Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta

Garlic? Love. Parmesan? Love. Chicken? Love. Pasta? LOVE. This one-pan stovetop garlic parmesan chicken pasta uses just 7 simple ingredients to create a totally delicious and comforting dinner that you can get on the table quickly.

And since everything cooks in one pan on the stove top, you've got very few dishes to wash! You're welcome!

When you need an easy weeknight dinner that uses a lot of pantry staples, look no further than this one-pan garlic parmesan chicken pasta.

Longtime Practical Kitchen readers know that four of my favorite ingredients are garlic, parmesan cheese, chicken, and pasta. I don't know if these are the most common ingredients in your kitchen, but they are in mine.

There's my angel hair pasta with chicken, my garlic whole roasted chicken, and oh right, my recipe for just plain roasted garlic. And that's just to name a few!

Combining all of these ingredients into one perfect, simple, practical stovetop meal was bound to happen eventually. Honestly, I'm shocked it took me this long!

🍗 Why Make Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta

If you've never made a one-skillet or one-pot pasta dish before, you're going to love this. You basically cook everything — including the pasta — all in one skillet on the stovetop!

That's right, you don't even need to get out a separate pot to boil water for the pasta.

This garlic parmesan chicken pasta recipe is perfect if you're busy and need to make dinner quickly, or if you hate washing dishes, or just want to do a lot with as few ingredients as possible.

The simple cheesy pasta sauce is hearty enough to be comforting in the winter, but delicate enough to be satisfying in the summer too.

Now that I've convinced you to try this garlic parmesan chicken pasta, let's talk about what you need in your kitchen to make it.

🥘 Ingredient Notes

Because there are so few ingredients in this recipe, I do recommend making the effort to use as many fresh ingredients as possible (except for the pasta).

If you can't find them or just don't want to, pre-packaged or prepared versions of these ingredients will work just fine. See recipe card for quantities.

• Cavatappi Pasta - I used Cavatappi (sometimes called Cellentani) pasta for this recipe because it's hearty enough to hold up to the rigorous stirring and boiling this recipe requires. I also just enjoy the "double elbow" twisted shape. You can use other boxed pasta shapes like rigatoni, gemelli, macaroni, penne, etc. Just avoid anything light or delicate — you're looking for a 9-12 minute "al dente" cook time!
• Chicken Breast - The first step of this recipe calls for slicing or pounding the chicken breast to about half an inch thick. You can also just buy thinly sliced chicken cutlets and use those. Adjust the cook time accordingly!
• Parmesan Cheese - I grate my own parmesan cheese with a Microplane zester because the cheese melts best this way. If you're going to buy pre-grated parmesan, just don't get the powdered kind, it tends to clump.
• Garlic - Minced or grated. I don't recommend the jarred stuff, since you're really gonna taste the garlic here, but if that's all you've got, it'll be just fine.
• Fresh Parsley - There's a lot of dense, rich, intense flavors happening in here with the garlic and pasta and cheese and freshly chopped parsley just brightens the whole dish up.
• Salt and Pepper - For seasoning the chicken and seasoning the pasta. Flavor, baby!

Not pictured: Water. You'll need enough water to just barely cover the pasta in the pan.

📋 How One Pan Pasta Recipes Work

This one pan pasta stove top cooking method isn't just efficient — it also helps intensify the flavors in the pasta dish.

Because the pasta cooks in the same pot you cook the chicken and garlic in, the pasta absorbs all those flavors as it cooks.

And you know how people always talk about reserving the pasta water to thicken sauces? When you make a one pan pasta recipe, the water absorbs into the pasta or boils away, leaving all those starches behind in the small amount of water left when the timer goes off.

Not only will you have pasta that's packed with flavor, you've also got super concentrated starchy water left in the pan at the end. It's perfect for combining with parmesan cheese to make a silky garlicky pasta sauce!

NOTE: Unfortunately this cooking method does not work with fresh or gourmet pasta. Fresh pasta cooks too quickly and is so starchy that it will break down in the water giving you more of a paste than a pasta water. Even dried fancy pastas tend to be a little too starchy to work really well here. It doesn't mean you can't use them, they just don't always hold up as well to the rigorous boiling and stirring as boxed pastas do.

🔪 How to Make Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta

The first step in making this stovetop garlic parmesan chicken pasta actually involves the third ingredient in this recipe's title: chicken.

Place the chicken breast on a cutting board and carefully slice it in half horizontally, with the knife parallel to the cutting board. Press the heel of your other hand down lightly on top of the chicken breast with your fingers flared up to keep them out of the way of the knife.

You're basically creating two chicken breast pieces each about half an inch thick.

If you prefer, you can instead pound the chicken breast to about half an inch thick with a meat tenderizing mallet.

Season the top sides of the chicken breast pieces with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, in a medium sized skillet with straight sides about 3" high, heat up the oil. Read more: How to Preheat Stainless Steel to Prevent Food From Sticking.

