This Cheesecake Factory tomato basil pasta recipe is a copycat version of an oh-so-good favorite! Pasta in a tangy tomato sauce, get's finished with a fresh and bright basil oil, tender chicken and of course fresh mozzarella! It seems so simple, but you will be pleasantly surprised that this pasta is full of flavor in every bite!
Pair it was Garlic Monkey Bread or air fryer garlic bread, and you'll have the perfect meal planned that the whole family will love! If you can't get enough pasta, try my Arrabiatta Sauce, Cheesecake Factory farfalle with roasted garlic and chicken, Cheesecake Factory Spicy Rigatoni Vodka, or Eggplant and Tomato Pasta for your next pasta dish.
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👩🏽🍳Why This Recipe Works
Simple and delicious - This delicious pasta dish is such an easy recipe and will have pasta lovers going back for seconds (maybe even thirds)! You're going to absolutely LOVE this tomato basil pasta! This five cheese ziti al forno is another great, simple pasta dish to try.
Great way to use produce - This easy tomato, basil sauce is a great way to use up produce that is slightly past its prime. Softer tomatoes work so well for this sauce, because they squish down and meld into a sauce perfectly!
Customizable - While I think this pasta is perfect on its own (I am biased, of course) this recipe is highly customizable. The tomato sauce is a great base for your favorite flavors. If you're looking for even more customizable pasta options, you'll want to try my giant cheesy stuffed shells or buffalo chicken lasagna rolls, too!
🥘Ingredients
- Penne Pasta - You can use penne with or without the ridges. The ridges will help hold the sauce to the pasta in all the little lines. As a tube pasta, the sauce will also fill the middle which is perfect for this simple sauce.
- Chicken breast cutlets, boneless & skinless - This kind of chicken stands up to grilling well, leaner, and meatier than dark thigh meat. Although chicken on pasta is not exactly traditional, when I do mix the two together, chicken breasts tend to be my go-to.
- Lemon - I recommend using fresh lemon as the flavor is much brighter!
- Garlic cloves - Fresh garlic works best in this chicken marinade, as it is one of the key seasoning elements.
- Whole grape tomatoes - These are the perfect size to use to break down into a fresh sauce because they do not have too many seeds.
- Tomato paste - Adds a level of concentrated tomato flavor to the sauce without using tomato sauce.
A full list of ingredients with measurements is located on the recipe card, below.
📖Substitutions
- Penne Pasta: Any kind of pasta will work! Short pasta is ideal but feel free to use spaghetti or linguine.
- Chicken breast cutlets: Instead of chicken breast cutlets, you can use pre-cooked chicken, shrimp, or omit all together to make it a vegetarian dish!
- Garlic: You can also use pre-minced garlic, or garlic powder if all else fails.
- Dried oregano: You can easily swap out oregano for an Italian seasoning blend, which generally has notes of oregano, basil and other delicious herbs mixed in.
- Dried mustard: If you like dijon mustard, you can use this instead of dried mustard.
- Fresh basil: Prepared basil pesto will work well if you cannot find fresh basil.
- Whole grape tomatoes: Cherry tomatoes or san marzano tomatoes work as well. As long as they are fresh tomatoes, they should work!
- Fresh mozzarella cheese: You can use bocconcini cheese, ricotta, or regular shredded mozzarella if you'd like.
- Lemon: You can also use store bought lemon juice as well but as I mentioned above, freshly juiced lemon is the best part!
🔪Variations
- Black pepper - While the red chili flakes will add a kick of heat, you can also add black pepper as well.
- Calabrian chilli pepper - This is another spice that will add more flavor and heat that you can give a try.
- Heavy cream - Add in a splash of heavy cream to finish the sauce, and give it a rosé sauce feel.
- Parmesan cheese - Sprinkling parmesan on top of your main dish after it's complete is entirely optional but also delicious!
- Crispy shrimp - Next time, you can also swap out chicken for shrimp if you have a seafood preference.
- Vegetarian - Make this pasta completely vegetarian by omitting the grilled chicken!
⏲️ Step-by-Step Instructions
Prep Work Before Cooking
Collecting all your ingredients - This will make cooking so much easier. Gather all the spices you will need, and keep them nearby.
Marinade chicken - Add the chicken breast cutlets into a freezer bag. Top with the ingredients for the chicken marinade, seal the bag. Massage the marinade into the chicken, and let the chicken sit in the marinade for 10-15 minutes.
While the chicken is marinating, add the fresh basil, olive oil, salt and garlic powder into a blender or food processor. Blend until the basil has broken down and mixed with the oil. Set aside. [photo 1]
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Salt the water once it is boiling, and add the pasta. Boil until the pasta is al dente-this should take approximately 10-11 minutes. Before draining, reserve 1 ½ cups of pasta water. Drain, and set the cooked pasta aside.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken breasts to the hot skillet, and sear on each side for approximately 5 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of your cutlets. The chicken should read 165°F internally on a meat thermometer. Once the chicken is seared and cooked through, remove from the skillet and let the chicken rest. Once the chicken has rested, slice into strips. [photo 2]
Remove any excessive burnt bits from the skillet, and add the olive oil to the skillet. Add the cherry tomatoes to the skillet, and let them brown and allow the skins to lightly burst. Once the skins have started to burst, add the whole garlic cloves, salt and red chilli flakes, and saute for 2-3 minutes. [photo 3]
Mix in the tomato paste with the tomatoes and garlic, and add half of the reserved pasta water. Stir together until the tomato paste has mixed in with the pasta water, and cover the skillet with a lid. Turn the heat to medium-low, and let the tomatoes soften for 5 minutes. [photo 4]
Remove the lid after 5 minutes, and press down lightly on the tomatoes to smash them into the sauce. Add the pasta to the skillet. Top with the remaining pasta water, and toss the pasta with the sauce. Top with the sliced chicken, and drizzle with the basil oil. Tear fresh mozzarella over the hot tomato basil pasta, and serve.
