This chicken broccoli pasta is one of those fast and easy dinner recipes that your whole family will ask for again and again! The pasta and broccoli cook together in one pot and we use leftover shredded chicken to make things simple.
Add the pasta to a large pot of boiling water. Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, rinse and chop the broccoli into bite sized florets. When the pasta has cooked for 7 minutes, add the broccoli to the pot and continue cooking for 3 minutes or until the pasta is al dente and the broccoli is bright green and tender crisp.
While the pasta is cooking, make the cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and continue whisking for 1 minute.
Whisk in the milk slowly. Add the cream cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the shredded cheese until smooth and creamy.
Drain the pasta and broccoli and return to the pan. Stir in the chopped chicken. Top with the cheese sauce and stir to coat. Taste and add additional salt and pepper, if needed.
Video
Notes
We love using leftover rotisserie chicken for this dish, but grilled and chopped or pan-fried chicken works well too. We prefer fresh broccoli in this recipe, but frozen will likely work fine. Fresh always tastes best, though.