Chicken Pesto Pasta Meal Prep
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Fresh, quick and easy! Loaded with chicken, asparagus, tomatoes and whole wheat pasta. Use homemade or store-bought pesto!
I’m slowly easing back into my routine.
I’m walking, for starters.
And driving down the block to Starbucks.
Priorities, guys.
And I’m fortunately making my way back into the kitchen.
Because I’ve had enough donuts last week during recovery.
As my friends would say, “You’d appreciate donuts more than flowers.”
And they were right.
So I’m setting myself up for the week with these chicken pesto pasta bowls.
Loaded with veggies like asparagus and cherry tomatoes, and whole wheat pasta (but you can sub in any pasta of your choice).
Now you can use store-bought pesto or my homemade version.
Prep time is minimal with store-bought but we both know the homemade version is a thousand times better!
Chicken Pesto Pasta Meal Prep
Ingredients
- 1 pound asparagus, trimmed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 pound whole wheat penne pasta
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes
- ½ cup basil pesto, homemade or store-bought
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.
- Place asparagus in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Gently toss to combine. Place into oven and roast for 8-12 minutes, or until tender but crisp. Let cool before cutting into 1-inch pieces.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Add to skillet and cook until golden, about 3-4 minutes; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine asparagus, pasta, chicken, tomatoes and pesto.
- Place into meal prep containers, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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This is amazing! Had a lot of basil that needed to be used; thank you so much for the recipe!
How would you recommend reheating this meal? 🙂
This was soo simple and delicious!!! Just made it for “lunch tomorrow” but I also ate a bunch because I couldn’t resist. My favorite kind of recipe: easy, simple, yet elegant and tasty. It’s super hot out so instead of of roasting the asparagus I cooked on the stovetop as well as blistering the tomatoes. Thank you for all of your recipes!
Made this today using store bought pesto to save some time. Turned out awesome! The only change I made was garnishing it with a little lemon juice at the end. The pesto I had was pretty rich and the lemon juice brightened it up a little. Will definitely be making this again!
1 pound of asparagus is a lot.
Tasty the first time but pesto reheats so poorly that its deceptive to call this a meal prep meal! It just evaporate leaving nothing but bone dry pasta!! What a let down. =[ Would recommend adding alfredo to it if you are going to make many meals ahead of time. Otherwise this is a good base.
Should the 1/2 cup tomatoes be halved like the picture?
Love everything you do and have made nearly everything on your site. Thanks so much xo
You can keep them whole or cut them in half – it’s completely up to you. 🙂
Love your recipes, trying to go low carb, I wish you would include the nutrition guide with your recipes, I really love the meal prep ones the best. You’re a great cook.
Thank you, Deb! Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. But if it is not available for a specific recipe, you can always use free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”). Thanks for sharing with us!
I prepared this dish tonight and it is an absolute winner. It was also enough to make 8 meal prep dishes. Thank you for the recipe!
Can this be eaten cold too?
Of course, but it’s best when served warm!
This looks so delicious! Can I make it on sunday as a lunch for the rest of the week? How should I store it?
Yes, they can be stored in the refrigerator.
That is a lot of pasta for four servings.
You can divide this up into more servings to suit your preferences.
Can I use other kinds of pesto other than basil??
Yes, of course!
So good!
Do you happen to have nutrition facts for this recipe?
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, I recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
My calculations of the nutritional facts was for 1 serving it was Carb 78g, Protein 41g, Fat 28g, Carbohydrates 77g and 743 Calories
Would this freeze or do you recommend eating it within a certain time frame?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
What vegetable do you suggest other than asparagus?
Broccoli or green beans would be a great addition/substitution.