💭 Expert Tip
Use up your tomatoes that are starting to wrinkle! This sauce is a fantastic way to use up produce that is starting to look a little sad. You won't even notice, in this sauce!
Feel free to grill, air fry or bake the chicken! You do not have to sear the chicken in the pan. Cook it using your preferred method, or even prepare this chicken in bulk for the week and use it for multiple recipes.
🍽 Make Ahead & Storage
Make Ahead Instructions
This pasta is best served fresh but you can pre-cook the chicken one to two days in advance.
I do not recommend leaving this chicken in the marinade for longer than 3 hours. Because there is a good amount of lemon juice in the marinade, the acid will break down the chicken and change the texture.
Storing Leftovers
Store leftover pasta in an airtight container and in the refrigerator. Sealed and stored properly, your leftover pasta will last three to five days. Reheat in a skillet, or in the microwave.
⭐ Recipe FAQs
Adding in basil is best toward the end of your dish being complete. This way all of the flavors have time to come forward without cooking for too long. In this copycat recipe, the basil is blended and the tomato blend is added 5 minutes before serving your Tomato Basil Pasta!
You can make basil oil by mixing prepared basil pesto from the grocery store, with some additional olive oil. This will thin out the consistency of the pesto, similar to a basil oil that is perfect for drizzling.
📝More Pasta Recipes
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Tomato Basil Pasta {Cheesecake Factory}
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 oz Penne Pasta
For the Chicken
- 6 Chicken breast cutlets - boneless & skinless
- ¼ cup Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon - juiced
- 5 cloves Garlic - finely minced
- 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon Dried mustard
- Salt to taste
For the Basil Oil
- ½ cup Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoon Sea salt
- 2 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1 cup Fresh basil - torn
For the Sauce
- ¼ cup Extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups Grape tomatoes - whole
- 3 cloves Garlic - peeled & whole
- 1 tablespoon Tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon Red chilli flakes
- Sea salt to taste
- 1 ½ cups Pasta water
- 1 ball Fresh mozzarella
Instructions
- Add the chicken breast cutlets into a freezer bag. Top with the ingredients for the chicken marinade, seal the bag. Massage the marinade into the chicken, and let the chicken sit in the marinade for 10-15 minutes.6 Chicken breast cutlets, ¼ cup Extra virgin olive oil, 1 lemon, 5 cloves Garlic, 1 teaspoon Dried oregano, 1 tablespoon Dried mustard, Salt to taste
- While the chicken is marinating, add the fresh basil, olive oil, salt and garlic powder into a blender or food processor. Blend until the basil has broken down and mixed with the oil. Set aside.½ cup Extra virgin olive oil, 2 teaspoon Sea salt, 2 teaspoon Garlic powder, 1 cup Fresh basil
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water once it is boiling, and add the pasta. Boil until the pasta is al dente - this should take approximately 10-11 minutes. Before draining, reserve 1 ½ cups of pasta water. Drain, and set the pasta aside.12 oz Penne Pasta
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts to the skillet, and sear on each side for approximately 5 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of your cutlets. The chicken should read 165°F internally on a meat thermometer. Once the chicken is seared and cooked through, remove from the skillet and let the chicken rest. Once the chicken has rested, slice into strips.
- Remove any excessive burnt bits from the skillet, and add the olive oil to the skillet. Add the cherry tomatoes to the skillet, and let them brown and allow the skins to lightly burst. Once the skins have started to burst, add the whole garlic cloves, salt and red chilli flakes, and saute for 2-3 minutes.¼ cup Extra virgin olive oil, 3 cups Grape tomatoes, 3 cloves Garlic, Sea salt to taste, 1 teaspoon Red chilli flakes
- Mix in the tomato paste with the tomatoes and garlic, and add half of the reserved pasta water. Stir together until the tomato paste has mixed in with the pasta water, and cover the skillet with a lid. Turn the heat to medium-low, and let the tomatoes soften for 5 minutes.1 tablespoon Tomato paste, 1 ½ cups Pasta water
- Remove the lid after 5 minutes, and press down lightly on the tomatoes to smash them into the sauce. Add the pasta to the skillet. Top with the remaining pasta water, and toss the pasta with the sauce. Top with the sliced chicken, and drizzle with the basil oil. Tear fresh mozzarella over the pasta, and serve.1 ball Fresh mozzarella, 1 ½ cups Pasta water
✱Recipe Notes
- Use up your tomatoes that are starting to wrinkle! This sauce is a fantastic way to use up produce that is starting to look a little sad. You won't even notice, in this sauce!
- Feel free to grill, air fry or bake the chicken! You do not have to sear the chicken in the pan. Cook it using your preferred method, or even prepare this chicken in bulk for the week and use it for multiple recipes.
- Give your tomatoes time to soften! You do not want to rush this step while making the sauce. Once the tomatoes are soft, they will meld into a sauce on their own.
Brandon says
Absolute delicious perfection
Sunena Anand says
So glad you enjoyed, Brandon! 🙂