Italian Sausage, Chicken, and Broccoli Alfredo Pasta

I have some very serious alfredo fans in my house, and I am definitely one of them! This recipe for Italian Sausage, Chicken, and Broccoli Alfredo Pasta will have them coming back for more and more!

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Winter is for comfort food and alfredo is my definition of Italian comfort! I like this dish because it’s something different to do with alfredo and using sausage and chicken gives you the best of both world’s.

Now I am not in charge of your life, so feel free to use any protein you want. I like a little variety, and am always inspired by jambalaya. I am not a big rules person, so feel free to modify as needed. You could just do the chicken, or just sausage, or use shrimp instead of either. I will leave that up to you. The real star here is the alfredo sauce anyways!

Ingredient for Italian Sausage, Chicken, and Broccoli Alfredo Pasta

I made a decision to use Italian Sausage in this recipe instead of a smoked sausage because I wanted to do something different. It is important when prepping to remove the casing from the sausage first. Then I just break it into cute little bite size pieces that look like little meatballs.

For the chicken, I use chicken breasts cut into about 1 inch pieces. I like to keep everything the same’ish size so it’s easier to eat.

I use Rigatoni pasta for this dish, again, because I wanted to do something different than a traditional alfredo with Fettuccine. However, you can really use any pasta you like, just about anything works.

It is really important for a traditional alfredo sauce to use heavy cream. I have made other types of alfredo and used half and half and a little cream cheese, but for this one, I wanted to be authentic, so we are sticking to tradition and using the heavy stuff.

For the parmesan cheese, you do have to do this, but it makes a far better sauce if you buy a chunk and shred it yourself. This eliminates the gross grainy texture you sometimes get when you use the store shredded or even grated parmesan. I highly recommend shredding your own.

Also, if you want to drop a little more money, upgrade to Parmesan Reggiano. I am telling you, it’s totally worth it, it really adds a depth of flavor to the alfredo that cannot be beat.

The steamable veggie bags are a literal life saver. They save so much time and effort and it’s something so simple. I love using the steamable bags as you just pop it in the microwave and add it in whenever you are ready. No mess, no fuss!

Putting it All Together

Once you get your cheese shredded and meat cut up this dish comes together lightening fast!

You start off prepping all your ingredients, then you boil your pasta and set that aside. Be sure to reserve a cup of that pasta water for your sauce before you strain those noodles!

Once the pasta is done, run it under cold water for a minute to stop it cooking. It will have plenty of time to get mushy once you mix with it the sauce later!

Then using a large skillet, cook your sausage until it is done well and nice and brown. Set it aside and add the chicken to the pan and allow that to cook until the chicken has a little color on it. Set that aside while you finish the sauce.

You are going to melt the butter with the garlic to really infuse that garlic flavor into the butter, this is going to add such yummy flavor to the sauce.

Add the cream to the butter and allow it to heat up slowly over low to medium heat. You never want to simmer or boil cream, it will curdle, you will be sad.

Once you are certain the cream is hot, add your shredded cheese and whisk lightly until it smooths out, should take a minute or two.

This is when I add a little salt and pepper and taste the sauce to make sure it is well flavored.

The sauce is going to look runny, but your still going to go ahead and add at least 1/4 cup of that pasta water to it, believe it or not it will help to thicken it and stick to the pasta better once you mix everything up.

Get your broccoli microwaved and nice and hot while you sauce continues to meld together for a few minutes.

Now is the fun part, in a big pot add in your broccoli, noodles, meat, and sauce and stir well to combine everything.

This is when I turn the heat to low and let it sit together as one big happy family in the pot for a few minutes. Again, the sauce is going to thicken up at this point as well.

Serve this deliciousness up on a nice plate or a big bowl and sprinkle with more of that freshly grated parmesan. I like to have some garlic bread on the side as well to really make it a complete meal. Enjoy!

These Beautiful Porcelain Salad and Serving Bowls are perfect for serving up this delicious pasta!

Check out some of my other aamazing dinner ideas!