You cannot go wrong with this Sun Dried Tomato & Chicken Pasta in the Ninja Foodi! It's bursting with flavor, takes under 30 minutes to make, and is so vibrant and colorful; it's simply perfect for an everyday meal or a special occasion.
Suggested Kitchen Tools Sun Dried Tomato & Chicken Pasta
- Electric Pressure Cooker
- Tongs
- Serving Platter
- Sharp Knife
- Cutting Board
Ingredients & Substitutions
Chicken
The protein star of our show, sliced thin for quick cooking and maximum flavor absorption. Chicken thighs work beautifully as a substitute and will stay even more tender, or you could use turkey breast for a leaner option.
Chicken Broth
The cooking liquid that transforms into a flavorful sauce base. Vegetable broth works as a substitute, and you can even use bone broth for extra richness and nutrition.
Farfalle Pasta
Those cute bow-ties aren't just for looks – they hold onto all the delicious sauce and ingredients perfectly. Penne, rigatoni, or rotini work equally well as substitutes since they all have nooks and crannies for the sauce. You may need to adjust the PC time.
Sun Dried Tomatoes
- These little flavor bombs add intense, concentrated tomato taste and chewy texture. If you can't find them, you can substitute with chopped fresh tomatoes, though you'll lose some of that concentrated flavor intensity.
Fire Roasted Tomatoes
- The smokiness from fire roasting adds another layer of complexity to the dish. Regular diced tomatoes work in a pinch, but you might want to add a pinch of smoked paprika to compensate for the lost smoky flavor.
How Can I Customize this Pasta Recipe
You can easily customize this recipe to your personal preferences by:
Replacing the white wine with an extra cup of chicken stock.
Omitting the olives, artichokes, or even the sun dried tomatoes if you aren't a fan.
You can replace the chicken with shrimp - just thaw the raw shrimp in cold water for about 15 minutes and then add them in when you add the spinach and let the residual heat from the sauce cook the shrimp.
Can I use a different kind of pasta?
Of course. There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing the pasta. Certain pastas pair better with a creamy sauce - like the one in this recipe - because their shape allows the pasta to hold onto more sauce. I chose farfalle pasta because it will hold the sauce, and I love the way it looks in this dish. The other reason I chose farfalle pasta is because it takes a little longer to cook and has less chance of being overcooked. If you want to read a little more on choosing the right pasta, here is an article that I found interesting: Choosing Pasta
Penne pasta would be a good substitute because the hollow tube will hold the sauce and the noodle itself won't overcook with 4 minutes of pressure cooking.
Rotini pasta would be another good choices for the same reasons as penne.
If you use a thin pasta like spaghetti noodles, you would want to cook the chicken a little longer and decrease the time to 2 minutes of pressure cooking.
I would not recommend using a small pasta like ditalina pasta because it will get overcooked and just disappear under the larger size ingredients in this dish.
How to Make Sun Dried Tomato & Chicken Pasta in the Ninja Foodi
This recipe couldn't be easier, I promise. It's pretty much a dump and cook recipe that is ready in under 30 minutes. If you want to watch me make this recipe, you can watch the full video on YouTube: Sun Dried Tomato & Chicken Pasta in the Ninja Foodi. You can also find the video below the recipe.
Make up the seasoning blend. Slice your thawed chicken breast into ¼" slices. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Drain your olives and artichokes. That is all the prep work required. How easy is that? Easy!
Turn the Ninja Foodi on and set it to high sauté. Then add in butter and allow to melt. Once melted, add in onions and cook for 2 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for an additional minute.
While the butter is melting and the onions are cooking, season your chicken slices with ½ of the seasoning blend. Add the chicken to the inner pot and cook on high sauté for about 1 minute per side. We don't want to cook the chicken all the way because we will be putting it under pressure for a couple of minutes.
Deglaze the pan with 1 cup of white wine (if using) and stir to make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pan. Cook for about 30 seconds and add in chicken broth. If you aren't using white wine, just add in 4 cups of chicken broth (instead of 3) to deglaze the pan.
Now, all we have to do is layer the ingredients and set the pressure cooking time. Layer in this order and do not stir.
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Add the Farfalle Pasta and press down to get as much of the pasta into the liquid as possible. Not all will be covered and that is fine.
Add the sun dried tomatoes, remaining seasoning blend, and the fire roasted tomatoes. I used sun dried tomato halves by Bella Sun Luci, but if you can't find those you can use the kind in oil. You will want to drain the tomatoes from the oil before adding. Don't discard the oil, use it as a spread for this delicious Homemade Bread (made in the Ninja Foodi) recipe.
Then, put the whole block of cream cheese on top and add in black olives and artichokes if you are using them.
Put on the pressure lid and set the Ninja Foodi to high pressure for 4 minutes. It will take a while for the Ninja Foodi to come up to pressure because this is a pretty full pot, so don't be alarmed if it takes 10 minutes or so. I also noticed that once the red button popped up, the countdown didn't start for 3-4 minutes after that. You can always decrease your cook time by a minute or so if you are worried about over cooking your noodles.
After the 4 minutes of pressure cooking, allow a natural release of pressure for 2 minutes. This gives the pot some time to settle down before opening the lid. After 2 minutes, manually release the remaining pressure. This will take a few minutes.
Stir to incorporate the cream cheese, which will thicken the pasta sauce. Then add in feta cheese and spinach, about a cup at a time and stir after each cup to distribute the spinach throughout the pasta. Close the TenderCrisp lid and let sit 5-10 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.
You can top the pasta with grated Parmesan if you like. Serve and Enjoy!
