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Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta is a dinner recipe as impressive as it is delicious. Ingredients like garlic purée, bacon, and freshly grated parmesan meld together to make this chicken and pasta dish simply irresistible!
I have just a few magic words for you to consider as you debate with yourself about making this comfort food… Bacon. Parmesan. Chicken. Pasta. GARLIC. If those alone doesn’t sell you, I really don’t know what will! I mean really, this dish has it all.
All of those ingredients come together in the most beautiful way in this easy dinner recipe. Garlic and a medley of other bold seasonings are blended together, then used to coat the chicken before it’s seared and baked to juicy perfection. That chicken then is served with the BEST pasta sauce and noodles!
The sauce here is made with bacon grease, butter, flour, heavy cream, and more garlic paste… And just the right amount of freshly grated parmesan. Trust me, no part of this easy dinner is lacking in the flavor department. Toss out that store bought jar of pasta sauce and treat yourself to this easy pasta dinner instead!
Why You’ll Love This
- Explosion of flavor. You won’t be missing flavor in this pasta dish. With the smokiness from the bacon, the cheesy and nuttiness from the parmesan, the garlicky flavor, and the creaminess of the sauce — this is one pasta dish you’ll fall in love with!
- Comfort food. A big bowl of creamy pasta is what many of us call comfort food and this garlic parmesan chicken pasta is just that!
- Ideal weeknight dinner. Make it a dinner or date night in with these simple ingredients that don’t skimp on flavor.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For the chicken:
- Chicken – Use chicken breasts, not thighs.
- Garlic – You MUST use fresh garlic. Pre-minced won’t work here.
- Olive Oil – Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil.
- Seasonings – You’ll need a medley of sea salt, ground mustard, black pepper, and garlic powder.
- Basil
- Lemon Peel – You can use a zester or cheese grater to finely grate a lemon peel.
- Italian Bread Crumbs
- Canola Oil
For the rest:
- Pasta – I use linguine, but you can use whatever you prefer.
- Bacon – Pork bacon is preferred since it renders the most fat. However, turkey bacon can be used instead if needed.
- Butter – Unsalted is best to cut back on the sodium.
- Flour – Thicken the sauce with all-purpose flour.
- Heavy Cream – Don’t substitute this with any other dairy product!
- Garlic Paste
- Parmesan – It’s imperative to use freshly grated parmesan only.
- Black Pepper – Freshly cracked yields the best flavor.
- Parsley
How to Make Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta
For more detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this post.
Make the paste. Purée together the garlic, olive oil, ground mustard, salt, pepper, basil, garlic powder, and lemon zest. Fold in the breadcrumbs.
Bake the chicken. Coat the chicken with garlic paste, pan sear it, then bake at 350°F for 10 minutes to finish cooking. Let it rest before slicing.
Cook the pasta. Cook your noodles in salted water until al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water.
Make the sauce. Cook the bacon. Remove it from the pan and set aside, reserving the fat in the pan. Add butter and stir in the flour once melted. Whisk in the heavy cream. Stir in the garlic paste and pepper. Keep whisking! Remove from heat and stir in parmesan.
Assemble! Cut the chicken into strips. Add pasta to a large bowl. Combine with bacon and parsley. Pour in the sauce and pasta water. Toss, top with chicken, and enjoy!
Recipe Tips, Substitutions, and Variations
- Use fresh garlic. Fresh garlic is a must in this recipe as there is NOTHING that compares to fresh. Even frozen garlic that you’ve pre-minced loses its flavor over time. Garlic powder doesn’t replicate it well enough either. Trust me, and use fresh garlic in this recipe!
- Add spice. Feel free to toss in some crushed red pepper flakes at any point, but just remember, a little goes a long way!
- Switch up the pasta. If you don’t have fettuccine, any long pasta will do! Spaghetti or bucatini is a great substitute. Angel hair would be too fine, in my opinion. Another option would be to use short pasta like rigatoni or penne.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Allow any leftovers to come to room temperature then store in an airtight container in the fridge. It will stay fresh for about 4 days. To reheat, use the stovetop to warm it through. You’ll likely have to add a bit of liquid to loosen it up a bit. Same with reheating it in the microwave. Heat it in 30 second intervals and add liquid and stir it up a bit before adding more time on the microwave.
What to Serve with Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta
We love a good Garlic Herb Parker House Rolls to compliment this pasta dish. Or, these fluffy Copycat Texas Roadhouse Rolls would be a great addition as well. Keep it simple with these Honey Butter Rolls as another option.
Check out more of the BEST pasta dinner recipes!
- Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta
- One Pot Cheeseburger Pasta
- Creamy Lion’s Mane Mushroom Pasta
- Creamy Zucchini Lemon Pasta
Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta
Equipment
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 pound (453 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon stone ground mustard
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon (⅛ g) dried basil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
- ¼ cup (27 g) Italian breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
For the rest of the dish:
- 1 pound (453 g) dried pasta noodles, like linguine or similar
- 6 strips bacon, diced
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) butter
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cup (354 ml) heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste
- ½ cup (50 g) parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- Minced flat leaf parsley
Instructions
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Bring 4 cups of seasoned water to a boil in another pot. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (177 °C).
- Combine garlic cloves, olive oil, stone ground mustard, sea salt, pepper, dried basil, garlic powder, and lemon zest in a food processor. Purée and transfer to a small bowl. Fold in bread crumbs.
- Pat chicken breasts dry with a paper towel. Coat with garlic purée.
- Add a swirl of canola oil to the skillet. Sear chicken 2 minutes per side. Place into the oven to finish cooking for 10 minutes.
- Add pasta to the boiling water and cook Al dente. Reserve ¼ cup of pasta water and drain.
- Remove chicken from the skillet and let rest on a wooden cutting board.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. Cook the bacon in a deep skillet over medium high heat. Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon bits and set aside. Add butter to the bacon grease. Once melted, stir in the flour. Whisk until smooth. Slowly incorporate the heavy cream, ¼ cup at a time. Add in the garlic paste and cracked pepper. Whisk consistently. Remove from heat and stir in the parmesan cheese to melt.
- Cut the chicken into strips.
- Add pasta to a large serving bowl. Combine with bacon and chopped parsley. Pour in the sauce and reserved ¼ cup pasta water. Toss to coat.
- Top with chicken and parmesan. Enjoy!
We absolutely loved it! I doubled the recipe, and that ended up being such a good move. We’re already looking forward to leftovers!
Julie, This in NO way is a criticism. I am definitely trying this. The list of ingredients say minced basil and the directions say dried basil. Thank you for this recipe.who wouldn’t love this? Garlic, bacon & cheese.
Gayle, thanks for calling this out! I actually was making this recipe again last weekend and noticed my mistake. I made a mental note and it clearly didn’t stick b/c I forgot to go change it. Haha, thanks again – it is now changed. I used dried basil :)
Do you coat the chicken with only a little of the purée and save the rest to add in step 7 to make the sauce? How much is needed in step 3 to coat the chicken? Sounds delicious!
hi Kim! if you find that you have extra after coating the chicken with the puree, you can certainly save it and use in step 7, otherwise, i would coat the chicken evenly with as much puree as possible. i hope this helps clarify but let me know if i can help further.