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Home » Recipes » Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Meal Prep Pasta

Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Meal Prep Pasta

6/11/20

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This Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Meal Prep Pasta is the perfect one pot meal for batch cooking during a busy workweek! Perfect for lunch or dinner, you'll love this pasta!

Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Meal Prep Pasta

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Ingredients in pesto pasta

This recipe comes together super easily in one pot and with a short ingredient list.

Here's what you need:

  • chicken breasts
  • whole wheat rotini
  • pesto
  • zucchini and/or yellow squash
  • plum tomatoes
  • garlic
  • red onion
  • spinach

Ingredient substitutions

There are a number of sub-ins you can make. Here's what's possible to swap out or in:

Chicken – You can leave the chicken out altogether or use boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

Pasta – Any larger shape of pasta (eg penne or fusili) will work, whether that's whole wheat or regular pasta. You could also use some smaller pasta shapes such as macaroni or long pasta such as spaghetti. Whatever you have on hand will work!

Pesto – I use store bought jarred pesto (such as Classico brand) to keep things easy, but you can make your own pesto at home using 2 cups fresh basil leaves, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 2 cloves garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper. Blend it all up in a food processor or mini blender and you're good to go!

Zucchini – Zucchini or yellow summer squash work great in this recipe. You can use either 2 zucchini, 2 summer squash or 1 of each. Alternatively, you can use another veggie like broccoli or mushrooms.

Tomatoes – I find these add to the flavour of the pesto and make it reminiscent of bruschetta. I do suggest using fresh tomatoes as canned won't be the same. If you don't have fresh, leave the tomatoes out altogether and use a different veggie.

Spinach – Any type of chopped greens will work, including kale.

Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Meal Prep Pasta

How to make meal prep pasta

It's SO easy to make this pasta and you only have to dirty one pot. Here are the instructions:

  1. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente, about 10 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain pasta, then set aside in a strainer.
  2. Add remaining tbsp of olive oil to pot, then return to heat and add chicken, cooking for 5 minutes until browned. Add tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, red onion and garlic. Saute for 2 minutes until veggies have softened.
  3. Add pesto, pasta waster and pasta back to pot, stirring well to coat and cooking for another 2 minutes or so. Stir in chopped spinach and remove from heat, then serve and enjoy!

What goes well with pesto pasta?

Here are some easy sides I suggest, although I will warn you that this pasta is pretty filling on its own!

  • Garlic bread
  • Side salad
  • Caprese salad
  • Olives, cheese and crackers
  • Roasted or steamed vegetables

Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Meal Prep Pasta

Storing and reheating

For meal prep purposes, I recommend storing this pasta in individual servings in glass containers. When ready to reheat, sprinkle some water overtop so the pasta doesn't dry out then microwave for 2 minutes or so. You can also reheat in a pot on the stove. The leftovers will last up to 5 days in the fridge.

Freezing this pasta

You can also freeze this pasta up to 3 months. Freeze in individual servings in glass bowls, then sprinkle some water overtop and reheat from frozen for 6-7 minutes in the microwave, stirring once or twice part way through.

Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Meal Prep Pasta

More easy pasta recipes

  • Pasta primavera
  • Bruschetta chicken pasta
  • Cajun chicken pasta

Tools for this recipe

  • Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this pasta into leftovers
  • Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months

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Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Meal Prep Pasta

Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Meal Prep Pasta

This Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Meal Prep Pasta is the perfect one pot meal for batch cooking during a busy workweek! Perfect for lunch or dinner, you'll love this pasta!
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Pasta
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: meal prep pasta, pesto pasta
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 474kcal
Author: Taylor Stinson

Ingredients

  • 1 lb chicken breasts, diced
  • 1 lb whole wheat rotini
  • 1/2 cup jarred pesto
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 yellow squash or use 2 zucchini instead
  • 4 plum tomatoes, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 2 cups spinach, chopped

Instructions

  • Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente, about 10 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain pasta, then set aside in a strainer. Return pasta pot to stove over med-high heat.
  • Add remaining tbsp of olive oil to pot, then add chicken and cook for 5 minutes until browned. Add tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, red onion and garlic. Saute for 2 minutes until veggies have softened.
  • Add pesto, pasta waster and pasta back to pot, stirring well to coat and cooking for another 2 minutes or so. Stir in chopped spinach and remove from heat. Serve and enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 474kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 299mg | Potassium: 800mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1852IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 2mg

This Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Meal Prep Pasta is the perfect one pot meal for batch cooking during a busy workweek! Perfect for lunch or dinner, you'll love this pasta! #mealprep #pestopasta This Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Meal Prep Pasta is the perfect one pot meal for batch cooking during a busy workweek! Perfect for lunch or dinner, you'll love this pasta! #mealprep #pestopasta This Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Meal Prep Pasta is the perfect one pot meal for batch cooking during a busy workweek! Perfect for lunch or dinner, you'll love this pasta! #mealprep #pestopasta This Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Meal Prep Pasta is the perfect one pot meal for batch cooking during a busy workweek! Perfect for lunch or dinner, you'll love this pasta! #mealprep #pestopasta

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About Taylor Stinson

Hey there, my name's Taylor! I’m the founder of The Girl on Bloor, a food blog where I share healthy meal prep recipes for busy people. I'm a busy city girl living in downtown Toronto on (you guessed it!) Bloor Street. I've got 10 years experience meal prepping, along with a Master's degree in journalism, and you can find my work across the internet featured on publications such as Buzzfeed, HuffPost, Women's Health, Reader's Digest and more. I also run the awesome 5-Day Meal Prep Challenge, which is a free email course and Facebook group where I share my meal planning strategies and easy meal prep tips and recipes. Be sure to check out my free beginner’s guide to meal prep and follow me on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram to get my latest recipes and meal prep tips!

Comments

  1. RH says

    June 6, 2018 at 10:52

    Hello!

    Is the nutrition info if you make it 6 servings or 4 servings?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Taylor Stinson says

      June 7, 2018 at 13:08

      It’s for 6 servings!

      Reply
  2. Kerri says

    February 17, 2019 at 13:55

    This recipe is amazing. I prepped 4 lunches and am eating the “extras” tonight for dinner. Definitely a keeper. Thanks so all these recipes. You keep my meal preps very fun and I look forward to my lunches every day.

    Reply
    • Taylor Stinson says

      February 18, 2019 at 10:53

      So happy you liked it Kerri!!! Thanks so much for the kind words 🙂

      Reply
  3. Lauren says

    March 16, 2019 at 15:00

    This looks delicious!! If using pesto from a jar, how much do you suggest?? Thx!

    Reply
    • Taylor Stinson says

      March 18, 2019 at 08:54

      About 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup should work 🙂

      Reply
  4. Jessica says

    December 3, 2019 at 08:22

    Do you had the half cup of reserved pasta water back to the pot before adding the veggies?

    Reply
    • Taylor Stinson says

      December 3, 2019 at 08:52

      You add it back with the pasta – sorry this was unclear in the recipe directions, I have just updated them now 🙂

      Reply

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