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Chicken Broccoli Alfredo Pasta is an easy recipe that combines protein, carbs, and veggies in a simple homemade cream sauce. It's a perfect dish for creamy chicken pasta lovers!
If you're tired of dry, tasteless chicken breast recipes, then it's time to try different ways to cook chicken. In this creamy chicken and broccoli alfredo pasta, the chicken is moist and tender, as it is smothered in a creamy, white cheese alfredo sauce. This delicious family favorite dinner combines protein (chicken), carbs (pasta), veggies (broccoli) and a homemade creamy sauce.
This recipe has been repinned literally a million times, because it's simple and quick, with the amazing alfredo sauce made completely from scratch.
What do you put in Alfredo sauce?
Basic alfredo sauce recipe generally requires only heavy cream, garlic, Parmesan cheese, a little bit of butter. Garlic is always welcome, too.
What cheese to use in Alfredo sauce?
This recipe works with Parmesan cheese, Mozzarella cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, all shredded. I use short pasta (penne) which I find is perfect for creamy sauces as it feels like you get more sauce with each bite.
How do you make Alfredo sauce without heavy cream?
You can make alfredo sauce with half-and-half or milk instead of heavy cream. If you do use half-and-half or milk, you will have to use more butter.
Other creamy chicken pasta recipes
If you liked this chicken broccoli alfredo pasta recipe, you will also enjoy these recipes:
- Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken, Broccoli, and Bacon - homemade alfredo sauce recipe with the addition of bacon!
- Chicken and Broccoli Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce - creamy pasta with the sun-dried tomato and basil cream sauce.
- Chicken and Bacon Pasta with Tomatoes and Spinach - in this recipe, sliced chicken breast and bacon are tossed with veggies and penne pasta in a delicious, creamy, homemade Alfredo sauce made with Parmesan cheese.
Chicken Broccoli Alfredo Pasta
Ingredients
- 10 ounces broccoli
- 8 ounces penne pasta (for gluten free, use gluten-free brown rice penne)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1.5 lb chicken breast (1 large chicken breast)
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1 ¼ cups Parmesan cheese, or Mozzarella cheese, or Monterey Jack cheese shredded
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook broccoli in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain well. Cut into small florets.
- Cook pasta al dente, drain.
- In a large skillet heat olive oil and butter on medium-high heat (until hot but not smoking) and saute chicken breast (seasoned generously with salt and pepper on both sides) for about 5 minutes on each side. Remove the skillet from heat, cover with the lid, and let the chicken rest, off heat, covered, until the chicken is no longer pink in the center and is completely cooked through. Remove chicken from the pan. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces.
- Add minced garlic to the same skillet and cook it in chicken juices and oil remaining in the pan, scraping up the chicken bits from the bottom of the pan, on medium heat for about 30 seconds until garlic is fragrant, making sure to avoid burning. Add cooked and sliced broccoli and mix in with garlic. Remove from the pan.
- To make the creamy sauce, in the same skillet heat up 1 cup of heavy cream until it boils. Immediately add the cheese and stir until melted and creamy. Reduce heat to medium-low, and slowly, in small portions, add milk, constantly stirring, simmering, until a creamy consistency is reached.
- Add cooked pasta to the creamy sauce, then add broccoli. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Top with sliced, cooked chicken.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
When is was reading the recipe, you have the broccoli being added in before you make the sauce and again at the end, just before adding the chicken. Which is correct?
Here is the paragraph you're inquiring about, what you do is mix the broccoli with garlic and then remove the broccoli from the pan, then you make the sauce, and add the broccoli back - note the last sentence:
"4. Add minced garlic to the same skillet and cook it in chicken juices and oil remaining in the pan, scraping up the chicken bits from the bottom of the pan, on medium heat for about 30 seconds until garlic is fragrant, making sure to avoid burning. Add cooked and sliced broccoli and mix in with garlic. Remove from the pan."
Then, you proceed with the rest of the recipe.
looks delicious how many calories is this?
