Easy Chicken Alfredo
Now That’s Using the Old Noodle…
This Easy Chicken Alfredo is beautifully elegant enough to grace a fancy dinner with your sweetie, and fast enough for a homey bowl of late-night binge-watching comfort food. With its rich and creamy white sauce surrounding fettucine noodles and succulent chicken, this simple dish is sure to become a new favorite!
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
— Leonardo da Vinci
I like to complicate things — just ask my husband. If I’m watching something or reading something, my first instinct is to say, “hmmm, if I was doing that, I’d change this and add that” and “I definitely wouldn’t do it that way.” This tendency to not be able to “leave well enough alone” (as some people put it) sometimes serves me well creatively speaking, and can also sometimes just waste time and get me into trouble. I can live with that. I can usually even laugh about it along the way with my off-key rendition of “My Way.”
But some things are just simple, and it’s no use trying to complicate them. Enter the Easy Chicken Alfredo — it’s pretty much impossible to add anything to this recipe and not have to change the name to something else. It is what it is — and what it is, is pretty delicious.
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
— Aristotle
That being said, with so few component parts, it’s somewhat important to get them right. For instance, I usually suggest that you follow the package directions for cooking pasta. Now, I don’t know if it’s just the particular brand I buy, but, for whatever reason, I find that I need to cook my fettucine a full three to four minutes longer than the box suggests. So make sure your pasta is fully cooked.
Also, this recipe calls for, and will be most successful if made with, heavy cream. However, I have used half ‘n’ half in the past — just don’t expect it to taste quite as rich or thicken in quite the same way.
If I’m serving this to company, I think it’s nice to use beautifully grilled chicken breast with char marks, but if it’s just a quick family dinner, I’ve been known to just dump in a can of chicken from Costco.
A few last notes:
Don’t be afraid to salt this dish! It needs more than you think to keep from tasting bland. And do take care not to overcook the sauce, or it may curdle or become a bit grainy.
In short, don’t complicate it! This Easy Chicken Alfredo is sure to become a family favorite — my oldest daughter would eat it every night if she could!
Easy Chicken Alfredo
Ingredients
- 16 oz fettucine noodles
- 1 – 2 c cooked chicken diced
- 1/2 c butter
- 3 c heavy cream
- 1 c parmesan grated
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- 1 tbsp Johnny's Garlic Spread & Seasoning or minced garlic
- 1 – 2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Melt butter in large skillet. Add cream, chicken, parmesan, and seasonings. Heat to scalding, stirring frequently.
- Meanwhile, cook fettucine to package directions (or until done).
- Add hot noodles to skillet and keep hot until sauce thickens a bit, about 15 minutes. Sauce will continue to thicken as it stands.
- Take care not to get the sauce too hot. Overcooking may cause curdling and graininess.
