Chicken alfredo
Silky, garlicky alfredo made from scratch with golden chicken on top, better than the jar by a mile.
- 40 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 2
- About $5.15 a serving
- 1420 calories
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 2 chicken breasts
- 8 oz fettuccine
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 oz parmesan wedge, finely grated
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1½ tbsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 1420 calories, 79 g protein, 91 g carbs and 81 g fat, and costs about $5.15 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No fettuccine? Spaghetti works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No parmesan wedge? Grated parmesan works.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon salt, cover, and on high. Finely the parmesan while you wait.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
High heat
Lay each chicken breast flat and through the middle, parallel to the board, to make 4 thin cutlets. and with ½ teaspoon salt, the pepper and garlic powder.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Heat the oil in a large over medium-high until it , then cook the chicken 4 minutes without moving it, until underneath.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium-high heatTimer: 4 min
Flip and cook 3 to 4 minutes more, until the thickest piece reads 165°F. Move it to a board to .
Rest. Resting means letting cooked meat sit for a few minutes before you cut it. It keeps cooking gently, and more of the juice stays in the meat instead of running onto the board.
How you’ll know: Loosely covered with foil, it stays hot, and very little juice runs out when you slice it.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Food safety: Chicken is done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Add the fettuccine to the boiling water, stirring for the first minute so it doesn’t clump, and cook 1 minute less than the package says.
High heatTimer: 10 min
Meanwhile, turn the skillet to low, the butter, and stir in the garlic for 30 seconds, .
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Low heat
Pour in the cream, bring to a gentle , and let it bubble 3 minutes, until slightly .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Scoop out a mug of , then lift the fettuccine straight into the sauce with tongs and take the pan off the heat.
Reserve pasta water. It means scooping out a cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain the pasta. A splash helps the sauce cling and turn silky, and it’s the step everyone forgets.
How you’ll know: A mug of cloudy water is sitting by the stove before the pasta goes into the colander.
Dolly’s tip: The pasta can wait a minute in the pot if you’re behind. The cream is the one thing that shouldn’t boil hard.Add the parmesan a handful at a time, , until it into a silky sauce. Loosen it with spoonfuls of if it’s thick.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Reserve pasta water. It means scooping out a cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain the pasta. A splash helps the sauce cling and turn silky, and it’s the step everyone forgets.
How you’ll know: A mug of cloudy water is sitting by the stove before the pasta goes into the colander.
Dolly’s tip: Off the heat is the secret. Cheese added over high heat turns grainy and clumps.the chicken, lay it over the pasta, and finish with black pepper and parsley.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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