Easy Creamy Chicken Pasta with Mushrooms

Creamy chicken pasta with mushrooms is an easy, family-friendly recipe to make any day of the week. It is even simple enough to make on busy weeknights. 

This is a comforting recipe that is easy to prepare. From start to finish it only takes about 40 minutes to make. Chicken breast gets quickly fried in a skillet with olive oil and butter. Then mushrooms and onion are cooked and white wine and chicken broth are added to create a creamy sauce.

The pasta gets cooked and the tender chicken breast is cut up into bite-sized pieces and everything gets mixed together in one large skillet. This is one of those recipes that you’ll like to make over and over again.

Ingredients You Will Need

Chicken breast – One boneless, skinless chicken breast that is 12 to 16 ounces. Chicken breasts these days are ridiculously large, aren’t they? You may also use a rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken as a substitute. Just cut up enough to make about 1 pound.

Here are the remaining ingredients needed. Pasta, salt and black pepper, mushrooms, onion, white wine, garlic or garlic powder, flour, chicken broth, sour cream, heavy cream, egg yolk, lemon juice, and dried tarragon. 

You can use whatever pasta you like. I recommend a curly pasta that will hold a lot of the creamy sauce when eaten. Rotini, fusilli, cellentani, or farfalle come to mind.

Tarragon is the main flavor enhancer for this dish and it tastes really nice with a splash of lemon juice. To substitute for the tarragon, Italian seasoning would be a good choice.

How To Make It

First of all, you should get a pot of water boiling and cook the pasta according to the package directions. Cook until the pasta is al dente and then drain off the water and keep warm in the pot.

While the pasta is cooking, wash and slice the mushrooms. I prefer to get unsliced mushrooms so I can clean them myself to make sure all of the dirt is off of them.

I have bought sliced mushrooms that were full of dirt and they are really hard to get clean. I much prefer to take a bit more time and clean and slice them myself.

Chop one half of a large yellow onion into coarse chunks. For this recipe, I like to have larger pieces of onion. 

Tip: I have started to chop onions with the root end still attached. Just cut a little off the top of the onion, (opposite of the root). Then cut the onion in half down through the root so you have two pieces with attached root ends.

Peel the skin off the onion then lay it flat on your cutting board and score it with your knife lengthwise into sections. These can be close together for a fine chop or further apart for a coarse chop. Then turn the onion and chop sections off as small or large as you like. 

Also, mince a couple of garlic cloves.

Prepare the chicken breast by drying it off with a paper towel and removing excess fat. Lay the breast flat on your cutting board and cut the breast lengthwise to form two flat pieces. This will make frying the chicken quicker and you will have a nice thickness for bite-sized pieces.

I don’t cut poultry on my walnut cutting board. A plastic one that is easy to clean is much more sanitary.

Season both sides of the chicken with salt, black pepper, and a sprinkling of sweet paprika. Use a large skillet on medium heat and add a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil. Once the oil is hot, place the chicken in and cook undisturbed for 4 minutes. Turn the chicken over and cook the second side for 4 minutes. 

If you have an instant-read thermometer you can check the temperature of the filets. They should be at least 140°F. Remove them from the skillet and place them on a plate and cover them with aluminum foil to rest.

Add the sliced mushrooms and the onions to the skillet, still on medium temperature. Cook while occasionally stirring until the mushrooms release their liquid. That will take 4 or 5 minutes. 

Add the white wine and minced garlic and continue to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, (4 minutes).

Then, sprinkle in the flour and stir to coat the mushrooms and cook for 1 more minute. Next, stir in the chicken broth and the heavy cream. Turn up your stove to medium-high heat to bring it to a boil.

In a small bowl add the egg yolk and sour cream and mix together with a fork. Then, while stirring, add a spoonful of the hot broth to the bowl to temper the egg. Add 4 or 5 spoonfuls of the hot liquid then slowly pour the yolk and sour cream into the skillet while stirring. 

Add the crushed tarragon leaves and the lemon juice. Taste the cream sauce and add salt and pepper as desired. You may want to add just a bit more tarragon for more flavor. Don’t go overboard because it is a pretty strong-flavored herb.

Pour any juices from the plate with the chicken into the sauce. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to the skillet along with the reserved pasta. 

