Discover the Sensational Chicken Carbonara Recipe w/ bacon, chicken & cheesy pasta perfection! The EASY way to create a gourmet chicken dinner the entire family will enjoy!
This Sensational Chicken Carbonara recipe was originally published on Dec 5, 2014, Since then it has been updated to make it better than ever!
Craving morecomforting chickenoptions? Dive into the freshness of ourChicken salad recipe with grapes for a light and refreshing sandwich. Or check out ourChicken Enchilada Casserole bakefor a fiesta of flavors.Or opt for an easy budget-friendlyChicken noodle casserolefor a busy weeknight. Yourcomfort foodadventures are just beginning!
If you were to go through our kitchen or menu planners, you would see that chicken is the #1 ingredient to most of our meals. There is just something so amazing about chicken! It’s great when you are sick. It’s great when you are trying to lose weight. It’s amazing when you need a quality protein to add to your meals.
And there are so many creative ways you can cook it up. Some of our favorites include
- Italian Baked chickenmade from frozen chicken and only 5 ingredients
- Homemade Chicken Nuggets
- Salsa slow cooker chicken
- Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
- Fancy Chicken
- Thai chicken,
- Green Curry Chicken
- Chicken Caesar Salad
- Chicken and Potato Stuffed Croissants
- ParmesanChicken is great for those on Weight Watchers!
As I said we are crazy about our chicken in this house! Whenever possible I buy my chicken in bulk to save on cost.
When I get chicken in bulk Ifreeze chickenfor easy meals down the road or I do canned chicken. This way I always have chicken in my freezer and on my shelf so we never run out!
Thanks to having some chicken on hand, it was time to make a tasty restaurant-quality dinner, but without a lot of extra work.
I have been craving yummy chicken pasta lately so I decided to look into fun chicken recipes. I found a delicious recipe from Pioneer Woman for Bowtie Chicken Alfredo that looked absolutely amazing. So I used that one to spark some ideas and then altered it to our family’s own personal tastes.
The result is a mouthwatering, sensational Chicken Carbonara Recipe that your whole family will love! My kids call it the Doctor Who Pasta, because of the “bow-tie” pasta! Because “Bowties are cool”! Haha! (OK, so only my fellow Whovians will get that joke.)
Table of Contents hide
1 Tips for an easy Chicken Carbonara Recipe
2 Sensational Chicken Carbonara Recipe
2.1 Ingredients
2.2 Instructions
2.3 Notes
2.4 Make sure to pin our Chicken Carbonara Recipe for later!
Tips for an easy Chicken Carbonara Recipe
One of the best tips for this Chicken Carbonara recipe is to cook multiple items at the same time. This will save you time and allow everything to be ready at the right time.
First I begin by cooking the bacon and chicken at the same time. I cook up 5 strips of baconin a saute pan while I also cook 2 chicken breasts in 2 Tablespoons butter with Salt and Pepper to taste in another pan.
Once the bacon is done remove it from the pan and place it on a paper towel to soak up the grease and allow it to cool.
Usually, the chicken is just about done at the same time, so I transfer it to a cutting board and begin working on the sauce.
Here is another moment where you want to have two pans going. Start cooking the bowtie noodles and as they are cooking start working on the sauce.
For the sauce, I saute 3 cloves of garlic, freshly minced. And yes it makes a difference if you use fresh or garlic powder. Fresh is best. You can use a Garlic mincer so youdon’t even have to touch the garlic. So no issue of it leaving the scent on yourhands.I personally use a Pampered Chef Garlic Press (aff link). Mine is about 6 years old and still going strong. It presses the garlic perfectly for all our recipes.
Once the garlic is golden brown, I add Milk, heavy cream, chicken broth, and flour to the pan with the garlic and whisk until smooth. You will want to continue to cook it on low heat until it thickens.
While the sauce is thickening, cut up the chicken breasts and dice up the bacon on a good cutting board and mix them together and have them ready to be added to the sauce when the time comes.
Then add in theParmesan shavings. If the sauce gets too thick, add in a little more chicken broth. It will thin it without making it taste watered down.
Add the drained bowtie pasta. Then toss to cover the noodles completely.
Once it is well mixed then dash in the parsley. Fresh is best, but I couldn’t find any in any of our grocery stores so I had to use parsley flakes.
Again add more salt and pepper to taste preference.
Lastly, I add in the chicken and bacon and toss until all is covered in the sauce.
Now if your family aren’t fans of peas, you are done! But, if your kids will eat peas, then take this to the next level and add in some sweet petite baby peas! I add about 1-2 cups, depending on how strong a presence you want the peas to take.
