Looking for a quick delicious easy meal? Our 20 Minute Tuscan Pasta is quick, easy, and one of our new family favorites. Made with a delicious, creamy garlic sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and grilled chicken it’s a great meal for busy weekdays.We love freezer meals because you can do all the prep work ahead of time, which makes dinner so easy on those nights where you are super busy.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make our Tuscan pasta, you need the following ingredients:
- Bow Tie Pasta
- Butter
- Garlic Cloves
- Dried Basil
- Cream Cheese
- Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Milk
- Parmesan Cheese
- Ground Black Pepper
- Salt
- Cooked Chicken
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to Make Our Tuscan Pasta
- Cook pasta according to package directions. While it’s cooking, prepare the sauce.
- In a medium pot or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring the whole time. Stir in the dried basil.
- Add the cream cheese, stirring with a whisk until the mixture is smooth. It will look curdled at first, but with constant whisking for 2-3 minutes, it will become a smooth creamy paste. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes.
- Keep cooking over medium heat and add the milk and whisk quickly and constantly until it is blended into the sauce. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, pepper and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the cheese is melted and the sauce is the desired consistency, 5-10 minutes.
- Serve over hot, cooked noodles. I put my chicken on top, or you can mix it in.
Storage Suggestions
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in the oven or microwave.
Freezer Meal Modification
- When making this Tuscan pasta into a freezer meal, we recommend putting the sauce covered noodles and chicken into two 9×9″ foil tins.
- Wait until it cools down, then cover tightly with foil and place in the freezer. Use within 30 days.
- Recommended reheat method: thaw in the fridge for 24 hours. Remove from the fridge, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through.
- To reheat when frozen: Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until heated through.
Serving Suggestions
We recommend serving this recipe with our Italian Chopped Salad, Antipasto Salad, Smashed Italian Red Potatoes, and Italian Roasted Vegetable Medley. You can find more Italian-inspired recipes here.
Enjoy More Delicious Pasta Recipes
We’ve rounded up some of our best pasta recipes, including creamy tomato rigatoni, puttanesca, macaroni and cheese, and more. Check out our comprehensive collection of pasta recipes here.
- Hawaiian Pasta Skillet
- Healthier Chicken Alfredo
- Olive Garden Shrimp Scampi
- One Pot Cheesy Chicken Alfredo
- Pizza Skillet Pasta
- Sausage and Gnocchi Skillet
- Shrimp Scampi
- Skillet Cowboy Spaghetti
- Spinach and Tomato Tortellini
- Sun-Dried Tomato Fettuccine
Tuscan Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 ounces bow tie pasta, 1 box
- 4 Tablespoon butter
- 4 garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed through a garlic press
- ½ Tablespoon dried basil
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened and cut into small cubes
- 8 ounces sun dried tomatoes, 1 jar, rinsed, drained and chopped
- 2 cups milk
- 8 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt, more to taste if needed
- 1 cup chicken, cooked and cubed
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. While it's cooking, prepare the sauce.
- In a medium pot or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring the whole time. Stir in the dried basil. Add the cream cheese, stirring with a whisk until the mixture is smooth. It will look curdled at first, but with constant whisking for 2-3 minutes, it will become a smooth creamy paste. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes.
- Keep cooking over medium heat and add the milk and whisk quickly and constantly until it is blended into the sauce. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, pepper and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the cheese is melted and the sauce is the desired consistency, 5-10 minutes.
- Serve over hot, cooked noodles. I put my chicken on top, or you can mix it in.
Notes
Nutrition
Video
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
Bake frozen from freezer or thaw before cooking 20 minutes at what temperature?
Same question as Shawn. If baking from frozen how long what temp. and if thawed how long and what temp. It looks good!!
Tuscan pasta is one of my favorite easy to make recipes. I usually make mine with four cheese ravioli, have you tried it? So good!
How much pasta do you use for freezing?
What type of foil containers do you use, and how do you make sure you get an air-tight seal before freezing?
We use a ziploc freezer bag. You can suck extra air out with a straw. We also use foil containers from the store. They often come with lids.
