Creamy Garlic Chicken and Broccoli
Chicken and Broccoli in a wonderful creamy garlic parmesan sauce are a healthy, low-carb, one-pan dinner. The sauce is delicious and creamy but not heavy on the palate. Serve it with some pasta or Zoodles for a complete nutritious meal.
This chicken and broccoli recipe will be your best friend on a busy weeknight when you need to feed a hungry family and have not done any prep before. Absolutely easy, quick, and with only a few ingredients, this Creamy Chicken and broccoli will never let you down.
The creamy and incredibly delicious sauce coats the chicken pieces and broccoli well. With butter, garlic, cream, parmesan cheese, seasoning, and a hint of heat from the chili powder, the sauce is just perfect. All you need is a bowl of pasta to make it a complete meal loaded with protein and vegetables.
For a hot casserole dish made with quinoa, check out Quinoa Chicken Broccoli Casserole made in a slow cooker. It is hearty, savory, and filling with chicken and has the goodness of quinoa and broccoli.
How Versatile This Chicken And Broccoli Recipe Is?
I love versatile recipes since you can customize them as your preference. Have any leftover veggies like pepper, zucchini, or Spinach that you want to use up??? Substitute half of the broccoli with other vegetables. How about making this extra delicious by adding some crispy bacon at the end??
You can serve this on top of a bowl of pasta or rice. For a keto or low-carb version, serve this on a bed of zoodles or just as it is topped with some bacon.
It Is All About The Creamy Garlic Sauce
This recipe is all about the creamy garlic sauce. It is the sauce that binds the dish together. It is garlicky, creamy, and well-seasoned. The sauce is thick enough to coat the chicken and broccoli, yet it is not rich.
The recipe calls for fresh minced garlic. Make sure you use finely minced garlic, not garlic paste because when sauteed in butter, garlic paste will stick to the pan and burn quickly. Sauteing garlic in butter until aromatic gives flavor to the sauce.
A useful tip for recipes that call for cream is to lower the flame while adding cream to the pan. Adding cream to the hot pan might split the cream, and you will end up with a grainy sauce rather than a creamy one.
Use Italian seasoning or any good poultry seasoning for the sauce. Chilli powder is optional, but if you like a hint of heat in the sauce, add Chilli powder else, substitute with Paprika.
Ingredients
- Chicken breast – Choose boneless skinless chicken breast that must be pre-cooked and added to the casserole.
- Broccoli – Look for florets that are light green and have not yellowed. They should also not have dark spots that show damage and age. The florets should be firm to touch.
- Butter – Frying in butter adds more flavor than doing so in oil.
- Garlic – My favorite aromatic that adds a savory note to the dish.
- Italian seasoning – Gives the dish a blend of aromatic and spicy flavors.
- Parmesan cheese – Is the best hard cheese to grate or slice into savory dishes.
- Half & half – Used to get that creaminess in the sauce. You may use regular cream too.
- Chilli powder – For that little heat to balance the creaminess.
- Salt & pepper – Salt helps pop out all the other flavors, while pepper adds heat and depth.
How to cook
Cook chicken
Before cooking the boneless chicken breast, season the breasts by sprinkling salt and pepper and giving it a rub.
On a hot pan on medium-high heat, heat a teaspoon of butter (more flavor than oil) and then add the breasts. Let it cook for 4 minutes until you see the bottom getting white in color. Flip and do the same for the other side. It should take another 2-3 minutes. The breast should be almost cooked by this time, and the rest will be done in the slow cooker.
Chop the cooked chicken breasts and veggies like broccoli into small bite-sized pieces, i.e., roughly 1 inch.
Saute aromatics
In the same pan, add more butter on medium-high heat and saute the garlic for a minute until it becomes fragrant. Lower the heat now and add Half & half, grated cheese, chili powder, and Italian seasoning. Mix it well. Check the sauce and add more seasoning or salt as desired.
Add broccoli and chicken
Add the chopped broccoli florets and cut chicken breast pieces to the creamy base that has formed now. Toss them around in the creamy sauce. Let it simmer for a minute. Switch off the flame, and you are ready to serve.
Storage instructions
Creamy garlic dishes containing chicken and veggies are good for either refrigeration or freezing.
