Creamy chicken & mushroom pasta is the ultimate easy weeknight dinner recipe. All you need is a few staple ingredients, your favorite pasta, juicy chicken breast, one pot, and 20-30 minutes of your time. You'll also love how this recipe is a great candidate for meal prep as well.
Comfort food at its finest.
This creamy chicken and mushroom pasta is made with gluten-free pasta, but for a lighter meal, you can also swap it for rice or just steamed or roasted veggies instead.
Crispy and tender chicken strips can be easily served with any side dish of choice however the creamy sauce still needs some grains!
Love creamy chicken recipes? Try these next: Creamy Cheddar Chicken and Creamy Chicken With Spinach, or Chicken Taquitos.
Table Of Contents
Why It's Yummy
- For busy weeknights, dinners, and lunches. The most simple dinner idea that can be easily turned into tasty lunch the next day.
- This one-pot meal reheats like a charm. Easy to reheat, just add milk, more cream, or chicken broth!
- Chicken and mushroom pasta is easy meal prep. If meal prep is important to you, this recipe is the best candidate for this! Make the sauce 1-2 days in advance, same with chicken and pasta can be cooked 1-2 days in advance easily!
Ingredients
The full recipe and ingredients can be found in the recipe card below this post.
Instructions
You only need simple ingredients and 30 minutes to make this delicious chicken dinner.
Wash and pat dry the chicken. Pound the chicken halves if needed. Rub the chicken breasts with oil, and season chicken with thyme, basil, salt, and pepper.
In a large skillet (nonstick) over medium-high heat add cooking oil and cook the chicken breasts on each side for about 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown.
Don’t move the chicken around before one-half is cooked. If it sticks to the bottom of the skillet, it needs to be cooked longer.
Depending on the thickness of the chicken breast you may need to cook it longer than 5 minutes.
Transfer the chicken onto a plate lined with a kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil.
The best way to ensure that chicken is cooked, insert a kitchen thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken, it should register 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Slice it into thin slices (strips) against the grain. Set aside.
Garlic Cream sauce. In the same pan melt butter and add more oil (if there are too much of browned bits, carefully remove them with kitchen paper).
Add onion, and garlic, cook for a couple of minutes and pour in the wine.
Simmer on medium to low until the wine has reduced. Add in the mushrooms and cook until they start to brown (3 minutes).
Add the broth, simmer for 5 minutes, add the cream and stir in the pasta (uncooked). The starch from the pasta will help to thicken the sauce.
Make sure to reduce the heat to low before adding the cream. Take it to a gentle Simmer and until pasta is cooked al dente. About 10-15 minutes.
Once the sauce is thickened, stir in parmesan, (I also like to add a spoonful of butter here for extra creamy flavor!), parsley, toss in the sauce until fully coated, and top with chicken breasts.
To thin out the sauce, you can add a bit of water or milk.
Serve with more fresh herbs, parmesan cheese, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (or leave this one out so the entire family can enjoy!).
Tips
- Even though the alcohol evaporates and you don’t feel the flavor, you can easily substitute the wine with more broth or warm water.
- It is common sense, but don't overcook the chicken. I highly recommend using a meat thermometer for poultry and meat (chicken doneness internal temperature is 165 degrees Fahrenheit). If you don't have a thermometer, the easiest way for you is to cut the chicken into small strips or the chicken breast in half lengthwise. This way it will cook even faster and you can taste test a small part to see the doneness level. For even cooking pound each breast lightly before cooking.
- Substitutions. Don’t like chicken? Use turkey even ground turkey, ground beef, or Italian sausage instead. For vegetarian protein sources, I’d recommend crumbled tofu, meaty mushrooms, canned white beans, and lentils.
- Instead of dried herbs, you can use a mix of Italian seasoning.
- Other ingredients to consider adding: baby spinach, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese.
- I love using Barilla pasta but there are so many other brands to choose from. Other pasta types: angel hair pasta, fettuccine or any kind of spaghetti, elbows, rotini.
- I used chicken breast but you can easily substitute it with chicken tenders or boneless skinless chicken thighs.
Serving suggestions
This pasta is best enjoyed on its own however an easy green salad, side of vegetables, green beans, Avocado Corn Salad, or Marinated Vegetable Salad would add that delicious cherry on top!
You can serve this garlic chicken pasta with roasted cherry tomatoes!
This is how I do it:
In a smaller mixing bowl, mix cherry (or plum), 1 tablespoon of olive oil, ¼ teaspoon of black ground pepper, a pinch of salt, and ½ teaspoon of garlic powder.
Place them on to baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil, transfer to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes at 390 F. Last 5 minutes turn on the top grill setting on your oven. When done, set aside and cover with foil.
Easy Asparagus With Cheese and Tomatoes - make this to be served on the side to increase the veggies intake to the max.
