Chicken, Pasta and Broccoli with Cheese Sauce
This chicken, pasta, broccoli and cheese sauce one-skillet meal is delicious any day of the week.
This easy one-skillet meal made with chicken, broccoli, Parmesan and mozzarella cheese is light but also filling at the same time.
It tastes a little bit like cream of broccoli soup.
About this Recipe
Bow tie pasta is used in this recipe which adds a light heartiness to the dish.
The pasta is especially delicious when it’s cooked al-dente so that its firm enough to stand up to the chicken when mixed together.
For the chicken, a boneless skinless chicken breast is used.
Let’s check out the ingredients.
Pasta and Broccoli – water, salt, bow tie pasta, and broccoli
Chicken – boneless skinless chicken breast, granulated garlic, onion powder, dried parsley, salt and pepper
Creamy Cheese Sauce – butter, whole milk, grated Parmesan cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, and hot sauce
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
A printable recipe with the measurements and instructions is located at the bottom of this post.
For the Pasta and Broccoli:
Cut the florets off of the broccoli stalk.
And cut the stalk into small pieces.
Set aside for a moment.
In a medium size pot add water and bring it to a boil.
To the boiling water, add salt.
Add bow tie pasta.
Cook the pasta while stirring occasionally for 4 minutes and then add the broccoli.
Cook until the pasta is al dente according to package instructions.
Then strain both the pasta and broccoli and set aside.
TIP – Don’t rinse the pasta after cooking it.
The starch on pasta helps to hold and absorb the sauce so it’s important to keep the starch on the pasta. Also, the starch will help thicken the creamy cheese sauce when it’s mixed in with the dish.
For the Chicken:
Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and set aside for just a moment.
Set the milk for this recipe on the kitchen counter for 3 minutes before using it so that it will be at room temperature when used in the steps below.
Heat a large skillet on medium heat.
Add olive oil.
Next, add the pieces of chicken…
…the granulated garlic…
…ground pepper…
…onion powder…
…dried parsley…
…and salt.
Stir the chicken, spices and herbs together.
Cook until the chicken starts to brown and is thoroughly cooked (5 – 7 minutes).
Then add the milk,
butter, and hot sauce.
Add the cooked pasta and broccoli.
Stir all of the ingredients together.
Next add the Parmesan cheese,
…and mozzarella cheese.
Stir together and let simmer until the milk reduces (about 3 minutes).
Serve warm…
…and garnish with diced red bell peppers.
Thank you so much for stopping by CCC!
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Chicken, Pasta and Broccoli with Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
For the Pasta and Broccoli:
- 2 cups uncooked (dry) bow tie pasta
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 3 dashes salt
For the Chicken:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Creamy Cheese Sauce:
- 2 cups whole milk set the milk for this recipe on the counter for 3 minutes so that it is at room temperature before use
- 2 tablespoons butter (salted)
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce
- 2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons diced red bell pepper optional for garnish
Instructions
For the Pasta and Broccoli:
- Cut the florets off of the broccoli stalk and cut the stalk into small pieces. Set aside.
- In a medium size pot, add water and bring it to a boil. To the boiling water, add salt. Then to the pot, add bow tie pasta. After 4 minutes, add the broccoli.
- Cook until the pasta is al dente according to the package directions. Strain the pasta and broccoli (don't rinse) and set aside.
For the Chicken:
- Heat a large skillet on medium heat and add olive oil.
- To the pan, add the chicken, granulated garlic, pepper, onion powder, dried parsley and salt. Stir the chicken, spice and herbs together.
- Continue cooking the chicken until it is thoroughly cooked and starts to brown (5 to 7 minutes in total).
For the Creamy Cheese Sauce:
- To the pan with the chicken, add butter, milk (at room temperature), hot sauce, and the cooked pasta and broccoli. Stir all ingredients together.
- A the Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Stir together and let simmer until the milk reduces just enough for the sauce to thicken (about 4 minutes).
- Serve warm. Garnish with diced red bell peppers.
