Caesar Chicken Tortellini

Caesar Chicken Tortellini is a hearty, filling dinner. Pre-made cheese tortellini and your favorite Caesar dressing make it an easy meal for busy weeknights! 

I like to make a lot of things from scratch around here, but I don’t know about you, I don’t always have the time. So it comes to quick and easy dinners, grabbing a package of pre-made tortellini is always one of my go-to weeknight dinners. You can usually have a hearty and filling dinner on the table in a flash. 

This Caesar Chicken Tortellini is one of those recipes perfect for the mid-week rush. Aside from marinating the chicken (which you can totally do before you head off to work in the morning), this dinner is ready in a flash and a hit with the whole family. 

What Ingredients Do You Need to make Caesar Chicken Tortellini?

• BONELESS SKINLESS CHICKEN BREASTS: To cut down on cooking time, I recommend using a rolling pin or meat mallet to flatten the chicken breasts to about 1/4 inch. You can also buy thin cut breast filets if you want.
• CAESAR DRESSING: Use whichever dressing is your favorite or you can even make your own homemade caesar dressing if you have the time.
• CHEESE TORTELLINI: I like to use the fresh tortellini that you can find in the refrigerated section. Frozen would work as well since you’re simply cooking it according to the package directions.
• OLIVE OIL, SHALLOT AND GARLIC
• DRIED BASIL: I use dried, as opposed to fresh, here because I want to cook it with the olive oil and garlic so it can lend basil flavor to the oil.
• PARMESAN CHEESE: As always, freshly grated is best!
• LEMON WEDGES: I love a fresh squeeze of lemon on my caesar salad and love it here too!

Step By Step Photos and Instructions:

Again, one of my favorite things about this dish is how incredibly easy it is to make. I’ve included some step by step photos for you here so you can follow along.

• STEP #1: Place the chicken breasts between to pieces of plastic wrap and hit with a rolling pin or meat mallet until they are uniform in thickness about 1/4 inch.
• STEP #2: Marinate the chicken in the caesar dressing. You can do this for as little as 30 minutes or overnight if you want to.
• STEP #3: Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook marinated chicken 5 – 7 minutes or until cooked through. Transfer to a cutting board allow to cool a couple of minutes before slicing into bite size pieces.
• STEP #4: While chicken is cooking, cook your pasta according to package directions. Drain.
• STEP #5: In the same pan that you cooked the chicken in cook shallot, garlic and basil. Cook just until fragrant about 1 minute. Return chicken to the pan. Stir in pasta and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Be sure to serve lots of Parmesan cheese and fresh lemon wedges. This dish also reheats well the next day!

Note: This post was originally written in 2010. It was updated in 2021 with new photos and nutrition information.