Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

It is no secret that the girls and I love pasta! We, generally, eat it at least once a week and we like to try different combinations of flavors. But, one that we always love is alfredo sauce – with shrimp or chicken or alone, we love alfredo sauce!

This time it was chicken alfredo. You, truly, can’t get much simpler than alfredo sauce. Unless you’re getting fancy, there are only 4 ingredients in it – not counting seasonings – milk or cream (we like it with heavy cream – I know it isn’t the healthiest, but it’s what we like!), butter, garlic and parmesan cheese.

I started this recipe by cooking my chicken. I tossed it, lightly, in a mixture of flour and Umami seasoning. I added it to the pan, along with some garlic, and browned it (cooking it 3/4 of the way through) in a pan with some avocado oil and removed it from the pan.

While the chicken was cooking, I chopped up some fresh broccoli for the sauce. I steamed this in a steamer basked in my pasta pot.

Back to the sauce – after removing the chicken from the pan I turned down the heat to medium-low and melted the butter. Once the butter was melted, I lowered the heat to low and added in the cream and allowed it to heat through.

Once the cream was warmed through, I started adding in the cheese, 1/4 cup at a time and stirring constantly. I find that adding the cheese a little bit at a time helps with ensuring that all of the cheese melts – and you don’t have globs of cheese in your sauce.

Once all of the cheese had been incorporated and melted, I added the chicken back into the pan and stirred.

Then I added in the broccoli from the steamer basket.

And, finally, I added in the pasta. I mixed everything together and it was ready to go.

When serving it, we add a little more parmesan (have I mentioned that we love cheese?) and we’re ready to eat!

Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Pasta

1 box pasta (I used penne)
2-3 chicken breasts (cut into cubes)
2 tbsp garlic
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (don’t judge!)
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan
2 tbsp butter
2-3 cups broccoli
1-2 tbsp Umami seasoning
2-4 tbsp Flour
Avocado oil spray

  • In a gallon bag, toss chicken with umami seasoning and flour to lighty coat the chicken (adjust amounts depending on how much chicken you are cooking)
  • In hot pan, add avocado oil, garlic and chicken – cook until chicken is 3/4 way done. Remove from pan.
  • Add butter to pan and melt
  • Reduce heat and add cream to pan
  • Once cream is warmed through, add in cheese 1/2 cup at a time – until all cheese has been added and is melted.
  • Return chicken to pan and stir with sauce.
  • Add broccoli and pasta to sauce, mix well.
  • Top with more parmesan cheese, if desired, and enjoy!

Chicken and Broccoli Pasta in Cream Sauce

As I have mentioned before, we usually do pasta on Saturday or Sunday, every week. This weekend, with the holiday, we decided to do our pasta on Monday in stead. Chicken and Broccoli Pasta in Cream Sauce, with sundried tomatoes, is what I decided on.

I had half of an onion left from yesterday’s frittata, so I started by chopping it finely. I also went ahead and chopped the sundried tomatoes.

I sprayed a little bit of avocado spray into a large skillet. The onions and garlic were added and cooked until the onions were translucent.

The next step was to add the chicken to the pan.

At this time, I also added the umami seasoning (if you haven’t tried this seasoning, why not?? It is delicious! The only I use, I get from Trader Joe’s).

Once the chicken was cooked through, I added the chicken stock and brought it to a boil. Then added the bag of frozen broccoli and sundried tomatoes. I covered the pan allowing the broccoli to fully thaw out.

Once the broccoli was warmed through, I added the cream, salt and pepper and brought it up to a low boil. I added in part of the cheese at this time and stirred.

Finally, I added the pasta to the skillet and mixed it through – added the remaining parmesean cheese.

The only step left is to serve and enjoy!

Chicken and Broccoli Pasta with Cream Sauce

1 box penne pasta
2 chicken breasts, cubed
Cooking spray (I use avocado oil)
12 oz bag frozen broccoli
2 tbsp sundried tomatores, chopped
1 tbsp garlic
1/2 onion
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp umami seasoning
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese

  • Boil pasta as directed, until al dente
  • Finely chop onion
  • Chop sundried tomatoes
  • In lightly sprayed / oiled pan, cook onions and garlic until onions are translucent
  • Add chicken and umami seasoning to pan and cook until chicken is done
  • Add chicken stock, sundried tomatoes and broccoli to pan, bring up heat.
  • Once brocolli is no longer frozen, add in cream, salt and pepper (I use 1/2 tsp each) and bring temperature to a low boil.
  • Add al dente pasta to skillet and mix.
  • Add parmesean cheese and serve