Creamy Broccoli Chicken Pasta
When you need dinner ready under 30 minutes, this broccoli chicken pasta with the creamiest sauce will save the day. Say hello to your family’s new favorite!
Ingredients You’ll Need
This sauce is very much based off of my Alfredo sauce recipe. It’s made with butter, cream and Parmesan cheese. Can you make this sauce without cream? Absolutely. The end result won’t be as silky and luscious but will still be tasty. After melting the butter to the pan, whisk in two teaspoons of flour then pour in the milk. Allow to simmer until the sauce has thickened (approximately 7-10 minutes).
- Butter.
- Heavy cream.
- Parmesan cheese.
- Fresh garlic cloves.
- Dried thyme. Other dried herbs like oregano and basil can be used instead.
- Chicken. Boneless skinless chicken thighs is my go-to but chicken breasts can be used too. I prefer using thighs because they are much juicier and more flavorful.
- Fresh broccoli florets.
- Salt and black pepper.
- Lemon juice.
- Pasta. I used tagliatelle but fettuccine, rigatoni, penne pasta or spaghetti will all work well.
How To Make Broccoli Chicken Pasta
1. Cook The Chicken:
Chop into bite size pieces, season and sear in a hot pan. Remove and set aside.
2. Make The Sauce:
In the same pan, melt the butter then add the garlic and herbs. Pour in the cream and lemon juice and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken and broccoli florets to the sauce then allow to cook. Stir in the grated Parmesan cheese.
3. Finish And Serve:
Toss the sauce with the cooked pasta and a few tablespoons of reserved pasta cooking water. Taste, adjust seasoning if necessary then serve.
Freezing and Reheating
- Freezing: Because this broccoli pasta recipe is so quick to make, it’s not something I often freeze. I also don’t love freezing cream-based recipes as they tend to split once thawed. However, the taste will still be good so if you prefer freezing this sauce, allow the finished sauce to cool down then transfer to freezer-proof containers. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw completely then reheat gently in a saucepan and simmer until hot throughout.
- Reheating: This sauce can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container. To reheat, transfer the sauce to a saucepan and heat over gentle heat until the chicken and broccoli are warmed through.
Serving Suggestions
This pasta dish is a meal all on its own but if you’d prefer to serve a side dish, a big arugula salad or some garlic bread would be delicious.
Ingredients
- 500 g (1lb) boneless chicken thighs chopped into bite size pieces
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 garlic cloves crushed/minced
- 1 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2-3 cups broccoli sliced into small florets
- 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
- 500 g (1lb) pasta cooked + 1 cup cooking water reserved
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.
- Add the pasta to the water, cook until al dente then reserve 1 cup of cooking water and drain.
- Heat a large pan or skillet over medium-high heat.
- Drizzle a few teaspoons of olive oil over the chicken then season with salt and pepper.
- Brown the chicken in the pan for a few minutes until the chicken is opaque white and starting to turn golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add the butter, garlic and thyme to the pan and allow to cook for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the cream and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer then add the chicken and broccoli to the pan. Partially cover and allow to simmer for 5-7 minutes until the chicken and broccoli are cooked.
- Add the Parmesan and stir into the sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
- Toss in the pasta and add some of the reserved cooking water if necessary. You want the pasta to be well-coated in the cream sauce. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Chicken pasta recipes
- Rosemary cream chicken pasta
- Creamy spinach garlic chicken on pasta
- Chicken Cordon Bleu pasta bake
- Chicken Parmesan pasta bake
I added onion and mushrooms. This was a delicious recipe! Will definitely make it a regular meal
So glad you liked it Vicki!
We just made this and thought we could water the cream down a bit… It didn’t work that well, the coating didn’t really stick. Also, we weren’t sure about the flavor, tasted a bit plain…Anyway, we will try again, sure it will taste good. Thanks y’all!
Hi Kristi – the flavor will definitely be a little blander if you’re using water instead of some of the cream. The water will also prevent the sauce from clinging to the pasta.
This dishes is so delicious and I will make it again
Had some rotisserie chicken, broccoli, and cream in the house, so this was just what I was looking for as a recipe base. I changed the intro by using a few strips of bacon and cooking some mushrooms in the bacon grease before adding the garlic from your step 4 and continuing from there. Turned out really well!
Made this one last and night and usually my kids hate broccoli but they didn’t even say anything they ate the whole dish! It’s simply delicious if I can say! Will make again for sure!
Yay for kids eating broccoli!!
So good!