This dish is best served hot. And then sit back and listen to the “Hmmms and Ahhh’s”. Or if your family is like mine, it will be dead silent as everyone digs in!
Mind you my kids refuse to eat any pasta that doesn’t use a red marinara sauce. But I made them take 1 bite. Just 1 bite of this sensational chicken carbonara recipe. And that was all it took. They went back forseconds. Both boys went for seconds! And they often ask me to make it again.
Whether it is summer, winter, spring, or autumn, this is a great way to curl up with the ultimate comfort of restaurant-quality chicken pasta!
Curl up with our fun Doctor Who Pasta and watch some Doctor Who on the Telly and join me in swooning over the British and Scottish accents. Why Yes! I think that sounds like a great idea!
Who is with me?
If you think this recipe sounds great, make sure to share it with your friends on Facebook using our easy share social media buttons or Pin it for later!
I will keep searching for a good quality meat service to take the place of the old company that broke our hearts. In the meantime, you can still enjoy this sensational Chicken Carbonara recipe with the best chicken you can find at your local grocery store.
Looking for more great chicken recipes? Check out our popular Italian Baked Chicken and Salsa Slow Cooker chicken. Both made from Frozen Chicken! We also have a great Weight Watchers Chicken Parmesan and Chicken and Potato Stuffed Croissants.
Yield: 6
Sensational Chicken Carbonara Recipe
A mouthwatering combination of creamy alfredo, chicken, and bacon in a hearty pasta dish. Creamy Pasta made to perfection and leaves you wanting more!
Ingredients
- 5 strips bacon cooked and diced.
- 2 Chicken breasts -Grilled, Chicken striped up
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 2 T Butter
- 3 cloves Garlic Fresh minced
- 3/4 Cup milk
- 1/4 Cup Heavy cream
- 1 cup Chicken broth
- 3 T flour
- 3/4 c Parmesan Shavings
- 2 T parsley
- 1-2 Cups Petite Sweet Peas (optional)
- 1 small box bowtie pasta
Instructions
- Cook 5 strips of bacon and set aside
- Cook 2 chicken breasts in 2 Tablespoons butter with Salt and Pepper to taste.
- Set aside while you work on the sauce.
- Cook up your Bowtie noodles so they will be ready when the sauce is ready.
- Heat up the petite sweet peas
Sauce
- Saute 3 cloves Garlic Freshly minced.
- Add Milk, heavy cream, chicken broth and Flour to the pan with the garlic and whisk until smooth.
- Cook on low heat until it thickens.
- Add in Parmesan shavings. If the sauce gets too thick, add a little more chicken broth.
- Add the drained bowtie pasta.
- Toss to cover the noodles completely.
- Dash in the parsley.
- Add more salt and pepper to taste preference.
- Cut up the chicken breasts and dice up the bacon and mix them together
- Add in the chicken, bacon, and warmed petite sweet peas to the sauce.
- Toss until all is covered in the sauce.
- Serve hot
Notes
This recipe makes approximately 10-12 servings depending on how much you dish up in each bowl. We often havea little leftover after the adults and kids have had multiple servings - although their servings are smaller than a regular adult serving.
For Weight Watchers measuring, divide into 6 equal servings. Not including the noodles, each serving is equal to 6 points plus for Weight Watchers. Read the full Blog article to discover Weight Watchers meal ideas using the creamy Chicken Carbonara sauce.
The peas are completely optional. The original recipe didn't use peas. I've since added them to the recipe and it was a huge success in our home. If you have picky eaters that won't eat the peas, go ahead and leave them out. It still turns out fantastic.
If you want a thicker creamy sauce, you can use 1 cup heavy cream instead of part cream and part milk.
Update 1/7/2015: When I followed theWeight Watchers program, I wanted to know how my favorite dishes on our blog measured up in Weight Watchers.
Using their recipe builder; I calculated that if you leave out the pasta noodles, and divide the sauce (including the chicken and bacon) into 6 equal parts after cooking then each serving is only 6 Points Plus!
You can substitute the noodles for other lower-point-value foods. The husband really loves to throw the sauce on top of a bed of vegetables. Or lightly cooked cauliflower would be delicious too! Or just eat it as it is.
If you add in the noodles you will want to add those to your points tracker separately to get an accurate calculation. Makes a great mouth-watering dinner and still stay on track with your Weight Watchers Goal! Just make sure you use 3/4 Cup Fat-Free Milk and only 1/3 cup heavy cream, but for all other ingredients you are good to go just as listed in the recipe above.
Keep an eye out for our old photos on social media! The same great recipe, just a brand-new look!
Make sure to pin our Chicken Carbonara Recipe for later!
And share it on Facebook while you are at it. 🙂
