What’s for Dinner: Easy Chicken Cacciatore Pasta Skillet {Recipe}

Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. #CollectiveBias

New products always have a way of catching my attention, but they particularly catch my attention at the grocery store.  I can’t tell you how often my shopping visits are completely sidetracked all because I see a sign that says “New” or “Try Me”.  Because just a glance at one of those signs means I have to stop everything and see what it is…and probably pick up one to take home and try.  And that’s exactly what happened when I was in the baking aisle at Walmart earlier this week and saw Star Butter Flavored Olive Oil sitting on the shelf, just above one of those bright yellow “New” signs. 

The ability to have that rich, creamy, buttery taste, but still have the health benefits of olive oil?  Well, that sounds pretty delicious.  And Star Butter Flavored Olive Oil is brand new and exclusive to Walmart, so I knew that I was going to be buying a bottle, I just wasn’t sure what I was going to make.  My mind ran wild with the possibilities.  After a bit of a debate right there in the baking aisle, I decided on an Italian skillet dinner because pasta is one of those meals that my whole family can enjoy together, and since it was a work night, I need something easy that I could get on the table in 30 minutes or less.  It doesn’t get any easier than a skillet meal.  

I had picked up some chicken and pasta over the weekend at Winn-Dixie (I’ve been going there for meat and my weekly essentials lately because of their amazing sales), so I decided to dress my regular pasta skillet up and make it a Chicken Cacciatore Skillet.  I haven’t made Chicken Cacciatore in quite sometime and I wasn’t sure how it would mix with the pasta in a skillet, but the result was delicious!

For this recipe you will need:
1 lb. thin cut boneless skinless chicken breast (I purchased thin cut chicken breast for convenience, but you could always cut the chicken breasts yourself)
3/4 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp Star Butter Flavored Olive Oil
1 box bowtie pasta (12 oz.)
1 can tomato paste  (6 oz)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained  (14.5 oz)
1 can pasta sauce  (15 oz)
1 tsp. minced garlic (I used the jarred kind)
1/4 tsp. basil
Dash of Oregano

Step 1 – Rinse chicken and cut into bite sized pieces (If you look at the pictures below, you’ll see that my pieces were a little bigger than bite size, but once the recipe was made I realized that smaller pieces would have been a better way to go.).  Place chicken in breadcrumbs to coat chicken.  I took a short cut here by putting my breadcrumbs into a plastic baggie, placing each piece of chicken into the bag, and then gently pressing the breadcrumbs against the chicken…it saved me a ton of time and I didn’t want to run the risk of having breadcrumbs all over the kitchen!

Step 2 – Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Once oil is hot, place chicken in skillet and heat chicken until cooked through, or about 7-9 minutes.  You can always double check if it’s done by cutting into a piece and making sure that the meat in the middle is white and the juices run clear.

Step 3 – While your chicken is cooking, put water a medium sized sauce pan and bring to boiling.  Cook pasta al dente (approximately 11 minutes).  Drain.

Step 4 – Once the chicken has finished cooking, add the cooked pasta, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, pasta sauce, minced garlic, basil, and oregano to the skillet and stir.

Step 5 – Cover and cook for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Serve hot!

Notes about this recipe: You might be tempted to increase the heat to reduce the cooking time for this recipe, but don’t do it!  While the food is covered and simmering it can and will burn if you try to move the heat to high or even medium-high.  Luckily, I caught mine and was able to reduce the heat back down to medium before any damage was done.

Notes about Star Butter Flavored Olive Oil:  When I originally picked up the buttered flavor olive oil, I wasn’t sure how much of the taste would come through.  So often, I buy flavored olive oils and can’t tell the difference.  But with Star Butter Flavored Olive Oil, the taste really comes through!  When I first put the oil in the skillet to heat my 4 year old noticed it immediately and asked if I was making popcorn.  Sure enough, she was right, it smells like the butter that they put on popcorn.  But when it came to the actual meal, it only enhanced the taste – it kept my chicken moist and brought out the flavor of the breadcrumbs.  It made the recipe.  As far as I’m concerned, you might be able to make this recipe with regular olive oil, but why would you want to?