Perfect Pesto Pasta

Hey Everybody!

Today’s recipe is one for a crockpot pesto chicken pasta. Shane and I have been really interested in finding meals that we can prepare in the morning and eat pretty soon after we get home from skiing. We are always exhausted and the last thing we want to do is cook. I originally got this recipe from Pinterest from themagicalslowcooker.com by Sarah Olson. I have made a few modifications as I wanted to make it a little healthier!

This recipe generally takes about 5 hours and 15 minutes from start to finish. Although you can cook the chicken longer if you are not home during that time frame! This recipe is for 8 servings so plan accordingly. Shane and I usually half the recipe!

Ingredients

1½ lbs. Chicken Breasts

½ tsp. Salt

¼ tsp. Pepper

1 jar (6 oz.) Pesto (I used Barilla Rustic Pesto)

¼ cup Salted Butter

2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1 box Veggie Rotini (I use Ronzoni)

½ cup Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup Lowfat Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

¼ tsp. Dried Basil

Instructions

1. Add liner to your crockpot. This will make cleaning up 10X easier!
2. Add the chicken to the crockpot. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Spread over the pesto, pour the lemon juice over the chicken. Cut the butter into slices and lay over the chicken.
3. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time. *We have cooked ours up to 10 hours like this and it still tasted fine!
4. Near the end of the cooking time, cook the pasta according to the package directions and drain well.
5. Shred the chicken by taking it out of your crockpot and putting it into your KitchenAid. Use the flat beater attachment, lock the KitchenAid and turn it on 3 for 30 seconds. This should shred your chicken evenly. Add the chicken back into the crockpot. (You can also shred your chicken with forks, I just prefer to use my KitchenAid because it is easier!)
6. Add the cooked pasta and the parmesan cheese to the crockpot, stir everything until the pasta is coated with the buttery pesto sauce and the chicken is evenly dispersed throughout the pasta. Add the mozzarella cheese over the pasta. Cover for about 15 more minutes or until the cheese has melted.
7. Garnish with dried basil. Serve and enjoy!

I really enjoy this recipe and I hope you do too. It is perfect, heated up for leftovers as well! Let me know what you think about this recipe in the comments below. If you love this please subscribe as well! 

[email-subscribers-form id=”1″]