Home > Dinner > Penne Pasta with a Lightened-up Parmesan Cream Sauce Penne Pasta with a Lightened-up Parmesan Cream Sauce April 10, 2016 | 75 Comments SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Jump to Recipe This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy. A creamy chicken penne pasta dish with mushrooms, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes. Easy, 30-minute dinner that can be made in ONE pot! Penne Pasta I worked at a local sit-down restaurant all throughout my high school and college years. I loved the job, the people, and (most importantly…?), I loved the food! The menu would change every six months but there was a handful of classic dishes that always stayed the same. The creamy chicken penne pasta was one of the most popular dishes and in all the 7 years I worked there, this dish was never removed or changed from the menu. Today I’m bringing you my own twist on this “famous” creamy chicken penne pasta. The penne pasta in the restaurant I used to work at actually had a few more ingredients (shrimp and artichokes), but I’m simplifying and lightening it a bit. This still isn’t a tremendously healthy dish, but this penne pasta recipe is FAR healthier than heavy cream-based sauces. It’s also still super simple and quick to make — you can have this on the table in 30 minutes or less! Technically this dish can be made in ONE pot, but it does take a little bit longer to do it the one pot route. For one pot, you cook the pasta first in the pot and then drain it. In that same pot, you can then quickly sauté the mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes, remove those and make the cream sauce. Once the cream sauce is finished, everything gets tossed together and it’s ready to DEVOUR. If you want to make this dish a little quicker, you can use 2 pots. One pot cooks the pasta while the other prepares the mushrooms + tomatoes and then the cream sauce. Either way this comes together quickly and it’s so delicious! Feel free to double the cream sauce if you like things extra creamy, but it won’t be nearly as light of a dish with double the sauce 🙂 Enjoy! More Delicious Pasta Dishes: Mexican Pasta Salad One Skillet Creamy Cajun and Sausage Pasta One skillet Cheesy Taco Pasta FOLLOW ALONG! Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates, recipes and content. Chicken Penne Pasta with a Lightened-up Parmesan Cream Sauce 4.77 from 26 votes - Review this recipe A (Lighter) Creamy Penne Chicken Pasta Dish with mushrooms, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes. Easy, 30-minute dinner that can be made in ONE pot! SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Print Recipe Chicken Penne Pasta with a Lightened-up Parmesan Cream Sauce 4.77 from 26 votes - Review this recipe SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Print Recipe A (Lighter) Creamy Penne Chicken Pasta Dish with mushrooms, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes. Easy, 30-minute dinner that can be made in ONE pot! Course Main Course Cuisine American Keyword penne pasta Prep Time 20 minutes minutes Cook Time 10 minutes minutes Total Time 30 minutes minutes Servings 4 servings Calories 581kcal Author Chelsea Cost $6.21 Ingredients▢ 12 ounces Penne Pasta (use Barilla Pronto for super quick prep!)▢ 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil, coarsely chopped▢ 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced▢ 1 cup (prepared/leftover) rotisserie or grilled chicken, shredded▢ 2 cups packed baby spinach▢ 1/2 cup Parmesan cheeseParmesan Sauce▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil (or oil from the sundried tomatoes)▢ 3 tablespoons unsalted butter▢ 1 teaspoon minced garlic▢ 3 tablespoons white flour▢ 1 cup chicken stock (or chicken broth; stock has more flavor)▢ 1 cup milk (1%, 2%, or whole milk; 1% for the lightest version)▢ 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning▢ 5 tablespoons Parmesan cheese▢ Salt and Pepper, to taste▢ Optional: fresh thyme InstructionsCook the penne pasta according to package directions*. Drain and set aside.In the same pot, over medium heat, add in 1 tablespoon of oil from the sundried tomatoes. Add in the mushrooms and stir for 3-4 minutes. Add in the coarsely chopped tomatoes and stir for another 1-2 minutes. Dump this mixture on top of the set aside Penne.In the same pot again (return to the burners and put at medium-high heat), add 1 more tablespoon sundried tomato oil OR olive oil and the butter. Once the butter is melted, stir in the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Slowly add in the flour, whisking constantly. Whisk for one minute.Slowly add in the chicken broth while whisking and then slowly add in the milk while continuing to whisk. Increase the heat and allow the mixture to get to a boiling point and then reduce and allow to simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add in the Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. Once the sauce is thickened, add back in the pasta + veggie mixture. Add in the leftover rotisserie chicken (or leftover grilled chicken) and spinach to warm through (get the spinach to wilt) for 2-3 minutes over medium-high heat. Stir the ingredients until combined and add in the 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.Stir and enjoy immediately garnished with fresh thyme if desired. Recipe Notes*If you want this dish a little quicker and don't mind dirtying another pot, cook the pasta in one pot and as soon as that's going, start the mushrooms cooking in another pot. Nutrition FactsServing: 1serving | Calories: 581kcal | Carbohydrates: 74.3g | Protein: 24.1g | Fat: 21.3g | Cholesterol: 40.1mg | Sodium: 546.9mg | Fiber: 4.4g | Sugar: 8.2g We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed. DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? I love hearing from you when you've made one of my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @ChelseasMessyApron or leave me a comment below.
