This Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Pasta is a dish that is packed with cheesy, rich flavor, loaded with chicken and broccoli. It’s prepared all in the same pot to ensure each bite is tasty and easy to whip up in a flash! One pot and only 30 minutes is all you require to make this incredibly delicious dish!
I think that pasta is such a good base for many a dish. Especially when you make it all in one pot. It really allows for flavor to develop and for the dish to become cohesive. I was inspired to make this Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Pasta recipe tonight after a very long day at work. I wanted something easy and tasty but wouldn’t require much work. So this dish delivered that in spades! It’s packed with tons of cheesy, rich flavor.
One Pot Pasta
We’re used to boiling our pasta separately, in one pot full of salted water before incorporating it into our dish of choice. But today we’re going to cook our pasta right in with our broth, added to our skillet once the chicken is done cooking. Our softened onion and garlic will cook right alongside the pasta to ensure that each bite is flavorful! I’ve added some broccoli for some greenery but feel free to get creative with your veggie additions!
Ingredients In Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Pasta
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Olive oil – A nice neutral tasting oil to cook our chicken down in.
- Chicken – Boneless and skinless cut into small bite sized pieces. Feel free to substitute thighs in its place if you’d like.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper added to taste.
- Garlic – Use as much or little as you like.
- Onion – I like to use an onion that cooks down well like white or yellow.
- Pasta – Be sure its uncooked, you can use any shape you’d like.
- Chicken broth – We want something low sodium to control our salt intake.
- Milk – You can use any fat content you’d like to make this dish nice and creamy.
- Broccoli – I used an entire head of broccoli cut into small florets for this cheesy chicken pasta recipe.
- Spices – Just a bit of nutmeg, if you’ve never tried nutmeg in a cheesy pasta sauce like this one, you’re about to discover a game changer.
- Cheese – I like to use a melty cheese with flavor and color like cheddar. If you’d prefer to use mozzarella or even Gouda I won’t stop you!
How To Make Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Pasta
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Brown the chicken: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the cut chicken breasts to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and starts to brown.
- Saute the sauteables: Add the onions and cook till the onions soften, add the garlic and cook till fragrant which is about 30 seconds.
- Cook the pasta: Add the pasta, chicken broth, and milk and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low, stir and cover the skillet and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally until the pasta in cooked through.
- Finish the dish: Uncover the pot and stir in the broccoli. Continue cooking for a couple more minutes until all the liquid has evaporated before stirring in the shredded cheese. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper as needed. Serve warm!
What Else Can I Use In This Dish
Veggies
You can get creative with other veggie additions in this dish. I love to bulk up my dishes with flavorful fiberful additions, so here are some suggestions.
- Carrots
- Peas
- Corn
- Cauliflower
Pasta
You can have fun with some different shapes here so feel free to use whatever you like but I recommend something that soaks up the sauce like:
- Elbow
- Rigatoni
- Penne
- Shells
Storing Leftovers
This dish can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 – 5 days. You can freeze this dish for up to 3 months in an airtight container. To reheat just remove the dish from its airtight container and place in a baking dish covered with aluminum foil and bake at 350 F degrees till reheated through, around 20 – 30 minutes.
Craving More Pasta? Try These Delicious Recipes:
- One Pot Beef Ragu Pasta
- Creamy Avocado And Spinach Pasta
- Italian Pasta Salad
- Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Chicken Pesto Caprese Pasta
- Three Cheese Hamburger Helper
- One Pot Chili Mac And Cheese
- Cheesy Taco Pasta
- One Pot Creamy Parmesan Pasta
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Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb chicken breasts boneless and skinless cut into small bite size pieces
- ½ tsp salt or to taste
- ½ tsp pepper or to taste
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 8 oz pasta uncooked, such as penne, shells, rigatoni, etc.
- 1 cup chicken broth low sodium
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cup broccoli cut into small florets, 1 head of broccoli
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken breasts to the skillet and season them with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and starts to lightly brown.
- Add the onions, garlic and cook for another 2 minutes until the onions softens a little bit.
- Add the pasta, chicken broth, milk and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low, stir, cover the pot/skillet and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta cooks through.
- Uncover the pot and stir in the broccoli. Continue cooking for a couple more minutes until all the liquid evaporates. Stir in the nutmeg and cheddar cheese. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve while warm.
The perfect dinner with family or friends! Love it!
I was a bit anxious to place in the pot uncooked pasta, but it turned out just great! Kids loved it and this for sure will be regular dish in their lunch boxes! 🙂
By the time this is done cooking is the chicken still moist? Breast dries out so quickly.
It will still be moist because it cooks in liquid.
So yummy. I added some frozen peas, about 3-4 tablespoons of cream cheese and 1/4cup parmesan… so delicious.
So easy to make and so yummy I made it as part of my lockdown batch cooking and froze.
Thank you for your beautiful recipes, Jo! I made this dish tonight and it worked like a charm, it was a brilliant idea and so well thought out. We loved it, especially my husband. Your kindness and excellence and sharing is so appreciated, thank you! Stay safe, Janie
That’s so kind, thank you Jamie! We really appreciate it. Stay safe.
I am always too intimidated to make mac n cheese so this was such a handy alternative without sacrificing taste or how satisfying this dish turned out to be. I didn’t want to make another grocery run, so I substituted mozzarella cheese for cheddar, and leftover shredded cabbage for onions, and it still tasted great! I’m going to use the actual ingredients next time so I can see how it’s mean to be, but thank you for this easy and delicious recipe, Jo!
a super easy quick meal that tastes good. I didn’t add the nutmeg, just personal preference.
This recipe is simple, filling, and delicious! I wouldn’t change a thing, however my fiance said she imagined it to be a bit cheesier, similar to a mac & cheese dish. We used normal shredded cheddar cheese. If we use an extra sharp cheddar next time, do you think it may enhance the cheese flavor? Do you have any other tips that may help? Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
You can always add more cheese if you’d like! Sharp cheddar would taste great.
Love your site and this pasta came out great! The freshly grated nutmeg makes all the difference. It wasn’t as pretty as yours but the taste was superb.
I was just following the method for this recipe and was confused as to when I am meant to add the nutmeg?
Good catch! The recipe has been updated. Add the nutmeg with the cheese.
This was so yummy! I’m so glad I came across your website, our meals had become bland and repetitive and these are delicious and quick. Can I ask that you add roughly how many chicken breasts/ thighs you use in your recipe? I’m in AUS and we don’t use lb and it’s really hard working out how many you use. Thanks 🙂
It completely depends on the size of the chicken breasts you find, but here 1lb usually gets us 2 breasts. You can check out the weight on the package – 1lb is 0.45kg.
We loved this recipe, used thyme instead of nutmeg and some havrati. Easy dinner I’ll be making again
This was delicious! I want to make it with rice next time. Do you know how much I would need to add and if any adjustment time is needed?
I would add 1 cup long grain rice like basmati and let everything simmer for 20-25 minutes instead of 15. Enjoy!
Thank you!
Made this for lunch today, cut down to 3 servings. I usually avoid pasta dishes, as I am not a huge fan, but this just looked too good to miss. I had tri-colour fusilli on-hand, so that compensated for using a non-coloured extra mature cheddar. Hubs really liked it, as did I, and no leftovers tells the tale. Will definitely make again.
Glad you liked this Connie. It must have looked gorgeous with the tri-coloured fusili. 🙂