Creamy Chicken Pasta in White Wine Parmesan Cheese Sauce will remind you of your favorite dinner experience! Easy to make weeknight one pot pasta dish! With only 30 minutes of total work, this dinner recipe is simple, fast and delicious! It almost sounds too easy to be as good as it is.
I love to have myself some flavorful and delicious chicken pasta. With creamy white wine parmesan sauce! I can use it to make a simple meal that is flavor packed in no time. I think there’s nothing better than having a restaurant quality pasta dish on the table within minutes! Especially when I’m treating my family and friends. They love a good creamy pasta dish any night of the week!
WHAT WINE TO USE
I used dry Pinot Grigio white wine to make my creamy chicken pasta, 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 Italian chicken pasta dishes benefit greatly in flavor when the wine is added during the 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 a good quality drinking wine is such an easy way to create a tasty creamy chicken pasta dish!
Best non-alcoholic substitutes for wine in cooking
- Lemon Juice is an ideal substitute for dry white wine. Squeeze two wedges of fresh lemon into your sauce and add additional ½ cup of chicken stock.
- White Wine Vinegar is an great substitute for dry white wine. Made from white wine, it has many of the same flavor characteristics. Minus the alcohol. In this recipe use only a splash of vinegar + ½ cup chicken stock. Too much vinegar will curdle cream, therefore little is more here!
- Rice Vinegar – do not use it! A brave reader attempted it and the result was simply miserable. Trashcan! Thank you Evangelina for reporting back.
- I do not recommend Apple Cider Vinegar. Because it an be too strong as a substitute. A reader recommended to add ONLY a splash of it. Add more only you desire a stronger flavor.
- Chicken or vegetable stock. Substitute stock for white wine entirely if not a fan of vinegar.
- For extra flavor, try mixing a tablespoon of lemon juice per cup of stock.
Can I omit cream?
Yes! For those who do not want dairy, or want to make this pasta dish a bit healthier, skip the cream and use chicken broth instead. All you need to do is let the broth cook down a bit more.
What kind of pasta works best for Creamy Chicken Pasta?
I like to make my chicken pasta using spaghetti but 10 oz of your favorite variety will work just as well (linguine is always a popular option to make an Italian Chicken pasta tasty!). You can also substitute whole grain or whole wheat pasta for added nutritional value!
What kind of chicken works best?
This Italian Chicken Pasta recipe calls for 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts. 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.
If you buy regular chicken breasts (those not labeled as thin), make sure to halve them horizontally. For example, 1 pound of large chicken breasts usually yields 2 of them. And 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 coated chicken breasts in the skillet. Cook on medium high for 4 to 5 minutes on each side. They will turn golden brown on both sides. Make sure to turn them only once between cooking! You will cook them for a total of about 8-10 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
How to make Creamy White Wine 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 you soften scallions and tomatoes, you will add flour to pan and whisk to combine. This will help thicken the sauce. Now 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 you reduce the heat, 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. Do it after you make the sauce so that pasta is fresh. Besides, 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. You will drain, but not rinse the pasta in order for the sauce to stick.
Final Assembly of 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. 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.
How to store creamy chicken pasta perfectly
If you don’t plan to serve this creamy chicken pasta right away, you can make it in advance to serve later. In fact, the flavors will develop even more as it sits! However, keep in mind that the pasta will absorb a lot of the sauce. Therefore your dish will be less creamy if you make it in advance and store all the ingredients together.
Another alternative would be to prepare everything except for the pasta. And then to cook the pasta fresh when you are ready to serve it.
Keep your chicken pasta refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to enjoy.
More chicken pasta dishes to enjoy
Lazone Chicken Pasta
Bacon Alfredo Chicken Pasta
Pesto Chicken Pasta
Chardonnay Chicken Pasta
Watch how to make it
Italian Chicken Pasta in Creamy White Wine Parmesan Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
For cooking chicken:
- 4 thin boneless skinless chicken breasts (or 2 thick ones, halved horizontally and paper towel dried)
- ½ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Pasta:
- 12 oz of spaghetti
White Wine Parmesan Sauce:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 small yellow onion (or use ½ 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
- ½ teaspoon salt more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- PREPARING CHICKEN BREASTS: Make sure to cut chicken breasts horizontally to make them thin. Or, use thin chicken breasts to begin with. 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.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only. This information comes from online calculators. Although whatsinthepan.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Video
And how about this amazing Cajun Chicken and Sausage Penne Pasta dish?
We also enjoyed this Chicken Spinach and Bacon Alfredo Pasta. By the way, you can easily make both recipes midweek!
too bitter. too much wine. family did not eat it
I would bet this is because of the wine you chose and not the recipe. If you cook with a wine that is bitter, the dish will be bitter. I always use a mild white wine that tastes good to drink on its own. I used 1/2.cup cream with 1 cup chicken broth, then lemon juice instead of pepper flakes. It turns out more child friendly this way since my son doesn’t eat spicy pepper flakes yet.
Can you use canned tomatoes? If so how many ounces?
1 cup of canned tomatoes is all you need!
What could I substitute for the wine?
You can use chicken broth instead.
This was really good! I made it for my younger brothers and they loved it !
You are a wonderful sister Tori!
Can this dish be made without the tomatoes. I am allergic to tomatoes,so if I can omit them and maybe substitute it
with another ingredient.
Thanks, Judith
I made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious, and I will definitely make this again.
I am so glad you enjoyed it!
Made the recipe, I would add the cream and wine before the tomatoes so they keep their shape. I would also cook down the wine cream mixture first. Wine flavour was too strong, needs to cook down. If you do this you do not need the flour. Using a whisk to mix in the cheese it all stuck, wooden spoon worked best. I made the sauce first, kept warm. Then cooked the pasta and chicken at the same time so the chicken didn’t have to sit. I also used leeks instead of shallots, it’s what I had. Had good flavour.
Thank you for these tips and suggestions!
I added the cream and the wine at the same time and the cream curdled. Next time I would add the wine first and let the alcohol cook off first before adding the cream.
Yes! Acidity is what will disintegrate the cream. Cooking down the wine will remove the acidity.
Is the nutritional info per serving or for all 4? Everything seems awful high for just 1 serving.
Yes, it is per one serving. Due to the pasta, sauce elements, butter, etc.
This is good. I made it Friday night, I did add fresh spinach in step #5. My husband normally doesn’t comment on a meal did tell me that I could make this again
I am glad he said that and glad that you shared this with me!
This was delicious. Read the recipe first and get your ingredients ready. It doesn’t take long to cook. I already had chicken breasts cooking before I read the recipe, so I skipped the part about dredging them in flour. They were perfect without it. I also did not have tomatoes, so I used a quart of hone-canned tomatoes, drained. This gave me about a cup of tomatoes, which seemed perfect. I had fresh mushrooms to use, so I sauteed those with the onions. It was a nice addition. I did not mix the pasta and sauce before serving because I prefer to let each person put on their own amount of sauce. Oh, also, after draining the pasta, I swirled it in the oil and seasonings in the chicken pan. This kept it from getting sticky. I served this with asparagus. A great recipe.
This sounds like a perfect way to make it! And reading the recipe first is the great advice!