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Garlic Butter Chicken Pasta

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A cozy, restaurant-quality weeknight meal featuring tender chicken in a rich garlic butter sauce with pasta.

Ingredients

  • Boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly cracked black pepper
  • All-purpose flour (optional)
  • Unsalted butter
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • Fresh garlic (4–6 cloves, minced)
  • Yellow onion or shallots (finely diced, optional)
  • Dry pasta (linguine, fettuccine, or penne)
  • Chicken stock or low-sodium broth
  • Heavy cream or half-and-half (optional)
  • Fresh parsley, thyme, or basil (chopped)
  • Lemon zest and juice
  • Grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
  • Mushrooms (optional, cremini or baby bella)

Instructions

  1. Prepare the pasta and mise en place by chopping garlic, measuring butter, and patting chicken dry.
  2. Cook pasta in salted boiling water until just shy of al dente, then reserve a cup of pasta water.
  3. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Optionally dredge chicken in flour, then sear until golden, about 4 to 6 minutes per side. Remove and let rest, then slice.
  4. In the same skillet, add butter and sauté onion or shallots if using until translucent. Add minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
  5. Deglaze with chicken stock, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and simmer to reduce.
  6. Stir in remaining butter, and if desired, add heavy cream or half-and-half. Simmer until slightly thickened.
  7. Toss pasta and sliced chicken in the skillet, adding reserved pasta water as needed to reach the desired consistency.
  8. Stir in grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano and chopped herbs, then finish with lemon zest and juice. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
  9. Serve immediately, garnished with extra herbs and more grated Parmesan.

Notes

Mushrooms can be sautéed before the onion and garlic for extra texture.

Nutrition

Keywords: pasta, chicken, garlic butter, weeknight meal, creamy pasta

Find it online: https://recipehappy.com/garlic-butter-chicken-pasta-2/