Freezing And Storing Instructions
When the garlic chicken pasta is ready, let it cool completely and then place it into an airtight container in your fridge for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 2-3 months.
FAQs
You can use milk, plant-based milk instead of heavy cream in pasta. However, milk will not give you the same creamy result as it would heavy cream. What I would do in this case is add a tablespoon or two of flour when adding the oil and butter to create a roux. The sauce should thicken better this way.
You can freeze creamy mushroom sauce but when reheating it may separate and not be as thick and flavorful as it was when first made.
Easy Weeknight Dinners
For more easy gluten-free chicken recipes check out my Chicken recipe index. One of my all-time favorites include Chicken Cutlets, easy creamy Chicken Thigh recipes, or these delicious creamy Chicken Tacos.
More Mushrooms Recipes
We like to add mushrooms in many of our recipes, be sure to try these family favorites next!
Inspired by Cafe Delites.
I hope you'll enjoy this creamy chicken mushroom recipe, please leave a rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo of your food and tag me on Instagram @theyummy_bowl. I love seeing your creations!
Thank you for reading,
Love,
Julia
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Recipe
Creamy Chicken & Mushroom Pasta
INGREDIENTS
- 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast (cut in half lengthwise at 400g)
- 10 oz penne pasta (uncooked) (gluten free if desired)
- 1 medium onion (diced)
- 3 large garlic cloves (minced)
- ⅓ cup white wine or sub with chicken broth
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms (or portobello, baby bellas, button mushrooms) (sliced thick or quartered)
- 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 12 oz heavy cream
- 2 tablespoon butter
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese (grated)
- ½ teaspoon dried basil or fresh
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme or fresh
- 1-2 tablespoon parsley + more for Garnish
- Cooking oil
- Salt
- Black Pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
- Wash and pat dry the chicken. Pound the chicken halves if needed. Rub the chicken breasts with oil, and season chicken with thyme, basil, salt, and pepper.
- In a large skillet (nonstick) over medium-high heat add cooking oil and cook the chicken breasts on each side for about 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown.
- Don’t move the chicken around before one half is cooked. If it sticks to the pan, it needs to be cooked longer. Depending on the thickness of the chicken breast you may need to cook it longer than 5 minutes.
- Transfer the chicken onto a plate lined with a kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil.
- Slice it into thin slices (strips) against the grain. Set aside.
- Creamy garlic butter sauce. In the same pan melt butter and add more oil (if there are too much of browned bits, carefully remove them with kitchen paper). Add onion, and garlic, cook for a couple of minutes, and pour in the wine.
- Simmer on medium to low until the wine has reduced. Add in the mushrooms and cook until they start to brown (3 minutes).
- Add the broth, simmer for 5 minutes, add the cream and stir in the pasta (uncooked). The starch from the pasta will help to thicken the sauce.
- Make sure to reduce the heat to low before adding the cream. Take it to a gentle Simmer and until pasta is cooked al dente. About 10-15 minutes.
- Once the sauce is thickened, stir in parmesan, (I also like to add a spoonful of butter here for extra creamy flavor!), parsley, toss in the sauce until fully coated, and top with chicken breasts. To thin out the sauce, you can add a bit of water.
- Serve with more fresh herbs, parmesan cheese, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (or leave this one out so the entire family can enjoy!).
NOTES
- It is common sense, but don't overcook the chicken. I highly recommend using a kitchen thermometer for poultry and meat (chicken doneness is 165 degrees Fahrenheit). If you don't have a thermometer, the easiest way for you is to cut the chicken into small strips or the chicken breast in half lengthwise. This way it will cook even faster and you can taste test a small part to see the doneness level. For even cooking pound each breast lightly before cooking.
- Substitutions. Don’t like chicken? Use turkey even ground turkey, ground beef, or Italian sausage instead. For vegetarian protein sources, I’d recommend crumbled tofu, meaty mushrooms, canned white beans, and lentils.
- Instead of the dried herbs, you can use a mix of Italian seasoning.
- Other ingredients to consider adding: baby spinach, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese.
PRIVATE NOTES
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
Ieva
Tried this recipe last night for dinner! I made a little extra hoping to freeze the leftovers for busy evenings, but everyone had second helpings! Such a delicious pasta dish! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
thank you so much Ieva, that is amazing!
Andrea
This is full of everything I love! Thank you so much for this delicious recipe.
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
Thank you so much Andrea!
Andrea
This is a perfect weeknight meal for my family. Easy to prepare and tastes fabulous!
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
Thank you so much Andrea!
Anita
This is a very delicious pasta dish. I usually make just mushroom pasta itself, but combining it with pan-fried chicken breasts makes this even more filling.
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
Thank you so much Anita!
Mirlene
Its always a good dinner when pasta is involve. Specially when its made with a garlickly flavored sauce and is easy to make for a weeknight dinner.
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
Thank you so much Mirlene!