Simple, fast, and a true back-pocket gem of a recipe, this Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta is luscious, garlicky, and beautifully balanced thanks to a some acid and freshness from the tomatoes and a little kick of heat from the crushed chilis. If you want a vegetarian version, simply leave out the chicken and use veggie stock concentrate instead of the chicken. Mushrooms and a tablespoon of miso paste would be a strong, umami-rich move there as well. Read on for the how-to!

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What You’ll Need to make this Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta

This recipe is pretty classic – no sneaky “hack” ingredients here. I do tend to do that a lot, I’ll admit, like in my favorite chili, butter chicken, and pappa al pomodoro recipes. That’s fun sometimes, but with pasta recipes, sometimes they’re already so simple by design that you don’t have to reach for a hack or a quick-fix thing to add flavor. The ample garlic going on in this sauce, coupled with the butter, tomatoes, and lots of Italian seasoning conjures up tons of great flavor. Also, chicken stock concentrate adds a strong punch of salty depth to this otherwise simple cream sauce.

INGREDIENTS

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 pound long noodles, such as spaghetti or bucatini

3 tablespoons butter

8 – 10 garlic cloves, sliced

2 Roma tomatoes, diced, or 15-ounce can diced tomatoes with basil

2 teaspoons chicken stock concentrate (such as Better Than Bouillon)

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1/4 cups milk

Freshly chopped parsley, for topping

How to make this Creamy Chicken Pasta

We’ll start by seasoning the chicken cutlets generously, and browning them in olive oil. If you’re not totally familiar with chicken cutlets, read this. You can also just cook up four full-sized boneless, skinless breasts and use those. You’ll have lots of chicken to go around, and could maybe stretch this dish to feed 6 people that way. I often find a whole chicken breast is a lot, and half of one usually suffices – especially when pasta is involved.

Anyway, after the chicken is browned and crispy, we’ll build the sauce right in those tasty drippings. Lots of slice garlic, fresh tomatoes, and stock concentrate will saute for just a minute before adding in some flour and milk to creamy an ultra creamy sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer – the classic method for cream sauce building – comes next, just to thicken things. Then all that’s left to do is season to taste with salt and pepper and serve it up.

DIRECTIONS

Place the chicken breasts on a flat work surface/cutting board and pound them to about half of their original thickness. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Season the chicken on both sides with the Italian seasoning and some salt and pepper. Brown the chicken for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until crispy and golden. Transfer to a plate for now, and leave the drippings/flavor in the pan.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta to al dente in a large pot of salted water according to the package directions. Reserve about ⅔ cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain it.
Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet, along with the butter. Add the sliced garlic, tomatoes, stock concentrate, and pepper flakes. Cook for about a minute, stirring.
Sprinkle over the flour and cook for one minute more. Add the milk and allow it to come up to a gentle boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer. Season to taste with salt and lots of pepper. Add the pasta to the sauce, tossing to coat. Slice the chicken into strips and serve over the warm creamy pasta, garnished with chopped parsley.