I cooked the chicken as written and it was raw. How long does it need to sit?
I would let the chicken sit for about 10 minutes. Alternatively, just cook the chicken several minutes longer and let it sit for 5 minutes or so, covered, off heat, or even on the lowest heat setting, until it's cooked through and not raw. Each stove is different, as is each skillet.
This was very delicious. I used 1 1/2 cups of both heavy cream and milk just to have more sauce. I also used egg noodles instead of penne pasta. I would definitely make this again.
Thank you, Victoria! Happy to know you've enjoyed this recipe!
I made this exactly as written, except for swapping the mozzerella with fresh grated parmesan and it was absolutely delicious! Mozzarella has a mild taste, and I like my alfredo to have a rich creamy taste. The fresh parmesan gave it the perfect flavor. When I got to stirring the milk into the cream, I wasn't sure I had done it right. It seemed very thin and watery, so I just kept stirring, stirring, on a low simmer, as directed, but it still seemed too thin. I decided to remove from heat and added the noodles and broccoli anyway. I covered it with a lid to sit. And voila, as it sat, it thickened right up! As I plated, I added the chicken on top. Also seeing the comments about the cheese clumping, pre shredded bags are notorious for that because they are packaged with a starch on them, so melting them down to liquid can often be tricky. I'd definitely recommend either grating your own or buying fresh. Trust me, my fresh parmesan melted in seconds. As long as your cream is boiling, you won't have any problems. Thanks Julia for a great recipe. This will definitely be in my dinner rotation from now on 🙂
Thank you, Amy, for such a thoughtful comment and all the tips! I am glad you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Can we put this into a crock pot after cooking? On Keep warm? I just don't want it to seperate
It should not separate if you put it in a crockpot just to keep warm. It might thicken a bit, in which case, just use a small amount of milk to think it out.
Thank you for this recipee! I made it for my family and we all loved it! Unfortunately, I'm trying to create a master list of recipees that can be freezed. Can you tell me if this recipee is ok to freeze? Would you complete all the steps so it's fully cooked and then freeze it? Thanks!
In theory, you could freeze it. Reheating could be a little bit tricky to avoid the cream sauce separating. Do not thaw or reheat in the microwave. Let the dish thaw in the refrigerator, and then reheat gently in a pan on the stove top.
I made a rouge with the oils and juice from the chicken. And added my cream to that. It helps the cream sauce thicken without burning. Instead of Broccoli I added fresh spinach and browned up some fresh mushrooms. It was wonderful. I also cut my chicken up first and added my seasoning to it and let is sit for about a hour before I cooked it. Cutting it in to bite size pieces first makes sure the chicken stays juicy and tender. Because it does not need to cook as long. All in all it was a wonderful quick recipe that I will make again.
Thank you, Chris, for excellent tips! Spinach and browned fresh mushrooms in place of broccoli sound delicious!
What kind of cream ?
I used heavy cream in this recipe.
Hi. Can you make without Garlic? It makes me I'll.
Thanks
Nicola
Trying this tonight! I just started getting into cooking a few weeks ago, so this seems easy enough for a beginner 🙂
I'm one to normally read all the comments before I try a recipe & I must say I didn't have any issues with the sauce. Great recipe!
Absolutely delicious! And that's coming from a person who doesn't like broccoli but is trying to eat healthy. This will definitely become one of my regular meals!
Hey, I made the sauce per the directions and it turned out delicious. I was worried it would be a tad thin as well, but it was perfect. Thanks for the recipe, my children loved it as well Most important to me!!
So I doubled up the recipe and skipped the chicken (meatless Monday ) and my kids loved it! I have tried a few other recipes but this one is a keeper!!! I have 5 kids, 2 are the most pickest eaters ever and they all appoved. Haha thanks for sharing.
I was wondering how it would be doubled up. I am doubling it tonight.
Just double all the ingredients.
My cheese (mozerrella) did fine, no clumping; however it was runny. I think I'll use less milk next time and more salt since it was a little bland.