One Pot Chicken Alfredo Pasta
This is not meant to be an authentic Italian pasta. It’s a quick mid-week meal that you can get on the table in just over 15 minutes and is stellar for effort vs output. I don’t want to offend pasta-purists (or the entire nation of Italy for that matter!), and to be honest, I never thought I would ever share a (long-strand) one-pot-pasta recipe. I’ve previously declared on multiple occasions that I’m not a fan. I tried a couple of recipes, ended up with unevenly cooked pasta and a gluey sauce. Once it was so gluey that I was able to make fritters without using egg to bind them. 😳 So I gave up, and stuck to the classic way of making Alfredo. It wasn’t until a friend (who’s a huge fan of all things one pot) bluntly asked me “have you tried to fix it?” that it even occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, there was a better way to make a creamy long-strand pasta in one pot. And so I experimented. And fixed it.
For fellow food nerds out there, here was my thinking: With the classic way of cooking pasta, the sauce and just-under-cooked pasta is tossed in the same pan with a splash of the pasta cooking water. What happens is that the oil in the sauce and starch in the pasta cooking water transforms into a glossy sauce that clings to every strand of pasta (it’s called emulsification). So when you serve it, there is no watery pool of sauce on the bottom of the bowl, it’s all in your mouth via the pasta! If you dump cream with milk/broth/water into a large pot / skillet with the pasta, the reason you end up with a gluey rather than silky sauce at the end is because you’ve been emulsifying the sauce for the entire pasta cooking time (i.e. fat in cream, starch in pasta). Plus, the cream makes the cooking liquid thicker which makes the pasta cook unevenly. Solution: Cook the pasta in just milk + chicken broth, add cream at the end. End result: Near perfectly* cooked al dente pasta + silky sauce.
- I say “near perfect” because the fact is, pasta cooks more evenly in a large pot of boiling water than in a skillet with the sauce. Just being honest!
I was so paranoid about ensuring this One Pot Chicken Alfredo Pasta delivers on my promises, I made it four times last week to quadruple check that it works as I’m describing. I filmed it three times – once making a plain Alfredo, once using cubes of chicken and once searing whole chicken then slicing it. I was contemplating sharing the version with bite size pieces of chicken that stays in the sauce while the pasta cooks. And that’s an even easier variation, but you’ll end up with slightly overcooked chicken with far less caramelisation. So I opted for my favourite way which is to sear chicken until golden brown, rest it for optimum juiciness before slicing and tossing through the pasta.
I know there are many people out there who are thinking “how hard is it to cook pasta in a separate pot??”. And sure, it sounds easy. But you know those crazy days when your household is in chaos and you’re trying to get dinner on the table for your family? When you’ve just had an awful day at work, you hate your boss, you’re tired and tempted to order a greasy pizza? This is for those days. I know boiling a pot of water and cooking pasta isn’t a big deal. But when you can cook it all one pot, it’s just one less thing to think about, one less pot to wash. And know this is easy – and it works as promised. Watch the video below! – Nagi xx PS Just to clarify, I’ve always been a fan of one pot short pastas – risoni, penne/ziti, macaroni etc because the shape makes them easy to stir and cook evenly in a sauce. Like stove top Mac N Cheese, One Pot Vegetable Pasta, Cheeseburger Casserole and Chili Mac. And this Italian Chicken & Risoni/Orzo. Long strand pastas are where I always had an issue!
More ways to get your creamy pasta fix!
Fettucine Alfredo Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta Creamy Tomato Pasta Creamy Garlic Shrimp/Prawn Pasta Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Ultra Lazy Creamy Chicken Broccoli Pasta Bake Seafood Gratin Pasta Bake Baked Mac and Cheese – and try the Shrimp version! Browse all pasta recipes
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
One Pot Chicken Alfredo recipe video!
LIFE OF DOZER
It was one of those days when I just couldn’t deal with a soaking wet dog at the end of a long, tiring day. So I popped a rain jacket on him before taking him out to the dog park, intent on keeping him on the grassy area and out of the water. Honestly, I don’t know why I bothered.
