Chicken Avocado Pasta (Date Night Edition)

This pasta is served in a creamy avocado sauce, loaded with roasted cherry tomatoes and topped with tender strips of chicken!

Avocado Chicken Pasta

Chicken avocado is a match made in heaven. Usually served in a salad formation, here I offer it’s younger, hotter sibling you’ve all been warned about – chicken avocado pasta. Here’s the whole thing dissected:

• Avocado Pasta – No chunks of avocado, rather instead a really simple and silky avocado sauce.
• Chicken – Grilled chicken, coated in a really easy marinade.
• Tomatoes – Roasted cherry tomatoes to stir through the pasta, juices from the pan fully included!

As you can see by the heart shaped dish, I usually do this recipe for date night. It’s easy, it’s carby and great to cook in pairs. However, it also works great as a hearty family dinner. The recipe is easily doubled 🙂

Avocado Pasta Sauce

The avocado sauce has a gorgeously creamy texture, but ironically there’s zero cream involved. Better still, you only need 5 ingredients! Here’s what you’ll need:

• Avocado – Ripe, but not bruised.
• Fresh Basil – A large handful for a gorgeous burst of flavour.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Creates the silky sauce.
• Lemon Juice – Livens up the sauce.
• Garlic – A gentle kick of flavour.

To make the sauce: just pop everything in a food processor and pulse until silky smooth. I recommend giving it a heavy seasoning, just to bring out the best in this simple sauce.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

These really are the secret weapon to this dish. A gorgeous burst of sweetness and some nice colour contrast. They bulk out the pasta too, which is great if you’re opting to leave out the grilled chicken.

To get the most out of your roasted cherry tomatoes, you want to roast them low and slow. As low as 150C/300F for as long as 1+hours. However, to keep things easy, I usually pop them in the oven at a higher temp until they just begin to burst. Either way, you MUST make sure you keep the juices. So much yummy flavour!

To make the pasta: toss pasta through your sauce, using starchy pasta water to thin out if needed, then stir through the cherry tomatoes with the juices.

Avocado and Chicken Pasta

I was quite conscious with this recipe that the chicken added something to the dish, yet wasn’t too overpowering. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t there for the sake of it. As such, here’s a few tips to getting juicy grilled chicken:

Tips for juicy Grilled Chicken

1. Firstly, as you guessed, use a marinade. Not only will this inject flavour into the chicken, but the lemon juice will actually tenderise the meat.
2. Make sure you bring your chicken to room temp before you grill it. Cooking cold meat always results in a chewier texture than if cooked at room temp.
3. Allow the chicken to rest after it’s cooked. This is potentially the most important. Resting the meat means it will soak back up the juices which would have once escaped.

Do I have to add chicken?

If you’re not a meat eater that’s absolutely fine, you can leave it out and the pasta will still be delicious.

How to grill Chicken Breast (quick summary)

1. Butterfly the breast to make two thin, even breasts.
2. Pop in a zip lock bag with your marinade and marinate for up to 8 hours, but as long as you have time for.
3. Let the chicken come to room temp, then grill over high heat for a few minutes each side until charred and just white through the centre. Allow to rest, then slice when ready to serve.

The Perfect Date Night Dinner

Like I said, this dish is the perfect dinner for two. Not only because it fits neatly into a heart shaped bowl (lol), but mainly because it’s truly delicious, and who doesn’t want a delicious dinner on date night?

Also, it’s incredibly quick and easy to make. Nobody really wants to be slaving away in the kitchen trying to follow a ridiculously hard recipe on date night. Lastly, pasta. Because if love isn’t eating extreme amounts of pasta together then I don’t know what love is.

What to serve with chicken avocado pasta?

Here I’ve opted for a really simple side salad and some garlic bread (cheesy garlic bread or cheesy pesto garlic bread also work great!)

Oh, and some cheap heart shaped candles work great too 🤣

If you’re looking for more chicken avocado recipes definitely make sure you check out my Chicken Avocado Roll Ups!

For more similar recipes check out these beauties too:

Chicken Pasta Recipes

• Spicy Chicken Pasta
• Cajun Chicken Pasta
• BBQ Chicken Pasta
• Chicken and Mushroom Pasta
• Chicken and Chorizo Pasta

Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this chicken and avocado pasta shall we?!

How to make Chicken Avocado Pasta (Full Recipe & Video)

Chicken Avocado Pasta (Date Night Edition)

This pasta is served in a creamy avocado sauce, loaded with roasted cherry tomatoes and topped with tender strips of chicken!