Do you combine the noodles and sauce after they cool down and freeze together or separate?
what if you do not like sun dried tomatoes..is there an alternative?
For 1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes, substitute either 1 1/2 cups drained canned tomatoes OR 4-6 fresh plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped. Both substitutions will yield a thinner sauce.
I don’t like sun dried tomatoes either so I always substitute them with roasted red bell peppers!
Could you use sun dried tomato pesto??
Can you please confirm the 6 oz of Parmesan as it shouldn’t equal 2 cups. Thank you.
It should read 8 ounces or 2 cups. Thanks for catching that.
We haven’t tried this recipe with tomato pesto. Let us know how it turns out. Sounds delicious!!
How many servings from each 9×9 pan?
Each 9×9 pan feeds 4 generously. So the recipe feeds 8 (both pans together).
This looks yummy, but definitely adding some chopped spinach or mushrooms!
Are you freezing the pasta separate from the sauce? Or adding them together after they cool and freezing them together? Just clarifying, as I see the question was asked before but given no answer? Thank you!
Step #3 answers this question.
Cousin brought this to me frozen to serve this weekend– DEEE- lish!! So yummy! Much longer than 40 minutes to heat from frozen though. Thanks for this, definitely a crowd pleaser!
When prepping for frozen meal, do you cook the pasta before freezing?
Yes, cook the pasta before freezing.
Do you fully cook the chicken before you freeze it or do you put it in raw ?
You make this recipe with 1 cup chicken cooked and cubed. So it is already cooked when preparing this recipe.
Can I just check with you…..when making as a freezer meal, do you freeze with the chicken in or reheat from the freezer and then add cooked chicken? Cheers.
You freeze it with the chicken added in. Hope this helps. Sorry about the confusion.
When used as a freezer meal, how long is it good in the freezer for?
If wrapped and frozen properly, it should be good for a few months.
When reheating from frozen, do you keep it covered in the oven or uncovered?
I have the same question. Did you get an answer?
When using this as a freezer meal, do you cook the noodles before you put them in the pan and pour the creamy mixture on top? I would think the freezing it with the sauce and baking it would make the noodles cook on their own. Just making sure cooking them and then having them sit in the sauce + baking won’t make for soggy noodles if that makes sense
When making them into freezer meals – put the cooked noodles and sauce into two 9×9 foil tins. Wait until it cools down a little, place foil on top, and stick in the freezer.
To cook when frozen: Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until heated through
To cook when frozen but then thawed: Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through.
when serving fresh(right after you make it), does it need to be baked?
I’m tripling this recipe for the freezer… does the sauce cook up the same when doubled or tripled? I know sometimes things don’t double super well so I thought I’d ask if anyone has experience with that before potentially wasting a bunch of ingredients.
Just made a double batch of this to share. OH MY! That sauce is so good that I wanted to lick the skillet clean! I’m not usually a fan of sun-dried tomatoes, but the sauce is so creamy that it balances the tang (and I used good quality tomatoes packed in oil, too).
Made this for a sick friend, so she was so happy to have dinner for tonight as well as something in the freezer. I took a little nibble and thought it was really yummy, and my friend and her husband thought it was absolutely delicious!
Hi Jody. You are so sweet to take dinner to a sick friend. Thanks for taking time to leave us a nice comment. You made our whole week! Thank you for stopping by our website!
I just finished making this. I am 40 weeks pregnant right now and wanted to make some freezer meals while I could. The sauce took a while to make, but oh my goodness does it taste GOOD!! Now I have to have some self-control and actually put it in the freezer for a later day instead of eating it now (though I totally tasted it a few times before covering it). My husband loves it too. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
Can this be made without the tomatoes and can I add bacon?
This will be fine without the tomatoes. Bacon will be fine in this recipe.
Delicious when fresh but the sauce separates after being refrigerated or frozen. It reheats to a clumpy mess that is inedible. Apparently, this is typical of “alfredo type sauces”. Quite a bit of work for an inedible recipe. Very disappointed.
I just used pesto and it turned out great!!
I made this and put one pan in my freezer and covered the other pan with foil and put in the fridge to be heated up the next day. We haven’t ate the one out of the freezer yet, but the first one the noodles absorbed all of the sauce and it was just ok.