Refrigerate: If you have leftovers or need to store the creamy garlic chicken and broccoli, let it cool down to room temperature. Transfer it to an airtight container or wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Place it in the refrigerator within two hours of cooking. Properly stored, it can be refrigerated for up to three to four days.
Freeze: You can wrap the cooled dish with plastic wrap or aluminum foil or use freezer bags. You can leave it in the freezer for 2-3 months. You must thaw the frozen casserole overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Reheat: You can reheat this either in a microwave (which would be quickest) or on a stovetop. Through either method, you will have to stir the sauce occasionally. Check if the cream has split, which happens when you store it in the refrigerator. Add some more cream to get that creamy texture again.
What to serve with
There are a few tasty options to serve with this creamy and cheesy dish:
- Pasta: Creamy garlic chicken and broccoli pair beautifully with pasta, such as fettuccine, penne, or linguine. The pasta will help soak up the flavorful sauce, creating a satisfying combination.
- Rice: Serve the dish over steamed white or brown rice for a hearty and comforting meal. The creamy sauce will infuse the rice with delicious flavors.
- Crusty Bread: A side of crusty bread, toasted bread with butter or garlic bread, for sopping up the creamy sauce and enjoying the flavors. Another garlicky recipe is No-Knead Roasted Garlic Foccacia. A plain option is No-Knead Rustic White Bread.
- Salad: Balance the dish’s richness with a refreshing side salad, such as a mixed green salad, Caesar salad, White bean salad, Apple kale salad, or Cucumber strawberry salad.
- Steamed Vegetables: Accompany the creamy garlic chicken and broccoli with additional steamed vegetables like carrots, zucchini, or asparagus for added texture and nutrition.
One-pan chicken recipes you might like
Chicken and Cabbage Stir-fry – Garlic and curry powder make this simple chicken and cabbage stir-fry delicious.
Baked Chicken and Potatoes – Juicy chicken and tender potatoes cooked in a butter garlic herb sauce.
Mozzarella Chicken – Pan-seared chicken is cooked in chunky tomato sauce and topped with mozzarella.
Lemon herb chicken, Asparagus, & Mushroom – Chicken and asparagus with mushrooms is a fresh, healthy, low-carb dinner.
Maple Mustard Sheet Pan Chicken – Chicken gets roasted along with veggies in a maple mustard dressing.
Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs – Seared chicken thighs are cooked in a sweet, savory, sticky honey garlic sauce.
CREAMY GARLIC CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI
Ingredients
- 500 grams Boneless Chicken Breast Cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2-3 cups Broccoli
- 2 tablespoon Butter
- 1 tablespoon Garlic minced
- 1.5 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon Chilli Powder (substitute by Paprika for less heat)
- ¾ cup half and half or Cream
- ½ cup grated Parmesan Cheese more for serving
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- In a pan heat 1 teaspoon butter, once butter melts add Chicken. Season it with salt and pepper.
- Saute on high heat for 2 minutes. Remove from pan and keep aside.
- Add rest of the butter to the pan, when butter melts add minced garlic. cook for 30 seconds until aromatic.
- Lower heat, add half and half, grated parmesan cheese, Italian Seasoning, chilli powder. Mix everything well.
- Add broccoli florets and cooked chicken to the pan. Mix everything well. Check the seasoning and add more salt if required. Cook for another one minute.
- Switch off the flame and serve.
Notes
- Blanch broccoli florets for 2-3 minutes in boiling water and then rinse the florets in Ice bath to stop the cooking process. Put the florets in a collander to to drain as much water as possible.
- If the sauce is thick add 1/4th cup Chicken Stock to thin the sauce.
Nutrition
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Loved the recipe. Just thinking.. Note 1 should probably be part of the Method.
Just made this for my son and I. Really quick and easy to make. Loads of flavour but for an extra bit of a kick I added a few chilli flakes. The only think I’d say is it says add the broccoli and cook for 1 minute. I’m not sure how small the broccoli was cut but I needed to cook mine for a bit longer. Will definitely be making this again.
Very easy to prepare. Very good flavor. I served it without pasta or rice. I made a double batch to cook only once. Loved it.