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This one pot chicken and broccoli pasta recipe is a quick pantry meal, and you will love the creamy garlic sauce! It’s ready in 30 minutes for a lighter comfort food meal.
You may also enjoy this Cheesy Chicken Divan or Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Bake next.
Why you’ll love it
Chicken and broccoli are a classic combo, and they’re great in this one pot pasta. It’s not a fancy recipe, making it great for kids and picky eaters and for any time you’re craving a no-fuss meal fast. We’re talking everyday ingredients and a few simple seasonings!
One pot meals are good for obvious reasons (fewer dishes), but they’re also great because the way the starch from the pasta thickens up the garlic sauce here is kind of magical. That means you get a nice texture while using half-and-half, keeping this pasta a bit lighter.
What you’ll need
- Chicken – we’re cutting chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces
- Olive oil – for sautéing
- Garlic – add even more if you’re a garlic lover
- Italian seasoning – it’s an all-purpose blend of dried herbs that comes in one jar
- Red pepper flakes – they add a pop of color and gentle warmth, but you may want to skip it for the little ones
- Chicken broth – for more savory flavor
- Half-and-half – for my international readers, this is half milk/half heavy cream
- Pasta – we’re using fusilli (spiral) pasta
- Broccoli – for fresh goodness
Pro tip
This is designed to be a simple pantry meal with few ingredients, so be sure to add enough salt & pepper to bring out the flavors. If you want to add some pizzazz, season with Tony’s Chachere’s to add a little kick or seasoning salt instead of regular salt.
How to make chicken and broccoli pasta
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
In a soup pot, sauté the chicken in the oil for a few minutes. Add in the remaining ingredients except for the broccoli, salt & pepper, and parmesan (if using). Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 8 minutes, stirring every so often.
Add in the broccoli, cover, and reduce the heat. Cook until the broccoli is tender to your liking. Season generously with salt & pepper (or other suggested seasonings in the post). Grate parmesan on top if desired.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- Here’s the Dutch oven I use for this pasta.
- Effortlessly mince the garlic with this garlic press. No peeling necessary. Store remining cloves in this garlic keeper.
- I like storing uncooked pasta in one of these airtight containers rather than the box.
Substitutions and variations
- If you do want this to be a richer dish, feel free to use heavy cream instead.
- Grating a little bit of lemon zest on at the end would add a little brightness.
- For a stronger herb flavor, simply increase the amount of Italian seasoning you’re using or throw in some fresh herbs.
- As with any one pot pasta, swapping out the variety of pasta might require altering the liquid ratios and cooking time, so keep that in mind.
What to serve with chicken broccoli pasta
- If you want to indulge a little, my Extra Cheesy Garlic Bread makes a great pairing. Otherwise, a slice of fresh crusty bread and olive oil/balsamic vinegar for dipping works great.
- For a salad, try spring mix with my Honey Mustard Dressing or this Strawberry Spinach Salad for something different.
Leftovers and storage
- Store leftover chicken broccoli pasta in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Keep in mind the pasta will soak up the sauce, so it’s best eaten sooner rather than later.
- Reheat over low heat, and add a splash of half-and-half if needed to perk up the sauce.
- I don’t recommend freezing this one. The texture of both the pasta and sauce will change.
If you made this one pot broccoli and chicken pasta, please leave a star rating and review below! I’d love to hear from you. Or tag me on Instagram with your S&L creations!
One Pot Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts cut into bite-size strips/pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes optional
- 1.5 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 3 cups uncooked fusilli pasta
- 2 cups broccoli florets cut small
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese for serving, optional, to taste
Instructions
- Add the chicken to a Dutch oven or soup pot along with the olive oil. Give it a good stir and sauté over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes.
- Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, chicken broth, half-and-half, and pasta to the pot. Increase the heat to high and bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to medium (or medium-low if it is still bubbling a lot). Let it simmer for 8 minutes, giving it the occasional stir so the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the broccoli to the pot. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and cook for 4-5 minutes.
- Season the pasta generously with salt & pepper. If the broccoli is still too crisp, cook it for another couple of minutes. Serve immediately with freshly grated parmesan.
Notes
- This is a basic, kid-friendly recipe. If you want to jazz it up a bit, there’s some tips in the blog post, and be sure to add the crushed red pepper flakes.
- This recipe is accurate as tested on my stove. However, stoves and pots can vary, so if you notice the pasta is not yet cooked and there doesn’t seem to be enough liquid, I suggest using your best judgment and adding a bit more liquid as needed, a half cup at a time until the pasta is cooked.
