Skillet Chicken Alfredo (Printer-friendly)

Creamy Alfredo sauce coats tender chicken and pasta for a comforting Italian-American main dish.

# What You'll Need:

→ Poultry

01 - 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into strips

→ Pasta

02 - 10 oz fettuccine or penne pasta

→ Dairy & Sauce

03 - 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
04 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
05 - 3 garlic cloves, minced
06 - 1 cup heavy cream
07 - 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
08 - 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
09 - 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

→ Seasonings

10 - 1/2 teaspoon salt
11 - 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

→ Garnish

12 - 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
13 - Extra Parmesan cheese (optional)

# Directions:

01 - Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, then drain and set aside.
02 - Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken strips with salt and pepper. Cook chicken for 5 to 6 minutes, turning once, until golden and cooked through. Remove and set aside.
03 - Lower heat to medium and add remaining butter and olive oil to the skillet. Add minced garlic and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant.
04 - Pour in chicken broth and bring to a simmer, scraping up browned bits. Add heavy cream and nutmeg, then simmer gently for 2 to 3 minutes.
05 - Reduce heat to low and gradually stir in Parmesan cheese until melted and the sauce is smooth.
06 - Return cooked pasta and chicken to the skillet. Toss to coat evenly, adding reserved pasta water incrementally until desired sauce consistency is achieved.
07 - Adjust seasoning as needed. Garnish with chopped parsley and extra Parmesan cheese before serving.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • One skillet means one thing to wash, and that alone might save your sanity on a weeknight.
  • The sauce coats everything so silkily that even people who claim they don't like cream-based pasta will ask for seconds.
  • Ready in under forty minutes, which feels like a small miracle when you're feeding hungry people.
02 -
  • If your sauce breaks and looks curdled, don't panic—add a splash of cold pasta water and stir gently off the heat; it usually comes back together.
  • Freshly grated Parmesan is worth the minute it takes; pre-shredded cheese has cornstarch that changes the entire texture of your sauce.
  • Save more pasta water than you think you'll need—you can always use it to stretch the sauce, but you can't add it back once it's drained.
03 -
  • Keep the heat low when melting the Parmesan—high heat breaks the cheese and separates the sauce into greasy, stringy mess.
  • Use reserved pasta water like seasoning; adding it gradually lets you control the sauce consistency perfectly instead of ending up with soup.
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