My husband was picking at it a bit when I first prepped it, and he REALLY liked the sauce fresh. Good recipe, but I don’t recommend it as a make ahead meal.
My family and I love this recipe! We tried this recipe frozen the first time, but now we just make it fresh. We also use a sun dried tomato pesto sauce in areas of the sun dried tomatoes. It adds that boost of flavor.
I also recomend rewriting the recipe as it seems to be missing stuff. But otherwise it’s a great recipe!
I add onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and bacon to mine. Very good!
I don’t know what I must have done wrong, but I did the recipe verbatim and I put in oven frozen. Its been an hour and 10 minutes and it is still frozen in the middle and very dry.
Sorry to differ, but step 3 appears to give baking directions after freezing and thawing. When you serve this fresh you pour the sauce over the noodles. Is that how you freeze it? Or do you mix the sauce and noodles together before putting it in the freezer pan? I make a lot of freezer meals for homebound elders and I want them to be as tasty as possible, so thanks for clarifying this.
Made a double batch of this to have when baby comes! It was delicious fresh!! Don’t usually make sauce from scratch but it was SO good! Hoping it is as good re-heated – I now see some people have had issues. Fingers crossed!
How many pans did this recipe make? Just so I know how many to buy.
This recipe makes 2 9 x 9 baking dishes when making it into a freezer meal.
Hi! Just ate it fresh and it was delish! When I bust the other half out of the freezer at I going to bake it covered or uncovered?
Bake it covered. Remove foil for the last 5-10 minutes of cooking.
I suggest using the oil from the sun dried tomatoes to state instead of butter. It is packed with flavor and sad to waste it.
thanks for that idea, I make my own filled pasta and always looking for new sauces for it.
When I first made this I was sure the sauce would not be enough for all the pasta, I even separated the pasta in half thinking I would use the other half for mac and cheese, but the sauce is the right amount and it makes a lot of food, I now have two more meals in the freezer.
I freeze mine in plastic bags and when I am ready to cook it I set it out on the counter until I can cut the bag away and put it in a baking dish.
When making them into freezer meals – put the noodles, sauce and chicken into two 9×9 foil tins. Wait until it cools down a little, place foil on top, and stick in the freezer. To cook when frozen: Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until heated through. To cook when frozen but then thawed: Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through.
When making them into freezer meals – put the noodles, sauce and chicken into two 9×9 foil tins. Wait until it cools down a little, place foil on top, and stick in the freezer. To cook when frozen: Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until heated through. To cook when frozen but then thawed: Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through.
How did you cook your chicken? Pan fry? boil?
When we need cooked chicken for a recipe, we often boil a bunch of chicken breasts at one time. They are fairly inexpensive when you buy them in big bags in the freezer section.
I started making freezer meals and so far this one has turned out the best! Making it again right now. Followed instructions exactly as written previously and turned out amazing! I mixed the sauce and noodles together before freezing. Thawed it in the fridge overnight and cooked at 350 for 30 minutes to heat it up. This time I’m adding mushrooms. Hope it turns out the same!
Anyone every made it in a 9×13 and frozen it? That’s all I have and I’m making a meal for someone. Would the baking time vary??
this looks great. I don’t know why I’m not understanding, my brain is just not working that great today i guess. please help me understand this part….
‘When making this Tuscan pasta into a freezer meal, we recommend putting the sauce covered noodles and chicken into two 9×9″ foil tins.”
am i supposed to put the sauce and noodles in one pan and tn put he chicken in a 2nd pan?
or am i supposed to mix it all together and split it up into 2 pans?
I want to make this for a friend who just gave birth. please and thank you god bless.
Make the recipe as directed but do not bake it. Let it cool down, cover with foil and place in the freezer.
I made this recently and froze it in three round aluminum tins, similar to the square tin shown in the picture above. The recipe doesn’t say what to do with the tomatoes when freezing, so I froze them mixed in with the chicken, sauce, and noodles. However, I did not have sun dried, so I used canned, diced tomatoes instead. After reheating, I’ve noticed this dish does not have as much flavor as it did when it was freshly made, as I tasted it before freezing. It also has a metallic taste and I suspect that is due to the tomatoes. Has anyone else had this issue, or had this issue with the sun dried tomatoes? Thanks in advance for any replies.
