Don’t you love it when you rediscover an old recipe? Over the years your lifestyle, kitchen skill set and taste all evolve, and some of your old family favorite recipes get lost in the shuffle. That’s what happened with this Mediterranean Chicken Pasta recipe. I originally found it in one of those checkout stand recipe booklets by Pillsbury circa 1993. I used to make it all the time, and often brought it to potlucks and parties.
Does anyone do potlucks anymore?
I honestly couldn’t say what made me think of this dish that I hadn’t prepared in close to 10 years, but I recently found myself frantically searching through old recipe books to find it. Lucky for me and you, I found it!
Pasta:
4 quarts water
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried  basil leaves
1 teaspoon chicken flavor instant bouillon
8 oz. (3 1/2 cups) uncooked bow tie pasta
Chicken:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 Â pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 x 1/2 inch strips
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup diagonally cut green onions (1/2 inch pieces)
1 Â (2 Â 1/4 oz) can sliced pitted ripe olives, drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon chicken flavor instant bouillon
1 cherry tomato halves
Bring 4 quarts water, 1 tablespoon basil, and 1 teaspoon bouillon to a boil. Add bow tie pasta; cook to desired doneness as directed on package. Drain; keep warm.
Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and garlic; cook and stir 6 to 9 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. In small bowl, combine 1/2 cup water and cornstarch; blend well. Stir into chicken. Add onions, olives, 1/4 cup basil and 1/2 teaspoon bouillon; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until mixture is slightly thickened and glazed. Pour over cooked bow tie pasta; add tomatoes and toss to coat.
Garnish with fresh basil, if desired. 4 servings.
Enjoy!

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
Pasta:
- 4 quarts water
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
- 1 teaspoon chicken flavor instant bouillon
- 8 oz. 3 1/2 cups uncooked bow tie pasta
Chicken:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 2 x 1/2 inch strips
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/2 cup diagonally cut green onions 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 2 1/4 oz can sliced pitted ripe olives, drained
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon chicken flavor instant bouillon
- 1 cherry tomato halves
Instructions
- Bring 4 quarts water, 1 tablespoon basil, and 1 teaspoon bouillon to a boil. Add bow tie pasta; cook to desired doneness as directed on package. Drain; keep warm.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and garlic; cook and stir 6 to 9 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. In small bowl, combine 1/2 cup water and cornstarch; blend well. Stir into chicken. Add onions, olives, 1/4 cup basil and 1/2 teaspoon bouillon; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until mixture is slightly thickened and glazed. Pour over cooked bow tie pasta; add tomatoes and toss to coat.
- Garnish with fresh basil, if desired. 4 servings.
- Enjoy!
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What a good idea to use the bouillon! This looks nice and fresh 🙂
It looks really good and healthy too!
Yum, I love all the ingredients in this dish.
This is perfect for my wife and me. Basil, cherry tomatoes, chicken, pasta and olive oil. Yum! Just entered into the Recipes notebook in Springpad.
Yum, this sounds delish. Add a bit of feta cheese and oh my.
That looks like a very fresh, bright dish! I love the simple ingredients and beautiful colors.
I pinned this to make next week, it sounds amazing!
I love pasta, and crazy love Mediterranean dishes! Yum!
Pasta and chicken – two of my favorites! I’ll be trying this recipe!
oh my gosh this looks amazing! I am definitely going to make this for the family in the near future! I will let you know what they think 🙂