Creamy chicken and mushroom pasta
40 min · 54 g protein · 550 cals / serving
Golden chicken, a big pan of browned mushrooms and penne in a garlicky, parmesan-rich cream sauce, finished with spinach and a squeeze of lemon. The creaminess comes from evaporated milk and a little cream cheese, so it coats the pasta without turning heavy.
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 lb chicken breast, in bite-size pieces
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 1/8 lb mushrooms, sliced
- 1 large shallot, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 7 oz pasta, penne
Sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup fat-free evaporated milk
- 3 tbsp light cream cheese
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan
- 3 handfuls baby spinach
- 1/2 lemon, juice
To serve
- a handful fresh parsley, chopped
Steps
- Season the chicken with half the salt and the pepper. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat and cook the chicken in one layer, in two batches if needed, turning once, until golden and 165°F inside, 6–7 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- Add the mushrooms to the same pan with the rest of the salt and leave them alone for 3 minutes before stirring, then cook until their liquid has evaporated and they are well browned, 8–10 minutes in all. Add the shallot, garlic and thyme and cook 2 minutes more.
- Meanwhile, cook the penne in salted boiling water until al dente. Save a mug of the cooking water and drain.
- Whisk the cornstarch into the evaporated milk. Pour the broth into the mushrooms and scrape up the browned bits, then add the evaporated milk and the cream cheese and stir over medium heat until the cheese melts and the sauce bubbles and thickens, 2–3 minutes.
- Stir in the parmesan, then the spinach until it wilts. Return the chicken and any juices, add the pasta and toss, loosening with pasta water until the sauce coats every piece. Finish with the lemon juice, taste for salt and pepper, and scatter with parsley.
Good to know
Why evaporated milk?
Cooked-down milk has the body of cream with a fraction of the fat, and with a spoon of cornstarch it simmers without splitting. Regular milk would need a long reduction and still be thin.
How do I get the mushrooms really browned?
Hot pan, no crowding, and patience: they release water first, and only brown once it has cooked away. Salt them at the start to draw the water out faster.
Per
- Calories
- 117
- Protein
- (41%)
- 12 g
- Fat
- (21%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (39%)
- 12 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 263 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2202 kcal goes into the pot and 2101 g of ingredients comes out as about 1890 g of food: 117 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.