Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe

Adding chicken to fettucine Alfredo gives you a dish that's almost a one-pot meal in and of itself with lots of carbs and cheese and plenty of protein from the meat. Recipe developer Michelle McGlinn describes this dish as "one of the creamiest Alfredos you will have" thanks to the addition of cream cheese. She explains that this recipe is atypical in that "a traditional Alfredo does not include cream cheese and uses only Parmesan and cream to create the creamy sauce," but says that such sauces may be thickened with a roux. Here she's skipping the flour and using cream cheese instead, something she says "create[s] a creamy, decadent texture and flavor."

Another ingredient McGlinn calls for is pasta water, something she says can help bring the sauce together and will also help to make it stick to the noodles. She uses only about half the amount called for here, but, advises having a larger amount on hand since, as she says, "You only have one chance to reserve it and can always dump out the rest."

To make this chicken pasta dish, you'll need both chicken and fettuccine, plus some salt, pepper, and oil for seasoning and cooking the former ingredient. For the extra-creamy sauce, you'll be using four types of dairy: butter, milk, cream cheese, and Parmesan. The other sauce ingredients include garlic and lemon juice, while chopped parsley is used as a garnish.

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil over medium-high, then put the meat in the pan and fry it, turning it over to cook all sides, for about 8 to 10 minutes. When the chicken is done it should be golden brown in color and cooked all the way through. At this point, take it out of the pan and then turn the stove burner down to medium.

Melt the butter, then fry the garlic for about a minute until it softens and smells garlicky, but before it turns brown. Garlic can brown pretty quickly and may take on a slightly bitter taste once it does, so watch out. Add the lemon juice and cream cheese and stir until the cheese starts to melt. Add the milk and keep stirring the mixture until all of the cream cheese has melted. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, then turn off the heat.

Mix the fettuccine into the sauce along with some pasta water — McGlinn uses ½ cup but says you can use more or less depending on how thick you want your sauce to be. Add the chicken, mix everything well, then sprinkle the dish with the chopped parsley and some pepper. McGlinn says, "I'd recommend serving [the pasta] with vegetables for a balanced meal," and suggests that some type of greens with an acidic dressing will help to balance out a dish that is so rich she says it "will make you full and put you to sleep all on its own."

Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator and reheated either in the microwave or on the stove top. In the latter case, though, you may need to add some water or milk to, as McGlinn says, "wake up the sauce."