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!
Ingredients
- 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
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!