Chicken Spinach Pasta
⏱ 10 min prep · 🍳 15 min · 🍽 4
Strips of chicken breast sear fast in the pan while baby spinach wilts down into a smooth white sauce with parmesan and a whisper of lemon zest, just enough to season, never enough to notice. The ingredients are the ones already sitting in your fridge midweek: chicken breast, a bag of baby spinach, pasta, milk. No trip down a specialty aisle, no spice jar to hunt for at five o'clock, just salt, pepper, and a pinch of oregano.
Slot it into the plan as a standing Tuesday or Wednesday, ideally right after a heavier weekend roast, so the rest of the family knows what's coming without you explaining it again. The sauce takes well to small adjustments, a little more lemon one week, less oregano the next, so it grows into your family's version instead of staying a recipe you're stuck following exactly.
Ingredients
- 4.000 stk kyllingfilet
- 1.000 ss olje
- salt
- pepper
- 1.000 stk sitron
- 300.000 g tagliatelle
- 1.000 ss smør
- 1.500 ss hvetemel
- 2.000 ss parmesan
- 2.000 dl melk
- 1.000 dl kyllingbuljong
- 1.000 ts oregano
- 100.000 g spinat
Instructions
Kok pasta etter anvisning på pakken.
Stek kyllingstriper i olivenolje til de er gjennomstekte og gylne, og smak til med paprikapulver, salt og pepper.
Sauter finhakket hvitløk i samme panne, tilsett fløte og kyllingkraft, og la det koke opp.
Tilsett fersk spinat og la den falle sammen i sausen.
Bland den kokte pastaen inn i sausen og pynt med revet parmesan ved servering.
This is the dinner for weeks you can already see coming apart at the seams, carpool on Tuesday, practice on Wednesday, one parent working late, and you need at least one night where the meal runs on autopilot. The sauce is mild enough that spinach rides along instead of becoming its own negotiation at the table, and strips of chicken are easier for smaller hands than a cutlet they have to saw through. Put it on the weekly plan under a name your kids already recognize, something like "the green pasta," so they know what's coming before they've looked in the pot. Most families we hear from build it up gradually, a small handful of spinach the first few times, full amount once it's a known quantity, rather than serving it at full strength on night one.
FAQ
Can I freeze chicken spinach pasta?
The sauce tends to split when frozen because it's built on milk and flour, so freeze the chicken and sauce separately from any cooked pasta rather than as a combined dish. Cook fresh pasta on the night you serve it, and let the sauce thaw in the fridge overnight first. A fully assembled portion often turns grainy after thawing, so freeze in single-serve containers if you're freezing at all.
How long do leftovers keep in the fridge?
Two to three days in a sealed container. Reheat gently in a saucepan and add a splash of milk or water as you go, since the sauce firms up in the cold and needs the extra liquid to turn creamy again. Stir it often so it doesn't catch on the bottom, especially if you're using the microwave instead of a stovetop.
How do I get a spinach-averse kid to eat this?
Chop the spinach finer before it goes into the sauce, the smaller the pieces, the less texture there is to notice. Start with a small handful the first time and build up the quantity over a few dinners rather than serving full strength right away. Most kids are reacting to texture more than flavor, so finer chopping usually solves more of the problem than the seasoning does.
Can I use something other than chicken breast?
Turkey breast cooks in the same time and gives a similarly mild result. Leftover grilled or roasted chicken from an earlier dinner can be shredded and stirred straight into the finished sauce near the end, so all it needs is reheating through. Boneless chicken thighs work too if that's what's in the fridge, just give them a few extra minutes in the pan.
Can I make the sauce ahead of time?
Yes. Make the white sauce with butter, flour, milk, chicken stock, and oregano the day before and refrigerate it in a sealed container. Cook the pasta and sear the chicken the evening you're serving it, warm the sauce gently, and fold in the spinach right at the end. That leaves only about 10-15 minutes of actual cooking on the night you're short on time.
Does this work for school lunchboxes?
It's best straight from the pan while the sauce is still warm and creamy, so it works better as a sit-down dinner than a cold lunchbox item. If you're sending leftovers, reheat them well and pack them in an insulated thermos container that holds heat through to lunchtime. In a standard cold lunchbox the sauce firms up and the pasta clumps, so the result is noticeably worse than eating it the same night.