- Some pastas absorb more liquid than others, so I suggest sticking to the type of pasta I recommend in this recipe or you may need to make some adjustments to liquid and/or cooking time.
- The broccoli is tender-crisp in this recipe. Be sure not to cut the florets too large unless you prefer it to be crisper.
- Using half-and-half makes the sauce a bit lighter than using heavy cream, but you could sub it for heavy cream if you like.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
This recipe was originally published on February 19, 2018. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
Can I use water instead of the broth?
Hi! We’ve only tested it as written. You’d lose a lot of flavor using just water.
So delicious!! I added cream cheese, spinach and extra Italian seasoning.
Excellent! So glad you liked it, Kelsie!
Thank you Natasha for this lighter creamy one pot meal. It was so delicious and I did so many things wrong, and yet we still all loved it!
I had chicken already cooked so we used that. I had stored it in a quart sized container so it was probably more than the recipe called for. I also put the cooked chicken in too soon. Here in the US pasta comes standard in 16 oz box/bag which is 4 cups. So I used all of it because I didn’t want to waste pasta. I did add more liquid to account for that, but in the end I didn’t add enough. Leftovers were great as we could add more liquid when reheating it. So I added a big note to myself to REALLY add more liquid next time and watch it more closely (as you wisely had noted we should do).
Looking forward to making it again! This is one of my favorite restaurant meals so it’s great to be able to make it easily at home.
You’re very welcome! I’m glad it worked out haha. 🙂
Simple and tasty for me and grandkids alike. Thank you. Used half fat cream fraiche here in UK.
Great!! 🙂
I’m dairy free what I can use to replace the half and half. More broth?
Hi, I heard Silk brand makes a dairy-free whipping cream you could try maybe? You could try more broth, but I really can’t say how it would be since the half-and-half is quite a large component of this recipe, and I haven’t tested alternatives.
What is half and half? I’m in Australia, I have never heard of it. Is it cream and water?
It’s half cream and half milk. I know… it’s so confusing what creams are called outside one’s own country. I’m Canadian, and I try to write this website for a US audience, and I had to learn the differences. Not sure what the Aussie equivalent is called/if it exists. A lighter cream would work too!
I would maybe try coconut milk/cream instead. I have made a cabonara with the coconut cream and it was amazing, only a small hint of the coconut.
Non dairy creamer in the coffee creamer section!! This is my go to for milk in most of my recipes!!
This is a staple in our kitchen! I use more garlic and Italian seasoning. Then I add cheese in the process of cooking the pasta. This makes the sauce cheesy and thicker. Awesome recipe!!!
I’m so happy you like it!! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
I made this dairy free and gluten free. I replaced the half and half with full fat coconut milk then added a splash (about 1.5 tsp) of vinegar to offset the coconut taste and used Ronzoni gluten free pasta. I added lots of garlic and Italian seasoning since I did not add the cheese. It came out very creamy and tasty. This is definitely a keeper!
I’m so happy it worked out for you, Jo! 🙂
This was really tasty! I’m commenting because I had to make a few substitutions and it still came out really good- I used 2% milk instead of half and half, and whole wheat pasta instead of regular […]. I added a little butter to make up for the missing fat from the half and half and extra Parmesan- yum! Also for reference 3 cups of dry pasta works out to about half a box- that always throws me when I’m seeing if I have what I need for the recipe.
So glad it worked out for you!! Thank you for leaving me a comment. 🙂 (I edited your comment because bloggers have been told not to use buzzwords associated w. the current events as it could negatively impact our search rankings).
I’m a kid and I cooked this meal with help from my dad. My family LOVE this Recipie. I now want this every night! So thanks for the AMAZING recipie.😁
That’s awesome, Aaron! Great job! 🤗
Would I be able to replace the half n half with something for my lactose intolerant self?
Hi Caroline, that’s actually really hard for me to answer… especially in a recipe like this one that’s done in one pot. The liquid measurements really matter, and the half-and-half reduces and mixes with the starch released from the pasta to make a nice sauce. I really couldn’t speculate without testing, unfortunately. If there’s a product you use and like that replaces cream/milk/etc., then you could definitely give it a try.
My husband can’t do heavy cream which I know this recipe doesn’t call for but I found lactose free half and half I think made by silk. I hope other people see this and it helps. Thanks for the recipe. Going to try tonight.
Hi! Yes, I have heard of that. Let me know how it goes 🙂