Mom’s creamy Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo has been a family favorite for years. Classic Chicken Alfredo is a feel good comfort food – so creamy but light!
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Mom learned how to make this “Pollo Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo” in culinary school. She made it for us when we were kids and we were crazy about it. Now I make the same alfredo recipe for my family. It’s one of my favorite comfort foods. Watch the video tutorial and learn how to make chicken alfredo.
Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo
Ingredients for Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo:
We usually use chicken breast but chicken tenders would work well if that is what you have on hand.
Fettuccini is the pasta of choice here but we’ve been known to swap with angel hair or vermicelli. You can use a variety of pastas. P.S. sometimes we sneak in the full pound of pasta when feeding a crowd.
Substitute for Half and Half?
This recipe calls for half and half, but you can substitute with equal parts of milk and heavy whipping cream. The half and half thickens as it simmers and even more as it rests. If you prefer a creamier or thicker sauce, you can use heavy whipping cream instead.
How to Make Chicken Alfredo (Video below):
1. Cook fettuccini in a large pot of salted water (4 qts water with 1 Tbsp salt,) according to package instructions then drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, thinly slice chicken breast into strips and season all over with salt and pepper. In a large, deep skillet, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium/high heat and saute chicken until light golden and cooked through (5 min). Remove chicken from the pan and cover to keep warm.
3. In the same pan over medium/high, add 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter. Add onion and sauté 3 minutes until soft. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté until soft (5-7 min), stirring frequently. Add garlic and sauté another 30 seconds until fragrant, stirring constantly.
4. Add half-n-half and simmer over medium/high heat 8-10 min, or until just beginning to thicken. Add chicken back to pan, along with 1/4 cup parsley and season sauce to taste (1/2 to 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper).
5. Add cooked pasta and stir to combine. Heat another minute until warmed through then turn off the heat, cover and let pasta rest 10-15 minutes then stir to combine and serve garnished with more parsley.
After the pasta rests, you will have a creamy but light Alfredo sauce that coats the noodles perfectly.
Creamy Pasta Recipes to Try Next:
- Creamy Shrimp Pasta – juicy shrimp in alfredo sauce
- Mushroom and Leek Pasta – this sauce tastes gourmet
- Chicken Pasta in Creamy Tomato Sauce – easy, excellent dinner idea
- Chicken Tetrazzini – Creamy and scrumptious pasta casserole
Watch How to Make Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo:
See Natasha make her Mom’s Chicken Alfredo Recipe. If you enjoy our videos, please on Youtube and click the bell icon so you will be the first to know when we post a new video!
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⬇️ Print Friendly Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo:
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Chicken Breast
- 3/4 lbs fettuccine pasta , (or angel hair or vermicelli pasta)
- 1 lb white mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 1/2 cups half and half, *
- 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped,, plus more for garnish
- 1 tsp sea salt, or to taste, plus more for pasta water
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, or to taste
- 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
- Cook fettuccini in a pot of salted water (4 qts water, 1 Tbsp salt,) according to package instructions then drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, slice chicken into strips and season all over with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium/high heat and sauté chicken until lightly golden and cooked through (5 min). Remove chicken from the pan and cover to keep warm.
- In the same pan over medium/high, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp of butter. Add onion and sauté 3 min until soft. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté until soft (5-7 min), stirring frequently. Add garlic and sauté 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
- Add half-n-half and simmer over medium/high heat 8-10 min, or until beginning to thicken. Add chicken back to the pan, add 1/4 cup parsley and season sauce to taste (1/2 to 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper).
- Add cooked pasta and stir to combine. Heat another minute until warmed through then turn off the heat, cover and let rest 10-15 minutes then stir and serve garnished with parsley.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
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This is definitely a feel good chicken fettuccini alfredo. It’s so creamy and satisfying, but light! Since it isn’t heavy-cream based, it fills you up without the guilt 🙂 I can’t even count how many times my Mom made this growing up. I hope this becomes a go-to pasta recipe for you as well!
Do you have a favorite food that you loved growing up and now make as an adult? I want to hear all about it in a comment below! 🙂
Rating is solely based on instructions. You cant cook this without making a mess using a skillet. I think saucepan or even a pot would be better. Also, you cant simmer on medium/high heat as instructed. Thats a boil at that point and if its boiling hot you’ll never really be able to tell the thickness. But 5 star taste.
Hi Natasha! I can’t wait to try this recipe. And about 3-4 others I’ve been looking at. You make cooking fun again. Thank you so much. Going to get your book too! Congratulations!
I hope you love this recipe, Patrice! I can’t wait for you to get the cook book and try even more recipes!
I just ordered your new cookbook. Can’t wait for it to arrive. The question I have about this recipe Is, where is the parmesan cheese?
Hi Nancy! I can’t wait for you to get your copy, thank you for the purchase.
