Pinterest Rescue:One Pan Chicken Alfredo Pasta

I don't know about the rest of you, but I love Pinterest! I pin a bunch of yummy recipes that I just HAVE to make, and then... I forget all about them. I have made a resolution to make one of my pinned recipes every week and let you know how it turned out. Feel free to play along; leave a comment about a pin you have rescued from your "to try" boards. 


The Pin:

One Pan Chicken Alfredo, from Like Mother Like Daughter

Photo courtesy of lmld

Why I pinned this: I see lots of one-pan pasta dishes and I am always skeptical about cooking pasta in the sauce. I don't really have an alfredo recipe and my kids love it.

Let's go:

Team Photo: Chicken, Oil, Garlic, Butter, Stock, Cream, Dried Herbs, Bacon, Parmesan

About the ingredients: 

Cheese: There is a lot of parmesan in this recipe, so please do not use the stuff in the cardboard can. Grate it yourself or at least get the store-grated stuff from the cheese dept. I know it's not cheap, but it's worth it. You can substitute romano if you already have that.

Stock: The original recipe called for boullion and water, so if you want to go that route, I'm sure it would be fine. I just prefer stock

Cream: Heavy, Light or Half&Half would be fine here. I used light cream.

Herbs: My spice cabinet is a little weak in the dried herbs department. I usually use fresh, but I forgot to pick some up, so here I have dried oregano, and a seasoning mix (Penzey's sandwich sprinkle) that contains a mix of herbs. If you have fresh, throw them on at the end.

Pasta: Use whatever short pasta shape you like. I used gemelli.

Bacon: Totally optional. It was good, but not at all essential. Just leave it out if you don't eat bacon or don't have any.

Cut up your chicken into small pieces

Season it with salt & pepper

When you make this recipe for the first time, it's helpful to prepare all of your ingredients first, so you don't feel panicky when the oil starts to sizzle. Chefs call this mise en place if you want to feel fancy.

Chop up your garlic and bacon so everything is ready.

Heat up a little olive oil in the pan to medium heat

Okay, here are a couple tips about cooking chicken on the stovetop. When you put it in the pan, make sure it's spread out. Cook in batches if you have to, but if you crowd your pan, the chicken will steam instead of sauteeing. Also, when you put it in the pan, don't touch it for a minute or two. Once you get a little crust on it, you will be able to flip it over more easily. If your chicken sticks to the pan, it's either not hot enough, or you don't have enough fat in the pan, or you're fussing with it too darn early. Back off for a minute!

First half of the chicken

Second half

Once the chicken is all browned and mostly cooked through, put it all back in the pan and add your garlic. After just a minute or two, add in your stick of butter, cut into smallish pieces. Use your spoon to scrape the brown stuff off the bottom of the pan. That's all flavor!

Add the stock and the herbs,

Then the cream and the pasta.

Stir it all together and bring to a boil,
 then turn the heat down to simmer

You're going to want to stir this often
so it doesn't stick to the bottom.

After about 15 minutes, the sauce should be thick and the pasta tender.
Add your parmesan and bacon. I recommend you add half the parmesan and then taste it, because
it's very cheesy. Also, I wish I had some fresh basil to throw on here.

The Verdict: You guys, this was amazing. One of my biggest hits ever. My kids devoured it and said things like "This is delicious" and "You should make this more often." I almost wept at the table! The pasta was tender, and the sauce was really cheesy. Now that I've made it once, it will be a cinch to make in the future. This is definitely going in the dinner rotation. I realize that there is something in here to offend every diet possible, but it is a crowd pleaser and simple to make.

The recipe: I was concerned about the original recipe not being enough food for 5 people, and then as I set about scaling it up, I realized that my way was going to use even amounts of ingredients which I always prefer anyway. Below is the original recipe, with my alterations. For the unaltered original, visit Like Mother, Like Daughter

One Pan Chicken Alfredo Pasta

1 TBS oil
3 large chicken breasts (about 1.6lb package)
1-2 TBS minced garlic
1 stick butter
1 pint cream 

1 cup chicken stock

1 1/2 tsp Italian herbs

1 12oz box short pasta noodles
1/4 cup bacon, chopped 
1 cup parmesan cheese

1. Cut your chicken pieces up into 1/2 inch or 1 inch pieces.
2. Add oil and chicken pieces to a large pan and cook over medium high heat.
3. Sprinkle chicken with a little bit of salt and pepper while cooking.
4. Allow chicken to start to brown.
5. Add minced garlic and saute with chicken for 1 to 2 minutes.
6. Add butter and allow it to start to melt before adding cream, stock, herbs and uncooked pasta noodles.
7. Bring to a boil.
8. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes until noodles are tender. Stir every few minutes.
9. Add parmesan cheese and bacon bits and stir together.
10. Serve hot.