Indulgent and creamy, this Chicken Pasta Milano is a favorite pasta dish filled with chicken, mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes. It is restaurant quality and perfect for special occasions, or even just as a weeknight dinner!
If you love chicken and pasta, you’ll also want to make this Chicken Pesto Pasta!
One of my favorite things to do is to create a restaurant worthy meal at home. And every time, it surprises me just how easy these meals actually are!
This Chicken Milano Pasta is actually inspired by a restaurant meal. It’s been years and years since I have been to a Macaroni Grill, but their Pasta Milano was always my go-to. I can’t call this an exact copycat, since it’s been so long since I’ve had the restaurant version, but it doesn’t matter. Because this is just delicious.
And one of the best things about this recipe is that it only takes just over 30 minutes to make. So it’s fancy enough for a date night at home, or for a special occasion. But it’s also easy enough for a weeknight meal!
Ingredients
- Pasta: You can use any short cut pasta. I used bow tie, because that is what the restaurant version uses, but you can change this up.
- Chicken: You will need about 1 pound of chicken. I like to use 2 8-oz breasts, and then the chicken gets cut in half to make thinner pieces of chicken.
- Garlic Powder: The chicken is seasoned simply with garlic powder, as well as salt and pepper.
- Oil: You will need oil to cook the chicken in. I used olive oil here, but I have also use avocado oil in the past.
- Butter: Adding in some butter will add in richness.
- Mushrooms: I like to use baby Bella mushrooms. You can use white mushrooms, as well, but I think the baby bella have a little more flavor.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes: I use the sun-dried tomatoes in oil. You will drain the tomatoes, but I don’t go crazy and rinse or wipe them down. A little bit of that oil will add some great flavor!
- Garlic: Freshly minced garlic is always best!
- Cream & Milk: I like to use a combination of heavy cream and milk. You could also use half and half, but I go a little heavier on the cream, so I like to do the cream and milk.
- Parmesan: I like to use freshly grated parmesan because it melts into the sauce better.
- Basil: This is optional, but a bit of fresh basil on top really just brings it all together.
How to Make Chicken Pasta Milano
STEP 1: Take your chicken, and using a sharp knife, cut each breast in half horizontally, making thinner pieces of chicken. Season both sides with the garlic powder, as well as salt and pepper.
STEP 2: Heat the oil in a large skillet, then add the chicken. Cook until browned and cooked through, then remove from the skillet.
STEP 3: To the same skillet, add the remaining oil and the butter. Add your mushrooms and stir them around to coat, and then let the cook without stirring them.
STEP 4: Once they have been cooking for about 5 minutes, and the moisture has been drawn from them, stir the mushrooms up.
STEP 5: Stir in the garlic and the sun-dried tomatoes. Let these cook for about a minute.
STEP 6: Stir in the cream and the milk, bring it to a bubble, then stir in the parmesan. Let this cook for a few minutes to thicken up.
STEP 7: While the sauce is cooking, take your cooked chicken and dice it into bite-sized pieces.
STEP 8: Stir the cooked pasta and cooked chicken into the sauce. Top with additional parmesan and fresh basil when serving.
Tips and Tricks
Make sure you don’t overcook the pasta. It will soak up the sauce once it is added, so you want to make sure you initially cook it just to al dente.
Instead of dicing the chicken and adding it to the pasta, you can also just slice it and serve it on top of the pasta.
Or feel free to leave the chicken out and make it a vegetarian meal!
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator. You may need to add little bit of milk or cream when reheating if it starts to dry out.
More Chicken Dinner Recipes
Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu
Easy Lemon Chicken with Butternut Squash
Baked Chicken Parmesan
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Chicken Pasta Milano
Ingredients
- 8 oz short cut pasta I used bow tie
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil divided
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 8 oz baby Bella mushrooms sliced
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil drained and roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil for serving
- Additional parmesan cheese for serving optional
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt generously, then add the pasta and cook according to the package directions. Drain and reserve. (Do not rinse the pasta.)8 oz short cut pasta
- Meanwhile, cut the chicken breasts in half horizontally, making thinner portions of chicken. (This just helps the chicken to cook more evenly.) Season the chicken with the garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste.1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, Salt and pepper
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken and cook until the chicken is browned and cooked through, flipping once during cook time, about 4-5 minutes per side.2 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
- Remove the chicken from the skillet to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
- In the same skillet, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and the tablespoon of butter. Once melted and hot, add the mushrooms. Stir to coat the mushrooms, then let the mushrooms cook without stirring for about 5 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been evaporated from the mushrooms.1.01 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil, 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, 8 oz baby Bella mushrooms
- Add the sun-dried tomatoes and garlic and cook, stirring, for about a minute.1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, 3 cloves garlic
- Pour in the cream and the milk and allow the mixture to come to a gentle boil. Stir in the parmesan cheese. Let the mixture simmer until the sauce has slightly thickened, about 5-8 minutes.1 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
- While the sauce is simmering, dice the chicken.
- Add the pasta and the diced chicken to the sauce and stir to combine.
- Top with fresh basil and additional parmesan cheese, if desired.Fresh basil, Additional parmesan cheese for serving
Chels R. says
I saw a blogger do that too – I can’t think of where though. I don’t think it was the same person because I don’t snap chat, but I also thought,” Hmm, what a clever idea!” This looks perfect – those sun dried tomatoes are kind of perfect in this.