Not everyone is a one-pot pasta fan, but I sure am. It can be a little harder to get the pasta to the right texture and the sauce to the ideal consistency, but when it all works out, it’s a time-saver and results in pasta that’s imbued with incredible flavor. That’s the case with this One-Pot Marry Me Chicken Pasta. It’s a one-pot application that works so well, and the end result is a creamy pasta with delicious sun-dried tomato, fresh basil, and garlic flavor and some hearty chicken to round it out into a full meal. It’s a quick weeknight meal but one that feels like it’s fit for a special occasion.

Why Is It Called “Marry Me” Pasta?

This name has been going around for a while now with recipes, and it probably started when you wanted to insinuate that a recipe was so good that you’d want to marry the person that made it. But really, a “marry me” recipe is usually one that contains a combination of heavy cream, sundried tomatoes, garlic, parmesan, and plenty of fresh basil. That’s the flavor profile you can expect with a “marry me” recipe and it’s a great one.

What Ingredients Do I Need for Marry Me Chicken Pasta?

You’ve already read about a few of these above, but the full list is:

• Chicken. Boneless, skinless breasts.
• Olive oil and butter.
• Garlic. 3 cloves. But measure with your heart.
• White wine. Can sub in chicken broth.
• Chicken broth. But you could use water.
• Heavy cream.
• Italian seasoning and red pepper flake.
• A medium-shaped pasta —like penne, fusilli, bowties, etc.
• Sun-dried tomatoes.
• Fresh parmesan cheese.
• And finally, fresh basil.

How Do You Make One-Pot Marry Me Chicken Pasta?

This is a recipe where everything cooks together in one pot, truly. You don’t need to boil the pasta in a second pot, you don’t need to cook the chicken in the oven, but you do need to follow the steps in order — this isn’t a “dump and go” recipe.

You’ll start by seasoning and searing the chicken. At this point, you don’t need to worry about it cooking through, you’re just trying to get some color on it. Once that happens, remove it from the pot and set it aside while you cook the garlic in some butter and deglaze the pot with white wine. Definitely scrape up all those delicious stuck on bits on the bottom of the pan! That’s flavor.

Then, you simply stir in the broth, the cream, the seasonings, the sun-dried tomatoes, and finally the pasta. Once it’s all at a nice simmer, you nestle the chicken on top and cover the skillet. The chicken and pasta should be cooked through in about the same time, around fifteen minutes.

You can stop by and stir the pasta around the chicken a bit to prevent sticking, but it isn’t wholly necessary. Slice up the chicken, stir it back into the pasta with some fresh parm and basil, and dinner is done!