Creamy Chicken Pasta in White Wine Parmesan Cheese Sauce will remind you of your favorite dinner experience! Easy to make weeknight one pot pasta dish! With only 30 minutes of total work, this dinner recipe is simple, fast and delicious! It almost sounds too easy to be as good as it is.
Juicy chicken, pasta in cream sauce and parmesan! I do love to have myself some flavorful and delicious chicken pasta dinner once a week. A simple meal that is flavor packed in no time!
I think there’s nothing better than having a restaurant quality creamy pasta dish on the table within minutes. Especially when I’m treating my family and friends. They love a good comfort meal any night of the week!
What wine to use
Cooking with wine is easy if you just know how and what wine to use. I used dry Pinot Grigio white wine to make my creamy chicken pasta, which produced an excellent flavor for the sauce.
When cooking with wine, never use “cooking wine”. It’s loaded with sodium and lacks the unique flavor of the real wine. Cooking with a regular drinking wine will always give you a better tasting dish because the quality is much higher.
Chardonnay, Riesling or Pinot Grigio are also great wine choices to cook with. Italian chicken pasta dishes benefit greatly in flavor when the wine is added during the cooking process.
I love cooking with wine and have a large number of recipes on this website that are amazingly tasty and easy to make all thanks to wine. Using a good quality drinking wine is such an easy way to create a tasty creamy chicken pasta dish!
Wine substitutes
- Lemon Juiceis an ideal substitute for dry white wine. Squeeze two wedges of fresh lemon into your sauce and add additional ½ cup of chicken stock.
- White Wine Vinegaris an great substitute for dry white wine. Made from white wine, it has many of the same flavor characteristics. Minus the alcohol. In this recipe use only a splash of vinegar + ½ cup chicken stock. Too much vinegar will curdle cream, therefore little is more here!
- Rice Vinegar– do not use it! A brave reader attempted it and the result was simply miserable. Trashcan! Thank you Evangelina for reporting back.
- I do not recommend Apple Cider Vinegarbecause it can be too strong of a substitute. A reader recommended to add ONLY a splash of it. Add more only if you desire a stronger flavor.
- Chicken or vegetable stock. You can substitute stock for white wine entirely if not a fan of vinegar.
- For extra flavor, try mixing a tablespoon of lemon juiceper cup of stock.
To make it dairy free
Use chicken broth instead. For those who do not want dairy, or want to make this pasta dish a bit healthier, skip the cream and use chicken broth instead. All you need to do is let the broth cook down a bit more.
What kind of pasta to use
I like to make my chicken pasta using spaghetti but your favorite variety will work just as well. Linguine, for example is always a popular option to make an Italian Chicken pasta. You can also substitute whole grain or whole wheat pasta for added nutritional value!
What kind of chicken to use
Use thin chicken breasts. This Italian Chicken Pasta recipe calls for 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts that are THIN.
If you can’t find thin ones, just butterfly thick ones. Tenderizing works too, even though I didn’t tenderize mine, just got thin ones from the store.
If you buy regular chicken breasts (those not labeled as thin), make sure to halve them horizontally. For example, 1 pound of large chicken breasts usually yields 2 of them. And when you half each you will get 4 nice thin chicken fillets.
How to cook chicken breasts
- First and foremost, paper towel dry the chicken. Chicken breasts that are excessively moist won’t brown evenly and beautifully.
- Then, in a large bowl, combine flour, salt, black pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. I usually stir them well to blend and then use a fork or tongsto coat the chicken breasts in the flour mixture.
- Next, I add olive oil to a large skillet and set heat to medium-high. Once the skillet is hot, it’s time to place coated chicken breasts in the skillet and start cooking! Cook on medium high for 4 to 5 minutes on each side.Chickens will turn golden brown on both sides.
- IMPORTANT TIP! Make sure to turn thechicken only once between cooking! You will cook chicken breasts for a total of about 8-10 minutes. Turning only once. I repeat, turn the chicken just once.
How to make pasta sauce
- First things first, melt butter in the pan, then add diced yellow onion and minced garlic cloves. Start cooking on medium high until onions and garlic are translucent, about 2 minutes.
- Next addchopped scallions and diced tomatoes and cook them until softened.
- Once you soften scallions and tomatoes, you will add flour to pan and whisk to combine. This will help thicken the sauce.
- Now add heavy cream, wine and seasonings!
- Lastly, bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to simmering point.
When to add cheese
Once you reduce the heat, add ½ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese. It’s important to REDUCE THE HEAT before adding the cheese to avoid clumping
In order to incorporate Parmesan well, make sure to use a whisk. Or mix with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth mixture.
When to cook pasta
Cook pasta after you make the sauce so that pasta is fresh. Besides, when pasta is hot it can absorb the sauce very well making it so very tasty.
If you like pasta that is neither too hard nor too soft, always cook it Al Dente. You will drain, but not rinse the pasta in order for the sauce to stick.
Drain, but do not rinse!
Assembly of creamy chicken pasta
- ADD COOKED PASTAto the skillet with the sauce and stir to combine on low heat for 2-4 minutes.
- ADJUST THE SEASONING! You should taste the sauce at this point and add more salt and seasoning if needed.
- RETURN COOKED CHICKEN BREASTS to the skillet on top of the pasta. Allow the skillet to warm up for an additional 5 minutes.
- SERVE CHICKENeither on top or next to pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Store, make ahead, refrigerate
REFRIGERATE. Keep your chicken pasta refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to enjoy for up to 1 week.
MAKE IT IN ADVANCE. If you don’t plan to serve this creamy chicken pasta right away, you can make it in advance to serve later. In fact, the flavors will develop even more as it sits! However, keep in mind that the pasta will absorb a lot of the sauce. Therefore your dish will be less creamy if you make it in advance and store all the ingredients together.
The solution? Simply add more cream or chicken stock when reheating.
OMIT THE PASTA. Another alternative to keep the dish fresh would be to prepare everything except for the pasta. You can refrigerate it for up to 1 week and then cook the pasta fresh when you are ready to serve it.