Why This Recipe Works So Well
The beauty of this dish lies in how all these Mediterranean flavors come together in one pot. The pressure cooking method ensures the pasta absorbs all those wonderful flavors while cooking, rather than just sitting on top of a sauce. The cream cheese creates an incredibly silky sauce without the fuss of making a traditional roux, and adding the spinach and feta at the end keeps them fresh and prevents overcooking.
Whether you're feeding a family on a Tuesday night or entertaining friends on the weekend, this Sun Dried Tomato & Chicken Pasta is guaranteed to impress.
Frequently Asked Questions
Although the peppers usually used in Mississippi pot roast are mild compared to jalapeno peppers, the pepperoncini peppers that are pickled in a jar have a tang and a little spice.
I would consider it a mild spiciness and not overwhelming at all. However, I recommend omitting the pepperoncini and the juice if you want zero spiciness.
When ready to use, remove frozen Sun Dried Tomato & Chicken Pasta from the bag. Sometimes I cut the bag to get it out. Place the frozen pasta in a 8" round cake pan like this one from Fat Daddio's and cover with foil.
Put 1-2 cups of water in the bottom of the Ninja Foodi's inner pot. Place the cake pan on the rack in either position. Set the Ninja Foodi to steam and make sure the valve is in the vent position. Set the time for 25 minutes.
When the time is up, check the pasta and if it still needs to be warmed more, put the foil back on and set the steam for 5-10 more minutes.
I found that this worked perfectly and did not cause the pasta to overcook.
Sun Dried Tomato & Chicken Pasta in the Ninja Foodi
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter salted
- 1 cup onion diced (about ½ large onion)
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 lbs chicken breasts sliced ¼ strips
- 1 cup white wine
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 12 ounces Farfalle Pasta see post for more information
- 3 ounces Sun Dried Tomatoes
- 2 cans fire roasted tomatoes 29 ounces total
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 6 oz black olives large, whole, pitted
- 14.5 ounce Artichoke hearts quartered in water
- 4 cups spinach fresh
- 5 ounces Feta Cheese crumbled (about 1 cup)
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Instructions
- Turn the Ninja Foodi on High saute and melt butter. Add in diced onions and cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute
- Cut chicken breasts into ¼ inch slices and season with ½ of the seasoning blend. Add to butter/onion/garlic mixture and saute for 1 minute on each side.
- Deglaze the pan with 1 cup of white wine and stir to make sure nothing is stuck on the bottom of the pan. Cook for about 30 seconds.
- Add in 3 cups of chicken broth. Do not stir from this point on until the pressure cooking time is complete.
- Add pasta, sun dried tomatoes, remaining seasoning blend, fire roasted tomatoes, cream cheese block, olives, & artichokes.
- Put on the pressure cooking lid, make sure the valve is set to seal. Set the Ninja Foodi to high pressure for 4 minutes. When it is done pressure cooking, allow to natural release for 2 minutes and then manually release the remaining pressure.
- Stir ingredients together. Add spinach and feta. Stir to combine and put the Tender Crisp lid down and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes.
- Stir and Serve. Top with grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Nutrition
About the Recipe Author, Louise Long
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
She published her first cookbook in the Fall of 2018 and is very interested in writing several more.
Louise is also the creator of an online Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooking Course with over 100 instructional step-by-step videos. People absolutely rave about the course and all the value they have received from it.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and learning more about the appliances they love.
Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper 101
Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill & Smoker
Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can. Get more Information about Louise & contact information
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Leslie says
Overall, this dish was packed with flavor and very tasty. I followed the directions exactly, but next time I think I will make a few modifications. The noodles were super mushy so I'm going to cut the cook time down to 3 minutes and NR to 1 minute. Because the sun dried tomatoes were so flavorful on their own, I think I will just use 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes next time. I also think 1/2 of the recommended cream cheese is more than enough to give it a smooth silky sauce but without being too heavy. Also, it's just my preference, but I think I'll cut the olives in half. Just a note: This recipe makes a HUGE portion. I have a lot of leftovers which isn't usually a problem, but for just my hubby and myself, we will be eating on this for days. I'm looking forward to making this dish again!
Louise says
I'm so glad you liked it. I'm surprised the pasta was too soft, that wasn't the case in my test batches. I'm curious if you have the 8qt or the 6.5qt. I'm beginning to see a pattern where times for fast cooking food like pasta do need to be adjusted slightly with the 8qt, so your feedback is very valuable to me. I think your plan of PC 3 minutes with a 1 minute NR sounds like a good one. Also keep in mind, if you decrease the fire roasted tomatoes, you are decreasing liquid and volume, so the the time to pressure might be shorter which means shorter cook time.
Amy H Haile says
One of my first ninja meals. Absolutely fantastic and a big hit with everyone. I have more confidence to now try other recipes. Thank you!
Louise says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Lee says
Love your recipes. Gonna try this out tonight. So far our favorite is the chicken and wild rice with carrots. My son has seconds and sometimes thirds of it. IF there are any leftovers, he's quick to claim them as his and God help you if you touch them. We do at least one of your recipes a week so please keep posting them.
Louise says
Thank you so much! I wrote that recipe for a friend of mine who wanted to cook at home more and her kids love it too! I then adapted it for the Foodi and it is even better and healthier because I did away with the boxed rice. I'm so glad you and your family like this recipe and others. I'm working hard to get new recipes out twice a week.
Theresa says
Can you make this with a different cheese?
Louise says
Sure. Parmesan would be great. Asiago would work. Pretty much whatever you like. I'm not sure that cheddar would work with the other flavors though. You can also omit the cheese.
Leslie says
Made this tonight but did not have sundried tomatoes. It still turned out fantastic! Definitely a keeper in this house. Next time I will be sure to have sundried tomatoes. Keep on sharing great recipes!
Louise says
I am thrilled it turned out great for you! Thanks for taking the time to rate and comment on the recipe!