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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Phil says
Great Recipe! So much flavor....and even better for left overs the next day! Definitely going into the rotation
Instead of noodles, I added zoodles after pressure cooking and it was great!
Louise says
That's wonderful to hear!
Linda says
I am trying this tonight but I have Foodi with the one lid. How do I tender crisp at the end ?
Louise says
Unless you are adding a topping, you wouldn't use the crisping function. Simply pressure cook, add in the feta and spinach and close the lid to let it sit.
Cassandra says
Hmmm first ever time cookomg in my new Christmas /Hanukkah gift... Came out absolutely delicious thank you.. Except...
The noodles are extremely mushy & there's too much liquid!! Advice please?!
I did everything exactly as instructed thank you.
Louise says
Did you change anything in the recipe? Add more chicken or switch the pasta for something else? If you want to make it again, decrease your PC time and decrease the liquid a bit and that should take care of the issues you encountered. It's hard to say exactly what may have gone wrong, but it shouldn't be soupy or mushy.
Karen Crook says
I always reheat my leftovers in my air fryer. Could you give me instructions on how to reheat the leftovers in the ninja Foodi.
Louise says
I would use the steam function for pasta dishes and put the portion you want to reheat in a pan, covered.
Amy says
Really good! I followed the recipe without the wine (didn’t have any) and substituted Italian season for rosemary because I didn’t have that either. I don’t care for artichokes, so I left those out, too. Was wondering if it would be possible to add mushrooms? I get nervous about majorly changing Foodi recipes when the pressure cooker is involved.
Louise says
I'm so glad you liked it. You can definitely add mushrooms, they do great with pressure cooking.