Recently, I posted a recipe for my Homemade Spinach Fettuccine and everyone went wild for it! I got a lot of requests for the recipe for the sauce I featured in the post. A few days later, I made my Homemade Alfredo recipe on my Instagram stories, but in case you missed it, the recipe is coming now! Just like you have been requesting to see that Alfredo again, so have the kids! It’s been quite popular in our house lately. I used the Homemade Alfredo sauce recipe and decided to show you another way to use it with this Roasted Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo.
I get the question a lot, “How do you get homemade dinners done during the week so effortlessly?” Let me assure you, things are not always as they seem. There are plenty of nights when everyone is having a meltdown and we are only home for 10 minutes between practices and play dates. Sometimes, I have had plenty of time to get things done and I straight up just don’t feel like it. What I try and do to make my life easier is to prep as much as I can in advance. During Max’s morning nap, after Ethan is off to school, I try to take some time to prep. Back when I was working full time, I would typically do this the night before. More often than not, I don’t have a lot of time (or energy!) in the evenings, so this helps dinner time seem less daunting.
I’m also a fan of easy and delicious kitchen shortcuts. I love to make things homemade and from scratch, but sometimes time just doesn’t allow. One of my favorite dinner time shortcuts are those rotisserie chickens from the grocery store deli. When they go on sale I’ll buy a couple and break them down to store in the freezer.
This recipe is nice because you can use both of the above mentioned ideas to help get dinner on the table quick! Use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, chop & steam the broccoli ahead of time and even make the Alfredo sauce ahead of time as well! Then when dinner time rolls around just boil and drain the pasta and add to the baking dish. Stir in the chicken, broccoli, and sauce, then top with the cheese. Just pop it in the oven to bake and dinner will be on the table in no time flat.
The Homemade Alfredo sauce is warm and creamy, it coats all the pasta, chicken, and broccoli perfectly. This is definitely a comfort meal and perfect for a crisp fall night. I usually serve this with a big green salad and some garlic bread. If you aren’t a fan of broccoli, feel free to substitute it for another vegetable. Chopped asparagus or green beans would be good, but my kids love the broccoli!
What’s your favorite dinner time shortcut?
Remember, if you make this recipe, make sure you share a photo with me, I’d love to see all of your creations! #SaporitoKitchen
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Roasted Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo
Ingredients
- 4 cups chopped broccoli florets
- 1 lb medium pasta shells
- 1 batch Homemade Alfredo Sauce
- 4 cups roasted shredded chicken
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 casserole or baking dish and set aside.
- Heat a medium sauce pan with 1" of water over medium high heat. You can use a steamer basket or add chopped broccoli directly to the water. Cover and steam broccoli for 5-10 minutes or until broccoli is just fork tender.
- While broccoli is steaming, cook pasta shells according to package instructions, making sure to reserve the water from the cooked pasta for use in the alfredo sauce.
- Once broccoli and pasta are both completed, make the alfredo sauce following the recipe below.
- Add pasta, chicken and broccoli to your prepared casserole dish and stir to combine. Pour alfredo sauce over the top of the pasta and mix well.
- Top pasta with shredded cheeses and cook in the oven for 30 minutes until cheese is melted and slightly browned.
Homemade Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 pint half and half
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1-2 cups reserved cooking liquid from pasta
Instructions
- In a large saute or sauce pan, melt butter over medium high heat. Let the butter melt all the way and when it stops foaming, add in chopped garlic.
- Stir to combine chopped garlic with butter and cook for 30 seconds to a minute, until you start to smell the garlic.
- Sprinkle in all purpose flour and stir to combine with the flour and garlic. Cook for 1-2 additional minutes, being careful not to brown.
- Pour in half and half and whisk to combine with the flour and butter mixture. Lower heat to medium and cook while whisking until sauce thickens.
- Remove pan from the heat and whisk in parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
- Add in 1 cup of reserved cooking liquid from the pasta and whisk until sauce is smooth. Add in additional liquid as needed until desired consistency is achieved (should be between 1-2 cups).
2 comments
First time making an Alfredo sauce and I couldn’t believe how easy and delicious it was! No more bottled sauce for me. I used some leftover rotisserie chicken which made this dinner easy to put together. I thought I’d try adding the broccoli to the cooking pasta the last 2 minutes to eliminate a step and it turned out great. Thanks for another delicious, quick dinner!
What a great idea! I’ll have to try that next time. Glad you liked the alfredo