipe. So don’t be tempted to sneak in a little more rotini. The amounts have been carefully tested. If you use a different shape of pasta, make sure it’s a similar size or your ratio will be off. For instance, macaroni is much smaller so 2 cups will weigh more. And large pasta like rigatoni, when measured in cups instead of weight will not be enough.
Good quality or homemade chicken broth really helps amp up the flavour of this creamy one pan chicken pasta dish. I almost always buy reduced sodium broth so I can control the amount of salt in a dish. That’s why it’s important to taste often when you’re cooking. Before adding the broth, the splash of wine gives this dish a grown up flavour. Make sure to bring it to a full simmer so the alcohol cooks off before adding the broth. If you prefer to skip the wine, just increase the amount of broth.
When you cook pasta, the water left behind is starchy. In fact, most recipes call for adding some of the cooking water to the sauce to help thicken it. So in this case, all the starch that comes out of the past while cooking contributes to the creaminess of the sauce. There’s only a small amount of cream cheese in Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Rotini. And a little cream. Just enough of both to get a creamy sauce without being too thick. You’ll see from the nutrition information after the recipe that this is surprisingly not unhealthy!
It’s important to let the pasta rest a few minutes after stirring in the cheese, cream and fresh greens. The spinach will cook from the residual heat and the sauce will thicken. Save some of the fresh herbs for garnish. Notice there’s no Parmesan? That’s intentional. The flavours in this dish are complimentary to chicken instead of traditional Italian ingredients.
My first version of this recipe included a package or cube of chicken bouillon. Unfortunately the bright yellow colour of the finished dish wasn’t that appetizing. My niece was a tester of this recipe and she confirmed that it was perfectly tasty without the bouillon. That’s why it’s important to sauté the chicken and veggies first. Yes, she did use wine and fed it to her kids. And, she was the one who suggested adding the spinach. Good call!
You won’t believe how quick and easy Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Rotini is to make. There’s just the right amount of sauce and the perfect combination of creamy, flavourful and fresh ingredients. If you’re wondering what to do with the rest of the block of cream cheese, make some Warm Artichoke Dip.
If you try Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Rotini, consider leaving a comment or rating below. Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 2 chopped cooked chicken breasts
- 1 medium onion
- 2 large cloves garlic or 3-4 small
- 3 cups sliced mushrooms 6-8 medium-large mushrooms
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup white wine sub extra chicken broth if desired
- 2 ½ cups homemade or good quality chicken broth
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 6-8 sprigs fresh thyme, plus extra for garnish sub ½ tsp dried thyme leaves (not ground)
- 2 cups uncooked rotini pasta or other similar size with same cooking time on package
- ¼ block cream cheese full fat is best, at room temperature
- ¼ cup cream 10 or 18% is best
- 2 cups fresh chopped spinach
- ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
- 1 tsp salt adjust as necessary depending on sodium content in chicken broth
- ½ tsp fresh black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and set rack in the middle of the oven.
- Dice onion. Clean and slice mushrooms. Peel and finely slice or mince garlic.
- Heat large oven safe skillet with lid on stovetop and add olive oil. Sauté onion and mushroom mixture until mushrooms are browning and onions are golden and softening. Add garlic and sauté one more minute.
- Chop chicken into bite sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Move vegetable mixture to side of pan, increase heat and add chicken pieces. Allow to sit without stirring for a minute to start browning. Stir contents of pan together.
- Add white wine and allow to simmer and reduce, while stirring chicken mixture.
- Add chicken broth, Dijon mustard and rotini and season with salt and pepper. Top with thyme sprigs. When mixture returns to a simmer, cover pan and bake in oven for 17 minutes.
- Chop spinach and parsley. Reserve some parsley for garnish, along with extra thyme.
- Remove pan from oven and stir in cream cheese, cream, spinach and parsley. Stir until incorporated and spinach has wilted.
- Allow to rest 2-3 minutes before serving, sauce will thicken slightly.
- Garnish with extra parsley and thyme if desired.
Wow, I love that this recipe is all in one pan. Fewer dishes!! Do you think low fat cream cheese would be ok to use in this recipe?
Hi Marilyn,
I’m so glad you asked this question. I meant to mention in the post, sometimes lower fat (and almost always fat free) ingredients don’t combine well in sauces. They often curdle when mixed with broths, wine etc. The higher the fat, the better. That being said, since there’s only a little cream cheese in this, it probably doesn’t matter. Cream has a fat content starting around 18% but you can use half and half which is 10% and still get a creamy sauce with less fat. Or you could go crazy and use 35% cream which is whipping cream! If you try a lower fat cream cheese, let me know how it turns out.
From another Marilyn lol
In our healthy life style journey, I have learned that using a little regular cream cheese along with Greek yogurt gives a nice creamy sauce without the fat of cream.
Those guys you speak of need to appreciate the time and effort you put into what goes on the table. ?
I am going to try this one for sure.
Good job as usual.
Thank you Marilyn! That’s a great suggestion. I like the tanginess that yogurt adds. I will be sure to try it next time I make this.
Hi Marci: I cook meals for 3 people. I made Creamy Chicken & Mushroom Rotini this morning. It’s good flavour but I’d like the sauce to be a little thicker. I’m sure the 2 guys will enjoy it immensely, the woman doesn’t eat poultry, so I get to enjoy too. Thanks – look forward to your contacts.
Marilyn H
Hi Marilyn,
Did you notice the other comments are also from Marilyns? What a coincidence!
If you double the amount of cream cheese you should get a thicker sauce. And a bit more sauce too which isn’t a bad thing!
If you try a revised version, please let me know how it turns out.
I made this recipe for my family of 4, there was plenty for all of us, plus a dish of left overs for the next day. I am always looking for recipes that require the least number of dishes; this one checked all of the boxes! My husband is not a big pasta fan, but loved it as well.
Hi Kari,
I’m so glad your family enjoyed this! Thanks for letting me know.