Chicken and Sundried Tomato Pasta Sauce

One of my family’s favorite comfort foods is a big plate of pasta. By making this one ahead of time, you can free up precious minutes of your day when games, concerts, practices, and appointments are sapping those minutes away as fast as you gain them. Please tell me I am not the only one to feel this reality in my bones! Chicken and Sundried Tomato Pasta Sauce served over spaghetti or linguini noodles with garlic bread will bring a smile to every face. Including the cook’s.

Put all of the ingredients into a freezer meal bag and pull it out when you need a fast meal. Nothing relieves the pressure of getting dinner to the table faster than a freezer full of ready-to-finish meals to choose from. If this pasta dish isn’t quite what you are looking for, reach for our Pasta Puttanesca instead. Both are one pot meals that go straight from the bag into a pan for a fast and easy dinner.

Chicken and Sundried Tomato Pasta Sauce Recipe

Ingredients for the Freezer Bag

• 1 lb. chicken, cooked and cubed
• 1 onion, slivered
• 4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 7 mushrooms, sliced. This ingredient is optional if you have picky eaters.
• 2 Tbsp. sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. madras curry paste
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup light poppy seed salad dressing
• 354 mL can evaporated milk

Ingredients for the Day of Cooking

• One Pound of Cooked Pasta

Assembly Instructions

1. Cook the bacon and the chicken. Let them cool.
2. Slice the onion, sun-dried tomatoes, and mushrooms.
3. Place all ingredients in a large resealable freezer bag. Remove excess air, seal, and freeze.

Cooking Instructions

1. Thaw your bag overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Place it in a skillet and bring to a low simmer so that it is heated through.
3. Serve over long pasta noodles such as linguine or spaghetti.

Where will I find sun-dried tomatoes in the grocery store?

This type of tomato can be purchased two different ways: dried and in a bag, or in a jar submerged in oil. The type of sun-dried tomato in a jar is more commonly found in grocery stores, and will most likely be with the olives. If you don’t find them there, you can look where the canned vegetables, or normal canned tomatoes are. If available, dried and bagged tomatoes are found wherever whole dried peppers are in your store.

For this recipe, you should use the ones found in a jar. If you cannot find the jars at all, rehydrate your tomatoes using oil before slicing them for this recipe.

Can I make Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Sauce gluten-free?

Yes. The dish itself is naturally gluten-free, so you just need to find a GF pasta and if you plan to serve bread, make sure to find GF bread as well. Another great gluten-free option is to serve the sauce over rice.

How do I cook with sun-dried tomatoes?

Even the jarred tomatoes need a little rehydrating as they are cooked and are best when surrounded by sauce. You will be surprised at how often they give a welcome boost to pasta dishes. So much intensity of flavor!

Ideas and Variations for Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Sauce

Many of the ingredients can be switched up. Kids not a fan of mushrooms? Use diced summer squash instead. Not interested in sun-dried tomatoes? You can use diced red bell peppers and it fits the flavor profile perfectly. One of the beauties of this dish is that you have so much versatility.

Parmesan cheese is a nice finishing touch at the table. Place it in a bowl and suggest each person add it as desired. If you want it a little more cheesy, you can offer a shredded Italian cheese blend.

You can change up this recipe by using ground sausage instead of chicken. You can buy sausage without a casing or remove it from the casing and brown it thoroughly, then cool completely before assembling your bags.

Don’t forget, this creamy sauce can be served over rice or quinoa instead of pasta if that’s your jam or you just need variety.

If you need to work some fresh greens into your one-pot meal, stir in some baby spinach after you take the dish off the heat. It will be really tasty and nutritious at the same time.

What to Serve with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

This dish is fantastic with a light vinaigrette salad and garlic bread. It also works well with a crusty bakery bread you can pick up on your way home.

Bagged salads are a great weekly purchase if you do a lot of freezer meal prep work because they are easy and go with many of the meals you likely have in your freezer.

I’m all about making things as easy and guilt-free as possible for busy moms! We have enough on our plates as it is, no pun intended. If you aren’t a fan of salad, oven-roasted broccoli or asparagus dusted with lemon pepper (ten minutes in the oven) is an easy thing to pull off at the same time it takes to boil the pasta.

How to Store Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta Sauce

Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to three days in an airtight container and reheated in the microwave or a hot skillet. Make individual servings over pasta to take to work or school.

Because the chicken was already cooked and frozen once and then reheated, it should not be frozen again.