Notes
TIP:
Don't rinse the pasta after cooking it. When pasta is rinsed, the starch is removed. The starch on pasta helps to hold and absorb the sauce so it's important to keep the starch on the pasta. Also, the starch will help thicken the creamy cheese sauce when it's mixed in with the dish.Chicken Recipes
Here are some recipes made with chicken you may like “Nut-Crusted Coconut Chicken with Peanut Sauce“, “Easy Barbecue Chicken with Rice“, “Fried Chicken and Bacon Gravy Sliders” and “Easy Chicken with Black Beans“.
Comfort Food Recipes
Comfort Food Recipes you may like:
Candied Yams (Sweet Potatoes) with Pecans and Marshmallows
Candied Sweet Potatoes (Canned Yams), with Walnuts and Marshmallows
Baked Herb and Parmesan Potato Slices
Biscoff Cookie Butter Blondie Brownies
Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Potatoes and Carrots
Easy Skillet Smoked Sausage with Caramelized Barbecue Sauce
More Chicken Recipes
More Chicken Recipes You May Like:
Dill and Toasted Almond Chicken Salad with Grapes
Sad, mine looks like water with added cottage cheese! Where did I go wrong?
Hi There, it sounds like the sauce didn’t thicken enough. An option may be to let it simmer just a bit longer until the milk cooks down more. The starch from the pasta should also help to thicken it. I’ve had this problem before when using nonfat milk; using regular milk may also help. I hope this works out for you next time. Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!
This recipe looks delicious and simple. I’m going to add it to my week night menu. thanks!
Hi Jennie, thank you and let me know how you like it. Thank you for stopping by!
I’m so glad I found this recipe on Pinterest. My picky eaters really loved it! They even asked for seconds.
The only thing I did wrong was put two cups of Mozarrella cheese! But it still tasted good nonetheless 🙂
Thank you for sharing this wonderful, easy to follow recipe!
Hi Marjorie, that’s great news! It’s a good dish for sneaking in some broccoli. I think more mozzarella sounds delicious!!! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out!
I made this today and it was pretty darn good. My boyfriend loves it and he doesn’t even like broccoli! I realized last minute that I didn’t have any more short pasta so I used angel hair- not a substitution I would suggest haha. I think I would have liked it more with bowtie or penne. The only other thing is it seemed to be needing just a little punch in the flavor department… My palate may have just been craving more butter (shocker) 😀
Thank you!!
Hi Sarah, thank you for letting me know about how this recipe turned out for you. Another person who commented mentioned that she doubled the spices in the meat which sounded good to me too. Maybe that plus a bit more salt would help for your palate….I totally know what you mean about wanting more butter for this! So did I but I kept trying to hold back as much as possible to hold down the calories….but the more butter the better as far as I’m concerned! Thank you for the feedback!
I made this for dinner last night and it was really good. I actually doubled the spices on the chicken and added more salt and pepper to the sauce, and it was yummy and great for a cold night. The sauce took a while to reduce down, so I wish I had made more pasta, but I’ll keep that in mind for next time. I skipped the red pepper and didn’t think it would make much difference either way. I’d make this again.
Your changes to the recipe sound delicious. So good to know you added more salt and pepper too…sometimes I wonder if I like more salt than others may like so sometimes I hold back on the salt a bit. So good to hear the feedback and that you would make this again. Have a great rest of the week!
I love when I find a recipe that I have all the ingredients for! It’s the little things in life. 🙂
I love creamy pasta sauces…this looks like pure comfort food 🙂
You’re right, it had that taste of comfort food. Maybe it was the taste of broccoli mixed in with everything else. Have a great day!
I made this dish yesterday, and it was very yummy and comforting. I used half skim and half whole milk to lower the fat content. I also used orecchiette. Lastly, I used a cornstarch slurry to make the sauce thicker.
Next time I’m going to try to make it even lower in fat by using brown rice or homemade wheat pasta along with all skim milk plus the cornstarch slurry. Thank you so much for sharing this yummy recipe and the process photos!
Love all of the changes you made…they sound delicious and an added bonus is the lower fat content. So glad you liked this recipe and using brown rice is such a good idea. I’m going to try that next. Thank you for letting me know how it turned out. Have a great day!
Mmmm! I’ll definitely be trying this out, looks delicious!
Hi Jen, thank you. Have a nice weekend!