Recipe: Copycat Rusty Bucket Pesto Chicken Pasta - The Food Hussy (2024)

One of my favorite restaurants is Rusty Bucket – I’ve been many times – and they serve food from scratch and have a great staff. They all really love working there and have a great family atmosphere. After going so often – they know me – so they’re always telling me about new dishes and fan favorites.

Recently I tried their Pesto Chicken Pasta – man oh man – I loved it so much that I begged them to share the recipe with me – and they did! So now I’m sharing with you.

This dish has pasta sauteed with garlic, olive oil, spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes. It’s then topped with a pesto-marinated chicken breast and served with garlic cheese bread. So yummy!!!!

What’s good to eat at Rusty Bucket?

Man oh man – I got to try a bunch of their new menu items and some of their favorites – and I have a LIST! My favorite item by far is the Juicy Lucy burger! It’s on the Happy Hour menu – but if you ask for it – you can get it any time. Two patties with grilled onions and melty American cheese – man – it’s my fav! Their spinach queso is another amazing dish – it’s perfection!

Two of the new items I loved were the Cheese Blanket Nachos – it’s a tray of nachos – but every single chip has toppings! Yes! And they even let us try their Chicken and Waffles from the Sunday brunch menu. Holy moly! I’ve never cared for Chicken and Waffles but this was amazing!!! The batter-dipped chicken made the difference – definitely the go-to for brunch!

You make this dish in two parts – first the pesto chicken – then let that rest and put together your pasta. I actually just used one large chicken breast for this recipe – if you pound it thinner with a meat tenderizer – you’ve got plenty of chicken to split between two people.

Then you put together the pasta and sauce – I love that this has pieces of tomato and mushrooms. I also made the garlic cheese bread to go with it – I’ll have that recipe up soon!

Can you freeze Pesto Chicken Pasta?

You could freeze the leftovers – there’s no dairy – so it will reheat fine. Since I’m newly single and most recipes make at least enough for 2 – I usually eat half and then freeze the other half for an easy-to-grab packed lunch!

This dish will quickly become one of your favorites and it’s super easy to make! But, next time you’re at Rusty Bucket – don’t hesitate to try this delicious dish – or that darned Juicy Lucy!!! I just had one last night again!