Olive Garden Chicken Pasta

This Olive Garden Chicken Pasta with cream cheese has taken over the internet – with good reason! This recipe is the best of all worlds: it’s super easy, it goes in your crockpot, it’s creamy and comforting and – best of all – it involves Olive Garden!

This is perfect for a set it and forget it type of day – the chicken and dressing cook in your slow cooker while you get things done! When it’s dinner time – cook your pasta and add it to the creamy sauce and it’s ready to serve.

What’s in Olive Garden Dressing Chicken Pasta?

• 1.5-2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast – I used 3 chicken breasts – because it’s cooking in Italian dressing it has all the tenderness you want!
  • You could also use a combination of boneless chicken breasts & boneless chicken thighs if you’d like!
• 1 bottle of Olive Garden Italian Dressing – or MAKE YOUR OWN (it’s super easy!)
  • No real need to add salt & black pepper as the dressing has plenty
• 1 block of cream cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese – I always use fresh! It’s so much more flavorful than the pre-shredded!! Trust me on this!
• 1 lb. pasta of your choice – the viral video used Penne pasta but I used a curly pasta because that’s what was in my pantry (I got this huge gift box of pasta products and it’s been so handy! I even sent one to my mom I loved it so much!)
• OPTIONAL – you could definitely add vegetables to this as well! Mushrooms would be good and could be added at the beginning. With broccoli, you would want to steam it and add when you stir in the pasta at the end.

How to make Slow Cooker Olive Garden Chicken Pasta

• Start by placing your chicken (frozen or thawed) into the slow cooker
• Pour in your bottle of Olive Garden salad dressing (or my whole recipe)
• Top with a block of cream cheese and 1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan
• Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours
• Cook pasta of your choice according to package directions
• While pasta is boiling, remove slow cooker lid and shred chicken breasts – stir to mix
• Drain pasta and add to slow cooker with other 1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan
• Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and an Olive Garden Salad

FAQs

What should I serve with Olive Garden dressing chicken pasta?

• Olive Garden Signature Salad & Dressing
• Caprese Salad
• Air Fryer Garlic Bread

Other Yummy Olive Garden Pasta Recipes

• Chicken Scampi
• Fettucini Alfredo
• Stuffed Zitti Fritta
• More Delicious Olive Garden Recipes

Olive Garden Chicken Pasta

This Olive Garden Chicken Pasta with cream cheese has taken over the internet – with good reason! This recipe is the best of all worlds: it's super easy, it goes in your slow cooker, it's creamy and comforting and – best of all – it involves Olive Garden!

4.30 from 47 votes

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Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 4 hrs

Total Time 4 hrs 5 mins

Course Entree

Cuisine American, Italian

Servings 6 people

Calories 664 kcal

Equipment

• Slow Cooker
• Meat Shredders
• Pasta Pot
• colander
• Microplane

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1.5-2 lbs chicken breast
• 16 oz Olive Garden Italian Dressing or my recipe!
• 1 block cream cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 1 lb pasta reco: penne or spiral
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese

Instructions

 

• Start by placing your chicken (frozen or thawed) into the slow cooker
• Pour in your bottle of Olive Garden dressing (or my whole recipe) 
• Top with a block of cream cheese and 1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan 
• Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours
• Cook pasta of your choice
• While pasta is boiling, remove slow cooker lid and shred chicken breasts – stir to mix 
• Drain pasta and add to slow cooker with other 1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan
• Serve

Notes

Do I need to use cream cheese?

I would stick with cream cheese – if you want an alternative you could use 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup sour cream.

Can I serve with something other than pasta?

Of course! This would be great over rice, cauliflower rice or mash or just served with an Olive Garden salad (and more dressing!)

Does this taste like chicken alfredo?

No – not really. The cream cheese and Italian Dressing bring out totally different flavors than alfredo. There’s also no butter or cream and just a bit of cheese. The Italian dressing is much zingier!

How do you shred chicken in slow cooker?

I have a pretty small slow cooker – so I take each piece of chicken out and put it in a bowl and shred with two forks. You can also do it in the pot – but be careful to not burn yourself. I’ve also seen handy tricks of using a hand mixer – but that seems like overkill!

Can you make Olive Garden chicken pasta on the stove top?

Yes! For the stove top – I would poach your chicken breasts in water for 20 min or use a cooked rotisserie chicken and shred. Then, in a saucepan, mix together the Italian Dressing, cream cheese and 1/4 cup shredded Parm. Add your shredded chicken and heat through. Then add your cooked pasta and remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

Can you make Olive Garden chicken pasta in the oven?

For the oven, you can use the raw chicken and place it in a baking dish with cream cheese, dressing and cheese – just like the slow cooker directions. After cooking for 30-40 minutes at 350 – remove baking dish from the oven and shred the chicken. Stir in cooked pasta and remaining cheese and serve!

Can you freeze Olive Garden chicken pasta?

Yes! I’m a single (right now) and there’s no way I could finish that whole crock pot alone so I parsed it out into glass containers and popped in the freezer!

 

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupCalories: 664kcalCarbohydrates: 48.5gProtein: 38.5gFat: 35.5gSaturated Fat: 13.9gCholesterol: 182mgSodium: 1355mgPotassium: 505mgSugar: 6.5gCalcium: 210mgIron: 3mg

Keyword chicken, crock pot, italian, olive garden, slow cooker

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