Avocado Alfredo Zoodles With Chicken + Sun Dried Tomatoes

April arrived and Baton Rouge shook off the last of its reluctant cool mornings, the air turning warm and sweet-smelling overnight like someone flipped a switch. School felt like it was operating at two speeds simultaneously — teachers pushing hard toward EOC exams and LEAP testing while students mentally floated somewhere closer to summer. I was somewhere in between, running on ambition and a little bit of nerves.

We had a big science presentation due on environmental chemistry — specifically how industrial runoff affects river ecosystems, which hit close to home given how much we love the Mississippi. I stayed late at school three days in a row working with my lab partner Destiny, spreading poster paper across a table in the library and arguing cheerfully about font sizes and data visualization. Mrs. Tureaud stopped by and said our methodology section was the strongest she'd seen from a middle schooler. That comment lived in my chest for days.

Mama had been on overtime at the hospital and came home exhausted most evenings. On Thursday night she sank into the couch and said she hadn't eaten a real meal since morning. I decided that was my cue. We had leftover rotisserie chicken in the fridge, some wilting spinach that needed using, and a can of diced tomatoes. I made a quick chicken and spinach skillet with garlic, lemon zest, and those tomatoes reduced down into a light sauce. I served it over white rice with a glass of sweet tea and watched Mama close her eyes after the first bite like it was the best thing she'd had all week.

She said, "Baby, you have a gift." I told her it was just whatever was in the fridge. But she shook her head and said gifts don't always announce themselves — sometimes they show up in a skillet on a Thursday night when someone is tired. I wrote that down in my recipe notebook afterward. Not the recipe, exactly, but those words. They felt like something I should keep.

Jamal called from his friend Marcus's house to brag about his spring game stats and I spent twenty minutes pretending to care about completion percentages. But I was proud of him. We both were becoming something, in different directions, and that felt right.

That Thursday night skillet — the rotisserie chicken, the spinach, the tomatoes — reminded me that the best meals don’t always come from a plan. They come from paying attention to someone you love. This Avocado Alfredo Zoodles with Chicken and Sun Dried Tomatoes captures that same spirit: it’s fast, it uses real whole ingredients, and the creamy avocado sauce has that same rich, “I made this with care” quality that made Mama close her eyes after the first bite. If your week has been running you ragged, let this be your Thursday night rescue.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 2

Ingredients

2 medium zucchini, spiralized into noodles
1 cup cooked chicken breast, sliced or shredded
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (packed in oil), roughly chopped
1 ripe avocado, pitted and peeled
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste
2–3 tablespoons reserved pasta water or plain water to thin sauce

Instructions

Make the avocado alfredo sauce. In a blender or food processor, combine the avocado, lemon juice, minced garlic, basil, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and Parmesan. Blend until smooth and creamy. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time to reach a pourable consistency. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Sauté the sun dried tomatoes. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sun dried tomatoes and cook for 1–2 minutes, stirring, until fragrant and slightly caramelized around the edges.
Add the chicken. Add the cooked chicken to the skillet and toss with the sun dried tomatoes. Cook for 2–3 minutes until warmed through. Season lightly with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using.
Toss in the zoodles. Add the spiralized zucchini noodles to the skillet. Toss everything together and cook for 1–2 minutes only — you want the zoodles just barely tender, not soggy.
Coat with sauce. Remove the skillet from heat. Pour the avocado alfredo sauce over the zoodles and toss gently until everything is evenly coated. The residual heat will warm the sauce without browning it.
Serve immediately. Divide into bowls and top with extra fresh basil, a pinch of Parmesan, and a crack of black pepper. Best enjoyed right away.

Nutrition (per serving)

Avocado Alfredo Zoodles With Chicken + Sun Dried Tomatoes — The Skillet That Said “I Love You”