Why You Should Make Alfredo Sauce In The Same Skillet As Your Chicken

Like vodka sauce or spaghetti and meatballs, fettuccine Alfredo is an Italian American favorite that draws from the simplicity of traditional Italian cuisine. Alfredo sauce is an easy yet decadently rich blend of butter, cream, and cheese simmered with aromatics into a creamy coating for fettuccine. While the sauce makes the dish, chicken is one of the most popular proteins to round out fettuccine Alfredo. Cooking your Alfredo sauce in the same skillet as your chicken is an important step in imparting extra flavor to the sauce, as well as a handy way to save using multiple pans.

When we saute and brown chicken breasts in a hot skillet, some of those tasty browned bits of chicken as well as the oil or butter infused with savory chicken flavor will remain after we've removed the chicken from the pan. These remnants will provide a flavorful foundation for your Alfredo sauce. Our recipe for chicken fettuccine Alfredo employs this method by sauteing strips of well-seasoned chicken breasts over medium-high heat, removing the chicken, and starting the sauce in the same skillet without ever turning off the flame.

A generous portion of butter will effectively deglaze the skillet, creating a flavorful cooking fat onto which you'll layer garlic, cream cheese, parmesan, lemon juice, and milk. Even if you're using your favorite store-bought Alfredo sauce, you can still heat it up in the skillet used to saute your chicken breast.

Not only can you utilize this one-skillet sauce and protein method with chicken, but it also works with alternative ingredients like shrimp, sausage, and mushrooms. A cheesy creamy sauce with hints of umami-rich seafood or earthy, meaty mushrooms will have more complexity while also enhancing the flavor of those same foods when you toss them back into the sauce. 

While the original 1920's recipe for Alfredo sauce (named after a Rome-based chef with the same name) consisted of butter, water, and parmesan, modern recipes, including this easy Alfredo sauce one, call for heavy cream for even more richness. Our recipe for chicken Alfredo uses cream cheese and milk instead of heavy cream for a slightly tangy taste and thicker consistency. For a lower-fat alternative, you can swap cream cheese for sour cream. Freshly cracked pepper will cut through the richness of all the dairy — or use a pinch of cayenne for a fiery finish. Nutmeg is another warming spice to try in Alfredo sauce to give it mellow depth without overpowering it.

Since you're making Alfredo sauce in a wide skillet, it's primed and ready for the fettuccine. So, instead of pouring the sauce into a drained pot of pasta, add your pasta to the bubbling skillet of sauce. Reserve a little starchy, salty pasta water to add, too. Among its many uses, leftover pasta water should make the Alfredo sauce smoother and silkier.