Just made this recipe tonight. It was really good fresh although I thought it was a bit salty so next time I will not add the salt. I think all the cheese is salty enough.
Now I have also frozen some and would like to know what is recommended to reheat it as some people say it is tasteless and dry. Should we add milk? Thaw thoroughly before heating it up? Any advice from people who have reheated it after freezing?
I bit late on commenting but in case someone else has the same question. I subbed with bell peppers, mushrooms and squash.
I normally have some strange aversion to following recipes, but this time I made the effort since freezer meals are new to me and didn’t want a disaster at the end. I am glad I did. I made this recipe to the letter and it was a hit! My husband made it clear that I needed to repeat this dish. I think he almost gushed hehehehe
Yay! So glad to hear that you liked this easy freezer meal from Six Sisters. It’s one of our favorites. Thanks for stopping by and tell your sweet hubby “Thanks!”
I’m wondering this same thing. Can I use one 9×13 pan?
9 x 13 inch pan should be fine for your freezer meal. It will be a little thicker, so be sure it’s cooked through when cooking.
Sun dried peppers
Sorry if someone has already asked, but do you bake it covered or uncovered? I’ve made it before but I can’t remember what I did!!
What is the nutritional and caloric value for this meal???
Bake it covered.
Would this work with any meats besides chicken? Maybe shrimp or crabmeat?
Sure. You can easily tweak this recipe for your own tastes and favorite foods.
This was just meh for me. I think there is too much cream cheese in it.
Ok, so froze this recipe, 40 min at 350 degrees WILL NOT warm this recipe. Please adjust, 10 more minutes from thawed!?!?! Clearly wrong. I am making it right now from frozen…..I cannot get a knife to pierce it after 40 min! It is still rock hard frozen!
I’m concerned about using aluminum foil for freezing acidic foods (anything with tomatoes), as I’ve done it before and had it leach into the food. How do you keep this from happening?
It does work best when thawed, even slightly. But if you don’t have time you can cook it from frozen until heated through. Hope this helps.
Very good and easy to make. I will definitely make this again
This turned out so good! It was easy to make. We ate half a dumped the other half in a freezer bag because I was out of foil pans.
This was awesome! So flavorful and easy. Added some frozen peas, had a great meal.
When doubling the recipe, can you just double all the ingredients or is there some other amount? Thanks!
This recipe makes 2 9×9 inch pans. If you double the recipe, you could do 4 9×9 pans or maybe 2 9×13 inch pans that might be very full.
Family loved this – even our 7 year old daughter to occasionally decides “she’s not a fan” of things! 🙂 This will be added to the “DO-OVER” in our house! Keep the great recipes coming!
Made this and added ham and peas instead of tomatoes. Very god!
Just made this for the freezer. I was going to keep it for when baby comes the end of March, but just read the “use within 30 days” whoops! It smells amazing!
Do you reheat with the foil on or without foil?
Either is fine, just be sure it’s heated through. If it starts to get a little too done on top, just cover loosely with foil.
This was great ! The only change I made was adding frozen peas.
If this has been in my freezer for 5 months, can I still use it? It looks totally fine, but I’m nervous now that you said 1 month..
You should be fine if it’s been covered well and frozen the whole time. We ate a freezer meal the other day that was in our freezer for 4 months and no problem.
Hi, is there an alternate cheese that could be used in this recipe? We are not fans of Parmesan, but like this recipe idea, so wondering if there might be another cheese that we could substitute that would be good. Thanks.
Here are some substitute ideas for Parmesan cheese – https://thestonesoup.com/parmesan-cheese-substitutes/
Perfect!
This was a very dry, almost non-edible casserole. I looked back at the recipe to ensure the chicken was to be cooked and it was. So essentially, the chicken was cooked twice, making it dry like leather. We threw both pans away.
Only 1 cup of chicken for 8 servings?!
The pasta helps this recipe stretch, but you are welcome to add more chicken to suit your family!