Crockpot Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta (From Scratch!)
Crockpot Garlic Parmesean Chicken Pasta is a delicious meal that is perfect when you’re craving some comfort food. Packed with Italian flavors and creamy to no end, this crockpot meal is sure to be a family favorite!
Fettucini Alfredo has always been a favorite dish of mine. It’s great to get from Olive Garden, but even better to make from scratch. Add in some chicken and extra Italian spices, make it a crockpot recipe, and boom! You have an amazing dish! Here’s what you’ll need to make it.
Ingredients:
I’ve split the ingredients into two sections. First, you’ll see the things you’ll need for the base pasta – the things that you just throw into the crockpot. Next, you’ll see the ingredients for the homemade sauce. If you don’t want to go to the trouble of making your own sauce, you can substitute a bottle of your favorite italian dressing/sauce.
But don’t underestimate the goodness of making the sauce from scratch! It’s truly delicious!
For the Pasta:
Chicken breast – you’ll need 3 breasts cut up into small squares. I really think breasts work best in this recipe!
Noodles – I used a pound of rotini noodles. You can easily substitute other types of noodles, even gluten free if you’d like!
Cream Cheese – 1 block will do just fine.
Spinach – this is stirred in afterward. It is totally optional, but I find it gives the dish a nice freshness!
For the Sauce:
Butter & flour – we’ll mix these together at the beginning to form a roux, the base of our sauce.
Spices – Dried oregano and basil add the perfect Italian touch!
Garlic – using freshly minced garlic is will result in the best flavor. We’ll toast this lightly in the roux before adding the other ingredients.
Chicken Broth – of course, this will add liquid to our sauce.
Parmesean Cheese – gives the sauce the perfect flavor! We’ll mix it in at the end.
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How to Make Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta
Let’s go through this process step by step.
Step 1: Make the Sauce
First, make the sauce according to the instructions in the recipe. This sauce is a roux-based sauce, which means we’ll start with butter and flour, then add liquid (chicken broth. For a tutorial on making a roux, click here.
Step 2: Cut chicken and add sauce to crockpot
Next, cut your chicken into bite sized pieces and add it to the crockpot. Pour the finished sauce over the chicken.
Step 3: Add cream cheese on top and cook
I have found there are various opinions on whether or not you can put cream cheese in the crockpot. However, it worked just fine for this recipe. It will get nice and soft while cooking. Afterward, you’ll need to use a whisk to combine it with everything else.
Step 4: Cook noodles and add
After the chicken is done, whisk the cream cheese to make a thicker sauce. Then add cooked rotini noodles and stir them in.
That’s really all there is to it! If you’d like, you can also chop up some spinach and stir it in. This gives the pasta a nice refreshing look and taste.
Food Allergies
This is a great recipe for anyone eating gluten free. You can use a gluten free pasta. When making the sauce, you can substitute your favorite gluten free flour blend when making the roux.
Serving & Storing
This recipe is great all on it’s own. You don’t really need any heavy side dishes to go along with it. Instead, I recommend serving it with a salad, or something else that is nice and refreshing!
If you have leftovers, store the pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. When reheating, put the pasta in a saucepan and add a little water to get the sauce nice and creamy again. Heat around medium heat and stir constantly to make sure it doesn’t burn and stick to the pan.
You can also reheat in the microwave, but I find the sauce is best and creamiest reheated with the method above.
More Chicken Recipes:
Crockpot Garlic Parmesean Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound rotini noodles
- 3 chicken breasts
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/3 cup parmesean cheese
- Handful of spinach
Garlic-Parmesean Sauce
- 4 tbsp butter
- 5 tbsp flour
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 2.5 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cup parmesean cheese
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breasts into cubes and place in the bottom of the crockpot.
- Make the sauce. Melt the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Once melted, add in the minced garlic, oregano, basil, and a pinch of salt. Let cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Whisk in the flour quickly until well combined. Then, add the chicken broth slowly while whisking continually.
- Whisk over high heat until sauce thickens, about 5-7 minutes.
- Once the sauce is nice and thick, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in 1/4 cup grated parmesean cheese. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
- Let the sauce cool for a bit, then add it into the crockpot and stir to combine with the chicken. Place the 8 oz block of cream cheese on top of everything. Cover and cook for 2 hours on high or 4 hours on low. (Check the chicken with a meat thermometer to make sure it’s done! Cooking time may vary depending on the size of your chicken pieces).
- About 20 minutes before chicken is ready, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Once cooked through, drain the water out.
- Once the chicken and pasta is done, use a whisk to stir in the cream cheese. It may look a little lumpy at first but just keep whisking it until smooth.
- Add in the cooked pasta. If desired, chop up a handful of spinach and add that too. Stir to combine everything and serve!
Notes
- If you have a bottled garlic parmesean sauce, feel free to use that instead. (But the homemade sauce is pretty good!)
- If you want a lower calorie meal, you can use less cream cheese or omit it altogether. Just know that the sauce will not be as thick without it.
Nutrition
Further Questions
Can I freeze leftovers of this dish?
I do not recommend freezing leftovers of this dish. Cream cheese does not freeze well; it will end up separating and not being very good reheated.
Can I cook raw chicken in the slow cooker?
Yes, absolutely! Raw chicken cooks great in the crockpot. Frozen chicken is what is a bit more debated.
Can I use bottled sauce for this recipe?
Yes, if that is easier for you you can substitute the homemade sauce for a garlic-parmesean sauce from a bottle. One popular choice is Buffalo Wild Wings Parmesan Garlic Sauce.
More Dinner Recipes:
Conclusion
Crockpot garlic parmesean chicken pasta is a family favorite. It’s a great recipe when you’re looking for some creamy comfort food. Serve with a refreshing salad on the side for an aboslutely delicious meal!
Delicious, and so simple. The kids loved it too! I cut the cream cheese by half so it wouldn’t be so heavy and added a cup of frozen spinach in the last 15 minutes of cooking. Will be making again.