Creamy Mushroom Chicken Pasta with Red Bell Pepper and Thyme

LESLIE BUDEWITZ:  This is a classic combo that somehow, we’d never made—essentially, an alfredo with chicken, bell pepper, and mushrooms. It’s easy enough for a weeknight dinner, pretty enough for weekends or guests. 

We used a mix of button and crimini mushrooms. Did you know crimini are baby portobellos? No wonder they’re so tasty! 

Give me a call when this is on your menu—I’ll be right over! 

PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe for easy printing. 

Scroll down to the 💕 for the link. 

Creamy Mushroom Chicken Pasta with Red Bell Pepper and Thyme 

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons olive or canola oil (divided use)

1 pound penne or other short pasta

1 medium onion, diced

½ pound mushrooms, washed and sliced 

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1 tablespoons fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon dried thyme

3/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

3 tablespoons parsley, chopped

Lay the chicken breasts on a cutting board. Use a mallet to slightly flatten them, for more even cooking. Season with salt and pepper.

In a large stock pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown on both sides; cut to make sure it’s cooked through, then use a slotted spoon or spatula to remove to a cutting board. Allow to rest a little, then slice.

Start the pasta, in a separate pot, and cook until al dente. Drain. (I forgot to take a picture, but you know what cooking pasta looks like!)

Meanwhile, add the additional tablespoon of oil to the pot where you cooked the chicken. Add onion and cook until slightly soft. Add the mushrooms and cook until golden, about 3 minutes. Add the bell pepper and garlic, and cook, stirring, another 2-3 minutes. 

Add the broth and scrape the bottom to deglaze, loosening all the tasty bits. Add the cream and thyme. Simmer 2-3 minutes, then turn off the heat. 

Add the Parmesan and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the chicken and stir well, then add the pasta and parsley and toss. Serve with additional Parmesan, if you’d like. 

Serves 4-6. 

Buon appetivo!

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF! 

At Seattle Spice Shop, owner Pepper Reece has whipped up the perfect blend of food, friends, and flavor. But the sweet smell of success can be hazardous . . .  

Spring is in full bloom in Pike Place Market, where Pepper is celebrating lavender’s culinary uses and planning a festival she hopes will become an annual event. When her friend Lavender Liz offers to share tips for promoting the much-loved—and occasionally maligned—herb, Pepper makes a trek to the charming town of Salmon Falls. But someone has badly damaged Liz’s greenhouse, throwing a wrench in the feisty grower’s plans for expansion. Suspicions quickly focus on an employee who’s taken to the hills. 

Then Liz is found dead among her precious plants, stabbed by a pruning knife. In Salmon Falls, there’s one in every pocket. 

Pepper digs in, untangling the tensions between Liz and a local restaurateur with eyes on a picturesque but neglected farm, a jealous ex-boyfriend determined to profit from Liz’s success, and a local growers’ cooperative. She’s also hot on the scent of a trail of her own, sniffing out the history of her sweet dog, Arf. 

As Pepper’s questions threaten to unearth secrets others desperately want to keep buried, danger creeps closer to her and those she loves. Can Pepper root out the killer, before someone nips her in the bud?

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

ALL GOD'S SPARROWS AND OTHER STORIES: A STAGECOACH MARY FIELDS COLLECTION, now available in in paperback and ebook 

Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Out September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing.  

“Finely researched and richly detailed, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. I loved learning about this fascinating woman . . . and what a character she is! Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for bringing her to life so vividly.” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of Crow Mary

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest books are To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery and All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024. Watch for Lavender Lies Bleeding, the 9th Spice Shop Mystery, on July 15, 2025.

A past president of Sisters in Crime and former national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.