Easy Chicken Pasta with White Wine Sauce – When you don’t feel like making anything fancy, here’s an easy weeknight meal that will be done in no time!

Last weekend, we spent a glorious time in Las Vegas. Our first time! It was quite an adventure. And quite exhausting.

That heat really took it out of me! It was over 100 degrees every day. I didn’t think it would be that bad since I was born and raised in Florida with humidity that would slap you in the face when you went outside. But it was bad. Real bad. By the end of the trip, I didn’t want the leave the hotel. But we had an awesome time.

And I got to see my girl JLo perform so I couldn’t have asked for more!

We got home late Monday night around 10:30 pm and walked into quite the surprise all over the kitchen: ants. Ugh. We spent the next hour exorcising our kitchen of those little terrors. And mind you, we had to wake up early for work the next day. Needless to say, I was a zombie for most of the next morning, if not the whole day.

Dinner was the last thing I wanted to think about that week. But at the same time, I craved something comforting and, frankly, unhealthy (thanks a lot, stress). I didn’t want to make anything too crazy so I started looking for some simple recipes for dinner that also used ingredients that we already have.

While searching, I stumbled upon yet another great recipe from the Pioneer Woman. It looked easy and comforting, plus we had everything that the recipe required so I think I found a winner!

And oh my goodness, did it taste like a winner too.  The thick, creamy sauce stuck to every inch of the linguine so you had a bit of garlic, cream, butter, and white wine in every bite. Yumm.

And, even better, there was not a vegetable in sight. Sometimes you just need starchy carbs and starchy carbs alone. So don’t even think about putting veggies in this dish. This is an indulgent dish and I won’t let you healthy it up.

Here are some things to consider when making this recipe:

1. To ensure you get nice color on the chicken, make sure you let it sit on one side for at least five minutes. You do not need to flip more that once so be patient and let it sit there and turn that beautiful caramel brown color.
2. I hate mincing garlic. It takes forever for me to get it cut into small enough pieces, plus my fingers end up smelling like garlic for days later from the oils. A few months ago, we bought a garlic press. The press smashing the garlic into tiny little pieces so you don’t have to mince. And it takes almost no time to do it! I love it! Here’s the one we have, in case you’re looking for an easy alternative to mincing. It works for shallots too.
3. You can use basically any pasta for this dish. I think it works best with long pasta but you can use short pasta like rotini or penne, if you want. I actually used whole wheat linguine because that’s all we had. It worked out really well, actually. It has a nice bite to it and holds up well with the other textures in the dish.
4. If you don’t want to use wine for the sauce, you can easily substitute chicken broth.

Let me know how the recipe turns out for you!

Here are all the kitchen tools and serveware that I used in today’s recipe. For each item sold below, I make a small commission. I only recommend items that I own and love so you can trust that each recommendation is tried and true. Thank you for supporting CPA!

Recipe (adapted from The Pioneer Woman):

Print Recipe

Easy Grilled Chicken Pasta with White Wine Sauce

Super easy chicken pasta dish that hits the spot! This recipe is perfect for those nights that you're craving something decadent but don't have the energy for anything extravagant and time-consuming.

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time25 mins

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 12 ounces long pasta (linguine, fettuccine, spaghetti, etc)
• 4 tablespoons butter salted
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in half, lengthwise (making 4 filets)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2/3 cup white wine dry
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese grated
• 2 tablespoons parsley fresh, minced

Instructions

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Save 1 cup of pasta water. Drain and set aside.
• Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken breasts. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts and cook until deep golden brown on both sides and done in the middle. Remove from the skillet, and set aside.
• Add additional 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet, followed by the minced garlic. Stir the garlic around the pan to avoid burning, and cook for 1 minute. Pour in wine, then let it bubble up and reduce for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.
• Add half-and-half, cream, and extra salt and pepper, whisking constantly until it's all combined. Allow liquid to heat up and thicken for a few minutes. If it gets too thick, you may thin it with a little pasta water that you saved.
• Add Parmesan to the pan and stir into the sauce for no more than 1 minute. Remove from heat, then throw the hot pasta right on top of it. Toss it a bit.
• Cut the chicken into strips and add to pasta dish and continue tossing until it's all combined. Again, if it gets too gloopy, splash in a little more pasta water.
• Taste it, adjust seasonings, and top with minced parsley and extra Parmesan. Serve immediately!