Creamy Chicken Broccoli Pasta
Chicken broccoli pasta recipe with a creamy parmesan sauce, tender chicken, and bright green broccoli. An easy 30-minute skillet dinner the family eats.
This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy.
Chicken Broccoli Pasta is the dinner I make when I want something that feels like comfort food but still has a vegetable doing real work on the plate. Tender chicken, bright green broccoli, and pasta all get tossed in a creamy parmesan sauce that comes together in the same skillet you cooked the chicken in.
Broccoli left to simmer in a cream sauce the whole time it takes for the sauce to build turns gray and mushy. Blanching it separately in the pasta water for just a couple minutes first sets that bright green color and keeps a little bite, then it only needs a minute or two in the finished sauce to warm through.
I cook the broccoli in the same pot of water I’m boiling the pasta in, one pot for both, so there’s no extra dish and no extra time. Between that and using chicken you’ve already got cooked, rotisserie works fine here, this is a genuine 30-minute dinner.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- A vegetable that doesn’t turn to mush. Blanching the broccoli separately keeps it bright green and a little crisp instead of gray.
- One pot for pasta and broccoli both. Cooking them in the same water means one less pot to wash.
- Ready in 30 minutes. Fast enough for a weeknight, especially with cooked chicken on hand.
- A sauce with real body. Parmesan and a splash of starchy pasta water make it cling instead of pool at the bottom of the bowl.
Chicken Broccoli Pasta Ingredients
A little reserved pasta water is what saves this sauce if it seizes up or turns too thick once the parmesan goes in. Keep a mugful next to the stove before you drain anything.
- 12 oz penne pasta
- 3 cups broccoli florets
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 cup grated parmesan
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
Recipe Variations
- Swap the heavy cream for half-and-half for a lighter sauce, it’ll be a little thinner but still creamy.
- Use rotisserie chicken to skip cooking the chicken separately and save 10 minutes.
- Stir in a squeeze of lemon juice at the end if you want the sauce to taste a little brighter.
How to Make Chicken Broccoli Pasta
- Cook the pasta and broccoli: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions, adding the broccoli florets during the last 2 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain.
- Make the roux: In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant, then sprinkle in the flour and stir constantly for 1 minute.
- Build the sauce: Slowly whisk in the chicken broth, then the heavy cream. Bring to a simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until it starts to thicken.
- Add the chicken: Stir in the shredded chicken, salt, and pepper, and cook for 2 minutes until warmed through.
- Finish with parmesan: Remove from heat and stir in the parmesan until melted and smooth.
- Combine: Add the drained pasta and broccoli to the skillet and toss to coat. If the sauce is too thick, stir in a splash of the reserved pasta water.
- Serve: Top with red pepper flakes if using and serve warm.
How to Keep the Broccoli Bright Green
Broccoli goes from vivid green to army drab somewhere around the 7-minute mark, and once it turns it does not come back.
The green is chlorophyll. Heat drives gas out of the plant’s cells and exposes the chlorophyll to the vegetable’s own acids, which strip out the magnesium at the center of the molecule and leave a dull olive compound behind. Brief cooking beats it. Long cooking loses.
- Add the florets to the pasta water for the last 3 minutes of the pasta’s cook time. One pot, right timing.
- Cut them small and even. Big florets need longer and by then the outsides are gone.
- Do not cover the pot. Trapped steam holds the acids against the broccoli.
- Stir it into the finished sauce rather than simmering it in the sauce.
If you are making this ahead, cook the broccoli separately and shock it in cold water, then add it when you reheat. Broccoli sitting in a warm cream sauce keeps dulling.
Recipe FAQs
Why Did My Broccoli Turn Gray and Mushy?
It usually means it simmered in the sauce too long. Blanch it in the pasta water for just the last couple minutes of cooking, then it only needs a brief toss in the finished sauce to heat through.
My Sauce Is Too Thick. How Do I Fix It?
Stir in the reserved pasta water a splash at a time until it loosens back up to the consistency you want.
Can I Use Rotisserie Chicken?
Yes, that’s what I use most of the time. About 2 cups shredded is roughly half a rotisserie chicken.
Can I Use Frozen Broccoli Instead of Fresh?
Yes, thaw it first and pat it dry, then add it straight to the sauce in the last step instead of blanching it in the pasta water.
Can I Double This, and What Goes Well with It?
Yes, use your largest skillet so there’s room to toss everything together. It doesn’t need much alongside it, though garlic bread is always a good call.
Cooking Tips
- Don’t skip blanching the broccoli in the pasta water. It sets the bright green color and keeps some bite instead of turning it soft and gray.
- Whisk the flour into the butter for a full minute before adding liquid. It cooks out the raw flour taste that makes a sauce taste pasty.
- Add the parmesan off the heat and stir until it’s fully melted before turning the heat back on. It keeps the sauce smooth instead of grainy.
Storage and Freezing
To store: Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
To freeze: Cream sauces like this one don’t freeze particularly well, they tend to separate and turn grainy once thawed.
To reheat: Reheat gently in a skillet over medium-low heat with a splash of milk or broth, or microwave in 1-minute bursts, stirring between.
How to Serve Chicken Broccoli Pasta
Chicken Broccoli Pasta really doesn’t need much else since the vegetable’s already built in, though a simple side salad or garlic bread rounds it out. It’s a good one to serve alongside our Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad if you’re feeding a bigger crowd and want two pasta options on the table.
Loved This Recipe?
Chicken Broccoli Pasta is the kind of dinner that sneaks a vegetable onto the plate without anyone complaining, and the leftovers are just as good the next day.
Leave a star rating in the comments below, it helps other people find this recipe. Made it? Tag @allwellfed on Instagram, I love seeing this one in other people’s kitchens.
More like this: Same creamy chicken pasta, different sauce: pick one of these for the next time pasta night rolls around. Try Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta, Marry Me Chicken Pasta, or Creamy Buffalo Chicken Pasta.
Chicken Broccoli Pasta
Ingredients
- 12 oz penne pasta
- 3 cups broccoli florets
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 cup grated parmesan
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Cook the pasta and broccoli: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions, adding the broccoli florets during the last 2 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain.
- Make the roux: In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant, then sprinkle in the flour and stir constantly for 1 minute.
- Build the sauce: Slowly whisk in the chicken broth, then the heavy cream. Bring to a simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until it starts to thicken.
- Add the chicken: Stir in the shredded chicken, salt, and pepper, and cook for 2 minutes until warmed through.
- Finish with parmesan: Remove from heat and stir in the parmesan until melted and smooth.
- Combine: Add the drained pasta and broccoli to the skillet and toss to coat. If the sauce is too thick, stir in a splash of the reserved pasta water.
- Serve: Top with red pepper flakes if using and serve warm.
