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Caesar Chicken Pasta (Lightened Up)
Lightened Up Caesar Chicken Tortellini is bursting with your favorite Caesar dressing flavors but in AMAZING pasta! The creamy, cheesy, garlicky, lemony, homemade Caesar Parmesan Sauce is out of this world all smothering juicy chicken and cheesy tortellini! This Caesar Chicken Tortellini is comfort food at its most addictive!
👥 6 Servings⏱️ Prep & Cook: 1h 10m⏳ Prep: 45 min🔥 Cook: 25 min👤 Jen📖 carlsbadcravings
🥘 Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you prepare them:
🍳 Cookware
- bowl
- whisk
- baking sheet
- oven
- skillet
- cutting board
📝 Preparation Steps
1
MARINADE:
2
Add all chicken marinade ingredients (except chicken) to a large freezer bag or bowl and whisk to combine. Add chicken, toss to evenly coat. Refrigerate at room temperature for ⏱️ 30 minutes or refrigerate up to ⏱️ 4 hours.
3
TORTELLINI
4
TORTELLINI: Cook pasta al dente according to package directions in salted water. Remove 1 cup pasta water before draining.
5
CROUTONS
6
Preheat oven to 400F degrees F. Whisk together olive oil, Parmesan, garlic powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add cubed bread and gently toss until evenly coated. Spread bread in an even layer on a baking sheet and bake for approximately ⏱️ 10 minutes or until golden.
olive oil3 tablespoonsolive oil, divided3 tablespoons
7
CHICKEN
8
Meanwhile, heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Remove chicken from marinade and dab off excess then add to hot skillet and cook, undisturbed, for ⏱️ 3-5 minutes, or until nicely browned on one side.
olive oil3 tablespoonsolive oil, divided3 tablespoons
9
Turn chicken over, cover, and reduce heat to medium. Cook for approximately 5-7 more minutes (depending on thickness of chicken), or until chicken is cooked through. Remove to a cutting board and let rest ⏱️ 5 minutes before chopping or slicing.
10
CAESAR PARMESAN SAUCE
11
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add garlic and sauté ⏱️ 30 seconds. Sprinkle in flour and cook while stirring for ⏱️ 2 minutes (it will be thick).
butter1 tablespoonsolive oil3 tablespoonsolive oil, divided3 tablespoons
12
Turn heat to low then slowly whisk in milk, followed by lemon juice, Dijon, Worcestershire sauce, fish sauce, chicken bouillon and all seasonings.
milk2 cupslemon juice1 tablespoontablespoons lemon juice1 1/2Worcestershire sauce1 teaspoonchicken bouillon2 teaspoons
13
Increase heat to medium high and bring the sauce to a simmer until slightly thickened, stirring constantly.
14
Reduce heat to low and stir in cream cheese until melted followed by Parmesan cheese until melted.
15
Stir in tortellini and chicken until well coated and heated through, adding additional reserved pasta water a little at a time if needed to reach desired consistency.
16
Taste and season with additional salt, pepper and/or lemon juice to taste.
lemon juice1 tablespoontablespoons lemon juice1 1/2
17
GARNISH
18
Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan Cheese, crouton and fresh parsley if desired.
cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese1/2freshly grated Parmesan cheesetsp EACH dried parsley, dried basil, onion powder, salt1/2fresh parsley
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