Chicken is considered fully cooked at 165°F, but it will continue cooking as it rests. We're pulling it off the pan a little bit early so that it doesn't overcook!

Now we're going to use the same pan, without cleaning it out, to cook the aromatics and the pasta.

Those brown bits on the bottom are called fond, and they are going to give the pasta SO much flavor.

Next, add the pasta to the pan along with salt, pepper, and just enough water to barely cover it. It's okay if some bits of pasta are sticking out above the water.

You can always add more water later if it needs it, so better to start out with slightly less than you think you need.

Increase the heat and keep an eye on the pan. As soon as the water starts to boil, set a timer for the "al dente" cook time on the pasta box.

Keep the water boiling for the entire cook time and stir frequently to keep the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Different pasta varieties absorb water at different rates, and water will evaporate differently based on the size of your skillet. If the water seems to be boiling away too quickly, its okay to add a bit more.

The goal is for most of the water to have absorbed and evaporated by the time the timer goes off. The water that will be left in the skillet will be super starchy and perfect for making a silky smooth sauce!

TIP: Do a bite test to confirm the pasta is fully cooked before you add the cheese. Bite a noodle in half — if you can see a ring of uncooked pasta in the center, it needs a little more time to cook. Add a splash of water if needed and keep stirring until the pasta is cooked through. Repeat as needed.

Remove from the heat, slice the chicken breast into strips and add it to the pasta. Stir to combine!

That's it! That's how you make one pan garlic parmesan chicken pasta. The whole process start-to-finish is about twenty minutes, and you've only used one pan!

Serve immediately, garnished with more parmesan cheese and the remaining parsley.

📋 Variations & Substitutions

Out of a specific ingredient or need to make a substitution? I've got you covered.

• Vegetarian - Skip the chicken! You'll miss out on the flavor from the fond, but you could make up for it by sautéing some thinly sliced or chopped onions or leeks with the garlic before you add the pasta.
• Spicy - Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the pan when you add the pasta. For more heat, add more red pepper flakes.
• No Parmesan - If you don't have parmesan cheese, pecorino romano or parmigiano reggiano will also work.
• No Fresh Parsley - Dried will also work! You could also use thinly sliced fresh basil, oregano, or thyme.

⏲️ How to Store Leftovers

Store any leftover garlic parmesan chicken pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

To reheat, microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between, until warmed throughout.

👪 Adjusting Number of Servings

This recipe uses 8 ounces of pasta and 1 pound chicken breast. That's enough for three very hungry people OR two moderately hungry people plus a small child (or to save as leftovers) OR or three or maybe four moderately hungry people who are eating this with side dishes.

If serving five or more, I recommend adding 4-6 ounces of pasta and ⅓-1/2 pounds of chicken, depending on how hungry everyone is.

The cooking process is the same no matter how much pasta or chicken you're using.

Just remember, the more crowded the pan is, the more water you'll need, and the longer it will take the water to absorb/evaporate!

🧀 Why is the Cheese Measured by Weight?

This way no matter how you grate your parmesan cheese or if you buy the pre-packaged stuff, you'll have the right amount of cheese!

Finely grated parmesan cheese is very light and delicate. It's hard to measure accurately using cups because there's so much air in it.

If I told you 1 cup of parmesan and you use a denser, thicker grated parmesan, you'll have WAY too much cheese.

If you don't have a kitchen scale, I recommend adding the cheese ¼ cup at a time and stirring until it melts. When the sauce is as cheesy as you want and clings to the noodles, stop adding cheese.

👩🏻‍🍳 Practical Tips & Recipe Notes

• The size of your skillet matters a lot here. I recommend using a 10-inch high-sided skillet for this recipe. I'm using my All-Clad 3 Quart Saute Pan in these photos. A wider skillet means a shorter layer of pasta and lower level of water, which means the water will evaporate much more quickly and it will be harder to get the pasta submerged. If you try this method using a regular sauce pot, the water will be too deep to have evaporated by the time the pasta is done cooking.
• You do want to have a little bit of water left in the pan when there's a minute left on your timer and it's time to add the cheese. How much water? It should feel like you're stirring a very saucy pasta. Not so much that the noodles are swimming, but enough to be able to say "yeah, there's still some liquid in here."
• Stir vigorously to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan but also be cautious — the tube pastas get slippery and often try to leap out of the pan if you're not careful!
• This recipe is best served immediately. The cheesey sauce starts to dry out pretty quickly as it cools. If you need to buy yourself a little time, you can leave it in the pan off the heat. Just turn the heat back to low and give it a few stirs to re-melt the cheese before serving.
• If there's too much water left in the pan when the timer goes off, crank the heat as high as it can go (if it's not there already) and stir really well — the more you stir, the faster the water will evaporate. If you truly have way too much water left, use a spoon, ladle, or turkey baster to remove some water from the pan.

📖 Recipe

Food Safety

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165°F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.