This Creamy Chicken Pasta with Feta Cheese is done in 30 minutes and has loads of Feta cheese melted into a creamy crème fraîche sauce. With chicken, basil and cherrytomatoes this is the ultimate weeknight pasta.
Place a pan over medium-high heat and add in butter & vegetable oil. When the butter is melted, add the chicken and season with salt and black pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, until white on the outside. It doesn't have to be cooked through at this point.
½ tablespoon butter, ½ tablespoon vegetable oil, 1 lb chicken thigh filets, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper
Push the chicken to one side of the pan and add the tomato paste in the other half. Fry the tomato paste for 1 minute.
2 tablespoon tomato paste
Pour in the water and mix while scraping at the bottom to dissolve some of the flavorful pieces stuck there.
3 tablespoon water
Add crème fraiche and mix well while scraping the bottom to loosen any pieces left there.
2 cups crème fraîche
Add paprika powder, onion powder and black pepper and mix well.
½ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon paprika powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon black pepper
Add Feta cheese, mix well, and simmer for at least 5 minutes, until the Feta cheese is mostly or completely melted.
¾ cup Feta cheese
Add the cherry tomatoes and basil and mix.
1⅓ cups cherry tomatoes, 1 cup fresh basil leaves
Add cooked pasta, mix well, and leave on the heat for a minute. Taste test and add salt if needed. Serve!
⅔ lb pasta, ½ teaspoon salt
Video
Notes
Ingredient notes & susbtitutions
Chicken thigh filets can be substituted for chicken breasts or another boneless cut of chicken - however, thigh filets have the most flavor
Butter and oil can be used either both or just one or the other - if using just one, double the amount
Feta cheese can be swapped for another Feta-style white cheese
Pasta - I like fusilli for how the sauce clings to it, but any type of pasta - fresh or dry - works
Crème fraîche -you can use both full fat and low fat. You can also substitute it for a flavored crème fraîche - I like to use half paprika and chili and half tomato and basil, and then I skip the paprika powder, onion powder and black pepper used to season the sauce.
Crème fraîche can be made at home from buttermilk and heavy cream, but if you don't have the time you can also use heavy cream together with a few tablespoons of sour cream
Cherry tomatoes can be swapped for diced regular tomatoes
Fresh basil can be swapped for dried basil, use 1 tablespoon for 4 servings of this recipe
Salt might need to be added, but do it at the end - depending on how salty your Feta cheese is you might not need it
Tips & tricks
Fry the tomato paste before mixing in with the chicken - this adds a lot of umami flavor
Make sure to scrape the bottom after adding the crème fraîche, to get all those tasty bits that are stuck there
Don't overcook the pasta - rather cook it too short than too long, it can finish cooking in the sauce
Add salt at the end - Feta cheese can be pretty salty, so adding salt as well can make it too salty
Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days
Freeze leftovers in airtight containers for up to 3 months