Indulge in the ultimate comfort food with this creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta recipe.
Perfect for a cozy family dinner or a charming meal for your guests, this easy pasta dinner combines tender chicken and perfectly cooked pasta in a rich, garlic parmesan sauce that’s simply irresistible.
I think this is definitely simple enough for busy weeknights as well. If you love easy pasta recipes, try our Lemon Chicken Pasta sometime, too!
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How to Make Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta
First, gather your ingredients.
Ingredients
For best taste, always use the highest quality ingredients you have access to.
To make this Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
- Spaghetti
- Unsalted butter
- Garlic – I recommend fresh garlic for best taste
- Parmesan cheese
- Kosher salt
- Ground black pepper
- boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Avocado oil
- Garlic powder
- Paprika
- Lemon
This dish can be enhanced with some fresh parsley or red pepper flakes for an extra kick, and if you love creamy textures, consider adding a splash of heavy cream.
If you prefer dark meat chicken, you could sub chicken thighs instead, and I have several options: grilled chicken thighs, air fryer chicken thighs, Instant Pot chicken thighs
Cooking Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta
Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta is a simple recipe that can be made in just a few steps.
Making the baked chicken
This recipes uses my existing oven baked chicken breast recipe. Y’all be sure and check out that full post for more tips on this recipe! But I am repeating the basics here, for convenience.
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees for the chicken. Coat the chicken breasts in oil, sprinkle with your chosen spices, and place them in a baking dish with a pat of butter and slices of lemon.
Bake until the chicken is golden brown and fully cooked. Tip: pay attention to the size of the chicken breast, as this may affect cook time.
Making the pasta and sauce
For the pasta, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. I like al dente pasta for this recipe. Cook the spaghetti until al dente, according to package directions. Then reserve some pasta water for the sauce, and then drain the rest.
In the same pot, melt butter, sauté minced garlic until fragrant.
Then toss the pasta back in along with the pasta water and parmesan cheese until creamy and well-coated. See recipe card for more detailed description of steps, as well as more tips to make sure this turns out delicious for you.
Assembling the final pasta dish
Adjust seasoning to taste. Add sliced cooked chicken breast on top to complete the meal.
I hope y’all enjoy this recipe! Let me know if you try it. I hope your whole family loves it as much as we do!
Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Always use common sense and good judgement when it comes to leftovers, though! If something looks or smells funky, don’t eat it.
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Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta
Indulge in the ultimate comfort food with this creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta recipe. Perfect for a cozy family dinner!
Ingredients
For the pasta
- 16 ounces dry spaghetti pasta 1 pound
- 1 cup reserved pasta water
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 12 cloves garlic minced
- 8 ounces parmesan cheese finely grated, 2 cups
- 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt plus extra for pasta cooking water
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
For the chicken
- 4 raw chicken breast skinless, boneless
- 1.4 Tablespoons avocado oil or oil of choice
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- teaspoon butter
- 1 lemon sliced (optional, but highly recopmmended)
- 1 teaspoon salt more or less, to preference
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper more or less, to preference
Instructions
For the chicken
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees
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Pour the oil into a baking dish, and place the chicken breasts on top. Use your hands to rotate the breasts until they are each coated with oil. Sprinkle the spice mixture on both sides, and use hands to evenly coat.
- Optional, but highly recommended: add a small pat of butter on each breast, and add sliced lemon to the pan surrounding the chicken breasts.
- Bake chicken uncovered for about 20 to 25 minutes, depending on size and thickness of the chicken. (Chicken is done when internal temperature reaches 165 with a meat thermometer.)
- Allow the chicken breasts to rest for 5 minutes prior to serving.
- Spoon some of the pan drippings over each breast just prior to serving.
For the pasta
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with 1 tablespoon salt. Place a liquid measuring cup near the pot as a reminder to remove pasta water later on.
- Place pasta into the pot and cook according to package directions until al dente. Scoop 1 cup of starchy pasta water from the pot and set aside. Strain pasta over a colander in the sink, no need to rinse. Set aside.
- Place the now-empty pot back onto the stovetop, and add the butter over medium-low heat. Once butter is melted, add the minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant (still light in color).
- Add the pasta and 1 cup of pasta water back to the pot and toss to coat.
- Add the parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Mix until the cheese is melted and coating the pasta.
- Taste and adjust salt or pepper as needed.
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Add sliced cooked chicken on top to complete the final dish.
Recipe Notes
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Nutritional information is approximate and was calculated using a recipe nutrition label generator.
- Many recipes online used only 10oz box of spaghetti, but I preferred to use 16 ounces spaghetti since that’s the most common box size it comes in. And might as well make the whole box for a recipe! Head up when you are purchasing your ingredients, though. Look for the 1 lb/ 16 ounce box
- To save on dishes, you can use kitchen tongs for the entire cooking process. They’re great for helping coat the pasta, and you can totally use them to saute the garlic. Just be sure if you’re using a non-stick pot, that the tongs are rubber so they don’t scratch it.
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