This lightened up cream sauce sounds perfect to me! I often crave alfredo, but I don’t want all that cream…totally making this next time instead! Reply
Hellooo dinner! Pasta and cream sauce is my life…especially when it’s lightened up! You are a genius lady! Pinned 😀 Reply
I love simple pasta dishes like this. Bonus points if it’s a lightened up version of an indulgent dish. This looks so creamy and delicious! Reply
This pasta looks delicious and easy to whip up! And I love that you lightened up the cream sauce! Pinned! Reply
I lovelovelove this pasta! Like seriously, this Parmesan cream sauce sounds like the bomb. I could eat pasta everyday and never get tired of it, so I totally need to make this. Pinning! 🙂 Reply
This looks sooo creamy!!! I love that it is lightened up – perfect for a satisfying dinner that is still healthy. Yum!! Reply
Cream pastas are pretty much the love of my life — can’t live without them! Love that you lightened up Chelsea! Reply
Yum! I’m all for saving a few calories when I’m eating a giant bowl of creamy pasta! Looks amazing! Reply
Pshhhh this is totally healthy in my book!!! I love how beautifully this turned out Chelsea, delish! Reply
What a great looking dish! I’ve been in the mood for a big ole’ bowl of some comforting pasta lately… could this be tonight’s dinner?! Reply
I was going to make a chicken broccoli alfredo tonight and this sauce looks so good, I am totally trying it! I don’t like eating all that cream and butter (well I do, but my jeans don’t) so this looks perfect! Thanks so much! Reply
Mmmmmmm I’m seriously drooling. Looks DLISH! Loving the first photograph – awesome composition! Reply
Creamy pasta is our weakness and I love this lightened up version with all the veggies – it looks and sounds delish!:) Reply
it was quite good. i added sun dried tomatoes, next time i would def add some onion to the mix. Reply
Wonderful texture and flavor without velveeta. Reheats smooth. This was delicious and so easy to make. Makes a bigger batch than I was expecting. Reply
Just made this sauce tonight for a chicken, broccoli, mushroom pasta dish…amazing! I could have eaten it even without the cheese in it, it was THAT good! Definitely a new family favorite! Reply
Came across this recipe yesterday and was skeptical the sauce could be creamy without some of the traditional ingredients. Let me say, this sauce was better than than the rest! Thanks for sharing such a gem! This will be a go-to from now on! Reply
Yay!! I’m so happy to hear this was better than a heavy cream sauce 🙂 Thank you so much for the comment! I appreciate your review 🙂 Reply
I made this for family tonight exactly as written (used whole milk) with the only change being I used spaghetti noodles since I was out of penne (darn it!). It was faaaaaaabulous! I will say that with spaghetti noodles it wants to clump up so I will definitely use the recommended penne or my favorite, cavatappi next time. Really a great recipe – loved the idea of using the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes! Reply
Yayyy!! I’m soo glad you enjoyed this! And bummer about the spaghetti but that’s a great tip! Thanks so much for your comment! 🙂 Reply
Although it took me longer for prep, this was absolutely delicious!!! and don’t feel guilty at all! Reply
I made this last night. Didn’t have sun dried tomatoes, but honestly didn’t miss them…it was delicious! Reply
Great dish. I made it with almond milk, veggie broth and nutritional yeast. My son said it taste like restaurant quality. I’m wondering about the calorie count? Thank you. Reply
Im asian so to cook this to my family and friends, I dont know if they gonna like it but I make a try to add up in my menu, after I cooked this they in love and requesting this all the time.. Reply
This dish was AWESOME! I used white mushrooms since that was all I had and wheat penne and it was still GREAT! I might add more sun-dried tomatoes next time. I use them so rarely but they are great! Loved it! Reply
This recipe was so delicious. Perfect balance of flavors. No flavor overpowered the other. I made the recipe exactly as it called for. Reply
I have made this recipe 2 times already. I’m actually making it tonight. My son loves it and has been asking me to make it again so here u am getting things ready. This is a healthy dish but doesn’t taste like like some boring watch your weight dish. It has a lot of good flavor and the sauce can’t be best. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. Everyone be safe and enjoy your day. Alicia Davis Reply
We made this and it was amazing. I tend to stay away from cream sauces as I find them too heavy for my taste but this was perfect. We substituted vegetable broth for chicken and lamb left over from Christmas dinner for the chicken and it was incredible…a new favorite! I also used sun-dried tomatoes in a package rather than in oil and it was still packed with flavor. Reply
This is delicious! The Italian seasoning really brought a depth of flavor I wasn’t expecting. This is definitely one I want to make again! Reply
This was really good! I didn’t have parmesan so substituted with a mozzarella blend. Healthy and yummy. More recipes like these please!! I’ve been trying to recreate the Strozzapreti from North Italia. If you could help with that recipe I’d be grateful! Reply
My family and I love this recipe! My husband isn’t a big Alfredo sauce person and this is nothing like that! It’s a perfect creamy/cheesy/buttery sauce that is very light tasting. We also subbed the sun-dried tomatoes with cherry tomatoes due to our preference and it was amazing! My extended family have all asked me about this and have shared with many! Reply
The receipe does not .mention how many mushrooms in the ingreadents in fact there no mushrooms listed Reply
If I was rating this dish on flavor and nutrition alone, it would get five stars. If I had this in a restaurant, I would never believe it was a lighter cream sauce. Plus, similar recipes easily have twice as much sodium. This is very sensible for a creamy pasta dish. However, I did have a few issues in prepping the dish. This claims to be a 30-minute one-pot dish, then later contradicts itself by admitting that it can either be a 30-minute dish or a one-pot dish. It cannot be both. I had to juggle three different containers because there wasn’t enough room in the large bowl for my sauteed mushrooms and sundried tomatoes with the pasta. That brings me to my next issue – 12 ounces of penne was way too much for this dish. I added about 2/3 of my cooked pasta back into the dish before I just couldn’t cram any more into it. Even if I could have, there wouldn’t have been enough sauce to coat it all and it would have been dry. I may make this again, but with no more than 8 ounces of penne, and allowing more time because this isn’t quite the simple one-pot recipe it claims to be. Reply