Regarding the recipe, this version does not use cheese but you can definitely add it. Many of my readers love to add cheese to it. I hope you enjoy the recipe.
I am going to try it today 🙂 all your recipes are thee best
Thank you, I hope you’ll love this too!
Thank you! I hope you love the chicken and mushroom alfredo.
So I used a couple of substitutions, but this recipe still turned out pretty good. I used whole wheat spaghetti, and whole milk instead of half/half, since that’s what I had. I added a couple tablespoons of flour to the onion/mushroom mixture before adding the milk, and it seemed to help the milk thicken. This is a good, lighter Alfredo dish!
Hi Rebecca! That’s great. I’m so glad you enjoyed the dish. Thank you for sharing.
This Chicken Alfredo recipe is so delicious, I enjoy making it. Even though my sister doesn’t like mushrooms or onions, I can get her to eat them in the alfredo. Thanks for all the great recipes Natasha.
I’m glad it was a hit, Mandie! Thank you for sharing that with me.
How can it be an Alfredo without parmesan cheese? I don’t see any cheese in this recipe?
Hi Ron! That’s correct, no cheese. See my blog post above for details about where this recipe originated from.
You can always add cheese if you’d like, many of my readers have.
Can I substitute cooked rotisserie chicken instead of cooking raw chicken?
Hi Linda! Yes, that should be fine.
I am so disappointed the 1/2 & 1/2 scalded before it ever got thick. Sorry I had hoped it would be great…
Hi Linda, that is a bummer, sorry to hear that. It sounds like the heat was probably too high. Also, this sauce doesn’t get super thick like a heavy cream-based alfredo sauce but it should thicken up some and will thicken more off the heat.
Hi Natasha, I ONLY use your recipe for this Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. Apparently, Linda can’t follow directions!
Hi Denise! I’m glad you love this recipe! Thank you for the review.
Great. There must be 500 fettuccine alfredo recipes available but I followed your recipe and reduced the quantity of each ingredient since I was making it for two people. I liked the layers of flavour and textures especially for a dish that’s easy to do lazily. Was worth the effort. I added a little parmigiana instead of salt since I expected cheese to be an ingredient. I also used dried parsley as I didn’t have any fresh to hand. Conclusion that it’s a very nice and simple dish that benefited from the extra care of your recipe. Thanks. I’ll make it again.
That’s wonderful, Mike! I’m so glad you loved it. Thank you.
Forgot to mention, I threw broccoli in with the pasta with a few minutes to go.
That’s great! Broccoli is a great addition!
Just made this and it was absolutely amazing. Thank you for sharing your Mom’s recipe.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Lesley!
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo is my by far favourite Italian dish. I followed the recipe for the most part. I ended up adding 1 cup of parmesan cheese once the sauce thickened, waited until it all melted into the sauce and then added chicken. I also used fresh homemade fettucine. That elevated the dish to another level. It smelled and tasted absolutely amazing. My husband said it was a restaurant quality.
Natasha, thank you again for a nice recipe.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Alla!
Sorry but we didn’t care for this. The half and half never got thick.
When using a light cream (half and half), it is important to simmer the sauce until it thickens slightly or it will be too loose and won’t coat the noodles easily.
Just made this and it was excellent. I have tried several of your recipes and I am never disappointed. Thank you.
So glad to hear that, Tarana! Thank you for sharing.
Going to try and make this recipe tomorrow morning
Pretty excited 🤗
I watch your videos often…so it’s time to start cooking 👨🍳
Hi Liz! Thank you. I hope you love this recipe! 🙂
I love your recipes. Thank you so much. Approximately how many grams per serving?
Hi Nara, I didn’t measure each serving by grams to give you an answer, but this recipe serves 8 people.
The sauce didn’t thicken and now I have half/half, noodle and chicken soup.
Oh no! Sorry to hear that. Did you measure the half-and-half correctly and let it simmer long enough? I put in my recipe notes that the half-and-half thickens as it simmers and even more as it rests but if you prefer a creamier or thicker sauce, you can use heavy whipping cream instead of half-and-half.
I had the same issue but I mixed a couple tablespoons of water with 1 tbs cornstarch and mixed it into the sauce. It thickened up quickly.
I was really loving forward to this recipe, boy was I wrong! The mushrooms overpowered the whole dish.
I’m sorry to hear that, Jackie. We enjoy the mushrooms and don’t feel like they over power this dish but you can always decrease the amount you use or leave them out completely.
Out of this world delicious!! Thank you so very much. My favourite cooking channel. My guests blown away. .Can this be frozen?
Hi Rosalie, To be honest I haven’t tried freezing it but I think it might work. I’d add a little bit more cream or half and half when re-heating to make sure it isn’t dry.
Only in America would this serve 8 lol. I cut it in half and easily had enough for 8.