Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo: Creamy, Cheesy
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It’s time for homemade chicken fettuccine alfredo! We love this cheesy creamy garlic pasta! A big bowl of this amazing comfort food will fuel and soul and make the bellies happy. Kids absolutely love this skillet chicken alfredo recipe too and it’s obviously a family favorite.
Why this is the Best Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe
The creamy cheesy sauce is addicting and appealing to everyone of all ages. Best of all, it’s a one-pot, skillet pasta recipe made with classic creamy alfredo sauce. It’s one of the most popular creamy pasta recipes ever and it’s so easy to eat and enjoy. Our recipe uses parmesan cheese, which adds so much flavor! But if you want different flavors, try adding some smoked gouda or aged cheddar. Swiss cheese would be great too for adding extra cheesy flavor.
Video: Easy Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe
How to Make Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe with Chicken
- It all starts with a homemade creamy garlic Alfredo sauce recipe, chicken and fettuccini pasta. You can always buy a jar of pre-made alfredo sauce. But if you have the time, we really suggest making the alfredo sauce from scratch. It is so good, especially when you use freshly grated parmesan cheese.
- If you don’t want to use fettuccine, you can use your favorite pasta. From macaroni, penne, spaghetti, angel hair and more, your possibilities are endless.
- To make this healthier, add some of your favorite vegetables! Spinach, broccoli, kale and cauliflower are just a few options to make the pasta more healthy and vegetable friendly. In fact, this is so much better than Olive gardens version because homemade is always better.
- Our recipe uses milk because it’s an ingredient that usually everyone has ready in their fridge. But if you want a thicker, richer sauce without using a lot of cheese then you can use heavy cream.
- Making the sauce in the same skillet that you used to cook the chicken makes it even more delicious and uses less pans. So simple… cook pasta, cook chicken, make sauce, combine them all and garnish if desired.
- Check out our set-by-step photos to guide you through the cooking process. And all the recipe details are in the recipe box below. Enjoy!
Other options to replace the chicken
If you don’t want to use chicken, you can make a shrimp fettuccine alfredo. Replace the chicken with some shrimp and it’s still fantastic. Or if you don’t want any meat or seafood, just add a handful of broccoli, cauliflower or chopped kale. A vegetable fettuccine alfredo is also one of our favorite vegetarian pasta dishes.
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
Ingredients
- 1 pound (454 g) fettuccine or pasta of choice, cooked to package instructions
- 1 pound (454 g) boneless skinless chicken (breasts or thighs), cut into bite sized pieces
- 4 Tablespoons (60 ml) butter (divided)
- 4 cloves garlic , minced (or 2 teaspoons garlic powder)
- 1/4 cup (30 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (480 ml) milk
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) dried herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, etc.)
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) dried mustard powder
- 1 cup (100 g) grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt , or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) fresh cracked black pepper
- (optional) extra grated cheese to serve on top
Instructions
- Cook pasta to al dente according to package instructions, drain and set aside. Reserve some pasta water for thinning out the alfredo sauce if needed later
- Heat a sauce pan on medium-high heat. Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter. Add chicken and sear until all sides are brown and cooked, about 5-8 minutes depending on the thickness of your chicken pieces.
- Remove chicken from pan. Add remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter, then add garlic and cook translucent and fragrant (about 1 minute).
- Whisk in flour and continue whisking to remove large clumps.
- Slowly whisk in the milk. Whisking often to make sure flour lumps are smooth, bring sauce to a low boil. Then reduce heat to low.
- Add dried herbs, mustard powder, parmesan, salt and pepper. Continue to simmer and whisk until sauce is smooth and begins to thicken.
- Add the pasta and the chicken in the alfredo sauce. Stir to coat everything with the sauce. Add a little pasta water to thin out the sauce if needed. Add additional salt, pepper or cheese on top if needed.
Video
Nutrition Information per Serving
Using chicken breast vs chicken thighs?
Use what ever you enjoy eating. We love boneless chicken thighs because the meat is more rich and flavorful. Sometimes chicken breast can often be dry when cooked, but in this case it doesn’t matter. The sauce will make any dry tasting chicken rich and flavorful. It’s always about the creamy sauce that takes this dish over the top delicious.
Can you freeze any leftovers?
You can certainly freeze the leftovers. But If you have the sauce separate, then try to freeze the sauce in it’s own airtight container. Then you can freeze the pasta together with the chicken in another container. Once the sauce thaws, it might be a little lumpy. While you re-heat the sauce, whisk in some fresh milk and a little grated cheese. It will keep the thawed sauce from curdling.
What to serve with fettuccine pasta?
We love adding some vegetables to the dish or having it on the side. From steamed veggies, grilled veggies or air fryer vegetables this healthy option really is a nice balance against the rich sauce. Garlic bread is perfect alongside it too so you can soak up any extra sauce. Or just a nice simple salad is another great companion to the pasta.
Favorite Creamy and Saucy Recipes:
- Skillet Creamy Garlic Chicken with Broccoli
- Creamy Garlic Alfredo Chicken Zucchini Noodles
- Classic Fettuccine Alfredo in 30 minutes (Vegetarian)
- Miracle Creamy Garlic Chicken in Slow Cooker
- We have so many great pasta recipes here
Check out more great Italian pasta recipes here for your family to enjoy! If you make our easy skillet chicken alfredo pasta recipe, please share it with us on our social media channels! We love to see your creations. And also, please don’t forget to add your comment below. We love reading your comments.
10 Comments on “Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo: Creamy, Cheesy”
This has to be the best fettuccine already recipe I’ve ever tried. Really love the creaminess. And the chicken was also cooked perfectly.
I’m happy with how easy this was to make. Really great pasta recipe. I can’t wait to make it again.
I had never made Alfredo sauce before and this was outstanding. The second time I made this, I substituted fettuccine pasta for linguini, added more chicken and doubled the recipe, it was still outstanding. Will use this recipe again and again.
Thanks so much! We’re so glad this worked great for you. thanks for sharing and loving this chicken alfredo recipe.
The pasta was good, but the chicken needs seasoning
Towards the end could I throw in some fresh spinach and let it cook down?
Thanks, Jan
p.s. Recipe sounds amazingly delicious as written!!!!
This is so good! I didn’t have mustard powder or parmesan cheese, so I added in shredded mozzarella instead. I was worried about the milk curdling, so I whisked almost constantly, & the flour helped thicken up well! I was genuinely shocked at how tasty it was, especially since we only had skim milk in the fridge.
Definitely writing this one down for future use!
Thanks for sharing Abigail! Great to know it worked well with mozzarella cheese.
The cook photos are brilliant! Helps a lot when recreating this. Thanks!
No more take out! I’ll be making fettuccine alfredo at home now! Thanks for the recipe. It turned out great!