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Marry me chicken pasta features creamy, cheesy bow tie pasta tossed with seasoned chicken, spinach, and sun dried tomatoes. The result is a skillet pasta that is so good you’ll want to marry whoever makes this dish for you!

2 bowls of marry me chicken pasta next to a skillet of the pasta — Marry Me Chicken Pasta

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Pasta is one of the most romantic meals out there.

I dare you to name a more romantic food moment than Lady and the Tramp sharing that bowl of spaghetti.

You can’t do it, can you? Except maybe the scene in Bluey when Bluey and Bingo feed Bandit and Chili the plate of whatever and Bandit eats it for Chili in the name of romance.

Clearly, our kids are Bluey fans and romance in this house exists in pasta form like this marry me chicken.

It is a dish that would absolutely sweep me off my feet, in the best kind of way with its creamy sauce, sweet sun dried tomatoes, and hint of garlic.

What is marry me chicken pasta?

hands holding a fork and bowl to take a forkful of marry me chicken pasta on a set table — Marry Me Chicken Pasta

Just what the heck is “marry me chicken pasta?”

That’s a valid question for anyone who maybe heard of it but don’t know the origin of the dish.

Back in 2016, a food editor with Delish made this dish, and either a viewer or producer (depending on who you believe) said something to the effect of “I’d marry you for making that.”

Though a proposal is not a guarantee, I can attest to marry me chicken pasta being incredibly tasty, chicken alfredo style recipe with the addition of sun dried tomatoes and spinach and a cousin to this Lemon Chicken Orzo Pasta.

So here is everything you need to know about making this famous marry me chicken pasta.

Ingredients and Kitchen Supplies

Ingredients for Marry Me Chicken Pasta: Chicken, Bow Tie Pasta, Butter, Olive Oil, Garlic, Sun Dried Tomatoes, Spinach, Spices, Heavy Cream, and Parmesan Cheese

Here’s what you need to make marry me chicken pasta:

Chicken– Chicken breast, trimmed of extra fat and cut into 1″ pieces
Olive oil and butter– Yes, we use a tablespoon of each for best flavor. But you could use all of one or the other.
Spices– Salt, pepper, dried Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes
Garlic– Fresh garlic cloves crushed
Spinach– Fresh baby spinach, washed.
Sun dried tomatoes– Cut into slices. We used the dry packed sun dried tomatoes but you can use the kind packed in oil as well.
Heavy cream– Don’t substitute a lighter dairy product. You want the heavy cream for the thickest, creamiest sauce.
Parmesan cheese– Use a good quality grated Parmesan cheese.
Pasta– Farfelle (bowties) or penne cooked al dente according to the directions on the pasta
Garnish– Optional. You can top it with chopped fresh basil or parsley

Kitchen supplies you need are minimal but include:

How to Make Marry Me Chicken Pasta

1. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package.

Cook the pasta to al dente in a large pot of water.

2. Saute the chicken in butter and olive oil.

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saute pan over medium heat.

When the butter melts, add the chicken breast to the pan. Season the chicken with the salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and the pressed garlic.

Seasoned chicken pieces in a saute pan with crushed garlic — Cook the chicken breast in a saute pan

Saute the chicken over medium heat until it is cooked through and slightly golden brown on the outside of both sides.

3. Add the veggies.

Once the chicken is cooked through, add the spinach to the pan.

Spinach in a saute pan with chicken for Marry Me chicken pasta — Add the spinach to the saute pan

Let the spinach cook until it just starts to wilt and cook down, about a minute.

Spinach slightly wilted in a saute pan with chicken for Marry Me chicken pasta — When the spinach looks like this, add the sun dried tomatoes.

As soon as the spinach has turned bright green and began to wilt, stir in the sun dried tomatoes.

Add the sun dried tomatoes to the Marry Me Chicken skillet — Add the sun dried tomatoes to the Marry Me Chicken Pasta

4. Put it all together.

At this point, you can add the heavy cream to the pan with the chicken and veggies.

Creamy marry me chicken pasta sauce in a skillet — Add the heavy cream and bring it to a simmer.

Let the heavy cream come to a simmer and cook down slightly.

Once the cream simmers, stir the cooked pasta directly into the pan with the chicken and cream.

Stir the cooked bow tie pasta into the marry me chicken sauce — Stir the pasta right into the skillet

Then, immediately remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese until it’s incorporated.

Add the parmesan cheese to the Marry Me chicken pasta

Serve, garnishishing with chopped parsley or basil and Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Storing Leftovers

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Reheat in the microwave until warmed through or in a saute pan on the stove top until warm, thinning the sauce out with a little more heavy cream if needed.

Why is my marry me chicken sauce not thickening?

Did you use heavy cream?

If you use heavy cream, it will reduce slightly and won’t really thicken a ton because the cream is already thick.

That said, the sauce will look kind of thin until you stir in the pasta and the cheese.

Don’t worry!

It will thicken up as soon the pasta starch hits the cream and the Parmesan cheese gets stirred in.

Tips and Tricks

hands holding a bowl of marry me chicken pasta — Marry Me Chicken Pasta

While this is called marry me CHICKEN pasta, you could absolutely substitute shrimp for the chicken and it would be absolutely delicious.
This sauce doesn’t call for a roux. There’s no thickening agent like flour because I am counting on you to use heavy cream. The heavy cream will create a really thick sauce especially as it combines with the Parmesan.
If you want to add a little extra something to this pasta, deglaze the pan you’ve cooked the chicken and veggies in with a quarter cup of white wine. It will add a really nice little bit of acidity to the dish and a depth of flavor that’s so good!
You could forgo making chicken if you have leftover chicken. Cutting up this Easy Italian Grilled Chicken would work well. So would shredding some rotisserie up. Either way, you’d melt the butter and heat the oil and add the chicken just long enough to warm it through before adding the spinach as directed above.

Other Date Night Pastas

Marry me chicken pasta is a really yummy date night pasta at home.

Looking for other ideas? Try these:

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