Serve the cream of chicken hot and perhaps garnish with chopped parsley and shredded parmesan cheese.

Substitutions and Tips

Chicken  You can use leftover chicken or even a rotisserie chicken. Also, use whatever spices you like while cooking the chicken. I like paprika because it gives the chicken a nice golden color.

You can also make this Creamy Chicken Pasta dish without the pasta. Just fry up your chicken breasts and make the cream sauce to pour over the chicken. If you just make the creamy sauce, omit the heavy cream. 

Rather than using tarragon, you can substitute Italian seasonings. Oregano, thyme, and basil would be quite good.

Leftover chicken with pasta can be stored refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. It could also be frozen for up to 3 months.

To reheat either place it on the stove in a saucepan or microwave it in a microwave-safe bowl. A bit more liquid will have to be added so use milk, chicken broth, or water.  

This is a recipe I think the whole family will enjoy, even picky eaters. Give this creamy chicken pasta recipe a try. Below is the printable recipe card.

Here are some more tasty dishes to try:

• Grilled Herb Crusted Chicken Breast
• Penne with Vodka Sauce
• Creamy Tomato Bisque Recipe
• Seared Tuna Steak Recipe
• Pesto Pasta with Broccoli and Tomatoes

Creamy Chicken Pasta with Mushrooms

Creamy chicken pasta with mushrooms is an easy, family-friendly recipe to make any day of the week. It is even simple enough to make on busy weeknights. 

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Chicken, Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine: American

Keyword: creamy chicken pasta, easy creamy chicken pasta

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 496kcal

Author: Joe Boyle

Ingredients

• 1 14 to 16 oz. chicken breast, boneless and skinless
• salt and black pepper, as needed
• 1 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 8 oz. pasta; rotini, cellentani, fusilli or similar curly pasta
• 8 oz. button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
• 1/2 cup onion, coarse chopped 1/2 of a large yellow onion
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. dried crushed tarragon leaves

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Instructions

• Cook the pasta to al dente according to the package instructions. Drain and return to the pot and keep warm.
• Dry the chicken breast with a paper towel and remove excess fat. Hold the breast down on a cutting board and slice the breast lengthwise down the center to make 2 filets. Sprinkle both sides of the breast with salt, black pepper, and paprika.
• Using a large skillet, add the butter and olive oil and bring up to medium heat. My infrared thermometer registered 275° to 300°F while the chicken cooked. Add the chicken and fry undisturbed for 4 minutes. Turn to the other side and fry for 4 more minutes. The chicken should be cooked through but use an instant-read thermometer to make sure the chicken is at least 140°F. Remove the chicken from the skillet and place them on a plate and cover with aluminum foil.
• Place the skillet back on medium heat and add the mushrooms and onion. Sprinkle a good pinch of salt over the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms release their water which takes 4 or 5 minutes. Then add the white wine and the minced garlic. cook until the liquid is nearly evaporated. Sprinkle in the flour and stir to combine with the vegetables, 1 minute.
• Stir in the chicken broth and the heavy cream and let it come to a boil. Mix the sour cream and the egg yolk in a small bowl using a fork. Get the bowl near the stove and slowly stir in a spoonful of the hot cream sauce into the egg and sour cream. Do this with about 5 spoonfuls to ensure that the egg is tempered and will not turn into scrambled eggs. Then pour the egg mix into the cream sauce while stirring.
• Add the lemon juice and the tarragon. Taste the cream sauce and add salt and pepper as desired. A bit more tarragon could be added too if desired.
• Add any liquid from the plate with the chicken to the sauce and chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add the chicken and pasta to the skillet and stir everything together.
• Serve the creamy chicken pasta hot and garnish with parsely and shredded parmesan cheese if desired.

Notes

1. You may substitute rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken for the fresh cooked breast meat.
2. The tarragon can be substituted with Italian seasoning. I would try 2 teaspoons of dried Italian.
3. Store leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Store in your freezer for up to 3 months.
4. Reheat leftovers by adding a bit more liquid like milk, chicken broth or water and heat on your stove or in a microwave.
5. This recipe can be made without the pasta. Just cook the chicken and make the sauce and omit the heavy cream. Pour the sauce over the chicken and have rice or mashed potatoes on the side.

Nutrition

Calories: 496kcal