Easy Creamy Tahini Chicken Farfalle Pasta Dinner

This creamy tahini chicken farfalle pasta dinner comes together in no time. It is perfect for days when you want that richness of cheese without having it. In fact, you will think this has cheese in it; it is so luxurious! Boneless skinless chicken breast pairs with frozen butternut squash and chopped kale for a satisfying dinner the whole family will love.

I love finding new and exciting ways to incorporate squash into our diets, as the bright orange flesh is oh-so-tasty and good for us. However, not everyone in my family loves it as much as I do. So, being more inventive helps get this fall/winter veggie into our diet.

This tahini pasta dish was inspired not only to sneak some extra veggies in but also because I had wanted to try making a lush, creamy sauce without using milk, cream, or cheese. This dish will fool everyone’s taste buds; it is so creamy!

So Let’s Make This Easy Creamy Tahini Chicken Farfalle Pasta Dinner

The first step is to get the tahini sauce together. It’s going to appear like it’s a separated mess. Don’t panic. Once it has time to sit, it will homogenize again and be creamy.

After that, you can start by getting the pasta boiling. You want to cook that while you work on the main sauce components. I used a large saute pan to make the sauce. If you don’t have one, you can still make this in a regular fry pan.

Start by heating the olive oil in your saute pan. Once it is hot, you can add the boneless skinless chicken breast, which we’ve chopped into cubes or one-inch pieces. Cook the chicken over low-med heat until it is almost fully cooked before adding the frozen butternut squash.

When you add the frozen squash, you don’t have to thaw it out at all. Allow it to heat up with the chicken as it finishes cooking. While that is happening, go ahead and chop the fresh kale. We are using four cups of this superfood in the sauce.

Once you’ve got it cut up, add it to the pan with the chicken and squash. Place a lid over the whole thing and allow it to cook so the kale can wilt down some. When the kale has wilted down, add the creamy tahini sauce. Be sure to give it a final stir first before adding.

That will be a hot pan we add to, so it won’t take a minute to heat right through. By this point, the chicken will have cooked entirely, and your pasta is ready to drain.

You can serve with the sauce on top of the plain farfalle pasta, or you can mix it right in before serving. Either way, a couple of scoops of this delightful, easy pasta dinner is a complete meal all on its own!

Ingredients:

Farfalle Pasta: Bow-tie pasta is a great pasta shape to use when making this creamy pasta dish.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast: This cut of poultry is ideally suited to sauteing quickly for pasta dishes. Without added fat from the skin, it is prone to drying out, so pay close attention to not overcooking or cooking on too high a heat.

Butternut Squash: This winter squash has a delicate flavored orange flesh that, when cooked from frozen, is perfectly soft and delicious. The squash cooks down some to add to the creamy texture of the tahini sauce.

Kale: This leafy green vegetable is an excellent alternative to traditional spinach in pasta dishes. Green curly kale, as used here, cooks relatively quickly when chopped into finer-sized pieces, stems removed. The stems are stiff and tough, so they are best discarded or saved for savory soups.

Tahini: This Middle Eastern condiment is made from ground sesame seeds. The smooth beige sauce mixes well with the other ingredients to create a mild, flavorful cream sauce.

Fresh Garlic: The fresh garlic in the sauce complements the mild flavor of the tahini and gives it a bit of extra bite.

Soya Sauce: This is made from fermented soya seeds and adds a salty, umami flavor to the earthier tahini.

OIive Oil: This neutral oil is excellent for sauteing the chicken. However, because of its low smoke point, you don’t want to raise the temperature too high in the pan. The olive oil imparts a mild flavor to the dish.

Substitutions and Add Ins For:

Pasta can be switched around for any pasta. What are you in the mood for? Spaghetti? Long, thick linguine or fettuccine? If those don’t suit your fancy, penne rigate or cavatelli are ideally suited to this dish as well. Or, if you want to make dinner more kid-friendly, try using wagon wheel pasta!

Boneless skinless chicken breast isn’t always cheap. So, you can switch this out for another meat of your choice. Or omit meat altogether for a vegetarian dinner idea!

Frozen butternut squash can be replaced with virtually any other winter squash. The main thing is that the squash pieces remain small and uniform, so they can cook evenly for a similar length.

Green curly kale can be replaced with another kale variety or switched out entirely for spinach. Remember, spinach will wilt and cook faster than kale, so adjust cook times as needed.

Fresh Garlic: If you don’t like garlic, you can omit this from the recipe; however, it’s so mild in this dish you may want to leave it in.

Soya Sauce: The saltiness and umami from this classic sauce are needed ingredients. However, you can use tamari, Maggi, or even miso with similar results. You may want to adjust amounts, so feel free to experiment.

Expert Tips and Serving Suggestions For Easy Creamy Tahini Chicken Farfalle:

Always make sure the chicken is fully cooked before serving. To do so, remove a piece from the pan and cut it open. If the inside isn’t pink and it has cooked through, it is done. Or, if you want to gauge a more accurate way, invest in a meat thermometer. Stab the largest piece of chicken breast. If the temp is 165 degrees Fahrenheit, then it is finished.

Be careful when cooking this dish to not let it dry out. If you notice that the chicken is getting too dry, before adding the squash, add a small splash of water. (When adding cold water to a hot pan, always be careful of splashback)

Although this easy pasta dinner is a complete meal, you can serve it with a side salad. Or a crusty bread.

Leftover pasta can be stored in the fridge covered for up to three days.