Copycat Olive Garden Chicken con Broccoli (2024)

Bring the restaurant home with this homemade Copycat Olive Garden Chicken con Broccoli. This creamy garlic pasta is tossed with vegetables and chicken for a great

Why You Will Love This Recipe

This Copycat Olive Garden Chicken con Broccoli is a copycat version of a now discontinued restaurant recipe.

A creamy garlic pasta is tossed with broccoli florets and a lightly breaded rosemary chicken. It was one of my favorite dishes!

We are using the same sauce that we use for our Copycat Olive Garden Tuscan Garlic Chicken and turning it into this amazing pasta recipe!

This Italian pasta recipe is a great quick and easy meal to make for the family when you want something a little different. Still creamy but lighter than an alfredo with a lot of vegetables.

Ingredients

Full details and quantities for this recipe can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Let’s talk about the ingredients we are using and why!

Chicken Breasts – what they use in the restaurant but you could use boneless skinless chicken thighs as well

Orecchiette Pasta – this is the pasta shape the restaurant used. It means “little ears” and looks like little cups. You an use any shape as desired.

Broccoli Florets – fresh or frozen will both work! Use as much as you want based on preference.

Butter

All Purpose Flour

Garlic Cloves – the combination of fresh garlic and powder gives us a great flavor profile

Garlic Powder

Chicken Stock

White Wine – Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay are best. See modifications and substitutions section below if you do not want to use wine

Heavy Cream – you could also use half and half. Whole milk will make the sauce much thinner, but we are not using much so it might work

Red Pepper Flakes – just a little, but you can add a little kick by adding more!

Dried Parsley

Dried Rosemary – for the chicken as the restaurant listed “rosemary chicken” on the menu

Salt

Black Pepper

Instruction Overview

To make the chicken, combine the flour, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish.

Coat each piece of chicken. Shake off the excess and cook in a large skillet over medium heat in a little olive oil.

When cooked through, set the chicken aside to rest.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water as per package directions. For the last one minute, add the broccoli to cook in the same water.

Reserve some pasta water for later just in case you need it and drain the rest. Set aside.

Make the sauce by first melting the butter in a small pot over medium heat. (Or use the same pasta pot!). Add the garlic and garlic powder. Add the flour.

Then add the rest of the seasonings, stock, wine, and heavy whipping cream. Simmer 10 minutes.

Add the cheese to melt. Season to taste as desired.

(I tend to use more salt but I would rather you under salt at first so that you do not end up with a too salty pasta because of the exact ingredients used!)

Combine the pasta, broccoli, and sauce in the pot and stir to coat. Serve the chicken on the side or, as traditional at the restaurant, cut and serve on top of the pasta or mixed in.

These steps can all be done in the same pot to make a one pot meal if desired – it will just take a little longer.

Modifications and Substitutions

Do you not want to use white wine? Simply replace with the same amount of additional stock and add a small squeeze of lemon to replace the acid lost from the wine.

While the restaurant classic just used broccoli, you could add other vegetables as desired. Mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and asparagus all sound like great additions!

While this recipe classically uses a lightly breaded chicken, feel free to use other options such as grilled chicken, rotisserie chicken, or even frozen breaded chicken to make it easier.

Kim’s Tips

It is important to not overcook the broccoli so it does not turn into mush!

FAQs

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