If you’re looking for an easy way to get dinner on the table in under 30 minutes with items you likely have in your pantry, freezer, or fridge, this Weeknight Chicken + Broccoli Pasta is the recipe you want in your rotation. I came up with this recipe while I was in college. The ingredients were inexpensive and I had my whole meal in one bowl. Add in the leftovers are also AMAZING when reheated this recipe became the perfect quick dinner that kept me from ordering take-out or eating some microwave meal with minimal nutritional value.
Fast forward from college, this was the first recipe I thought of when my Big Brothers Big Sisters Little Sister told me she wanted to learn how to cook. This recipe is simple enough she could execute every step on her own and take full ownership over the finished dish. It was also a great way to get her started in the kitchen and thinking about the idea of balanced meals. If you’d like to spend time in the kitchen with your kiddos, this recipe is a wonderful place to start. Cookies are great, but we can’t survive on cookies alone!
Another great bonus to this recipe is the minimal clean up! Once you’ve finished cooking, drop a trivet on your dining room table and serve right from the skillet. The wooden spoon used to stir everything together is also a great serving utensil. All you’ve got left to clean up is a couple of measuring tools and the pasta pot. Quick to create, quick to clean up. It doesn’t get much better than that on a busy weeknight!
Keys to Success
- Don’t forget to reserve the pasta water before draining. The pasta water is key to helping the cheese melt and create a sauce for the dish. You’ll often hear pasta water referred to as “liquid gold.” In fancy terms, pasta water acts as an emulsifier to create a sauce right in the pan as it emulsifies with the parmesan cheese and olive oil. I talked all about pasta water in my Country Pasta Carbonara post. If you’ve got one of those fancy pasta pots that has a built in colander, this would be a fantastic recipe to put it to use. Wal-mart has a super reasonable one, here’s the link.
- Stir. Stir. Stir. Once the pasta and broccoli is added to the skillet with the chicken and you begin to build the sauce, it’s important to keep the ingredients moving around to help the emulsification process along. If the pasta seems to be sticking, add more pasta water and continue stirring.
- Don’t add the garlic too early. Garlic is an amazing ingredient when cooked properly. When garlic burns, it becomes very bitter, which isn’t pleasing to eat. As the recipe states, add the garlic towards the end of cooking the chicken for the best result.
Weeknight Chicken + Broccoli Pasta
Equipment
- 1 large skillet
- Measuring cups and spoons
- 1 large sauce pan
- 1 Wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 8 oz Farfalle/bowtie pasta ,1/2 box
- 6 oz frozen broccoli florets , approx 1/2 bag
- 8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast , cut into bite sized peices
- ½ cup parmesan cheese , grated
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flake , optional
- 1 teaspoon salt+more to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper + more to taste
Instructions
- Begin heating a large sauce pan with salted water to a boil for the pasta.
- While the water is coming to a boil, season the chicken breast with salt and pepper and cook over medium high heat in a large sauce pan. Once the chicken is almost completely cooked, add the garlic cook for about 1 minute and then reduce the heat to low to keep warm.
- When the water is boiling add the pasta and frozen broccoli and cook the the box instructions. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water before draining. Drain the pasta and broccoli and immediately add to the skillet with the chicken.
- Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil followed by the lemon juice and toss to coat the pasta, broccoli and chicken. Add the parmesan cheese while using a wooden spoon to stir. As the cheese starts to melt begin adding pasta water, 1/4 cup at a time, until a creamy sauce begins to develop. The pasta should be slipper and shiny.
- Season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes to taste.
Nutrition
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