Chicken Alfredo
This recipe from scratch is so much better than the stuff in a can. It will make it hard to ever go back especially for how easy it is to make. Serve over ziti noodles.
This recipe from scratch is so much better than the stuff in a can. It will make it hard to ever go back especially for how easy it is to make. Serve over ziti noodles.
- Carbohydrate 8.74106777062683 g
- Cholesterol 76.7299999371902 mg
- Fat 24.7265955374248 g
- Fiber 0.188444444062121 g
- Protein 1.62623333242493 g
- Saturated Fat 14.6180595438637 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (349g)
- Sodium 659.451305496191 mg
- Sugar 8.55262332656471 g
- Trans Fat 1.41791038781695 g
- Calories 258 calories
Step-by-step
- Pour the oil into the Instant Pot and set it to sauté high. Place the cloves of garlic whole and peeled into the olive oil and cook until they are browned. Remove the garlic from the Instant Pot and set aside. When the garlic has cooled down, mince it.
- Brown the chicken and remove. Mince the garlic. Add the flour and butter to the bottom and whisk well until the flour smells like popcorn.
- Pour in the milk and add the pepper and sea salt. Add the garlic and the chicken. Place the lid on and set the pot to manual pressure high and set the time for 10 minutes. Quick pressure release.
- Fold in the cream and add the Parmesan cheese a little at a time stirring well until it is incorporated. Serve over the noodles or stir them in for a ‘casserole’ style.
Ingredient quantities do not reveal how garlic behaves when browned whole in olive oil before mincing. Sautéing the cloves whole softens their cellular walls, mellowing the pungent allicin compounds into a nutty, sweet flavor profile. Traditional Roman alfredo relies entirely on emulsified butter, starchy pasta water, and aged Parmigiano-Reggiano without heavy cream. Modern adaptations incorporate dairy liquids to stabilize sauces under high heat conditions. Cooking dairy with high-acid or high-protein components often causes curdling or fat separation. Maintaining the correct fat-to-flour ratio prevents this textural failure. Whisking four tablespoons of flour into four tablespoons of melted butter creates a blond roux. Cook this paste until it smells distinctly like toasted popcorn to eliminate raw starch flavors before adding liquids.
Pressure cooking chicken breast directly in milk and heavy cream tenderizes the meat efficiently. Set the electric pressure cooker to manual high pressure for ten minutes, followed by a quick pressure release to prevent overcooking the poultry. High heat can easily scorch dairy sugars at the bottom of the vessel. Whisking continuously during the deglazing stage prevents burning. Stirring in shredded Parmesan cheese gradually ensures proper melting without clumping. Cheese added all at once drops the sauce temperature too quickly, creating a grainy texture instead of a smooth emulsion. Heavy cream folded in at the end restores silkiness lost during the pressure cooking cycle.
Stirring cooked ziti noodles directly into the finished sauce produces a casserole consistency. Alternatively, ladle the sauce over freshly boiled pasta retained separately. Parmesan cheese should be freshly grated rather than pre-shredded with anti-caking cellulose agents that disrupt smooth melting.
