Chicken Broccoli Pasta

This Chicken and Broccoli Pasta is one of our go-to recipes for a quick, flavorful dinner that the family asks for again and again! We start with rotisserie chicken, fresh broccoli, and pasta and toss it all in a simple creamy sauce!

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Pasta seems to be a universal favorite, so we’re always looking for new ways to serve it up and this is a definite favorite around here.

I love Chicken Broccoli Pasta for a few reasons and one of those is that it starts with a rotisserie chicken or our crockpot shredded chicken! We ALWAYS have cooked, shredded chicken in our fridge or freezer and I can’t tell you how many times it’s saved us from hitting up the drive-thru!

The creamy cheese sauce for this chicken and broccoli pasta is super simple too, but it packs in loads of flavor from the Gruyere and cream cheese. On a budget or just don’t want to hunt down specialty cheese? Pretty much any cheese will work in place of Gruyere! Try swiss, cheddar, colby, or smoked gouda!

Plus, this recipe is a great way to sneak broccoli into your kids. I mean, it’s not hiding, but it’s covered in cheese sauce and paired with pasta, so they’re less likely to complain about it. 😉

Ingredient Notes:

Shredded Chicken – Check out my easy shredded chicken recipe, it’s perfect for using in this recipe and lots of others! A shredded rotisserie chicken works well too if you’re short on time.

Pasta – Bowtie, campanelle, penne…any small pasta shape works well.

Broccoli – We much prefer fresh broccoli florets, though frozen may work if that’s what you have.

Cheese Sauce – This creamy sauce is prepared with cream cheese, Gruyere cheese, and mozzarella cheese. It’ll get melted and whisked together with some milk and flour for an easy homemade creamy pasta sauce.

How to Make Chicken Broccoli Pasta:

Pasta: Boil the water and cook the pasta for 3 minutes less than the package directs. Add the broccoli and cook for 3 more minutes. Drain and place in a large bowl.

Cheese Sauce: While the pasta cooks, melt butter in a saucepan, whisk in flour, and then whisk in milk and cook until thickened.

Next add the cream cheese and continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens up. It’ll take about five minutes. Remove it from the heat and then stir in the grated Gruyere and mozzarella until smooth and creamy!

Serve: Add the chicken to the pasta and broccoli and pour the chees sauce right over the top. Give it a stir and dig in.

Try serving this easy pasta dish with some even easier air fryer breadsticks! Just grab the frozen kind from the store and let the air fryer work it’s magic.

FAQs:

Substitutions:

Chicken – We love using rotisserie chicken, but leftover grilled or pan-fried chicken would also work well.

Broccoli – Try this dish with cooked green beans in place of the broccoli!

Cheese – Gruyere makes for a flavorful cheese sauce, but mozzarella, swiss, or Parmesan will make a great substitute and all are a bit more economical.

Pasta – We generally make this with either campanelle or farfalle pasta, but any small shape will do.

Seasoning – Give it a kick by stirring in some red pepper flakes or Cajun seasoning. Add fresh basil or sun-dried tomatoes for a more robust flavor.

• Fried Cabbage with Sausage and Peppers
• Crockpot Broccoli Cheese Soup
• Crockpot BBQ Chicken
• Cheeseburger Soup
• Air Fry Meatballs
• Taco Lasagna

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Recipe

Chicken Broccoli Pasta

This chicken broccoli pasta is one of those fast and easy dinner recipes that your whole family will ask for again and again! The pasta and broccoli cook together in one pot and we use leftover shredded chicken to make things simple.

3.12 from 17 votes

Print Pin

Prep10 minutes minutes

Cook10 minutes minutes

Total20 minutes minutes

Serves 6 servings

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 pound farfalle pasta
• ▢ 1 head broccoli
• ▢ 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• ▢ 3 tablespoons butter
• ▢ 3 tablespoons flour
• ▢ 2 cups milk
• ▢ 4 ounces cream cheese
• ▢ 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pepper
• ▢ 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
• ▢ 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

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Instructions

• Add the pasta to a large pot of boiling water. Set the timer for 7 minutes.
• Meanwhile, rinse and chop the broccoli into bite sized florets. When the pasta has cooked for 7 minutes, add the broccoli to the pot and continue cooking for 3 minutes or until the pasta is al dente and the broccoli is bright green and tender crisp.
• While the pasta is cooking, make the cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and continue whisking for 1 minute.
• Whisk in the milk slowly. Add the cream cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the shredded cheese until smooth and creamy.
• Drain the pasta and broccoli and return to the pan. Stir in the chopped chicken. Top with the cheese sauce and stir to coat. Taste and add additional salt and pepper, if needed.

Tips & Notes:

We love using leftover rotisserie chicken for this dish, but grilled and chopped or pan-fried chicken works well too. 

We prefer fresh broccoli in this recipe, but frozen will likely work fine. Fresh always tastes best, though.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 691kcal (35%)| Carbohydrates: 73g (24%)| Protein: 21g (42%)| Fat: 37g (57%)| Saturated Fat: 8g (50%)| Cholesterol: 28mg (9%)| Sodium: 134mg (6%)| Potassium: 727mg (21%)| Fiber: 8g (33%)| Sugar: 8g (9%)| Vitamin A: 970IU (19%)| Vitamin C: 90.8mg (110%)| Calcium: 269mg (27%)| Iron: 2.8mg (16%)

Author: Karly Campbell

Course:Main Course

Cuisine:Italian

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This recipe was originally published in March 2015. It was updated in June 2022. Original photo below: