Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Pasta with Garlic Breadcrumbs
Chicken and broccoli pasta in a creamy garlic sauce, topped with crispy garlic and herb breadcrumbs. You won’t believe this dish is whipped up in 30 minutes.
Who doesn’t love a 30 Minute Pasta dish? This delicious creamy pasta with tender chicken and nutritious broccoli is quick and easy to cook but full of flavour. Just like my Chilli Prawn Linguine or Lemon Chicken Pasta, this Chicken and Broccoli pasta is a fuss-free option for busy weeknights, but also impressive enough for entertaining.
This pasta dish contains pretty much all of my favourite things – pasta, garlic, broccoli, cheese and double cream. It is luxuriously creamy and decadent with a hint of healthy green and a moreish garlic and herb crunch.
You can easily up the vegetable content by adding more greens – add frozen peas or green beans to the pasta for the last 2 minutes of cooking, or stir in some spinach or kale to the sauce before adding the pasta. The double cream can also be swapped for single cream or a dairy free alternative if you want to make it lighter.
Garlic Breadcrumb Pasta Topping
These garlic and herb breadcrumbs literally taste like the best garlic bread. You can serve this chicken and broccoli pasta without the breadcrumbs, but you will really be missing out. I promise you will have to stop yourself from eating them with a spoon, and will probably top every pasta dish you make for ever after with tasty, crunchy garlic breadcrumbs.
Homemade Breadcrumbs
Homemade breadcrumbs are really easy to make, and a great way to use up bread that is past its best. Simply tear up a couple slices of bread (white works best, but you can also use wholemeal), add to a food processor and pulse until crumbled. This works best with old bread that is past its best, and is a great way to use up the ends of loaves or crusts if you prefer to cut them off sandwiches.
You can whizz up a big batch of breadcrumbs and keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months for future recipes. They can be toasted straight from frozen – I keep some in a freezer bag and grab a cupful when I need them for a recipe.
Serving Suggestions
Since the creamy garlic sauce is fairly rich, I like my chicken and broccoli pasta served best with a simple green salad on the side.
If you are feeling particularly decadent, you can serve this pasta with additional garlic bread – its perfect for mopping up any extra sauce.
I like to use a short pasta shape for this recipe like spirali or penne, but pretty much any pasta shape works well with this dish.
Make this dish vegetarian by using vegetable stock and swapping the chicken for more broccoli or other greens – peas, green beans and asparagus all work really well. Thrown in some broad beans (fava beans) for extra protein.
This broccoli pasta is best served freshly cooked, but you can store leftovers in the fridge for 24 hours and reheat on the hob or microwave. The broccoli will probably be a little mushy though.
I don’t recommend freezing this pasta.
I hope you like this recipe as much as I do!
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More Easy Pasta Recipes:
- Garlic Mushroom Pasta
- Broccoli Pasta Bake
- Creamy Sausage Kale Pasta
- Easy Pasta Alfredo
- Tomato, Basil and Chicken Spaghetti
- Baked Boursin Pasta
Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Pasta with Garlic Breadcrumbs
Equipment
- 1 Pasta Pot
- 1 Spatula or wooden spoon
- 2 Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 large Chicken Breast
- 180 grams pasta
- 1 head Broccoli
- 1 White Onion diced
- 4 cloves Garlic diced
- 1 tbsp Butter
- ¼ cup Double Cream heavy cream
- 200 ml Chicken Stock or vegetable stock
- handful fresh parsley
- salt and black pepper
Chicken Seasoning
- 1 tbsp Plain Flour
- ½ tsp Garlic Granules
- 1 tsp Dried Parsley
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper
Garlic Breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup Breadcrumbs
- ½ tsp Garlic Granules
- 1 tsp Dried Parsley
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- pinch Salt
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta.
- Cut the chicken breast in to bite sized pieces and add to a bowl. Sprinkle with the plain flour, garlic granules, dried parsley and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss well to coat the chicken in the seasoning.
- To make the garlic breadcrumbs, warm the oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat and add the breadcrumbs. Toast them by mixing gently over the heat until they turn golden brown. Stir in the garlic granules, dried parsley and a pinch of salt then transfer to a bowl to cool.
- In the same non stick pan used for the breadcrumbs, melt the butter and add the diced chicken and cook until beginning to brown. Add the onions for 2-3 minutes until beginning to soften then add the garlic for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Pour over the stock and simmer for about 10 minutes while the pasta is cooking.
- Cook the pasta according to packet instructions until just al dente.
- Chop the broccoli into bite sized florets and add to the water with the pasta for the final 2 minutes of cooking. Reserve a cup of cooking water before draining.
- Stir the cream into the pan with the chicken then add the drained pasta and broccoli with about a tablespoon of pasta cooking water. Stir well until everything is combined and creamy. Add more pasta water as necessary until the sauce is your desired consistency. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Stir in some fresh chopped parsley and serve topped with a generous sprinkle of garlic breadcrumbs.
