Spaghetti – I much prefer spaghetti pasta for this dish, but you could also use a bowtie or penne pasta. It’s important to remember to only cook the pasta to al dente. It will continue to cook a bit once it’s out of the boiling water and can soften even more once it’s added to the sauce. And, be sure to not rinse your pasta in this recipe. Keeping the starch on the pasta will help the sauce to stick to the spaghetti.
Thick-Cut Bacon – I love adding thick-cut, smoked bacon to this pasta dish. It gives the sauce a noticeable smokiness and tons of flavor. Regular-cut bacon will work, as well. You just might need a few more pieces to get enough fat to cook everything else.
Bacon Fat – You’ll need 2 to 3 tablespoons of bacon grease/fat. Using the rendered fat to sear the chicken helps us carry that flavor throughout the dish.
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – You will want 1 pound of this chicken cut into 1-inch cubes. Be sure not to crowd the pan with the chicken. You want to get a nice sear on the chicken and get it golden brown to add even more flavor.
Garlic Minced – I’m very partial to fresh minced garlic. I’ve just never been able to replicate the flavor with a garlic powder or tube of pre-minced garlic.
Chicken Broth – Any brand chicken broth will do. You could even use the low sodium chicken broth if you need that variety but be aware it may affect the flavor a tiny bit.
Milk – I like to use whole milk because it provides richness to the flavor and it helps make the sauce a nice creamy consistency.
Cream Cheese – I recommend cutting your cream cheese into cubes so that it melts more easily into the sauce. And while I normally am a huge fan of using generic or store brands, I really feel like the Philadelphia brand melts the best and give this dish the best texture.
Grated Parmesan Cheese – Feel free to grab the pre-grated parmesan cheese for this recipe and save yourself a little time on this step.
Salt and Black Pepper – I know some hate the vagueness of the phrase “add salt and pepper to taste,” but it’s really the only way to do it. Different cheeses will have different salt amounts and based on the amount of salt and pepper you put on the chicken, you might not need any more at all. Just taste it.
ADVERTISEMENT
