Tender pasta and chicken smothered in a creamy, garlicky sauce – This Creamy Garlic Penne Pasta with Chicken is a delicious and easy meal for any night of the week!
I love making cream sauces. It’s one of my favorite things to cook. I learned how to make cream sauces the easy way as a kid watching my mom and grandma. They always made it look so effortless, but the result was so creamy and delicious I knew it must be difficult.
MY LATEST VIDEOSA basic cream sauce, or Bechamel, consists of butter, flour, heavy cream and salt. Some add pepper or nutmeg for a slightly deeper flavor. Want to make macaroni and cheese from scratch – start with the bechamal and just add cheese. Simple as that. And to make this Creamy Garlic Penne Pasta with Chicken, the Bechamel is made with lots of garlic, and a little bit of Parmesan cheese. You can also make Alfredo sauce this way…it’s not the “traditional” way, but it is a less heavy option versus the rich butter and cream.
A Bechamel starts with hot melted butter. For the Creamy Garlic Sauce that’s going to coat our penne and chicken, then next step is adding a whole bunch of garlic. Six cloves to be exact. If you don’t love garlic as much as I do, you could cut that down to 1 or 2 cloves, but it will of course change the flavor from it’s intended garlicky nature. Next flour is mixed in and that mixture is cooked until it starts to turn golden brown. This cooks out that icky flour tasted that you definitely don’t want coating on your dinner plate. Finally chicken broth and nonfat milk are stirred in and brought to a simmer. You don’t want to risk burning the milk by boiling, but just bring it right to the edge when those little bubbles start forming around the edges of the pan. Once it’s all nicely thickened so that it coats the back of your spoon, turn off the heat and stir in half of the Parmesan cheese. The other half will be added with the chicken and pasta.
It really is a simple process, which I’ve outlined in photos below. Easy peasy!
Once you’ve tossed the pasta and the chicken with all that cheesy goodness it’s time to dig in. We love this meal, because it’s easy, it’s quick and it’s super creamy and flavorful.
Creamy Garlic Penne Pasta with Chicken
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 4 servings
Ingredients
- 12 ounces penne pasta, cooked to al dente
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small pieces
- 5-6 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups nonfat milk
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley, plus some for garnish
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions. Drain and set aside until ready to use.
- In a large, deep skillet, heat olive oil. Add chicken and season with a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Cook until chicken is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside with the pasta.
- Add 3 tablespoons of butter to the skillet and melt, then stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in flour and italian seasoning cook for about 1 minute or until golden. Whisk in milk and chicken broth and simmer for several minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in half of the Parmesan cheese until melted.
- Toss the cooked pasta and chicken with the sauce to coat, then stir in remaining Parmesan cheese and ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley.
- Serve immediately, garnished with fresh grated Parmesan and fresh chopped parsley.
For more easy weeknight pasta recipes, try these:
Chicken, Bacon and Blue Cheese Mac & Cheese
One Pan Tomato Basil Chicken Linguine
For all pasta recipes, go HERE, for all dinner recipes go HERE and for the Recipe Index go HERE.
Hi! I’m Kristin, the creative mind behind Yellow Bliss Road where you will be inspired by tons of easy to follow recipes, lots of free printables, and a little sprinkling of life thrown in for good measure.
Sounds amazing! I see that Italian seasoning in the ingredient list but don’t see when to add in the directions.
I add it with the flour – thanks for the head’s up that it was missing.
Can Inmake it with Shrimp?
I found on Pinterst. Your Creamy Garlic Penne Pasta with Chickenlooked amazingly yumm, made with many of my favorites and going to make tonight…can’t wait to dive inbecause I know it will be fabulous!
Made this for dinner tonight, it was pretty good. Better than I expected. I tasted the sauce as it was and decided it needed to be seasoned. I like more spice and salt so I added a bit more salt/pepper and some homemade cajun seasoning. It was also pleasantly creamy, I’ll be adding this to the rotation. Thanks!
Well…after reading reviews here and on Pinterest (Yes, I have had this pinned for a bit) many said it needed some extra spicing up. I did and the hubby said this is definately a make again meal. We both enjoyed it! Thank YOU Kristin!
This is AMAZING Love this recipe Thank you!!!
I see that it says 1/4 parsley… is that 1/4 cup?
It is, good catch!
When I mixed the flour and seasoning to the garlic and butter it made like a play doh consistency… can some one tell me if this is normal or did I do something wrong? I added broth and milk and it’s simmering now but there’s chunks of flour and garlic 🙁
Sounds like maybe the flour didn’t get cooked long enough, or the ratios may have been a little off. We love this sauce and it always comes out great. I hope you’ll give it another shot!
I had some left over chicken breasts that I was struggling to find something to do with. I happened upon this recipe to use for my daughter and her friends while they were putting on a school play. They ate it in between shows. It is an amazing recipe. It is even good left over and does not separate. Truly a wonderful recipe! Thank you!!
What can I use if I have no Chicken Stock?
You can use water instead if you have no chicken stock.
Does it have to be fat free milk? 🙂
Nope! That’s just what we use.
I just made this, I added some chopped red peppers and some sliced fresh mushrooms and grape tomatoes sliced in half! It was amazing, really tasty and folks this makes enough for ten people! The veggies gave it a nice twist and added to our veggie count! Hubby loved it and he’s not a pasta fan. I will make this again but I will cut the recipe in half or wait for a crowd!
This was a hit in my house, my son who never asks for seconds……did!! It was easy to make & a very creamy pasta dish. We loved it!
That’s great to hear!