Italian Chicken Pasta in Creamy White Wine Parmesan Cheese Sauce will remind you of your favorite Italian dining experience! With only 30 minutes of total work, it’s simple, fast and delicious! It almost sounds too easy to be as good as it is.
Italian seasoning, white wine and Parmesan cheese come together as one to flavor this creamy chicken pasta combination.
What wine works best for this creamy chicken pasta?
I used dry Pinot Grigio white wine here, which produced an excellent flavor for the sauce. When cooking with wine, never use “cooking wine”. Cooking with a regular drinking wine will always give you a better tasting dish because the quality is much higher.
Chardonnay, Riesling or Pinot Grigio are all great choices to cook with wine. Creamy chicken pasta dishes benefit greatly in flavor when wine is added during cooking process. I love cooking with wine and have a large number of recipes on this blog that are amazingly tasty and easy to make all thanks to wine.
Using wine is such an easy way to make a tasty creamy chicken pasta dish!
Best non-alcoholic substitutes for wine in cooking
- White Wine Vinegar: This is an ideal substitute for dry white wine. Made from white wine, it has many of the same flavor characteristics, minus the alcohol. In this recipe use 1/3 cup vinegar + 2/3 cup chicken stock.
- Rice Vinegar works too in the same proportion as White Wine Vinegar.
- Apple Cider Vinegar can be a too strong as a substitute. A reader recommended to add ONLY a splash of it – start with 1 tablespoon and add more, if stronger flavor is desired.
- Chicken or vegetable stock: Substitute stock for white wine entirely if not a fan of vinegar or sensitive to sulfites in vinegar. For extra flavor, try mixing a tablespoon of lemon juice per cup of stock.
What kind of pasta and chicken to use in this Creamy Chicken Pasta recipe
This recipe calls for 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts and 12 oz of spaghetti. Use thin chicken breasts. If you can’t find thin ones, just butterfly thick ones. Tenderizing works too, even though I didn’t tenderize mine, just got thin ones from the store.
How to prepare chicken breasts
If you buy regular chicken breasts (those not labeled as thin), make sure to halve them horizontally. Basically 1 pound of large chicken breasts usually yields 2 of them, when you half each you will get 4 nice thin chicken fillets.
How to cook chicken breasts:
First and foremost, paper towel dry the chicken. Then, in a large bowl, combine cup flour, salt, black pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Stir well to blend. Using a fork or tongs, coat the chicken breasts in the flour mixture and set aside.
Next, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large skillet and set heat to medium-high. Once the skillet is hot, place flour coated chicken breasts in the skillet and cook on medium high for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, turning once (only once to maintain proper browning!) between cooking, about 8-10 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
How to make Creamy Parmesan Sauce:
First, melt butter in the pan, then add diced yellow onion and minced garlic cloves to pan. Start cooking on medium high until onions and garlic are translucent, about 2 minutes. Next add chopped scallions and diced tomatoes and cook them until softened.
Once scallions and tomatoes are softened, add flour to pan and whisk to combine. This will help thicken the sauce. Now all that’s left to do is to add heavy cream, wine and seasonings! Next, bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to simmering point.
When to add cheese
Once the heat is reduced, add ½ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese. In order to incorporate it well, make sure to use a whisk or mix with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth mixture.
How and When to Cook Pasta:
Cook 12 oz of spaghetti according to your package instructions after the sauce is prepared so that it’s fresh. When pasta is hot it can absorb the sauce very well making it so very tasty. If you like pasta that is neither too hard nor too soft, always cook it Al Dente. Drain, but do not rinse (in order for the sauce to stick to pasta).
Final Assembly of Italian Chicken Pasta Dish
Add cooked pasta to the skillet with the sauce and stir to combine on low heat for 2-4 minutes. Taste and add more salt an seasoning if needed. Next return chicken to skillet on top of the pasta and allow it to warm up for an additional 5 minutes. Serve chicken either on top or next to pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Skillet to use in this creamy Italian chicken pasta dish:
Any large skillet, such as this 12 inch Cuisinart Stainless Steel Skillet . It’s moderately priced, dishwasher safe, oven safe and has a helper handle! And it has over 3700 positive reviews on Amazon!
But if you are interested in the particular skillet that I used in this recipe, it’s this 12 inch All Clad Stainless Steel Skillet. This one also comes with a helper handle, and comes with a stainless steel lid (Cuisinart one doesn’t). It cooks very evenly and is very comfortable to lift and carry. Having a lid also helps keep the food warm.
Chef’s Tip:
Make sure to heat the stainless steel pan before adding the oil – then add the food. Steel expands when hot and contracts when it comes into contact with a cooler temperature, which is why foods stick to the surface if the surface is cold. By adding oil to the pan when it’s hot, the steel becomes static, resulting in a temporarily nonstick surface!
This pasta recipe will remind you of your favorite Italian dining experience!
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (halved horizontally and paper towel dried)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 12 oz of spaghetti
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 scallions chopped
- 2 small tomatoes diced
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup white wine
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- PREPARING CHICKEN BREASTS: Make sure to cut chicken breasts horizontally to make them thin. Paper towel dry the chicken.
In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, black pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Stir well to blend. Using a fork or tongs, coat the chicken breasts in the flour mixture by pressing into the mixture with tongs and then flipping the chicken over to coat the other side. Set aside.
COOKING CHICKEN BREASTS: Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the skillet is hot, place flour coated chicken breasts in the skillet and cook for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, turning once between cooking, about 8-10 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
- SAUCE: Add butter, diced yellow onion and minced garlic cloves to pan. Cook on medium high until onions and garlic are translucent, about 2 minutes. Next add chopped scallions and tomatoes. Add 1 tablespoon flour to pan and whisk to combine.
Now add heavy cream, wine, Italian Seasoning, salt and red pepper flakes. Bring mixture to a simmering point and then add ½ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese. Use a whisk or a wooden spoon and mix it in until you have a smooth mixture.
- COOKING PASTA according to your package instructions in salty water. I like pasta that is neither too hard nor too soft, so I always cook it Al Dente. Drain, but do not rinse.
- FINAL ASSEMBLY: Add cooked pasta to the skillet with the sauce and stir to combine on low heat for 2-4 minutes. Taste and add salt, if needed. Return chicken to skillet on top of the pasta and allow it to warm up for an additional 5 minutes.
SERVE chicken either on top or next to pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
And how about this amazing Cajun Chicken and Sausage Penne Pasta dish? It’s quick, easy and delicious!
And how about this amazing Chicken Spinach and Bacon Alfredo Pasta. Both recipes are so easy to make and perfect for midweek dinners!
Does anybody know how many carbs are in the sauce alone?
There are no carbs in chicken breasts. A serving of pasta has 41 grams of carbs so the sauce has 47 grams of carbs.