marilynpeight
Kid friendly chicken alfredo was inspired by the fact that my toddlers love alfredo, or anything with a creamy white sauce and pasta, but they really struggle with handling the fettuccine noodles. Rather than cutting the fettuccini noodles every time we had chicken alfredo, I decided to make the alfredo with macaroni instead. My whole family loved it! This Alfredo sauce is made with more of a roux than the cream sauce that usually accompanies alfredo, but even though the sauce isn’t made with heavy cream, it certainly isn’t lacking in flavor! If your little ones love pasta dishes, you may also enjoy white chicken lasagna, Amish dairy casserole or crack chicken stuffed shells.
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Kid friendly chicken alfredo
Equipment
- Large non-stick skillet (linked below)
- Cutting board (linked below)
- Chef's knife (linked below)
Ingredients
- 8 oz. macaroni pasta 1 3/4 cups dry macaroni
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 garlic cloves, minced optional
- 2 large chicken breasts cubed or diced *see note
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Alfredo sauce/white sauce:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour heaping
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/3 teaspoon garlic salt (or to taste) optional
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Optional topping:
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to directions given on the package, then drain, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water.
- In a large skillet, cook minced garlic in butter until fragrant, then add chicken and season with salt and pepper. Turn heat to med-high and add chicken. Cook uncovered for a few minutes on each side, turning every minute or so until all sides are nicely browned and chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from skillet and cover to keep warm.
- In the same large skillet with chicken juices and leftover garlic, melt two tablespoons of butter, then whisk in the flour until smooth.
- Add milk, chicken broth and seasonings and bring to a slow boil over medium heat, stirring rapidly to reduce lumps. Allow the sauce to thicken, then stir in parmesan until smooth and only small parmesan bits remain. If needed you can stir in the reserved pasta water to thin the sauce (the sauce will thicken some as it cools). Remove from heat.
- Mix cooked chicken and pasta into the sauce, then top with shredded Mozzarella (optional). Cool slightly and enjoy!
Notes
Equipment needed for this kid friendly chicken Alfredo:
- Large non-stick skillet When frying chicken I prefer to use a non-stick skillet, because the chicken doesn’t stick to the non-stick skillet.
- Cutting board I prefer to use a plastic cutting board that is also dishwasher friendly.
- Chef’s knife A chef’s knife makes cubing (or dicing) the chicken much easier.
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Step 1-2: Cook the pasta in boiling water, then saute garlic in butter (if not using garlic you can skip this step). Cook the chunked or diced chicken until nicely browned and the chicken is cooked through. Avoid overcooking the chicken to keep it from drying out.
Note* If chicken chunks brown too quickly and the insides are not fully cooked, turn heat to low and cover with a lid, cooking for a few minutes more. My flat top stove stays hot for a while so I simply turn the heat off and it continues to finish cooking.
Steps 3-4: Melt the butter, then whisk in flour until smooth. Add milk and chicken broth and whisk rapidly to eliminate lumps. Once the sauce begins to thicken, add cheese and seasonings.
Alfredo sauce will be blonde from the chicken broth. if you prefer a more white sauce you can replace the chicken broth with milk. Sauce should be somewhat runny while hot, as it thickens while it cools.
Step 5: Gently fold the cooked chicken and pasta into the sauce.
Step 5 continued: Add shredded mozzarella over the alfredo, then cover and allow the cheese to melt (optional).
Note*
You can skip adding the cheese on top, or you can add your favorite shredded cheese on top. The cheese can also be stirred into the dish if you don’t want to wait for it to melt.
Serve and enjoy! My two year old (not shown in the pic) eats like a bird these days and it has been a struggle to get him to eat at meal time. When I made this chicken alfredo for him, I shredded the chicken and he went to town! He even had seconds, which if you know what its like to have a two year old who is going through the picky eater phase, you also know that is a WOW moment!
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