This hearts of palm pasta is super healthy and tastes so good you'll forget you're not eating real pasta. It's loaded with pesto, bacon, toasted pine nuts, and pesto-marinated chicken. As an added bonus, it's also dairy-free, gluten-free, Whole30, and paleo.
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Why We Love This Recipe
This chicken pesto hearts of palm pasta is perfect for busy weeknights. The hearts of palm pasta cooks in a couple of minutes (you just have to heat it!), and most of the meal is made in one pan. We make our own pesto, but you can even cheat and use store-bought. It really couldn't be easier, healthier, or tastier.
Thanks to Palmini, hearts of palm pasta is super easy to find in the grocery store or online. Trader Joe's has a super affordable hearts of palm pasta as well. That means this recipe is super accessible, even if you don't live near a specialty grocery store.
Looking for other pesto recipes? Try our pesto caprese pasta salad, shrimp and pesto pasta with tomatoes, or creamy pesto salmon.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Hearts of Palm Pasta: We use two packages of Palmini linguine—it's our favorite, and our local grocery store carries it. You can usually find it in the pasta aisle. Trader Joe's also has their own brand of hearts of palm pasta, as does Whole Foods.
Pesto: We make our own vegan pesto with spinach, basil, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, almond butter, salt, and pepper (recipe included in the recipe card below). If you prefer to use store-bought pesto, that's fine too. We love Costco pesto or the vegan pesto from Trader Joe's. Use whatever store-bought pesto is your favorite.
Bacon: Bacon adds lovely savory flavor to this pasta. Pancetta would be a good substitute.
Chicken Breast: We add chicken breast to this recipe to make it more filling. You can leave it out if you prefer. You could also swap the chicken breast with chicken thighs.
Pine Nuts: We add toasted pine nuts to the top of our pasta for some extra crunch and flavor. They're expensive, so if you'd prefer to leave them off, that's totally acceptable. Toasted pecans are also a great alternative.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the pesto (if you're using store-bought pesto, you can skip this step). Add spinach, basil, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, almond butter, black pepper, salt, and crushed red pepper to a food processor and blend until combined.
Step 2: Prepare the chicken. Cut the chicken into thin bite-sized strips. Add them to a bowl with ½ a cup of the pesto, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Set it aside. Reserve the rest of the pesto.
Step 3: Toast the pine nuts. Add the pine nuts to a large pan over medium heat. Cook them for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden brown and toasted. Remove them from the pan and set aside.
Step 4: Cook the bacon. Add the bacon to the same pan over medium heat. Cook for 7-8 minutes, or until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside (leave the grease in the pan).
Step 5: Cook the chicken. Transfer the chicken to the same pan. Cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
Step 6: Put it all together. Add the hearts of palm, remaining pesto, pine nuts, and bacon to the pan with the chicken. Stir to combine everything (tongs are useful here), and cook for an additional 2 minutes, until the hearts of palm is warm. Then enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
Hearts of palm is found in the core of certain palm trees. It's high in fiber, iron, zinc, magnesium, and potassium. The flavor is fairly neutral, so it's a great vehicle for sauce. I think it tastes like a super mellow artichoke but with a denser texture.
Yes! Use whatever pesto is your favorite. Just skip step 1 and use your own pesto. Our pesto recipe makes about 1.75 cups.
You can use regular pasta or zucchini noodles. Just cook them according to package instructions, then add them to the rest of the ingredients at the very end.
Great Side Pairings
📖 Recipe
Hearts of Palm Pasta with Pesto and Chicken
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
This hearts of palm pasta is super healthy and tastes so good you'll forget you're not eating real pasta. It's loaded with pesto, bacon, toasted pine nuts, and pesto-marinated chicken. As an added bonus, it's also dairy-free, gluten-free, Whole30, and paleo.
Ingredients
For the pesto:
6 cups spinach
¾ cup fresh basil
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons almond butter
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
For everything else:
1 pound chicken breasts
1 teaspoon lemon zest
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ cup pine nuts
6 slices bacon, cut into small squares
24 ounces hearts of palm pasta (we use Palmini linguine)
Instructions
- Make the pesto (if you're using store-bought pesto, you can skip this step). Add spinach, basil, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, almond butter, black pepper, salt, and crushed red pepper to a food processor and blend until combined.
- Cut the chicken into thin bite-sized strips. Add them to a bowl with ½ a cup of the pesto, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Set it aside. Reserve the rest of the pesto.
- Add the pine nuts to a large pan over medium heat. Cook them for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden brown and toasted. Remove them from the pan and set aside.
- Add the bacon to the same pan over medium heat. Cook for 7-8 minutes, or until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside (leave the grease in the pan).
- Transfer the chicken to the same pan. Cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- Add the hearts of palm, remaining pesto (about 1.25 cups if you're using store-bought), pine nuts, and bacon to the pan with the chicken. Stir to combine everything (tongs are useful here), and cook for an additional 2 minutes, until the hearts of palm is warm. Then enjoy!
Notes
If you choose to use store-bought pesto, you'll need about a cup and three-quarters.
Nutritional information is only an estimate.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ⅙th of recipe
- Calories: 538
- Sugar: 1 g
- Sodium: 1026.7 mg
- Fat: 44.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 12.5 g
- Protein: 27.7 g
- Cholesterol: 73.6 mg
Sharie S. says
Made this for dinner tonight, super yummy! The hearts of palm tasted just like regular pasta! Highly recommend!
Mollie says
Love this hearts of palm pasta on busy weeknights when we want something healthy!
Sarah S says
This recipe is so good! You can’t even tell you’re not eating real pasta!
Michael says
Love this recipe and didn’t even know I was eating hearts of palm pasta! This dish is loaded with flavor!