Creamy Pasta With Chicken, Broccoli & Basil - Low-Fat Version

10m
Prep Time
20m
Cook Time
30m
Ready In

Recipe: #19702

June 25, 2015

Categories: Chicken, Broccoli,



"This comes from a Pam Anderson recipe. I love creamy pastas like alfredos, etc... but don't like all the fat. This recipe is a great solution. By using 2 percent evaporated milk, instead of heavy cream, the fat content is cut considerably. The flavor and consistency is still wonderful, in my opinion. I love this recipe because: it's lower in fat; you can use left-over chicken (or cooked rotisserie chicken); cooking the broccoli in the same pot as the pasta saves an extra pot to wash, it's an easy one-dish meal! There are many variations you could try with this recipe, too. Notes: 1.this recipe calls for diced tomatoes - if you'd prefer a more traditional alfredo-type sauce, I think you could probably omit the tomatoes and it would be just fine. 2. Also, if you like your pasta spicier you could add more red pepper flakes than the amount called for. 3. I find it very helpful to have all my ingredients prepped/chopped and ready before I start cooking - especially for this recipe. 4. Make sure you reserve about a cup of the pasta cooking water - it helps to thin out the finished product, if necessary. Have fun and enjoy!"

Original is 6 servings

Nutritional

  • Serving Size: 1 (239.3 g)
  • Calories 379.9
  • Total Fat - 7.2 g
  • Saturated Fat - 3.4 g
  • Cholesterol - 37.4 mg
  • Sodium - 1444.6 mg
  • Total Carbohydrate - 69.3 g
  • Dietary Fiber - 9.9 g
  • Sugars - 3.2 g
  • Protein - 12.1 g
  • Calcium - 123.7 mg
  • Iron - 1.5 mg
  • Vitamin C - 43.2 mg
  • Thiamin - 0.2 mg

Step by Step Method

Step 1

Bring about 2 quarts of water to a boil - add a tablespoon of salt to the boiling water.

Step 2

Add pasta and use the cooking time given on the package to cook your pasta al dente. Stir frequently at first to prevent pasta from sticking.

Step 3

Add the broccoli to the boiling pasta water during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Step 4

Meanwhile, microwave broth, milk and garlic in a microwave-safe bowl until steamy hot (approx. 3 to 4 minutes). Then let it stand for a few minutes.

Step 5

Put butter in a saucepan over low heat.

Step 6

After butter melts, whisk in flour, then hot milk mixture. Whisk constantly over medium-low to medium heat until sauce thickens. This should take about 1 to 2 minutes. You judge as to when the sauce thickens up.

Step 7

Stir in parmesan, cooked chicken, tomatoes, basil and red pepper flakes.

Step 8

Salt and pepper to taste and let simmer for about 5 minutes to blend flavors.

Step 9

Drain pasta and broccoli, *reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid* and return to pasta pot.

Step 10

Pour cream sauce over pasta, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten.

Step 11

Toss and serve immediately with a light sprinkling of parmesan.

Step 12

Enjoy!

Tips


No special items needed.

4 Reviews

Linky

I happened to have all these ingredients on hand, except the tomatoes, so skipped them. We loved it and will add tomatoes next time!

5.0

review by:
(27 Mar 2022)

ImPat

I made this for lunch today scaling back to one serve and I poached 2 chicken thigh fillets, which shredded one cooled, I also used hi-lo milk otherwise make as per recipe. Thank you LifeIsGood made for Lighten Up tag game at FF&F and to lighten up I did use less pasta than was called for to cut the carbs and added more broccoli than recipe stated.

5.0

review by:
(6 Oct 2020)

breezermom

Great comfort food. I increased the garlic....we love it around my house. Not sure why mosquitoes still love us....thought it repelled them! LOL. This was a great weeknight dinner for us! Thanks for sharing!!

5.0

review by:
(25 Aug 2020)

LindasBusyKitchen

I enjoyed this very much and made it like the recipe, except instead of pasta I used my Veggetti Pro Vegetable Cutter and used zucchini instead. It was delicious and one I will keep in mind for the future. Love that it is pretty healthy too. Thank you for sharing it with us Lifeisgood! Linda

5.0

(11 Aug 2015)

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