Chicken, Broccoli and Bacon Pasta
Servings: 8 Servings
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts cooked and sliced
- 8 slices bacon cut into small pieces
- 2 cups broccoli florets I use frozen
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced and divided
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cups milk I use 2%
- 1/2 cup butter 1 stick
- 1 cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 16 oz penne pasta
- 1/4 – 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- Parsley for garnish
- Salt and pepper to taste
- For the marinade:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic minced
Instructions
- I start by marinating my chicken breasts and then cooking them in the marinade in my Instant Pot on manual for 10 minutes. The marinade adds another flavor to the dish and the Instant Pot gives me a head start on cooking this recipe.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, fry your bacon. I start by cutting mine into small pieces before frying, but you can fry the slices and then break them into smaller pieces. When bacon is done, remove and drain on paper towels.
- Add sliced chicken, diced onion and 1 clove minced garlic to bacon drippings in pot. Salt and pepper chicken to taste. Cook until chicken is golden brown and onion is soft. Remove from pot and keep warm.
- Add about 1/2 cup chicken broth to pot and deglaze.
- Next, add remaining chicken broth, cream, milk, butter, remaining 2 cloves garlic and uncooked pasta to pot. Season with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook for about 6 minutes. Stir every once in awhile and make sure pasta is covered by liquid.
- After 6 minutes add the broccoli. Stir to combine and cook for 5 – 7 minutes, until broccoli is soft.
- Put the chicken and onion mixture back in the pot and add about 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Stir to combine. Cook a little longer, until chicken is heated through and cheese is melted.
- Remove from heat and top with remaining parmesan cheese and bacon. Garnish with parsley if you’d like.
Notes
You don’t have to marinate your chicken. I just really like the flavor a marinade brings to a dish. You also don’t have to cook your chicken in an Instant Pot! That’s just my go to when I want to move things along for myself a little quicker. You do this however you want! I simply tell you how I did things, but you can take this recipe and do it however you like.