A light, slender garlic Alfredo sauce covers the chicken and broccoli.This nutritious, low-calorie chicken Alfredo is creamy, tasty, and even better than the original. Each serving has just 496 calories! And it just takes 30 minutes to make!
As a food blogger, one of my favorite things to do is lighten up heavy recipes. There are a lot of pasta meals, but they usually have a lot of butter and heavy cream in them, so I can’t truly enjoy them without feeling bad.
With just a few teaspoons of flour, low-fat milk, and chicken stock, you can make a thick and creamy sauce in less than 10 minutes. I promise you folks, this sauce is more than just a creamy pasta sauce. It has a lot of flavor, is creamy, and is quite rich.
What You Will Need
You probably already have most of the ingredients for this tasty low-calorie chicken alfredo in your kitchen. You will need the following:
- You can use any protein or pre-cooked chicken breasts instead of chicken breasts.
- Linguine or your favorite kind of pasta
- Broccoli: This is an optional extra that gives the dish a lot of texture and nutrition.
- To prepare the slim alfredo cream sauce, I use flour, milk, chicken broth, cream cheese, garlic, and spices instead of heavy cream. You can use this sauce to make any pasta dish, and it tastes a lot like bechamel sauce.
Things you need
- ( ) 2 cups of broccoli florets
- ( ) 8 to 10 ounces of any type pasta
For the bird:
- ( ) 2 medium chicken breasts, flattened or split in half
- ( ) 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- ( ) 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
- ( ) 1/2 teaspoon of paprika
- ( ) 1/2 teaspoon of Italian spice
- ( ) 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- ( ) 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
For the sauce alfredo:
- ( ) 1 tablespoon of butter or olive oil
- ( ) 1/2 onion, chopped finely
- ( ) 5–6 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
- ( ) 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
- ( ) 1 cup of chicken stock or water
- ( ) 1 cup of whole milk
- ( ) Two ounces of cream cheese
- ( ) 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
How to Cook Chicken Alfredo Pasta with Few Calories
To begin, put the pasta in boiling water and cook it until it is al dente. Add the broccoli during the last minute of cooking. I used ordinary pasta, but whole wheat or even zucchini noodles would work just as well.
While the pasta cooks, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and fry the chicken breasts. If you want, you can also use chicken that has already been cooked.
Next, in the same pan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and add some garlic. Then, whisk in the flour, milk, and chicken stock. You can use full milk, low-fat milk, or fat-free milk. You can also use vegetable stock or even water instead of chicken stock. Add parmesan, salt, and pepper, and whisk away, people.
You can make a light and healthy sauce in just a few minutes. Add the cooked pasta and broccoli to the sauce and mix well.
Add the chicken breasts on top and serve with a lot of fresh parmesan, or mix the chicken into the pasta sauce and have a nutritious, filling meal without feeling bad!
How to do it
- Follow the package directions to cook the pasta al dente in water that is well salted. During the last minute of cooking, add the broccoli florets to the pasta. Let it drain and put it aside.
- While the pasta cooks, put a big pan on medium heat. Put the olive oil in the pan. Add the chicken breasts to the pan after seasoning them.
- Cook the chicken breasts for 5 to 6 minutes on each side, or until they are done. Take it out of the pan and let it cool for five minutes before cutting or dicing it.
- Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and an onion to the same pan (don’t rinse it). For 3 to 5 minutes, cook the onion down. Then add the garlic and cook for approximately 30 seconds, or until the garlic starts to turn golden. Whisk in the flour until it is gently toasted, which should take about 30 seconds. Then, while whisking continually, slowly add the chicken stock and milk until everything is mixed in.
- Bring the liquid to a simmer and whisk in the cream cheese and parmesan until there are no lumps. Add as much salt and pepper as you like.
- Put the sauce on top of the cooked, drained pasta and broccoli. Add cooked chicken breasts that have been chopped or sliced on top. Mix together or put the chicken on top. If you want, you can add extra parmesan cheese or parsley on top. Have fun!
Tip for the recipe
- Add salt to the pasta water: To flavor the pasta, add roughly 1 tablespoon of salt to the water it cooks in.
- Save some of the pasta cooking water: It has a lot of starch in it, which helps to loosen up the sauce.
- Other protein: Try mixing things up by using other proteins with the pasta and sauce. Shrimp or sausage would taste great, but you need to change the cooking time.
Ideas for serving
This dinner is so good that you could serve it as is as a whole meal. But if you want to add some side dishes to make it more balanced, here are some ideas.
Nutrition
1 serving has 496 calories, 57 grams of carbohydrates, 28 grams of protein, 19 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 2 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 8 grams of monounsaturated fat, and 0.01 grams of trans fat), 66 milligrams of cholesterol, 370 milligrams of sodium, 705 milligrams of potassium, 3 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar, 657 IU of vitamin A, 44 milligrams of vitamin C, 204 milligrams of calcium, and 2 milligrams of iron.
You should only use nutrition information as a rough guide because it is automatically calculated.