Chicken Orecchiette with Rosa Sauce — the Chicken Rosa Pasta from the pin: tender orecchiette in a creamy pink sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, topped with sliced, well-seasoned chicken, fresh basil and Parmesan. An easy dinner on the table in 30 minutes. (The pin shows the finished dish without a printed ingredient list, so this is the complete standard recipe for exactly the plate in the photo.) Every step below comes with its own photo.
Creamy Pink Sauce
Easy Dinner
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 12 oz orecchiette pasta
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 lbs)
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce or passata
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes (oil-packed), sliced
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more to serve
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- Fresh basil leaves, to serve
Step by Step
Cook the Pasta
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil and cook the orecchiette until just al dente, about 9-11 minutes — check the package, because orecchiette’s thick little ‘ears’ take a minute longer than most short shapes. Before draining, scoop out a full cup of the starchy pasta water; it is liquid gold for loosening the rosa sauce later. Orecchiette is the perfect shape here: every cupped ear catches a spoonful of pink sauce and a fragment of sun-dried tomato, exactly like the pin’s photo.
Season & Sear the Chicken
While the pasta cooks, pat the chicken breasts dry and rub them with 1 tbsp olive oil, the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, paprika, salt and plenty of black pepper. Sear in a hot skillet over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes per side until deeply golden with dark, peppery edges and the internal temperature reaches 165°F — the pin’s photo shows well-seasoned, almost blackened edges, and that crust is flavor. Rest the chicken on a board for 5 minutes (it will be sliced at the end) and keep the skillet; those browned bits are going into the sauce.
Build the Tomato Base
Lower the heat to medium, add the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil to the same skillet, and cook the minced garlic for just 30 seconds until fragrant — garlic burns fast, so have the tomato sauce ready. Pour in the tomato sauce or passata, scraping up every browned chicken bit from the bottom of the pan, and simmer 3-4 minutes until it darkens slightly and thickens. This simmered tomato base is what keeps the finished sauce tasting like tomatoes instead of just cream.
Make It Rosa
Reduce the heat to low and stir in the heavy cream. The sauce will bloom from red to that signature blush pink — rosa — in seconds. Let it barely simmer for 1-2 minutes (never boil a cream sauce hard, or it can split), then stir in the Parmesan until it melts invisibly into the sauce, plus the red pepper flakes if you like the gentle warmth the photo’s chili flecks suggest. Taste and adjust salt: the Parmesan and sun-dried tomatoes both bring salt, so season at the end, not the beginning.
Toss the Pasta
Add the drained orecchiette and the sliced sun-dried tomatoes straight into the sauce and toss over low heat for 1-2 minutes until every ear is glossy and coated, loosening with splashes of the reserved pasta water until the sauce clings like silk — it should pool just slightly in the bottom of the pan. The sun-dried tomatoes are not a garnish; their concentrated, tangy sweetness is the flavor that makes people ask what the secret ingredient is.
Slice, Top & Serve
Slice the rested chicken across the grain into strips and arrange it over the top of the pasta, exactly as the pin serves it. Finish with torn fresh basil leaves, an extra snowfall of Parmesan, a grind of black pepper and a pinch of chili flakes. Serve immediately in warm bowls — 30 minutes, start to finish, just like the pin promises. Creamy pink sauce, juicy seasoned chicken, chewy little ears of pasta: an easy dinner worth saving.
Pro Tips
- Rosa = tomato + cream — a rosa (pink) sauce is simply a tomato sauce mellowed with cream. The ratio is the whole craft: too much cream and it tastes bland, too little and it is just tomato sauce. Here, 3/4 cup cream to 1 1/2 cups tomato hits the pin’s blush color.
- Never boil the cream hard — add it on low heat and keep the sauce at a bare simmer so it stays smooth and pink instead of splitting.
- Sear the chicken hard — those dark, peppery edges in the photo come from a properly hot pan and dry chicken. Wet chicken steams and stays pale.
- Rest, then slice across the grain — 5 minutes of resting keeps the juices in the chicken instead of on the cutting board, and slicing across the grain keeps every strip tender.
- Sun-dried tomato oil is free flavor — if your sun-dried tomatoes are oil-packed, use a spoonful of their oil in place of part of the olive oil in step 3.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is rosa sauce, exactly?
Rosa sauce (also called pink sauce or rose sauce) is a tomato sauce blended with cream until it turns blush pink. It keeps the brightness of tomato with the richness of a cream sauce — the best of both, and the reason this pasta tastes both fresh and indulgent.
Can I use a different pasta shape?
Yes. The pin uses orecchiette, whose cupped shape is built for this sauce, but penne, rigatoni, fusilli or shells all work well. Choose a shape with ridges or cups that trap the sauce, and cook it 1 minute shy of the package time since it finishes in the sauce.
Can I make it lighter?
Swap the heavy cream for half-and-half and reduce it a touch longer, or use 1/2 cup cream plus 1/4 cup of the pasta water. The sauce will be a shade less rich but still properly pink. Avoid milk alone — it can curdle in the acidic tomato base.
What can I add or swap?
A handful of baby spinach wilted in at the end, mushrooms sautéed with the garlic, or Italian sausage instead of chicken are all excellent. Rotisserie chicken, shredded and warmed through in the sauce, cuts the recipe to about 20 minutes.
How do leftovers keep?
Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat gently on the stove with a splash of milk or cream and a spoon of water — cream sauces tighten in the fridge and loosen right back up with liquid and low heat. The basil is best added fresh when serving.