Quick Garlic Parmesan Chicken (Printable)

Tender chicken in creamy Parmesan sauce with garlic and pasta, perfect for busy evenings.

# What You’ll Need:

→ Poultry

01 - 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (approximately 17.6 oz), cut into bite-sized pieces

→ Pasta

02 - 10 oz penne or rotini pasta

→ Dairy

03 - ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (approximately 2.1 oz)
04 - ½ cup heavy cream
05 - 2 tbsp unsalted butter (about 1 oz)

→ Vegetables & Aromatics

06 - 4 cloves garlic, minced
07 - 1 small onion, finely chopped
08 - 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (plus extra for garnish)

→ Stock & Seasonings

09 - 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
10 - 1 tsp Italian seasoning
11 - ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
12 - Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

→ Oil

13 - 1 tbsp olive oil

# Directions:

01 - Warm olive oil and butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat.
02 - Add chicken pieces, season with salt, pepper, and half the Italian seasoning. Sauté until golden and cooked through, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.
03 - In the same skillet, add chopped onion and cook for 2 minutes until softened. Add minced garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute until fragrant.
04 - Pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir in uncooked pasta, reduce heat to medium, and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until pasta is al dente and most liquid is absorbed, about 10 to 12 minutes.
05 - Lower heat to low. Stir in heavy cream and Parmesan cheese until the sauce becomes creamy and cheese fully melts.
06 - Return cooked chicken to the skillet, toss to coat evenly, and warm through for 1 to 2 minutes.
07 - Stir in chopped parsley, then adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes as desired.
08 - Dish out hot portions, garnished with extra Parmesan and fresh parsley.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • It's genuinely ready in thirty minutes, not the kind of thirty minutes where you're still cooking at minute forty-five.
  • Everything happens in one skillet, which means fewer dishes and more time actually enjoying dinner.
  • The sauce is silky and rich without being fussy—just cream, Parmesan, and the wisdom of letting them know what to do.
02 -
  • Don't crowd the pan when searing the chicken—if pieces touch, they steam instead of brown, and you lose that golden crust that makes everything taste better.
  • The pasta gets added uncooked to the broth, which sounds wrong until you taste how it absorbs all that flavor and creates sauce naturally—this is the secret.
  • Cheese clumps if you add it to boiling liquid; always lower the heat and stir gently so it melts into silk instead of becoming grainy.
03 -
  • If your pasta is still crunchy when most of the broth is absorbed, add a splash more broth and keep simmering—every stove runs differently, and pasta thickness varies.
  • Use a skillet deep enough that pasta has room to swim in the broth; a shallow pan means pasta sticks and cooks unevenly.
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