Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
Creamy chicken and broccoli pasta is an easy weeknight meal your family will love! A lemony cream sauce, tender chicken breasts, pasta, and plenty of cheese make it a guaranteed hit.
I love when I can serve a complete dinner in one dish. While there are some rare days when I have time to make a protein, starch, and vegetable, most days, I just want to make one dish and be done with it. This chicken and broccoli pasta is the perfect example.
You’ve got your carbs from the pasta, protein from the chicken breast, and broccoli too. Everything you need for a well-rounded and easy dinner recipe —plus a cheesy, lemony cream sauce that brings it all together that’s perfect with a side of garlic bread to soak up the remaining sauce.. (“Creamy sauce” may not be one of the major food groups, but if you ask me, it should be.)
This dish is an excellent choice for a weeknight, managing to be easy to whip up but also something a little more special than your average pasta dinner. It would be a great candidate for a date night too—maybe with a champagne cocktail?
If you’re the type who loves to tinker with recipes, you’ll also appreciate that this chicken and broccoli pasta is pretty flexible. You can easily adapt it to suit different tastes and diets, or customize it with the ingredients you have on hand!
Ingredients for Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
Here’s a quick rundown of what you’ll need for this recipe. For the full measurements, scroll down to the recipe card.
- Olive Oil – While olive oil is the classic choice for Italian-inspired dishes, you can use another oil you like for cooking.
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – If chicken thighs are more your thing, feel free to use those instead. Just make sure they’re boneless chicken thighs, and keep in mind that they take slightly longer to cook.
- Seasonings – Garlic powder, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper
- Pasta – I used corkscrew pasta, but this is the kind of recipe I could see working with virtually any pasta shape. Other favorites are fettuccine pasta, penne pasta or whole wheat pasta.
- Broccoli – Fresh broccoli is best, but you can use frozen broccoli florets instead if you’ve got a bag in the freezer.
- Salted Butter – Butter makes everything better. If you only have unsalted butter on hand, just add a little extra salt to the recipe.
- Heavy Cream and Half-and-Half – Using all heavy cream would be a little much, so a combination of heavy cream and half-and-half helps create a creamy sauce that’s not ridiculously rich. If you want to cut even more calories, you can substitute with whole milk but the sauce will be thinner.
- Lemon – You’ll need both the lemon juice and lemon zest. Zest the lemon first, then juice it. (It’s hard to zest a juiced lemon!)
- Grated Parmesan Cheese – Freshly grated is a must! It melts much more smoothly into the sauce. Store-bought grated cheese will give you a gritty texture.
- Nutmeg – Nutmeg is the little somethin’-somethin’ that makes cream and cheese sauces shine.
- Parsley – A bright and fresh finishing touch.
How to Make Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the page for full printable instructions.
- Season the chicken. Combine the garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle the mixture over the chicken.
- Cook the chicken. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, reduce to medium heat, and cook both sides until the chicken is golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 165ºF. Remove the chicken from the skillet and cover.
- Boil the pasta. Follow the package directions and cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water.
- Make the sauce. Wipe the skillet clean. Melt the butter and whisk in the cream and half-and-half. Once the mixture comes to barely a simmer, turn off the heat and whisk in the juice and zest, followed by the cheese and nutmeg. Season with kosher salt and black pepper, to taste. For a thinner sauce, whisk in 1/4 cup chicken broth.
- Add the pasta. Stir the cooked pasta and more cheese into the sauce, tossing to coat.
- Cook the broccoli. Add the broccoli to the pasta water. Let the broccoli cook for 2 to 3 minutes, then drain and add it to the pasta.
- Serve. Divide the pasta into bowls. Slice the chicken and add the cooked chicken on top, then garnish with parsley and additional Parmesan cheese.
Tips for Making Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
These additional tips will help make sure your easy chicken broccoli pasta turns out perfect!
- Don’t skip salting the pasta water. This adds flavor to the pasta, seasoning it from the inside as it absorbs the water. It’s really the key to delicious pasta!
- Make sure the pan is hot. Cooking quickly at a higher temperature gives the chicken a good sear and keeps it from over-cooking and getting rubbery.
- Cook the pasta and broccoli to al dente. Both the pasta and the broccoli will continue to soften in the sauce, so it’s important not to cook them until they’re super soft.
- Give it some heat. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes after the butter melts, let it cook for 30 seconds, and then whisk in the cream and half-and-half to infuse this dish with some spicy flavor.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Transfer the chicken and broccoli pasta to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. (While you can freeze pasta, I find that it’s usually mushy after thawing and reheating, so I don’t think it’s worth it.)
Warm your leftovers in a skillet over medium-low heat or in the microwave. The stovetop is best, but I know that sometimes if you’re bringing leftovers for a work lunch, you have to make do with the microwave!
What to Serve With Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
- Spring Mix Salad
- Homemade Garlic Bread
- Burrata Caprese
- Our Best House Salad
- Parker House Rolls
- Easy Cheesy Cauliflower Breadsticks
More Pasta Recipes
- Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta
- Slow Cooker Baked Spaghetti
- 15 Minute Caprese Pasta
- Penne Pomodoro
- Lousiana Chicken Pasta
- Boursin Cheese Pasta
- Lemon Artichoke Pasta
For more easy chicken recipes, follow us on Instagram and Facebook!
Get the Recipe: Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 pound Pasta
- 2 cups chopped broccoli
- 8 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup half and half
- juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
- Fresh chopped parsley if desired
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle the seasoning mixture evenly over the chicken breasts.
- Add the chicken to the pan and cook over medium heat until golden.
- Flip the chicken and continue cooking until cooked through. An internal temperature with an instant read thermometer should register 165˚F.
- Transfer the chicken to a platter and keep warm.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium heat.
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions.
- While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce.
- Wipe the skillet clean with a paper towel and melt the butter in the pan over medium heat.
- Whisk in the cream and half and half.
- Heat the cream just to a simmer. Turn the heat off and whisk in the lemon juice and zest.
- Add 1 1/2 cups of cheese and stir until smooth. Stir in the nutmeg.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and the remaining cheese. Toss to coat until the sauce begins to thicken.
- Drop the broccoli into the pasta water and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the broccoli to the pasta and toss to coat.
- Slice the chicken breasts across the grain and top the pasta with the chicken.
- Sprinkle with fresh parsley and freshly grated parmesan cheese, if desired.
- Serve immediately.