Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta
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This Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta is creamy, filling, easy to make, and absolutely delicious. It’s the perfect dinner to make for those pasta-craving nights, and you all are going to love this delicious meal! My recipe has a good amount of parmesan cheese and garlic flavor, but we add some sweet paprika to balance all the flavors in this pasta recipe.
What we love about this pasta is the creamy sauce. It’s made with spices, garlic cloves, cream, chicken broth, and parmesan cheese. By using tube-shaped pasta noodles, the tubes absorb more of the sauce, making each bite delicious. We also add veggies to make it a hearty and filling pasta meal; that’s very satisfying and savory.
🥘 Ingredients
This pasta dish is designed for those quick and easy dinners that the entire family will love and requires simple ingredients to make, but here’s what you need:
- Raw Chicken Breasts (Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts). Cut the whole chicken breasts into cutlets and season with salt, pepper, sweet paprika, oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder. For an easy weeknight dinner, substitute with rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken.
- Garlic Cloves.
- Shallot.
- Red Chili Pepper. Or substitute with Red Peppers with no seeds. This doesn’t add a ton of heat; it adds a nice balance to the creamy garlic sauce with parmesan.
- Broccolini. We love to add baby broccoli to our creamy pasta dishes because the florets soak up the sauce making each bite yummy.
- Cherry Tomatoes. We don’t add a lot here, but we love the flavor it adds to the sauce.
- Chicken Broth. Substitute with Chicken stock or use some dry white wine, such as Chardonnay.
- Whole Milk or Heavy Cream. You could also use heavy whipping cream if you cannot find any heavy cream at the local grocery store.
- Cornstarch Powder. This helps create a nice thick sauce. You could also use all-purpose flour or arrowroot flour.
- Olive Oil.
- Apple Cider Vinegar. We only use a little here to make an excellent marinade for the chicken. If you are using rotisserie chicken, you will skip this ingredient.
- Spices. We use sweet paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried oregano for this recipe.
- Tube Shape Pasta. We prefer Penne Pasta, but you could use Rigatoni or Ziti.
🔥 Tips for cooking pasta al dente
When it comes to any pasta meal, the key is to cook pasta al dente. Al dente means that the pasta is tender with a firm center. Overcooked pasta turns out rubbery and unappetizing. Here are some tips on how to cook pasta al dente:
- For every 1 lb. of pasta, use 5 quarts of water and 2 tbsp of sea salt. Don’t add oil to the water.
- Set your timer the minute you drop the pasta into the boiling water per the packaging instructions. The timing for different pasta varies, so look at each package first. Stir occasionally to ensure the pasta doesn’t stick together.
- Start taste testing the pasta about 3 minutes before the package says. Then, take a bite and look for a tender exterior balanced by a firm bute but with a speck of white at the core.
- Once the pasta is ready, scoop up a cup of starchy pasta cooking water to add to the sauce later. Drain the rest of the pasta water and add cooked pasta to the dish with the sauce to continue cooking.
🔪 Instructions
To make this creamy chicken pasta dish, you will need 1 pot, a strainer, a large skillet, a small bowl, a cutting board, and a knife. But it’s pretty simple to make, and you will have dinner ready in 30 minutes!
- Make al dente pasta. For every 1 lb. of pasta, use 5 quarts of water and 2 tbsp of sea salt. Don’t add oil to the water. Instead, use a large pot and have a strainer ready.
- Cook Chicken. Season chicken with spices, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar. Bring a large skillet to medium-high heat, and sear 1 side of the chicken breast for 5-7 minutes to get that nice seared side. Flip over, turn the heat down to low-medium, and saute chicken for another 5-7 minutes with the lid on. Remove from the pan to set aside.
- Saute Veggies. Add minced garlic and shallot to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add broccoli, pepper, and cherry tomatoes. Continue cooking, tossing occasionally.
- Make the Creamy Cheese Sauce. Add Chicken Broth and Milk/Cream to the pan and bring to a simmer. Take 2 tablespoons of the sauce and add it to a small bowl and add cornstarch. Mix to make it smooth, and transfer it back to the pan. Add in parmesan cheese and toss to combine.
- Add Cooked Pasta. Add 1 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water and the pasta to the saucepan. Toss to combine.
- Add Chicken. Add chicken back to the pan, cover the lid and simmer for 5-7 minutes, until chicken is fully cooked and tender, using a meat thermometer to check the center is at 165 °F.
- Serve. Add fresh basil on top and more parmesan cheese, and enjoy!
❔ FAQs
Yes! First, you want to skip the Apple Cider Vinegar.
Add oil to a medium-high heat pan, and add veggies and spices. Proceed with the remaining steps (cooking pasta, making the sauce) and add rotisserie chicken last. Simmer until chicken is hot before serving.
We love leftover pasta. The sauce continues to develop flavor by the next day; however, it only lasts about 3-5 days in the fridge.
This Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta recipe is made with fresh ingredients and is savory, creamy, and satisfying. It’s one of our favorite pasta dishes, and we hope you all love our recipe. Enjoy! ♡
Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta
- 10 oz penne pasta
- 1 lb chicken breast cut into cutlets
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1 small shallot minced
- 1-2 red chili pepper deseeded and sliced
- 1 head baby broccoli florets coarsely chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- 1 ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 1 ½ cup parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp salt plus more to taste
- 1 tsp black pepper plus more to taste
- 2 tsp cornstarch or sub with flour
- Make al dente pasta. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions. When done, reserve 1 cup water, drain, cover and set aside.
- Cook Chicken. Season chicken with spices, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar. Bring a large skillet to medium-high heat, and sear 1 side of the chicken breast for 5-7 minutes to get that nice seared side. Flip over and turn the heat down to low-medium heat and sauté chicken for another 5-7 minutes with the lid on. Remove from the pan to set aside.
- Sauté Veggies. To the same sauce pan, add minced garlic and shallot to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add chopped broccoli florets, sliced red pepper, and cherry tomatoes. Continue cooking for 5 minutes and tossing occasionally.
- Make the Creamy Cheese Sauce. Add Chicken Broth and Milk/Cream to the pan and bring to a simmer. Take 2 tablespoons of the sauce and add it to a small bowl with the cornstarch. Mix together until smooth and transfer it back to the pan. Add in parmesan cheese and toss to combine.
- Add Cooked Pasta. Add 1 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water and the cooked pasta to the saucepan. Toss to combine.
- Add Chicken. Add chicken back to the pan, cover, and simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked and tender, using a meat thermometer to check the center is at 165 °F.
Amazing recipe!