Delicious chicken alfredo pasta is great on the weekday especially when you don’t have anything else that’s fully cooked. This chicken alfredo recipe is dubbed a shortcut alfredo because it needs chicken that is cooked before hand. It is a great way to utilize chicken breast leftovers. So basically instead of leaving out the driest part of the chicken in the fridge, it can be revamped into juicy, saucy chicken. This chicken alfredo is a pasta lover’s dream with lots of garlic, Parmesan cheese and rotini. This is similar to my spinach arugula alfredo which is vegetarian.
The chicken alfredo sauce
The sauce for the alfredo is meant to be fattening and rich. Don’t skimp out on a creamy alfredo by going for low-fat options. Go for full-fat cream, butter and Parmesan cheese. I’ve actually made this with almond milk and it turned out great. But it was tastier with cream. It’s not something you’re going to be eating every single day so it’s okay to eat comfort food once a while. I used rotisserie chicken chunks which are basically pre-seasoned and pre-cooked. So all you have to do is heat them up. You could also use raw chicken breast but you have to cook them fully on the stove before adding it to the alfredo sauce.
Once you start making the alfredo sauce, it will look a bit watery, even after you add the cheese. Don’t worry once all the cheese melts, it thickens up and the sauce will be creamy as hell.
Choosing the pasta
I like using the shorter pasta like penne, fusilli or rotini. The longer strand pastas like linguine, spaghetti are great but I find them tedious to work with. Boil the pasta just as the alfredo sauce is almost ready. That way you have fresh pasta that doesn’t stick to each other. This ensures that every pasta strand is coated in sauce. You can read more on the different types of pasta here.
Looking for other ways to revamp leftovers? My lentil fried rice recipe is a great place to start!
Ingredients
Pasta
2 cups pasta (I used rotini)
4 cups water to boil pasta
2 teaspoons table salt
Chicken alfredo
250g rotisserie chicken strips, or 2 cups leftover boneless chicken chunks
2 cups heavy cream or half-and-half cream
1&1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 small onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dried or fresh parsley or thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme or basil)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon table salt (Adjust as you see fit)
Instructions
Pasta
- Boil the pasta with salt and water until it is soft.
- Drain the cooked pasta and set aside.
Chicken alfredo sauce
- Melt the butter in a wide skillet or saucepan on medium heat.
- Sauté the chopped inions and garlic cloves (see notes) in the melted butter until they look softened. Then add in the flour and gradually add the cream too.
- Season with salt, black pepper, fresh herbs and the dried herbs.
- Whisk in the Parmesan cheese until it is melted completely and let it simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes. Your alfredo sauce will thicken up at this stage.
- Check the spice and salt level in the sauce and adjust it as you wish.
- Toss in the cooked pasta, cooked chicken strips and serve warm.
Notes
You can substitute the garlic cloves with 1 tablespoon of minced garlic.