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This is the ultimate creamy chicken pasta dish… Chicken Alfredo is simple but special. Swirls of long pasta in a silky, flavour-packed sauce, with garlic, butter, Parmesan cheese, herbs and cream. It’s lipsmackingly good! Follow the step-by-step videos in this easy recipe.
I know from the popularity of my Marry Me Chicken recipe how loved chicken-in-a-creamy-sauce dinners are.
I wanted to make a similar dish – succulent, juicy chicken and a rich, creamy sauce – but also wanted it to be a complete meal with pasta, and that’s when I discovered Chicken Alfredo.
While it’s most popular in the US, I urge my UK readers to give this classic recipe a try – you won’t regret it! Follow along with the step-by-step videos below to see how easy it is to make.
We simply cook the chicken breast, cook some pasta up and make an easy sauce. That’s really it, ready in about 40 minutes and we have a dinner that somehow feels a little decadent and utterly delicious.
Some homemade Chicken Alfredo recipes involve frying chicken in pieces, and we tried this but found that the flavour we got from pan frying the whole chicken breast is hard to beat. Instead we slice it up after it’s cooked. Granted, it’s a little more effort but an effort we think is completely worth it.
Cooking the chicken in the same pan as the sauce adds so much delicious flavour too.
Something to note is that we’re using both garlic granules and fresh garlic in this recipe. Granules ON the chicken itself (so it doesn’t catch when frying) and fresh in the sauce to really get that garlicky flavour coming through.
Make sure to hold back a little of the pasta’s cooking water to add into the sauce later, which will make it lovely and smooth and help the sauce cling to the strands of pasta.
Why you’ll love this easy Chicken Alfredo recipe
⭐️ Perfect for a midweek meal or fancier weekend dinner
⭐️ Add sides if you want but it’s a satisfying complete meal on its own
⭐️ A few simple ingredients add to big flavours
What is Chicken Alfredo?
It’s a classic dish that was created in Italy by restaurateur Alfredo di Lelio in around 1907, but it actually began as a 3 ingredient meal – butter, fettuccine and Parmesan.
Over the years it has been adopted as a popular Italian-American favourite and has morphed into a richer, creamier version that we are more familiar with today.
While it is typically made with fettuccine, this type of pasta can be harder to find in the UK, so we’ve used tagliatelle instead. They are very similar pastas (fettuccine is just a little thinner than tagliatelle) and we still get those long, ribbon-like pasta strands that catch the sauce, but use whichever you prefer or can get hold of.
When it comes to serving, this is a complete meal on its own, but if you want to serve some sides to make it a little more special or bulk it out, you could serve a nice side Waldorf Salad, Garlic Bread, or vegetables such as broccoli or green beans.
Chicken Alfredo Ingredients
- Chicken breasts – One per person.
- To coat the chicken – Season well with dried mixed herbs, garlic granules, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. This gives it so much flavour.
- Olive oil – To cook the chicken in. Make sure it’s not extra virgin.
- Butter – Go for unsalted if possible.
- Fresh garlic – This is for the sauce.
- Double cream – Also known as heavy cream outside of the UK.
- Parmesan – Buy grated or grate from a block.
- Tagliatelle – Or fettuccine. Any long pasta will work too if you prefer.
- Parsley – A little fresh for garnishing.
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper – Season generously.
How to make Chicken Alfredo
1. Season the chicken with the mixed herbs, garlic granules and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook as per the full recipe below.
2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta, making sure you reserve some of the water before draining.
3. Remove the cooked chicken from the pan, then in the same pan, melt the butter and add the crushed garlic.
4. Pour in the double cream, stir through the Parmesan, add the cooked pasta, add a splash of reserved water and season. Serve with the sliced chicken and parsley.
Leftovers
Fresh is definitely best for this dish, but it will keep for up to 2 days in the fridge in an airtight container if you have leftovers. You may need to add a splash of boiling water when reheating the pasta.
Can you freeze Chicken Alfredo? I’m not a big fan of freezing pasta as it can go quite mushy when defrosted and reheated. That said, there’s nothing wrong with freezing for lunch if you have leftovers, it’s just not quite as good as fresh or reheated from the fridge.
Recipe Tips
Type of pasta
This recipe is usually made with fettuccine but it can be a little hard to find in the UK, so we have used tagliatelle as you still get those ribbon-like pasta strands to help catch all the sauce. You can use either, or another long pasta like spaghetti or linguine if that’s all you have.
Reserve some pasta water
Adding some of the pasta cooking water into the dish at the end helps to make the sauce so smooth, silky and delicious. The starch from the pasta helps the sauce stick to the pasta.
Do this by reserving about 250ml when you go to drain it.
Chicken thickness
You want your chicken breasts to be about 2cm thick. If they are thicker than this, cover them in parchment paper or cling film and use a rolling pin to hit the thicker park of the breasts to get them to the right thickness.
More Italian-inspired dinners…
Family Dinner Ideas
Classic Meatballs {with Rich Tomato Sauce}
Vegetarian
Aubergine Parmigiana
Comfort Food
Classic Lasagne Recipe
FAQs
Sure, if you like. Wilted spinach would work nicely, or peas or mushrooms. Or how about sun-dried tomatoes, like in Marry Me dishes?
When it comes to serving, this is a complete meal on its own, but if you want to serve some sides to make it a little more special or bulk it out, you could serve a nice side Waldorf Salad, Garlic Bread, or vegetables such as broccoli or green beans.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Easy Chicken Alfredo
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp Dried mixed herbs
- 2 tsp Garlic granules
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 20 g (1 tbsp) Unsalted butter
- 3 Garlic cloves, Peeled and crushed
- 300 ml (1 1/4 cups) Double cream (heavy cream)
- 100 g (1 cup) Parmesan, Grated
- 300 g (10 oz) Tagliatelle
- 15 g (1/4 cup) Parsley, Chopped
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prep the chicken: Season the chicken breasts with the dried mixed herbs, garlic granules and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Cook the chicken: Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and cook the chicken for 6-8 minutes on each side until golden and cooked through. Pop a lid on the pan after a few minutes to help keep the heat in and cook the chicken all the way through. When cooked, remove from the pan and leave to rest.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta: While the chicken is cooking, cook the tagliatelle in a large pan of salted boiling water according to the packet instructions. Make sure you reserve around 250ml of pasta water before draining.
- Make the sauce: In the same frying pan you have just removed the chicken from, melt the butter and add the crushed garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Pour in the double cream and gently simmer for 2-3 minutes. Stir through the Parmesan until melted and smooth. (The sauce will pick up all the delicious bits from the bottom of the pan from cooking the chicken.)
- Combine the pasta and sauce: Add the drained pasta to the sauce and toss well to coat. Add a splash of the reserved pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
- To serve: Slice the cooked chicken breasts and serve on top of the pasta, then scatter over the parsley. (Make sure you stir any of the resting juices from the chicken to the sauce.)
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Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutritional values are per portion unless otherwise stated.