5 from 7 votes

Save Saved! Print Pin Rate

Servings (click & slide): 2

Course: Date Night / Dinner / Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Calories per serving: 740kcal

Author: Chris Collins

Cost per serving: £4 / $5

Cook Mode(prevent your screen from going dark)

Equipment:

• Small Oven Tray (for roasted tomatoes)
• Frying/Griddle Pan & Tongs (for chicken)
• Large Pot & Colander (for pasta)
• Food Processor (for avocado sauce)
• Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
• Zip Lock Bag
• Large Mixing Bowl

Ingredients (check list):

Creamy Avocado Pasta

• ▢ 7oz / 200g Linguine, or long-cut pasta of choice
• ▢ 1/4 cup/ 60ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ▢ 1 large (or 2 small/medium) Avocado, ripe but not bruised
• ▢ 1 large handful / packed cup Fresh Basil Leaves
• ▢ 1 clove of Garlic
• ▢ 1/2 Lemon, juice only (or to taste)
• ▢ Salt & Black Pepper, to taste

Grilled Chicken

• ▢ 1 large Chicken Breast
• ▢ 1/4 tsp each: Dried Oregano, Dried Thyme, Garlic Powder, Salt
• ▢ drizzle of Olive Oil
• ▢ squeeze of Lemon Juice
• ▢ Black Pepper, to taste

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

• ▢ 1 cup / 200g Cherry Tomatoes
• ▢ drizzle of Olive Oil
• ▢ Salt & Black Pepper, to taste

To Serve

• ▢ Parmesan
• ▢ Fresh Basil
• ▢ Garlic Bread
• ▢ Side Salad (see notes)

Instructions:

Roasted Tomatoes

• In a small oven tray, combine cherry tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 10-12mins at 200C/390F or until they just being to wrinkle. For a more intense flavour roast at a lower temp over a longer period of time (as low as 150c/300f for as long as 1hour+).

Chicken

• Meanwhile, butterfly your chicken breast right through to make 2 even sized breasts. Combine in a zip lock bag with 1/4 tsp oregano, thyme, salt, a drizzle of oil, a squeeze of lemon juice & a pinch of black pepper and allow to marinate for as long as you have time for (up to 8 hours). If you're pushed for time just leave at room temp whilst you prep the other ingredients. If marinating take out fridge at least 15mins before needed.
• Grill/fry over medium-high heat for a few mins each side, until white through the centre. Allow to rest to one side (important to retain juices) then just before serving, slice into strips, ensuring you slice against the grain and at an angle.

Avocado Pasta

• Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Scoop out a cup of starchy pasta water just before draining.
• In a food processor, combine avocado, extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil, garlic clove, lemon juice and a hefty pinch of salt and pepper (season well to bring out the best in this simple sauce). Add a dash more oil if it needs smoothing out.
• In a large mixing bowl (or the frying pan if it's completely cooled down) combine pasta with avocado sauce and toss until the pasta is silky smooth and coated in the sauce. Add in your roasted tomatoes WITH the juices from the pan. If you need to, add a few splashes of the starchy pasta water to help create the sauce (discard water if not needed).

Combined

• Serve pasta with sliced grilled chicken on top, a heavy sprinkling of parmesan, a side salad and some garlic bread. Enjoy!

Quick 1 min demo!

Notes:

a) Side Salad - Here I simply used Rocket/Arugula, Pine Nuts, Red Onion, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Lemon Juice and Seasoning. Also, check out my Homemade Garlic Bread Recipe!

b) Avocado - Ensure it's nice and ripe, if the avocado if underripe the sauce will taste bitter and it'll be difficult to blend.

c) Chicken -Really important to firstly make sure the chicken is close to room temp before frying (cold chicken will seize up and go chewy) but also important to let it rest before slicing. If you slice it right away it'll loose it's juiciness and go dry.

d) Calories based on no sides or toppings, just the chicken, pasta, sauce and tomatoes then shared between 2.

Your Private Notes:

Click here to add your own private notes or reminders about this recipe.

Nutrition:

Nutrition Facts

Chicken Avocado Pasta (Date Night Edition)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 740 Calories from Fat 448

% Daily Value*

Fat 49.81g77%

Saturated Fat 7.349g37%

Trans Fat 0.015g

Polyunsaturated Fat 6.094g

Monounsaturated Fat 33.778g

Cholesterol 58mg19%

Sodium 191mg8%

Potassium 989mg28%

Carbohydrates 46.22g15%

Fiber 10.1g40%

Sugar 4.81g5%

Protein 30.99g62%

Vitamin A 3500IU70%

Vitamin C 44.6mg54%

Calcium 70mg7%

Iron 3.4mg19%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition is based on the absence of salt unless stated as a measurement in the ingredients. Cost is worked out based on ingredients bought from UK supermarkets, then divided by the number of servings. In both instances these values are just for guidance. Please check out my FAQ Page for more info.

Tried this recipe?Show me how you got on by tagging @dontgobaconmyheart_ on IG and #dontgobaconmyheart

Looking for more?You'll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook 'Comfy'

If you loved this Chicken Avocado Pasta then be sure to Pin the recipe for later! Already made it or got a burning question? Give me a shout in the comments below and pick up your free ecookbook along the way!