Last night I wasn't sure what I was going to make for dinner for our family. I looked in the refrigerator I saw 2 chicken breasts. That was my starting point. I also realized I had zucchini I could spiralize to make 'noodles' and I decided to make a pasta alfredo - but make it into chicken alfredo. I knew I was out of heavy cream (I've made homemade ice cream twice this week!) but I suspected I still had a jar of alfredo sauce in our pantry. I remembered picking up a 3 pack at Sam's Club for $5.91 months ago and was sure I had at least two of them there. Bingo! I did.
Although I like to keep jars of alfredo sauce on hand for 'emergencies' like this, I do not like the taste of a store bought alfredo sauce so I always improve it by adding other ingredients. Actually I have a whole post on that here.
So last night I whipped this up for dinner - in 4 parts and only one pan.
First I cooked the chicken in the pan.
Then cooked the zucchini 'noodles' and garlic in the pan.
Cooked the bacon in the pan.
Then made the sauce in the same pan.
If you are doing keto or low carb you can leave a little of the bacon drippings in the pan when you make the sauce. If you are not, or don't prefer to, then remove the bacon and drippings and you can even wipe the pan with a paper towel I suppose. NOTE: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO USE BACON AT ALL. I just love it in our alfredo dishes!
Quick and Easy Chicken Alfredo over Zucchini 'pasta' for low carb or regular pasta for those who aren't
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 T olive oil
2 T butter, real
salt and pepper or seasoning of choice for the chicken (I used a 'Blackened Chicken' seasoning mix)
1-2 t fresh minced garlic
4 oz. cream cheese
optional: a little cream, half and half, grated parmesan, diced red pepper, smoked provolone, bacon, green onions, mushrooms
2-4 zucchinis - medium sized but use as many as you wish for as much 'pasta' as you wish OR use real pasta
1 jar alfredo sauce
Spiralize your zucchini and place it in a bowl until ready to use or if you are using real pasta, cook it as directed.
In a pan on the stove, heat the oil and butter, add the seasoned chicken and cook until golden brown and done. Remove to a plate. Scrape the pan to get the bits up and if you want to add bacon to your dish you can cook it now (or make it in the microwave or a George Foreman type grill while you are making the rest of this recipe OR you can just use 'real' bacon crumbles you've bought - or leave it out completely if you wish.) If you are using bacon, cook it crisp and then remove it to a plate. Pour off most of the bacon drippings. Add your zucchini 'pasta' and tossing and stirring it for about 3-5 minutes in the pan. Remove to your serving bowl.
Add garlic and mushrooms to the pan if you are using them and let them cook 1 minute then pour in the alfredo sauce (or you can make homemade from mixing butter and heavy cream in your pan). Add any additions to your sauce (I used the garlic, crumbled bacon, 4 oz. cream cheese, 4 oz. mushrooms, fresh black pepper and a little salt).
Stir or whisk until smooth and heated through.
Slice your chicken breasts and lay them over the zucchini noodles or your cooked pasta.
Pour the sauce over. Sprinkle with bacon crumbled or some green onion tops, parsley, grated parmesan or some diced bright red bell peppers if you wish.
I used a 'blackened chicken' seasoning mix - you can season with just salt and pepper or whatever you wish.
Briefly cook your zucchini 'noodles' in the hot pan.
We are doing a keto version of low carb right now so I left about 1 Tablespoon of bacon drippings in the pan for flavor but if you can pour it all out if you wish or if you've made your bacon in another way (like the microwave) just cook your fresh garlic and mushrooms in a tiny bit of butter or oil for 1 minute before proceeding.
This is SO good even just at THIS STAGE WITH NO SAUCE. I had about 4 bites of it just like this and it could easily be served this way for a very low fat, low calorie dinner! Yum!
Real food - not a "photo shoot" obviously because I don't do those. I take the pictures of the food as it's being served or even while I'm eating it because I usually forget to take pictures at all! And my photos are taken on my cell phone... so REAL FOOD FOR REAL FAMILIES - not picture perfect. Just real.
