This garlic parmesan chicken pasta is a quick and easy recipe perfect for any night of the week. Seasoned boneless skinless chicken thighs cooked in the air fryer are smothered in a rich, creamy garlic parmesan sauce to create a dish that takes you to Olive Garden, but from home.
Chicken and pasta with a creamy sauce is a thing of beauty, really. It's so rich, and you can create many different flavor profiles with just a few tweaks. For instance, I took my chicken garlic parmesan pasta recipe and changed it up by switching out thighs for breasts and changed the seasoning a bit, and just like that, I had another delicious recipe for the family.
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Garlic Parmesan Chicken Video
Why You'll Love This Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta
- Easy Ingredients: This recipe uses simple ingredients you can find in your kitchen and any grocery store.
- Easy to Make: It only takes a few minutes and a few simple steps to make the seasoned chicken and rich, creamy garlic parmesan sauce.
- A Perfect Weeknight Meal: Quick and easy is always the perfect recipe for weeknight family dinners!
- Super Flavorful: The seasoning on the chicken and the garlic parmesan sauce create an incredibly flavorful chicken dish.
Ingredients
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs: I prefer Springer Mountain boneless, skinless chicken thighs because of their high quality, great flavor, and commitment to never using antibiotics, hormones, or animal by-products in its feed.
- Seasoning: 14-spice seasoning, garlic pepper, and paprika give the chicken a bold flavor.
- Garlic Olive Oil: Garlic olive oil adds more garlic flavor as the chicken cooks. I prefer Costabile garlic olive oil for its purity, taste, and quality. Use Code: 15GOLDENGK for 15% off.
- Parmesan Cheese: Parmesan cheese gives an earthy flavor to the parmesan garlic sauce.
- Minced Garlic and Onion: Minced garlic and onion add bite with a slightly sweet undertone.
- Spinach: A handful of spinach adds color and flavor to the dish.
- Gluten-Free 1:1 Flour: Gluten-free flour thickens the sauce while keeping the dish gluten-free.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for a full list of ingredients and their exact quantities.
Flavor Variations
- Change the protein: You can use boneless skinless chicken breasts, pork chops, or even your favorite fish or shellfish in this recipe.
- Use your favorite noodles: I serve this over spaghetti, but you can use any of your favorite noodles.
- Make it spicy: Add some red pepper flakes for a spicy version with a kick of heat.
- Make it dairy-free: Use plant-based cream and butter for a dairy-free version.
- Make it extra cheesy: Add mozzarella for an extra cheesy version.
How to Make This Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta Recipe
1: Create a paste with the olive oil and chicken seasonings and coat both sides of the chicken thighs.
2: Place the chicken thighs in the air fryer and cook until their internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, flipping once halfway through cooking.
3: While the chicken is cooking, saute the garlic and onions in a skillet over medium heat to soften them a little.
4: Add the heavy cream, chicken broth, and butter and bring it to a light bubble.
5: Add the remaining sauce ingredients and simmer until thickened.
6: Add the chicken back to the sauce, then serve with pasta or rice.
Hint
Wear rubber gloves and use your hands to coat the chicken thighs with the seasoning paste easily.
How to Store Parmesan Chicken
Refrigerate this garlic parmesan chicken recipe in an air-tight container for up to 4 days.
To reheat the dish, place the sauce and chicken in a baking dish, cover, and bake at 350 until heated through. Alternately, you can microwave individual portions at 30-second intervals until heated through.
What to Serve with Garlic Parmesan Chicken
Serve this rich chicken pasta dish with vegetables like pan-fried squash and zucchini or air fryer asparagus for a complete meal.
For dessert, finish your meal with this delicious pistachio cannoli cake, blackberry cheesecake, or Italian rainbow cookies.
Tips
- Wash the chicken and pat it dry so the seasoned paste sticks to it readily.
- Stir occasionally while your sauce simmers to prevent sticking.
- Bring your cream and chicken broth mixture to a light bubble. Don't boil it, or it will break.
Frequently Asked Questions
Unless you're adding a spice rub, chicken should not be washed before cooking. There was a time when washing chicken was believed to reduce bacteria. However, studies have shown that washing chicken makes it no safer. Rather, it spreads bacteria around the kitchen via water droplets from washing.
The only real way to know when chicken is done is by using a meat thermometer. When the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, it's done.
There are many types of gluten-free flour out there. They can be made with rice, almonds, oats, beans, or gluten-free grains.
Garlic parmesan is a flavor profile used in a variety of dishes. It's a combination of fresh or dried garlic and parmesan cheese usually used in some kind of cream sauce.
Related
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📖 Recipe
Garlic Parmesan Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
Chicken Thighs
- 6 Springer Mountain Farms boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 ½ teaspoon 14-spice seasoning
- ¾ tablespoon garlic pepper seasoning
- ¾ tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt more or less to taste
- 1 tablespoon Costabile garlic olive oil
Garlic Parmesan Sauce
- 2 tablespoon minced onion
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 ¼ cups heavy cream
- 1 handful spinach
- 2 tablespoon butter
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese
- ½ tablespoon lemon pepper
- ½ tablespoon parsley
- 1 tablespoon gluten free 1:1 flour
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
Chicken Thighs
- Wash the chicken thighs and pat them dry with paper towels.
- Mix the olive oil, 14-spice seasoning, garlic pepper, paprika, and salt until it forms a paste. Adjust with a bit more olive oil if it isn't pasty.
- Using your hands with gloves or a spoon, coat both sides of the chicken.
- Air fry the chicken in a single layer to 380 degrees for 8 minutes. Then, flip and air fry for another 5 to 7 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Set aside.
Garlic Parmesan Sauce
- While the chicken is cooking, preheat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium low heat. Then, sauté the minced onions and garlic for 2 minutes.
- Add the heavy cream, broth, and butter, and bring it to a light bubble.
- Add the dry parsley, garlic powder, lemon pepper, chopped spinach, flour, and parmesan cheese. Simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce thickens, stirring occasionally.
- Either place the chicken back into the sauce or place it over pasta, potatoes or rice and pour the sauce over. I served mine with a simple butter pasta.
Anonymous says
This worked exactly as written, thanks!
Angelique says
Es war so lecker 😋
Werden wir auf jeden Fall öfter machen.
Danke für das tolle Rezept
Sia Roci says
The is so good, very easy to make! It’s a family favorite mmm 😋 My parents both tried it too and loved it! I’ve tried so many! All amazing! 🥰
NKendrick says
YAY!!! Thank you so much! SO happy you all enjoyed it!