I’ve done posts and tutorials on my homemade alfredo sauce many times, but I have never talked about my easy One Pot Chicken Alfredo. Being a mom of three very active and hungry boys pasta is probably a favorite in our house…. whole wheat pasta, regular pasta, macaroni, rigatoni, penne, spaghetti… you name it – we love it. While I love to cook and take pride in my recipes and meals, I would be lying if I didn’t experiment from time to time to try making an already fast meal – even faster. Today I bring to you my One Pot Chicken Alfredo with Spinach and Mushrooms.
This meal will take you from pan to table in 30 minutes or less and what I love so much about it is everything will cook in just one pan or pot. Pair this recipe with your favorite side dish, salad or in our case – the boys just wanted a cheese biscuit. Want to know how I created this super easy dish…?
Let’s Get Started…
Start with your chicken. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs because they were readily available and on sale. You can use chicken breasts which is what I usually use. Brown the chicken or cook them on medium high heat until the chicken is cooked. I saute the chicken in coconut oil (extra virgin olive oil works too) and I also add in some minced garlic and sometimes chopped or minced onions.
Since we are using chicken thighs instead of breasts, your pot will naturally develop it’s own chicken stock. Pour out the stock if you wish or you can flavor this one and use to complete the dish. I sprinkle in some dried parsley, dried basil (or fresh basil if you wish – but that goes in with the veggies), garlic salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and oregano. What ever seasoning you wish to add – this is the time to do it. Turn your pot down to medium and let your stock develop it’s flavors… I usually leave it for about 2 minutes.
While your stock is developing flavors with your chicken, now is the time to prep your vegetables. This is my favorite part because you choose what you want to add. Mushrooms and spinach is a popular choice in our house. This is also the time I would choose to prep my fresh basil as it will go into the pot the same time as the vegetables. A few favorites of mine that you can also add in the pot would be… cherry tomatoes or sundried tomatoes, olives, kale, asparagus, broccoli – pretty much any of your favorite veggies that you think will go well with alfredo sauce.
With the chicken and the stock at the bottom of your pot or pan, add in your pasta of choice (dry of course), spinach, mushrooms and other vegetables you are planning to have in your alfredo.
Add water to your pot so that it covers your ingredients and bring up to a boil – I usually will turn the heat up a bit back to medium high and will leave the pot boiling for about 5 minutes and then lower to medium heat the rest of the time. Total cook time to cook your pasta will vary but usually that is the time you will cook what you have in the pot. This specific organic pasta takes nine minutes to al dente – so that is how long I cooked everything for.
Once the pasta is cooked to the right al dente, I then drain the pot of excess liquid though usually you will only be removing about a cup or so of liquid since the pasta will soak up quite a bit of it as it cooks. Turn your pot down to low heat.
Add in your heavy cream. With a large pot as I have here I usually use about one cup of heavy cream to 1 1/2 cups. I also season with a little nutmeg and then add 2 cups of shredded Parmesan cheese. While on low heat I will stir and combine all of the ingredients until they are well coated with the heavy cream. The cream will also start to thicken. This will take just about 2 minutes, so do not leave unattended. Turn your fire down to simmer or the lowest possible heat and get ready to serve.
And dinner is served! Like I mentioned before serve this up with your favorite salad or veggie sides. My sons love to eat pasta along side pizza or sometimes the simplest way is to bake a few biscuits and put that on the plate with the pasta. From start to finish including prep time, you should have dinner on the table in about 30 minutes or less.
I hope you enjoy this really easy recipe and if you try it – definitely let me know. Happy Eating!
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lbs Chicken breasts or boneless skinless thighs
- 2 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 1 box or package of pasta – your choice (uncooked)
- 1 – 2 cups of spinach
- 1 – 2 cups of mushrooms
- 1-2 cloves of minced garlic
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- salt & pepper to taste
- seasoning / herbs to taste
38 Comments
You just made me so hungry right now!
oH – YOU KNOW i TRY 😉 XO
Sounds delicious, Honey! Just curious, although I use it on eggs, I’ve been hesitant to use coconut oil to sauté because I was afraid I’d be able to taste the coconut. Have you found that, or am I being silly?
I am used to the coconut flavor… but I know that when I first started cooking with it or sauteing things… my husband and I did have a light coconut flavor. But I try to cook just with coconut oil as often as possible because it’s easier on my tummy. 😉
Pasta Alfredo with mushrooms and chicken used to we on constant rotation in my house…though I never thought to make my own Alfredo sauce! This looks so yummy and easy.
definitely easy 🙂 You can certainly throw in jar pasta sauce in place of homemade 😉
This sounds so yummy right now, why are you making me so hungry at 10:15 in the morning?!
😉 I’m sorry 😀
This looks sooooo yummy! I could eat it right now! Thank you for the recipe!!!!!!!
thank you 😉
This is making me hungry! It looks delicious
so easy and delish 😉
It looks great and sounds delicious, yum!
thank you – so easy and definitely delish 😉
Come over and feed me, please and thank you 😉
sure… anytime 😉
This looks delish girl!
thanks love 😉
Sounds delicious!
definitely a winner 😉
Oh please come over and make this for me! lol.. Looks amazing!
sure – anytime 😉
I’m going to make this!!!!!! This looks amazing and I can only imagine how good it smelled!!! I’m such a huge fan of quick and easy dinners when I’m pressed for time and as a mom to 2 boys, one of them being picky, I think I can get him to eat this and get an extra boost of nutrition with that spinach in there!!
pasta is quite possibly the easiest thing for me to hide vegetables and feed to my twins. My Luke loves veggies but Isaiah not so much… so when I make pasta I usually can hid them in there 😉 I’m all about quick dinners so if you have a jar of sauce on hand… you can certainly throw that in also instead of making alfredo from scratch. Asparagus is also a favorite for us in this recipe 😉
Looks so good! I love that it’s so easy to put together quickly.
so easy 😉
I’m always looking for easy recipes and this one sounds delicious!
this is easy and definitely delish 😉
Looks so yummy! Ugh my tummy is growling now
thanks 🙂 sorry for making you hungry 😉
SO GOOD! Def doing this!
yay 😀
Can I just say YUM?! And GIMME 😀
😉
This sounds so good and easy too. I’m definitely going to try it!
That looks so so good !
Yummy yummy! Looks so tasty!
This looks so good – I can’t wait to try it! xo