Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta Recipe
This quick and easy chicken pasta recipe takes 30 minutes or less from start to finish. It’s loaded with a creamy homemade alfredo sauce, sliced chicken breast, and al dente noodles for a simple weeknight comfort food your family will love!
The creamy chicken pasta I make on repeat.
- The cream sauce is homemade, but barely. It comes together right in the pan! No complicated steps, no store-bought shortcuts needed. And it’s genuinely one of those sauces you’ll want to put on everything.
- This is as close to a one-pan meal as pasta gets. The seasoned chicken sautés in olive oil, and those pan drippings turn into the base of your creamy white wine sauce. Easy weeknight dinner, but delicious restaurant-quality flavor!
Here’s what you’ll need.
Here’s how it all comes together.
Boil pasta according to package instructions just until al dente. Season chicken and sear in olive oil until golden brown on both sides and cooked through.
Transfer to a baking sheet and let rest.
Melt butter in the pan with the juices from the chicken.
Add garlic and oregano and cook for 1 minute, then add flour.
Cook, stirring frequently for about 1 minute.
Deglaze the pan with white wine, scraping all the yummy bits off the bottom, and cook for 1 minute.
Whisk in heavy cream.
Add Parmesan and stir together until it melts.
Cook until it reaches your desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add cooked pasta.
Toss to coat pasta evenly, adding pasta water as needed to thin the sauce a bit.
Slice the chicken and add it to the pasta. Toss to coat evenly and cook until everything is warmed through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Garnish the chicken alfredo penne pasta with Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley, and enjoy!
Things I learned while testing this recipe.
- Salt your pasta water! Don’t skip this step!! I like to add 2-4 tablespoons of Kosher Salt to my pasta water. This is an often missed opportunity to add more flavor to your dish. It’s your first chance to flavor the pasta, and it also seasons the pasta water, which adds additional flavor to the sauce.
- Be sure to cut your chicken breasts lengthwise. I like to cut each breast in half lengthwise (with the knife parallel to the cutting board) to make two thinner pieces of chicken breast. This ensures that your chicken cooks all the way through in a shorter amount of time. If your chicken doesn’t cook through during the 4-6 minute saute in the pan, transfer them to an oven-safe baking dish and bake them at 350 degrees until they are cooked through while you make the sauce.
- The creamy sauce will thicken as it cools. Loosen it up with a splash of heavy cream, milk, or broth.
Don’t be afraid to play with this one.
Feel free to add some of your favorites to this chicken pasta recipe! We love to add:
- fresh spinach
- grape tomatoes
- sauteed mushrooms, onion, or bell pepper
- crisy bacon
- browned Italian sausage
- a pinch of cayenne pepper
- a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Here’s what I’d serve with this.
- crispy garlic bread
- cheesy sliced garlic bread (Texas Toast)
- simple house salad with easy dressing
- 10-minute bruschetta with mozzarella
- easy Caprese flatbread pizza
Prep it in parts.
- If making this recipe start to finish feels daunting, you can break it up!
- Cook the pasta the night before and season the chicken.
- When you’re ready to put it all together, you can sear the chicken and make the pan sauce, and dinner is done.
- Prepping in parts saves my sanity some weeks!
Just in case you have leftovers.
- Storage: Store chicken penne alfredo leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Reheating: Reheat penne alfredo in a saucepan on the stove. Stir in a splash of cream, milk, or broth to loosen up the sauce. Stir frequently, heating over medium heat, until warmed through.
More easy pasta recipes for your eating pleasure.
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Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta Recipe
This quick and easy chicken pasta recipe takes 30 minutes or less from start to finish. It’s loaded with a creamy homemade alfredo sauce, sliced chicken breast, and al dente noodles for a simple weeknight comfort food your family will love!
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 servings 1x
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lb. thinly sliced chicken breast
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- Kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
Pasta and Sauce:
- 16 oz. penne pasta
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 6–8 cloves garlic, minced or thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups shredded Parmesan (about 6 oz.) + more for garnish
- 1/2 cup pasta water
- fresh chopped parsley for garnish
- Kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions, just until al dente.
- Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.
- Season all sides of the chicken breast with oregano, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Sear chicken, cooking it on each side for about 4-6 minutes or until a golden-brown crust forms on the outside and it’s cooked through on the inside. Set aside to rest.
- Melt butter in the pan over medium-low heat.
- Add garlic and oregano along with a couple pinches of salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently for 1 minute.
- Add flour and stir to combine. Cook, stirring frequently for about 1 minute.
- Deglaze the pan with white wine, scraping all the yummy bits off the bottom, and cook for 1 minute.
- Whisk in heavy cream. Cook over medium to medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for a couple minutes or until warmed through, smooth, and creamy.
- Add Parmesan and stir together until it melts. Cook until it reaches your desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Add pasta to the sauce and toss to coat pasta evenly. Add a splash or two of pasta water to thin the sauce as needed.
- Slice chicken into strips and add to the pasta. Toss to coat evenly and cook until everything is warmed through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Garnish with Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley and enjoy!
Notes
- Salt your pasta water! Don’t skip this step!! I like to add 2-4 tablespoons of Kosher Salt to my pasta water. This is an often missed opportunity to add more flavor to your dish. It’s your first chance to flavor the pasta and it also seasons the pasta water which adds additional flavor to the sauce.
- Be sure to cut your chicken breasts lengthwise. I like to cut each breast in half lengthwise (with the knife paralell to the cutting board) to make two thinner pieces of chicken breast. This ensures that your chicken cooks all the way through in a shorter amount of time. If your chicken doesn’t cook through during the 4-6 minute saute in the pan, transfer them to an oven safe baking dish and bake them at 350 degrees until they are cooked through while you make the sauce.
- The creamy sauce will thicken as it cools. Loosen it up with a splash of heavy cream, milk or broth.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10 pasta and sauce
- Calories: 505
- Sugar: 2.5 g
- Sodium: 305.6 mg
- Fat: 26.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 39.3 g
- Fiber: 1.8 g
- Protein: 23.8 g
- Cholesterol: 97.5 mg
One of our favorites. Out of interest, can excess sauce be frozen? Or would it separate on thawing?
So glad that you’ve enjoyed this chicken pasta recipe, Cass! I wouldn’t recommend freezing as I think the pasta might get mushy and the sauce could separate. We usually don’t have any leftovers when I make this!! 🙂
This recipe was so delicious and simple! While cooking chicken breast it was so aromatic, and the completed dish with homemade alfredo sauce added the finishing touch!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this chicken pasta recipe, Susan! Thanks for leaving a review!
In the ingredients it doesn’t have an amount for salt or pepper. How much do I put?
It’s up to you! I prefer not to give specific amounts for salt and pepper and encourage you to measure with your heart 🙂 Just kidding, but really, everyone is going to prefer a different amount of salt and pepper. I recommend seasoning throughout the cooking process and then adding more salt and pepper to the final dish before serving. You’ll find that even just an extra couple pinches of salt can take a dish for bland to delicious in no time!
I saw the nutrition listed but it doesn’t have a serving size, so you have a rough estimate on the serving size for the nutrition listed?
About 1/8th of the overall dish is considered a serving. I would guesstimate around 2 cups of pasta + chicken per serving. If you divide the dish into 8 equal size servings that will give you the serving size indicated in the nutrition facts as well. Hope that helps, Paige!
This recipe is so delicious. A favourite in the family. So taste and the sauce is so good, even without cream.
I’m so glad that you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for leaving a review!
This was a great date night pasta dish!
I felt like it was missing something. It had a decent taste but I wouldn’t make it the same way again. I think it needed sautéed onions, maybe mushrooms or sun dried tomatoes. All I tasted was garlic, chicken and salt. I didn’t over salt as that’s the number one way to ruin any recipe but I’m sure the parm made it salty. It needed another component.
Thanks for leaving a review, Carla! Feel free to check out the section of my post labeled “VARIATIONS” for some ideas on what you could add next time. I’ve listed all the things you suggested and more!
So delicious!!!